Daydream rebrand: Dunkin Donuts
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 at 05:59PM A really interesting script logo caught my eye at my local Dunkin Donuts the other morning. I soon discovered it was part of their 60th anniversary campaign, which included several other heritage marks. I was intrigued by this as a design problem and dove right in.
I worked in two phases. First for the 60th Anniversary year and then coming out of that into an evolved Dunkin Donuts brand. Overall my approach was to maintain the the things that have made the brand so iconic. The colors and the font remain, but are applied in new ways. I maintained the lightness and simplicity of the brand to allow it to continue to stand in contrast to it's serious and uber-hip competition. It needed to be approachable, smart and above all, appropriate. This is my take on a real world design approach.
PHASE 1 / 60TH ANNIVERSARY: The approach here was to bring in the heritage by reviving and streamlining their original mascot and to utilize the typography from their original logo. The new "Dunkie" is the centerpiece along with a new 60th Anniversary mark. Other items were created to emphasize Dunkin's longevity and history in a fresh way.
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Decade specific apparel / 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's
PHASE 2 / BRAND EVOLUTION: For phase 2 I just wanted to give a taste of where the brand could go. Coming out of the 60th Anniversary year, it would be a great opportunity for Dunkin to create a fresh set of materials. Dunkie would still be around, but both he and the original script logo would be used more sparingly. Adding the coffee cup to their identity, really helped them battle the big coffee players in the market, but at this point, I think they've staked that claim. So I propose returning to the clean word mark, and creating a flexible system of textures and logo variations.
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These are my thoughts and explorations and are in no way endorsed by Dunkin Donuts. The Dunkin Donuts brand is copyrighted, trademarked and owned by DD IP Holder LLC.
All of these designs, ideas and concepts are the the intellectual property of Matt Stevens.Enjoy them, post them, love them. A credit and/or link would be appreciated. Thanks.
Matt Stevens
After I created an earlier version of this rebrand and posted it, I shared it with brand blogger extraordinaire, Armin Vit over at Brand New. He thought it would be a good project to use for his April Fool's post, so I temporarily pulled this entry down to minimize traffic. He used some of my work, along with solid research and imagination to create a really convincing post. At Armin's request, I also created a fake mascot redesign post to provide some further back story. It was a pleasure to be involved and to see this work I did for fun, get a second life. For all the kind words over there, I appreciate it. And for all the solid critique, that's pretty cool too.
Matt Stevens
Designer, blogger, music afficianado and all around cool guy Michael Eades over at yewknee did nice post about April Fools, and this project was included.
Reader Comments (17)
Make that sprinkles shirt and consider it sold!
Beautiful work !
great work. now, you need to sell it to DD.
NICE! i got fooled for real. haha
Smart and fun, nicely done.
Very nice work/play! Color me inspired... :)
Kudos to you. Very nice work!
Great work!
I love it!
Lovely work!
Mr. Matt, AWESOME!!! Very, VERY cool work. I love the "restoration vintage" look. Keep up the good work.
I want that sprinkles shirt!!!!!!!
Even though it was a prank, Dunkin Donuts would be crazy if they don't hire you for this!!! As an aspiring Graphic Designer this is one of my favorite logos of all time. Thanks.
This logo is actually being used: http://varsitydonuts.blog.com/
Wow, the post above me sounded so promising until he got to the bit about male enhancement drugs. Awesome. Matt, this whole redesign is RIDICULOUSLY good. Love it all. Dunkin' Donuts would be so stupid not to utilize your talents.
I love that old 60's logo with the donut man in the hat. I'll have to move that one over to my Dunkin Donuts blog - DunkinDonutsTalk.com
Great work Matt and loves the design from the old into the new. Quite a talent and I would be happy to print some samples for you to present to Dunkin Donuts. I drink their coffee daily and would like to be included in printing opportunities with talented designers like you.
Omg Dunkin Donuts =( I still remember the days when I was a child and loved going there! It was so awesome at the time and it still is lol. I hope they don't change much or it would be a complete shame.