NOTE: This is an archived version of the first incarnation of Brand New. All posts have been closed to comments. Please visit underconsideration.com/brandnew for the latest version. If you would like to see this specific post, simply delete _v1 from the URL.
For some reason — contrary to my usual disdain for shadows and gradients — when it comes to car logos I like mine shiny and bevely. As If yanked from the hood of the car and glued to a business card. Italian automobile manufacturer, Lancia, celebrating its 100 years of car-making, has just launched a new identity designed by Italian design firm Robilanti Associati. While retaining the original and, I assume, recognizable shape, Lancia was able to add a hefty dose of attitude to the new badge, and they are not hesitant to play it up; from their web site: “… the shield has more depth, the 4 spokes have become 2 aggressive points….” Aggressive is rarely a word used to publicly describe any corporation. This new logo exudes car-ness and luxury, via a nice condensed serif (with a mean LA ligature) and is well positioned to support the new tag line, “The Evolution of 100 Years of Elegance and Attitude.” Now, that’s how I like my car logos.
Thanks to Jon Fredkove for the tip. Large image of the logo after the jump.
Jump to Most Recent Comment
The Big Red Dancing Elephant in the Room’s comment is:
Quick - more important than the actual Lancia logo, what has happened to their 'High Fidelity' division - the one with lucky red dancing elephant? (the greatest car logo without doubt!) 
But seriously, they have lost the spear, so how aggressive can you be with just a shield? More empty rhetoric I suspect to prop up yet another 3d effect logo. Despite them being the current vogue, for a luxury brand this actually looks pretty cheap...
On Mar.15.2007 at 03:52 PM
Armin’s comment is:
The two fang-y looking spokes of the wheel look a lot more menacing than the spear, in my opinion. I would be more afraid of a stick of play-doh than from that old spear.
On Mar.15.2007 at 04:05 PM
ToddTodd’s comment is:
thats a really nice update. very classy looking and gives more depth to the name overall.
On Mar.15.2007 at 04:18 PM
richard’s comment is:
yeah! someone doing it well and right. and you are right, that is one sweet ligature!
On Mar.15.2007 at 05:37 PM
Inkblot Robot’s comment is:
Very refined. A HUGE update. I can't believe their old logo, I think the "spear" puts the whole thing off balance and brings down the entire design. The new logo seems very well done, though :-)
On Mar.15.2007 at 09:55 PM
Seth Aldridge’s comment is:
That is a sexy logo
On Mar.16.2007 at 04:25 AM
John Muir’s comment is:
Wow, that is one sweet dancing elephant themed logo!
Thanks for the handy little quick tags primer there, it tempted me to dig out this little gem.
As for their new identity. I like. There's something right about bezels when it comes to cars. I guess we've made them the coat of arms of that industry. It takes daring and a certain number of other things to slap a sans serif text on the nose of a beast! Especially one without a red elephant leaping across the middle. ;)
On Mar.16.2007 at 09:27 AM
stock_illustration’s comment is:
Very nice redo. The old one had a real "old world" look to it with the banner, but was very weak, IMO. This looks alot more aggressive and upscale.
On Mar.16.2007 at 10:31 AM
Joe’s comment is:
To me, it looks like they didn't remove the old "lance," but added a second one!
The LANCIA name is placed where the two opposed lances will meet and strike. Insert Huzzah here.
A very clean and well-thought realignment of the original, IMO.
On Mar.16.2007 at 10:47 AM
Antonio Moro’s comment is:
The old "spear" ("lancia" in italian means spear and is also the surname of the founder) with the flag (important element of the old logo) and the surname on it on the classic four arm steering wheel (another very important element) was the classic elements of the Lancia heritage. They dropped all of that for a new dramatic simple logo.
It seems to be good for a designer: is balanced, it has a nice 3d chrome effect (sexy), but it's not a good logo for one reason: it's soul less.
This can be the logo of a chinese car manufacturer maybe, or the a new "wanna be historical luxury brand".
Lancia is NOT a "wanna be". Lancia's heritage, history, culture and soul it's just huge and the new design drops all of this out in favor of a "just-well-designed" new look.
You can write everything into the new logo: LANCIA, DACIA, LEXUS.. it's the same.
The old one maybe was not well designed, but it was the LANCIA LOGO, with personality, a story, an entire culture behind it.
Why not a redesign of the old one with the same important elements on it?
This is not a good redesign, this is a waste in my point of view, you maybe don't agree because you don't know Lancia's history and you're just evaluating the design "as is".
In Italy the new Lancia's logo was not welcomed well at all, we're missing the old logo.
Sorry for my bad english.. keep on Armin! ;)
On Mar.16.2007 at 11:51 AM
Nick Z.’s comment is:
I would have to agree with Antonio. The logo is very well done. It looks great. But it's lost all the heritage that had been associated with the brand. European car brands are more akin to heraldic emblems than logos.
The slick style isn't enough for this mark. I think the baby got thrown out with the bathwater on this one.
On Mar.16.2007 at 12:51 PM
Joe’s comment is:
I see the four-arm wheel represented (albeit abstractly) through the LANCIA name crossing the vertical line of the two meeting spears.
To me, the only element that doesn't seem to be represented on the new mark is the flag.
On Mar.16.2007 at 01:02 PM
Josh Scruggs’s comment is:
is that a reuleaux triangle?
sweet!
