Inspiration: New Wendy's Logo

Wendy's recently revealed a new logo update that will hit their stores in March 2013. Wendy's is one of my favorite fast-food places because the quality feels so much better than other fast-food restaurants...and supposedly that is the driving force behind this re-brand. Wendy's wants their logo to be indicative of a more high-end hamburger joint.

But does the re-brand work?

My initial reaction was one of extreme dislike. This logo is so different than the logo I have known my whole life (Wendy's has had the same logo since 1983). Gone is the classic, old-style red box, old-style letterforms, and the 8-year old girl has been given a face-lift. It was hard for me to picture this new image on the restaurant.

After a little time of looking at it, I see that the illustration of the girl really is a big improvement. Much more detail, the pigtails look much more natural, and she looks friendly and cute. She has been moved into a real circle (no longer a slight oval) and she is free and has room to breathe now. I would give the illustration re-design a 9/10 and call it a success.

The type is still the area I am not a fan of. I just feel like this type design is pretty lazy and not very interesting. It has kept the trademark Wendy's "wave", but the style is all new. It does stand out as different from most of the other fast-food hamburger chains, so I will give them that, but gone is the look of a classic hamburger chain! I would have been totally happy if they made just slight tweaks to the original type, and then gave it the same treatment of moving it out of the box and into whitespace. I think it would have made the logo feel fresh, but still keep it familiar. It also really bugs me that the apostrophe is a different color than the rest of the letterforms (it has the same red color as the highlights of her hair). Why? I have no idea. And to be fair, this may just be a result of this image that is circulating the internet. On Wendy's official site, the apostrophe does look like the same color as the rest. I would give the type a 6/10.

So after some time, I feel like I can accept this new Wendy's logo (as if I had a choice). I am not in love with the type treatment, but I do think the new logo overall feels fresh and inviting and I will keep eating at Wendy's. I think I am addicted to the Baconator anyway. I would probably give the overall logo 8/10, which I would consider a success.