OnePlus has sent out an email today, declaring that it has had gone and changed its logo – a huge monumental occasion because it’s the first time this has happened since the company was founded. The only problem is that the new logo looks exactly the same as the old logo.
As you can see they’re both almost identical. The only difference being that someone used a different font, and put ‘OnePlus’ in bold. That’s not really what a logo redesign should be, and even BT’s travesty of a new logo was at least slightly more different to the old one.
Maybe the red background has been removed, but another logo in the press release (below) features the whole thing on red. So I’m not counting that, the main thing is the only major change is the font.
Naturally OnePlus has been bigging up what the ‘new’ logo means for the brand and brand awareness among normal people.
OnePlus today unveiled the company’s refreshed visual identity, including an updated logo, that aims to make the OnePlus brand more easily identifiable and versatile.
Even though it’s the same logo, and nobody is actually going to notice the difference until you point it out to them. Because all they really changed was the font, and most people are not font-fetishists that would be that aware.
Mats Hakansson, global creative director of OnePlus, also had a statement, which was definitely spur of the moment off the top of his head and not written with the help of an advertising or PR firm involved in the ‘new’ logo:
“We always design for our users. We feel that these changes maintain the iconic elements of our brand that are beloved by our staff and our community, while injecting both excitement and balance into our visual identity.”
It’s the same logo, though, so nothing has really changed. A bit like the OnePlus 7T Pro.
OnePlus has also made a big deal over what all these changes mean, going into great detail about what has apparently been changed and how that’s an improvement:
OnePlus’s new visual identity includes a suite of updated logos and lockups that retain the classic OnePlus look with a more balanced feel. The logo introduces a new curvilinear “1” that is easier to read, while adjusting the weight of the logotype for better overall balance. The “+” in the surrounding box has also been enlarged and is now more prominent, in a nod to the OnePlus community, which has played a key role in the company’s ongoing success.
Which sounds an awful lot like a design agency, which has been grossly overpaid, is putting more effort into explaining the changes than they did in the ‘new’ logo itself.
The refreshed logo creates a clearer association between the symbol and the trademark, while also allowing for more flexible application and improved recognizability in digital media.
The visual identity is accompanied by a fresh color palette which centers on OnePlus’s iconic red, followed by an updated secondary palette of cyan, green, magenta, indigo, and yellow to make the company’s design and assets more vibrant and lively. A new font also improves legibility and is easier on the eyes.
So the new colours are new, can’t deny that, though I would dispute that the old logo was hard to read. It’s literally a box with some letters. So once again I will stress that this is the same damn logo as before.
“No detail is too small. By starting from thousands of user data points, the team arrived at a new holistic visual language inspired by OnePlus’ burdenless philosophy,” said Hakansson. “OnePlus has grown a lot from an idea to a major smartphone player. Introducing a fresh new look is just one example of how we continue to bring our “Never Settle” mantra to life.”
I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but some on. There’s nothing fresh or new about this look. Though speaking of Never Settle, OnePlus has redesigned *that* logo too:
Do you think they hired the same design agency that handled BT’s borked rebranding? They look like they were inspired by it at the very least.
But there’s something good out of this, since OnePlus is offering £50 ($100) off the price of a OnePlus 7T in the UK between now and April 1. Probably to also help shift stock ahead of the OnePlus 8 Series launch, but a discount is a discount. You just need to use the code SAMEONEPLUS, which is hilariously ironic, given the circumstances.
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo UK, which is gobbling up the news in a different timezone.