Josh Scruggs’s comment is:
oops! this link should work. Reuleaux
On Mar.16.2007 at 01:12 PM
Von K’s comment is:
I like it. They took all the literal symbols and tossed them while keeping the overall shape and color. It still works. Still says Lancia to me and does it with less fuss and more panache.
I want an Integrale HF so bad. Has anyone got one collecting dust?
On Mar.16.2007 at 02:00 PM
eric strohl’s comment is:
Can a logo be designed today without a sweeping gradient, drop shadow or metallic lighting effect?
I know we live in a digital age of full color printing, and multiple screens, but would it kill designers to do a one color mark every now and them?
Not a fan.
On Mar.16.2007 at 02:24 PM
K. Sniffer’s comment is:
I like it but I have to agree with a lot of the comments posted so far. You could interchange the name with anything and you could find a way to make it apply. In fact, you could stick this logo on the front of product like NetBarrier or DiskWarrior and it would feel perfectly at home.
I know the trend is to go 3D with lots of extrudes, bevels, gradients, etc. (which I don't always mind) but I'm not very fond of the way the outer metallic intersections join. I'm getting extra picky now.
I would love to see a simple, black and white line-art solution for this logo. I can see it reducing down quite well actually.
It looks great but it doesn't say much about the company or their cars. I do love the ligature though.
On Mar.17.2007 at 01:18 AM
Danny Tanner’s comment is:
The old spear..and shield? Look like something the jolly green giant could carry around with him.
This new mark has some edge. Good improvement.
On Mar.17.2007 at 02:00 PM
C-lo’s comment is:
Decent
On Mar.20.2007 at 10:07 AM
drewdraws2’s comment is:
I agree with Antonio et al in thinking that the logo might be cleaner, but it's totally devoid of meaning and history, an important part of any luxury car brand. Losing the spear and the steering wheel makes this logo look brand new - but why would you want that in your 100th year?!
I've worked at Lancia and know that they have had an identity crisis in recent years (really since FIAT bought them in the sixties), I think making the logo more generic will only serve to confuse the brand more.
History is what the Asian competitors don't have and desperately want, but instead of Lancia playing it up on their centennial, they're tearing it down. Explain to me how THAT is good design.
On Mar.21.2007 at 11:20 AM
cille’s comment is:
Evolution:
Lancia... Dancia... Dacia...
On Mar.23.2007 at 10:56 AM
Exigent’s comment is:
Normally I would agree that this is a kick-butt design, but some of you made me reconsider....
History must always be considered, and I feel that the italians are upset due to a generous overhaul. But in all things are change, and those unwilling to change eventually die out.
Though I feel that the new logo is crap and very VERY generic, old logo was NASTY and in dire need up upgrade. They just failed to be original and timeless.
On Mar.27.2007 at 04:27 PM
Giacomo Cesana’s comment is:
To help the discussion I made some research and found Lancia’s historical logos.
Tradition and history WERE the point of the "dead" Lancia logo.
It seems non italian designers are not worried about those values…
DS’s comment is:
...Which makes this one of the most depressing articles I've ever read on underconsideration.
Look at what your advocating Armin! Throw away all your tradition and values for teh bezelz ... The new logo is far too disconnected from the values the company has developed for 100 years.
It seems most people praising the work do so without any knowledge of the marque, and those that do have a knowledge see its many flaws instantly.
A sad day for underconsideration...
On Mar.28.2007 at 12:01 PM
Dave P’s comment is:
I would have preferred to see the text dropped entirely, and then you could have four points coming off the circle to more accurately refer to the prior design. It would make it more international without the lettering. Plus, the way the L merges with the A really bugs. I know non-traditional ligatures seem to be very trendy, but they bother me every time.
On Mar.28.2007 at 03:32 PM
louise’s comment is:
Thnx, my stuff is --
[url=][/url]
louise’s comment is:
Thnx, my stuff is --
[url=][/url]
DBX’s comment is:
as someone who has loved lancias for many years (typing this under a monte carlo rally/delta integrale print, for example) i think the new logo is fantastic.
many italians don't like it now, but i guarantee within a few years the new logo will feel like it has always been the logo.
beautifully executed.
On Jul.12.2007 at 05:12 AM
Mark’s comment is:
pointy.
Those teeth, spades, look sharp.
On Jul.13.2007 at 05:06 PM
Giuseppe’s comment is:
Sorry, but I simply don't like it.
On Jul.16.2007 at 04:05 AM
CS’s comment is:
Ligatures—spears‚ fangs and whatever nonsens supplied here by TWITS
The now 'former' LOGO was designed by the man with the vision‚ the founder who inspired the car the lucky 'few' know (and disregard any Lancia after 1984)
The Lancia logo was a STEERING WHEEL‚ A BANNER WITH THE MAN'S PROUD NAME encircled and at some point in the outer bulged TRAINGLE was decided as emphasis.. a tasteful addition for perfection.
What you are all GAWKING at‚ who like the new logo‚ have no clue to the blasphemy and total disregard of motoring history‚ GENIUS mechanisms that it represents; it's cheap and stoopid like it's beholder‚ conceived and executed by a charlatan..
It's a blatant disgrace and perfectly demonstrates the hollowness and emptiness‚ total lack of respect and absence of quality and meaning that is prevalent today and will only be more so in times to come.. Thanks to the twits
On Apr.08.2008 at 07:28 PM
Comments in Brand New, V1.0 have been closed.
