EVOLUTION67 Logos Lifecycles

Times change. People change. And the identities of some organizations—although not all—change right along with them.

Why is it that some logos seem to age well while others do not? AT&T, UPS, and Burger King have all updated their graphic identities in recent years, while Volkswagen, CBS, and the Olympic Games have not.

Certain graphic elements age better than others. Companies pin the fate of their illustrative logos on the longevity of the particular drawing style they chose. Typefaces are increasingly susceptible to looking dated, which may account for some degree of graphic identity reinvention. Like hairstyles and clothing, certain graphic embellishments go out of fashion as quickly as they come into favor.

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