Burger King has undertaken a comprehensive brand across all elements of its visual brand – and it’s a masterclass in the design of a first make-up. As with many redesigns of late, BK joined the flat design party, but unlike some other brands, celebrated it in a personalityful way that felt festive.
With new, bold elements focused on repeating the shapes of BK’s menu items, the atmosphere is delightfully retro. It features a new font that, along with the custom color palette, evokes the psychedelia of the 1970s, and a much improved logo based on a combination of the original iteration from 1969 (a contender for the best logos ever) and the most recent version from 1999..
The remake of agency Jones Knowles Ritchie is a major overhaul, with no stone unturned. There’s new packaging, menu design, merchandise, decor, social media and, well, everything really.
The new logo (complete with an ingenious monogram iteration, see above) feels familiar because it is so similar to the original from 1969. The Burger King name is once again simply pressed between the two halves of the burger bun, with the blue color nowhere to be seen. But it also feels fresh, and it mostly comes down to the juicy new font, which is as plump and twisty as you want your burger to be.
This is exactly what Burger King wanted to achieve, according to Restaurant Brands International restaurant head Raphael Abreu, who said in a statement: “We want to use design to make people crave our food; the flame grill perfection and above all it tastes good”.
The font, called ‘Flame’ (see it above on the spot on burger packaging), was inspired by the shape of the food – ’rounded, fat, tasty’ and according to Abreu is a font that ‘makes people want to take’ bites out of it ” We wholeheartedly agree.
‘Firey Red’, ‘Flamin’ Orange and and BBQ Brown ‘appear in the bold color palette, designed to evoke fun and freshness – changing the perception of fast food from unattractive and bland to lively and hissing. And the illustrations (see above) are aimed at doing the same thing, depicting people having fun with their food while wrapping their hoop earrings around their fingers, turning cucumbers into binoculars and covering them with ice cream.
It’s flat designed in a way we have not seen before from many great players, with the block colors and bold shapes that work perfectly on digital platforms as well as physically. The design community already welcomes this approach with open arms, with completely positive reactions flooding social media. It feels like a collective sigh of relief after recent concerns were expressed on Twitter that 2020 has ruined the art of logo design.
Design was the first consideration here, and it’s a triumph – we’re just hoping other companies start taking notice to turn around the issue of ‘faintness’ in brands. Want to read more about this? Check out our post and discuss whether branding has become boring.
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