The all new BMW i4 Concept isn’t the only new aspect of BMW design that fans are up in arms about. Along with the i4 Concept, the Bavarians also rolled out a new logo and it seems that the majority of BMW enthusiasts are upset about it because of course they are. While I’m not one to sugarcoat everything BMW does, in fact I’m often lambasted for my criticism of the Bavarian brand on what seems like a daily basis, I have to admit, I think BMW made the right move here. Not only do I think the brand did right by updating the logo, I actually really like the new one.
BMW’s new logo is drastically different than the one it replaces. It’s likely the most radical change the logo has ever gone through. BMW has changed its logo several times over the decades but, prior to this week, it’s been the same since 1997. That’s a long time to not even slightly update the logo and the 1997 one was starting to seem old-fashioned.
The logo introduced in 1997 had a sort of three-dimensional design, with gradient shading and depth. That probably looked fantastic back in the ’90s but it was starting to look like something from, well, the ’90s. Now, the new logo is completely two-dimensional and flat, which looks far more modern and simplistic. To be honest, I really like the look a lot and I think it’s about time that BMW made a change.
What’s more, I even really like the aspect of the logo that most people dislike the most; the transparent outer ring. On the new BMW i4 Concept, you can see that the formerly black ring surrounding the Bavarian Flag-colored center has disappeared. So outside the of the blue-and-white checkers is now just empty space, with a thin outer ring outside of that.
Most enthusiasts hate the transparency and, admittedly, BMW has said it’s not going to use this transparent version on cars but I actually think it should. The transparent version in on the hood of the i4 Concept and I actually think it looks really slick, especially with the metallic outer ring. Though, that version might not work on all cars except for BMW i models.
Either way, I like this new logo more than the outgoing one. Not only am I glad that BMW made the change but I actually like the change that was made.
I like it too, although I’m not sure why they even showed it off and upset the whole enthusiast community only to not actually put it on a vehicle. People were going crazy over literally nothing, this will literally in no way, effect their lives.
Yes it’s an unpopular opinion. Makes me think how much they paid for this logo and what the cost is going to be to change it everywhere and the same they are telling consumers that their car will be thousands of euro more expensive because of the EV. The logo is ridiculous and childishly designed and I hope that it will not be so huge on the hoods, if so it will be the first thing I will remove from my future car.
I was going to say farewell to BMW when news of this came out – they don’t respect any traditions anymore. It’s nice to have something that can visually link BMWs from 100 years ago to today’s cars. Not everything has to be radically reinterpreted.
But now they say they’re not putting it on their cars – I’m back!
There is a graphic in this very post showing that the new logo is *way* closer to the original logo and to the logo from 1963 than what we had now.
You call this radical?
There is likely to be a different version of the new logo for production car use, one that accomodates, for example, white cars.
The logo won’t stand on white background in this new form – you cannot invert it for black in order to adapt because is losing the symbolism. The idea of transparency is spot on and suits very well the one of open relationship, but as good as this idea gets, the execution is poor since the same logo cannot be used everywhere – I suppose using chrome for the ring and letters would solve somehow the issue on white and light colored backgrounds – but definitely cannot use chrome for all the white parts. Also, in this form, you never know if the white that balances the blue is negative space or something that has authority.
Flattening the colors is close to universal because of its simplicity and this works every time – until another trend will appear, I suppose (commercial stuff – therefore hateable).
Good rebranding, poor execution.
Try placing it on a white background….
They’ve even tried and this is the mess
https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/bmw_2020_logo_black.png
Only grey outline on the white quarters but not on the blue quarters?
If they wanted flatness for the shake of flatness, they could have done this:
https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/bmw_2020_logo_white.png
This poorly designed logo is the least of their problems 😂 🤦🏻♂️
I like the new logo, it’s just the implementation of it on the badge I’m not so keen on. Because the roundel is now transparent, by not making the color segments 3 dimensional it gives the appearance that the logo is a thin layer ‘inkjet printed’ on the top surface, which looks a bit cheap. Personally I would have much preferred the colors had depth that ran though the badge front to back.
The collective wisdom of some brand experts in these comments are… priceless.
I like it
Liking or disliking the new logo is to a large extent a subjective matter. From the objective point of view the design is very minimalist. For this kind of design space is needed. But in the new logo the letters seem to have been squeezed between both rings. The proportions are disputable. Technically this is not a well executed design (although someone probably got very rich with it!). Personally I do not really like it, because the style and colors remind me too much of current computer interfaces.
We need the full name of BMW in the roundel “Bayerische Motoren Werke” printed in some old Gothic font.