Creative round-up November 2024
November was an interesting month for design and branding news. Here’s our pick of happenings that have caught the eyes of the Ingenious design team over the last few weeks…
Jaguar rebrand
Jaguar unveiled bold new branding to mark the company’s move to electric-only cars. A new concept car will be released at Miami art week featuring the new brand which constitutes a ‘complete reset’ for Jaguar.
Created by the in-house team, the brand was launched via an ad on social media where models in extravagant and brightly-colour outfits revealed the company name written as jaGUar. The ad was mocked for its lack of cars with Tesla founder Elon Musk commenting on X ‘Do you sell cars?’
The rebrand includes an updated circular logo featuring an upper-case J and lower-case r which look the same when rotated and will replace the current roaring jaguar hood logo. The new wordmark - jaGUar - is also a combination of upper- and lower-case letters in a minimal rounded font where the j and r mirror each other as in the logo and the leaping jaguar branding has also been reimagined. A bright new colour palette features primary colours in yellow, red and blue. Chief creative officer Gerry McGovern describes the new look as ‘…unique and fearless…’ and a ‘powerful celebration of modernism, geometric form, symmetry and simplicity…’
Although the 1960’s E-type and XJ Jaguar models are some of the most iconic cars of all time, the company is now the weakest link in the Jaguar Land Rover group with Range Rover and Defender behind highest sales so this is an attempt to revive the brand and attract a new audience that is young, independently minded, wealthy, urban and not wanting run of the mill. As well as receiving criticism, the new brand has also been praised for being bold and shaking things up. Either way, it has certainly grabbed a lot of attention!
John Lewis Christmas ad
There are more divided opinions on this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad. Over the last few years, the retailer has perfected the formula of tear-jerking story combined with an appealing musical cover and subtle branding but this year the ad features a woman on a frantic hunt for a last-minute gift for her sister. There are no heart-tugging plots, animated characters or nostalgic covers – it is more about the real, practical side of Christmas.
Some think it successfully depicts the everyday magic of human connection and companionship while others bemoan the fact that it is no longer the prestigious, abstract mini-movie we’ve all got used to and is simply an ad about a woman going to a shop and doing some shopping! We rather like it, but as designers we are also well aware that it’s impossible to please everybody!
Chester Zoo rebrand
Chester Zoo has a new identity created by How&How including new logo, website, signage and printed material with ‘…closest alignment across all touchpoints’ according to founder, Roger How.
The new logo features a rhino horn hidden within a custom ‘C’ referencing the zoo’s long-standing commitment to supporting the endangered eastern black rhino. Its revamped website is inspired by streaming platforms to give a ‘sense of abundance’. The dark mode colour scheme with pops of colour and background patterns is cinematic and presents a huge range of educational content as a digital ecosystem, promoting a sense of discovery, while an elegant and ever-present booking bar encourages people to buy tickets and visit. A custom typeface has also been created with Sharp Type foundry, adding animal twists to their Grotesk typeface in the form of tails, leaves and claws.
Icehotel 35
The 35th rendition of Icehotel, the ephemeral hotel and art installation made of snow and ice from the River Torne at Jukkasjärvi, Sweden is being created as we write!
Established in 1989, the hotel is reincarnated each year in a completely new guise and lasts until the spring when it melts and returns to Mother Nature, except for a small part which is retained for people to visit year-round.
Each year, an international competition is opened to artists and designers seeking creative and innovative ideas for 12 suites and 20 ice rooms together with main and ceremony halls. There are no rules - concepts can be thoughtful, beautiful, crazy - but they must be completely unique and include a bed. Once winning designs are selected, the creative team gathers to put the magical hotel together. Artists and designers have joined builders, lighting designers and support teams for a hectic time working side by side until Icehotel 35 is finished and ready to open on December 13th.
London’s festive penguin trail
Wild in Art are producers of innovative public art trails and have created Penguin Parade in the Fleet Street Quarter of central London which runs from 14 November until 5 January 2025. The area has been transformed into a winter wonderland with this magical free sculpture trail in support of Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF). Each penguin is decked out in unique festive finery designed by talented artists and perched in iconic spots such as Chancery Lane, Ludgate Circus and Fleet Street, adding a splash of Antarctic charm to the city.
An illustrated map has also been created by author, illustrator and stand-up comedian Olaf Felafel together with a free audio tour giving a guide to each location with information about the sculpture designs, penguins and WWF. By scanning the QR codes on each sculpture, visitors can support WWF’s vital conservation efforts helping to protect penguins and their habitats.