Old and new.
Salewa is a (if not the) major player in the outdoor gear industry in Europe. As parent company to Dynafit, Pomoca and Wild Country, they have significant presence in the world of mountaineering and backcountry skiing all over the world. Salewa continues to expand global distribution of their products (from 2007-2011 they reported 500% growth in U.S.). It’s a brand you’ll be seeing more of all over the world, so we figured some exposition about their new logo would be fun.
Too B-to-B you say? Perhaps, but after an interesting conversation with a certain young designer, we thought some of you would be intrigued with a brief analysis of the new logo.
The Salewa eagle logo was created in 1979. The new logo is basically a simplified version of the old one, keeping the bird, colors, etc. The Salewa eagle went from clearly being a bird, to being super abstracted. This simplification of the logo has a few practical advantages:
It becomes more of a “symbol” for their company that is easily recognizable, without the text of their logo, and allows for it to be used in a bigger variety of ways on the graphic design of their gear and marketing materials.
Black Diamond’s logo is an excellent example of this. It’s simple, but most people in the outdoor industry know it well enough that they can recognize it even if it is used in a unique way (e.g. putting a large logo on a ski: only half the logo is showing but it is still recognizable as their logo). Also, the BD logo can be used sideways or at an angle without it looking too weird. Since Salewa’s new logo is not attached to text and doesn’t have a clear “bottom,” it probably can be used in a similar way.
The new logo is less detailed, so it’s easier to print and represent with other manufacturing processes. For example, they could forge the new logo on the side of a carabiner much easier than the old one, or it could be cut out of flat metal or made out of a piece of fabric much easier.
The flying eagle is a common image whereas the new wings are more uniquely identifiable. Salewa went from using a combination mark to having a design that can be used as an icon.
Also, a quick note on terminology: Logo is used for the symbol, and logotype is the name of the company spelled out (usually with a custom font or some other unique feature).
“Flat” design is currently the major trend in the graphic design world. This is in contrast to about 10 years ago, when 3D design was the popular trend (just look at the evolution of the Google Chrome logo). If Salewa would have redesigned their logo 10 years ago, it would have turned out much differently. Their old design was pretty “flat” as well, although there is a slight amount of 3D in the birds wing, but not much.
Their new font for the logotype is similar to the old one in that it uses a lot of straight lines and hard angles. However, the new one uses diagonal lines, whereas the old one uses entirely vertical or horizontal lines. Diagonals are normally seen as more exciting and dynamic (just like in photography).
Disadvantages to redesign — the old logo was historic; a new one doesn’t have much history behind it. A simplified logo can be viewed as boring. To someone who is not familiar with Salewa, it could seem less exciting or recognizable. To them, it’s just a shape, whereas the old logo was clearly a bird (and all the things a bird symbolizes: freedom, flight, etc.).
One comment we heard, “The logo type is pure ’70s heavy metal band.” Perhaps that was influenced by legendary air guitar contests at various Dynafit press events.
WildSnow’s opinion? We like it. The message we see is Salewa is spreading its wings. And given their dedication to excellence in all things backcountry, that is a good thing.
WildSnow Girl, Lisa Dawson, is the luckiest girl in the world. Also known as Mrs. WildSnow.com, she tests whatever gear she wants. She gives the WildSnow family of websites the feminine voice.
