You can’t go wrong with classic colors like black and navy blue. In fact, for many years those were the only colors you could sign a check in. Today the IRS still requires handwritten forms to be turned in with only black or blue link.
When it comes to logos, blue and black are popular colors. ACS International Schools, WorldPay, and Peugeot are three companies that, for years, chose to use them in their logos. Let’s see if they kept blue and black in their re-branded logos and how the colors work!
- ACS International Schools, WorldPay, and Peugeot all had logos that at one point heavily featured either navy blue or black.
- Each of these companies recently re-branded, and that means changes to the classic colors in their logos. Keeping the navy blue or black may or may not work for the new brand identities.
- Will the new logos impress as much as the old? We’ll take a closer look at all three logo changes.
ACS International Schools
ACS International Schools operates three schools in the UK and one in Qatar. This prestigious school’s previous logo embraces both traditional and modern design. Most schools choose to use serif fonts in their logos because being traditional and respectable are associated with the serif style. However, that trend has changed in recent years.
The previous ACS International Schools logo uses a serif font and features an icon of a graduation cap. The mortarboard is made up of several different countries’ flags, which is a nod to the fact that the school serves international students.
A muted navy blue dominates the wordmark in old logo, which is balanced out with the large “ACS” in the middle. The blue of the wordmark is echoed in the blue of the cap and tassel of the graduation cap.
The new ACS International Schools logo, however, uses a much brighter blue that’s closer to purple. It seems that all the letters in the wordmark are the same size, unlike the previous logo. Notably, the font has been changed from serif to sans serif.
Instead of a small graduation cap, the icon is now a large sphere, which is meant to represent the (international) world, full of different symbols. The symbols are clever links to subjects taught at the schools: a bass clef, a plus sign, a carat, a cent symbol, and predominately, a letter A.
We like the new, brighter shade of blue, but we think the school should have retained the traditional serif font for the wordmark. We’re fans of the globe icon, too!
WorldPay
WorldPay is a company that process transactions and provides technology for businesses. The previous WorldPay logo was very simple: a navy blue wordmark in a sans serif font, along with a small trademark symbol, made up the entire logo. The simplicity bordered on boring, and we’re happy to say we like the new WorldPay logo much better.
This new version features an icon at the far left of the wordmark. The icon is a red sphere, made up of lines, that appears to be a deconstructed globe. The word “world,” in gray, is clearly not meant to be the focal point of this logo, as the gray helps it fade into the background. The red “pay” at the end packs a bold punch, as its line weight is heavier than the globe icon. This is where the company wants the viewers’ attention: on the fact that they can help you make payments.
So, WorldPay completely changed their font and color scheme. The new font, by the way, is a subtle serif font that does help inspire trust. We love the new WorldPay logo and think that, in this case, the move away from traditional navy blue was a great one!
Peugeot
Last but not least, let’s take a look at the old and new branding for the globally-renown car company, Peugeot. The classic Peugeot lion stand and roars in a gradient silver in the old logo, its black outline and prominent tail leaving no doubt as the what animal this could be.
Underneath the icon sits the company name in an elegant, sans serif font and in all caps. The company name is written in a dark blue, which contrasts – almost too much – with the black outline of the lion above it.
The new Peugeot logo is extremely different from the old, although it contains only one additional element. The new logo features a black background, a white shield outline, and inside the shield are the wordmark and the new lion icon.
The new wordmark uses a new font that’s more blocky and bold than the previous wordmark. The lion is also, somehow, more fierce. Now only the outline of the lion’s head, and a large mane, are included, as well as a more realistic eye. The lion’s mouth is still open in a roar, as it was in the previous logo.
We love the new logo and think that it’s a great way for Peugeot to step boldly into this new decade. We’re fans of how the texturing of the lion’s mane and head makes it seem almost 3D and truly real. The black and white contrast is also a bold win in our book!
Blue and Black Make It Work
Not every company will benefit from a blue or black logo. In fact, we love how WorldPay’s new gray and red logo looks. However, blue and black are two staple colors in logo design that will work as a base even as other aspects of the logo are modernized.
While we’re seeing a trend towards more brighter shades of colors, we still think there’s a place for blue and black in a vast majority of logo designs. They’re bold, easy to read, and classic!
