Dear Amigos,
Rebranding GF Smith was never going to be an easy task. Why? Because their audience shares a quiet love for an increasingly unknown luxury: paper. Naturally, when they replaced their classy image for a bold, moving, and colorful identity, some of its consumers were quite puzzled. The confusion grew as Ben Watkinson, their global brand director, explained the need to meet their public’s changing expectations drove the change. The question is, what are these expectations? Who are we designing for?
Image credits: Walmart/JKR Global
The Reasons Behind Walmart’s Rebranding
Templo took the lead at creating the first major branding project GF Smith has had since 2014. They conducted interviews, forums and workshops to grasp their audiences needs. This led them to create a vibrant branding system that adapts to a variety of touchpoints for its omni-directional nature. The new identity promises a future where paper fosters community and creativity for current and future generations.
Image credits: Walmart/JKR Global
GFS Social and GFS Homie, for text and headlines respectively, are the names of the custom typefaces that complement the brands new look,
Redrawing the Spark
Image credits: Walmart/JKR Global
Since its introduction in the 2008 Walmart logo, the spark has been a vital resource in the visual identity. The rework of this symbol makes it less rigid, basing the construction on circular endpoints and giving the six “Sparklets” a curvy vibe. While it already appeared alone in some cases, it becomes more relevant in this rebrand, encouraging the use of the spark as a main symbol in a variety of touchpoints.
A Typographic Homage
The new wordmark for Walmart actually draws inspiration from the iconic cap that Sam Walton wore for the cover of his biography “Made in America”. It’s actually a callback to the begginings of the brand, specifically the look it had between the 70’s and 90’s, where “WALMART” was displayed in all caps, in a strong sans serif font with very little kerning, giving a stronger, more masculine vibe, some values that were drafted with the 2008 rebrand.
Image credits: Walmart/JKR Global
Besides the wordmark, Sam Walton’s cap inspired a whole custom family named “Everyday Sans” that includes a variety of weights and styles, including a headline version for special creative uses, a mono version for code and data tables, and an UI version with added functionalities for Walmart’s website and app.
Image credits: Walmart/JKR Global
A Vibrant Route
Image credits: Walmart/JKR Global
Walmart’s main colors are very well positioned already, so they were clever not to change the combination. “True Blue” and “Spark Yellow” gained intensity, giving the whole brand a stronger look without losing their stablished identity. They expanded their palette with 3 accent blues to widen their options while making content and applying the brand to different touchpoints.
Image credits: Walmart/JKR Global
How did the crowd take it?
Image credits: @gayandold on X.
When i heard that the rebranding was getting mixed reviews, my first thought was that customers were resistant to another clean sans-serif look, a trend that dominated the visual realm for quite a while, but to my surprise people were mad because the new wordmark looked “too similar” to the previous one, many comments questioned that Walmart spent millions of dollars to look the same as before. Probably most users didn’t look through the entire thing, and started bashing the project only based on the spark redraw.
Maybe some recent rebranding cases (like Jaguar, that also received mostly negative feedback) has us accostumed to the idea that changing your visual identity has to be shocking and dramatic, but in some cases rebrandings can also be about slight adjustments, working around already successful elements to expand their applications. Walmart was cautious to not screw up their visual positioning, also understanding that their public was probably not interested in a revolutionary twist for a brand that integrates steadily with their every-day routine.
There seems to be a change of paths wordwide. Specifically in America, the rise of conservative ideology doesn’t only affect politics, it also impacts aesthetic trends and naturally the way brands present themselves. In the upcoming years, we’ll probably see a lot of brands falling into americana or western aesthetics, aligning themselves with the new status-quo.
Whatever your opinion might be on this rebranding, it’s good news that we remain curious and vocal about the decisions brands make. Healthy debates about our preferences as customers can help create awareness, grounding concepts that sometimes feel too airy and disconnected from reality.
Yours truly,
A Type of Ari.
Since you are really into branding, you might be interested in these other articles and resources:
A Masterclass on how to destroy an iconic brand: Jaguar’s rebranding
