Green–it’s the new blue in logo redesigns. As an overused boring corporate color, blue is losing ground to green. Corporations everywhere have been jumping on the “green” bandwagon, whether they are hotels that wash towels less frequently, moving companies that reuse boxes, or retailers that recycle plastic bags. The green washing trend is even spreading corporate logos. Companies with once distinctive and exciting brand marks are trading them in for boring green ones.
Mayflower Movers redesigned their logo and lost their iconic graphic presence. (That creepy giant girl puppet in Mayflower’s “Big Move” ads gets points for being unusual–but not in a good way).
Holiday Inn looks like they hired the same designer as Mayflower. They ditched their fantastic funky retro signature for this forgettable brand mark.
Animal Planet redesigned their mark so that there is no more animal and no more planet.
Quick Chek incongruously grew a leaf in their logo redesign.
Lending Tree went from a Fall-ish maroon leaf to a green one. And they’ve adopted the newly ubiquitous lower case typography that is supposed to make us feel warm and trusting.
Joining the crowd is never a good idea in branding. It’s time to induct the color green into the Overused Brand Ideas Hall of Lame.