A man and a boy with a Volkswagen T-Cross and the new Volkswagen logo

New Volkswagen Branding

20 April 2020

The new logo marks a new era for Volkswagen.

Is it just a new logo or a new direction? Our team discussed the electrifying and vibrant new Volkswagen branding.

Last year, Volkswagen announced a clear direction into the future with the launch of the Volkswagen ID.3 and revealing a new two-dimensional logo at the Frankfurt Motor Show. But, it’s not just a new EV model and logo that will go on to shape Volkswagen’s future. A complete holistic revamp of the brand as a whole has been deployed under the motto “digital first and “no filter”. The new Volkswagen branding has now reached our shores.

“The new brand design marks the start of the new era for Volkswagen,” Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Brand Board of Management says. “By formulating new content and with new products, the brand is undergoing a fundamental transformation towards a future with a neutral emission balance for everyone. Now is the right time to make the new attitude of our brand visible to the outside world.”

The Logo

More modern, cleaner, simpler.

Reduced to its essential elements, the new and more two-dimensional logo allows flexibility through almost every platform imaginable. Volkswagen have sent a message to the world that they know their brand better than anyone, by designing the logo in-house. Good on them.

New and Old Volkswagen Logo
Changes to New Volkswagen Logo

Colour Variants

To date, the logo has been predominantly blue and white and it is staying as Volkswagen’s primary choice of colour. We do however, see a new blue tone being introduced, which gives the brand secondary options of application.

Volkswagen Logo Colour Variations

Light

Volkswagen’s futuristic direction adopts a special element – light. Light will reinforce Volkswagen’s electrified direction in replacement of the popular chome effect you see in most vehicle manufacturer logos. We’ll see more illumination on vehicles and a significant amount of light featuring throughout our brand locations and brand promotions moving forward.

New Volkswagen Branding Applications

Sound Logo

For the first time in history, Volkswagen now has sound a logo. The acoustic brand statement will be recognizable through in-car and communication experiences throughout the customer journey. Check out the video below to see the brand and sound logo in action.

Visual Language

Bolder, with more colour. 

The new visual language now steers towards a less than perfect advertising world. People now become our main subject matter in brand imagery as we wave goodbye to the perfectionism of the repeated three-quarter-front angle of a vehicle and replace it with unexpected scenes full of colour and surprise.

Volkswagen customers

These scenes are less vehicles focussed. They express customer experiences and emotion to tell stories, which feeds our imagination to entice ownership. View some of these examples below.

    Moving Frame

    As Volkswagen look toward the future, it’s important the logo performs well in a transitioning digital space. Volkswagen’s recognition of the importance of digital applications is shown through the development of flexible grid-like structure to support the logo in a the new ‘Moving Frame’. It’s a way for Volkswagen to own an image or moving scene to highlight emotion and help anchor static images with obscure compositions.

    New Volkswagen ID

    Vibrant Linguistics

    Using everyday, effortless language with a sense of humour is equally as important as visual brand perception. Recognizing shifts in consumer expectations and experiences, the Volkswagen language now empathises a more personal, true, lively and vibrant interaction with guests of the brand, simply through linguistic communications.

    Overall, I’m glad to see that Volkswagen are looking towards the future with so much energy and confidence. Volkswagen have internally implemented the foundations of successful and electrifying branding strategy. As a designer and marketer myself, to me this shows us that Volkswagen are confident that they understand their market and the ability to connect with their customers successfully for years to come. With more brands under our department’s umbrella than I can count with two hands, this has been the most enjoyable re-branding campaign since joining the industry back in 2014. I look forward to further assisting the roll-out.

    We hope you enjoy the ‘new Volkswagen’.

    Ash Pearson | Senior Design & Marketing Specialist – Miles Motor Group

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