Statoil brand identity design
Posted November 3rd, 2009.
After announcing the change back in April this year, energy and oil provider Statoil have yesterday adopted their new brand identity. The new identity has been received with mixed results. While many give the brand credit for it’s boldness, the final execution has received a bit of criticism.
In ticking off the 5 key features of a good logo, is the mark describable, memorable, effective in black and scalable? Yes. But is it appropriate? Many people seem to think no.
It’s definitely not the typical image that comes to mind when thinking about oil and energy, but that’s the point. After reading Statoils objectives for the design I think the Scandinavian Design Group has done well.
The press release on the design is available here, along with a 10 second advertisement that will advertise the brand. Some key quotes taken from the press release are;
Our new logo, the star, is inspired by the starry skies of the north. It symbolizes our highest aspirations: continued focus on the Norwegian continental shelf, international growth, and active and targeted work to develop effective new energy solutions…
Along the way we carried out thorough research among the world’s 100 largest energy companies. We found most to be quite conservative in their descriptive symbols and communications. We wanted to differentiate ourselves by making a courageous decision. It’s important that we stand out in an international arena and stay faithful to our desire to lead the way…
By choosing the magenta-coloured star as our new symbol, we make explicit our origins and our desire to cross new frontiers on our journey forward. We’re also making a clear statement that the world can still look towards the north to discover future energy solutions…
Along with the included corporate collateral, and images reception areas, building signage, work uniforms and more.
What do you think?
I don’t think anyone would disagree it’s an improvement over the old mark, but I think the new mark stands proud in it’s own right.
Wow, they look like gems on the sign. I like the font choice, though I don’t know how much the emblem matches the company’s field. Not bad, though.
Omar,
That’s entirely the appeal from my perspective though. A focus on innovation, growth and new solutions, not just “we sell oil”.
They could have gone for the trusty old navy blue square and some heavy sans in construction yellow but then what would they be? Just another face in the crowd so to speak.
Not a fan of the new logo. The font looks like something out of a Word template for party invitations from 1995, and the word STATOIL works much better in capital letters.
A made-up word with two T’s, an I and and L in it needs all the help it can get in terms of visual clarity. Without the all-caps it’s much harder to decipher for someone who sees the word for the first time. Slaloit? Siatoli? Slaioll? Sfaiofl?
Oh well, someone got a few million for 15 minutes of work, so… congratulations.
Castafiore,
It’s been a real love / hate one, this design. I guess we know which side of the fence you’re on ;)
Actually, “Statoil” is not a made-up word (@Castafiore), its a combination of the Norwegian “Stat” (means State) and Oil.
Ole,
Thanks for the info.