Big Cats, Big Fumbles

Jaguar.

Oh god, what have you done Jaguar?

I don’t think I need to really dig deep into the rebrand and people’s thoughts on it. Many people are VERY unhappy, and rightfully so. This is a long running iconic car brand that, while yes recent years haven’t been kind to it, is held near and dear to the hearts of many gear-heads out there. Past that, many people still remember the time when Jaguar was the exotic car to have over say an Audi or a BMW. Its a brand that reeks class, style, and intrigue. So naturally, the brand redesign tried to match that classy, stylish, and intriguing feel…

And… Boy, they sure did it. In all honesty, they succeeded in capturing the core ideas of the brand, but there’s one itty bitty little problem: It’s a car company. No really, that’s why this failed. The logo on its own is actually really well put together. Its perfectly spaced, has a strange yet fancy look, and feels modern. The only real catch is that it would look good on a purse, or maybe a sunglasses brand.

This is a fantastic example of how a good redesign can be completely derailed from a lack of market research, and/or extending far beyond the boundaries of your target. You can take a nice font and design and totally miss the goal because its just way too out of the box. I hope that they don’t go through with this change, its really silly.