优步推出全新简约品牌

不到三年，Uber被重新定位为反乌托邦科幻《吃豆人》(pac-man)粉丝的首选出租车服务。据报道，这一举措旨在将这家初创公司重塑为人们日常生活的选择;它实际上剥夺了品牌的所有个人联系。本周，优步公布了一个更加连贯、更加吸引人的身份，比它本应等待的时间多了不到三年。由“优步品牌体验”团队与沃尔夫•奥林斯(Wolff Olins)共同设计的“优步品牌体验”在纠正之前身份的明显缺陷方面做得非常好。作为一家企业——它们真的不再是初创企业——优步得到了全球认可;从Netflix电视剧中的名客，到罗马的路牌(mis)，告诉潜在客户使用优步会被处以高额罚款，你很难找到一个不知道优步是什么、不知道优步做什么的人。尽管到目前为止，他们的视觉形象还很平庸。优步扩张面临的最大问题是一个在全球范围内有效的身份。旧的方法是适应当地文化，新方法是如此简单以至于在任何地方都能工作。优步的全球箭头标志是一个新的标志类型。是的，正如你所担心的，它是基于一个几何的无衬线的。(对于那些不熟悉类型分类的人来说，它与谷歌、Opera、Airbnb、Mastercard等公司最近采用的样式是一样的。)乍一看，优步的标识有点不平衡，左边的重量似乎是逆时针旋转的。仔细观察一下，不是间距，而是由于茎在“U”和“b”上的接近造成的密度，特别是大写“U”上的小写风格终端。那是怎么回事?是空白的，是一条…路吗?如果是这样的话，他们肯定会感到失望，因为他们没有把这家公司命名为“Uiber”。我花了一些时间在牌子上，它越来越吸引我。它不像我想的那样轻松，但它给人的感觉是实用主义的，这是优步脱离早期排他性的积极一步。该公司委托位于洛杉矶的工作室MCKL设计了一种新的字体。名为“Uber Move”(Uber Move)的公司在将品牌材料整合在一起方面做得非常出色。优步的定制字体，优步移动优步正在采用颜色黑色——在其之前的品牌中已经大量使用了这种颜色——与白色一起取代了公司通讯中的大多数颜色。“安全蓝”(Safety Blue)被用来召唤重要元素，讽刺的是，它让人想起了《心灵镜》(mind Mirror)的边缘(你步行穿越一个大都市)。也有一些柔和的颜色，但它们的加入感觉不那么实际，而董事会安抚。优步在其他元素的基础上推出了一款新的u型框架。适应性强、微妙而又与众不同的框架可以通过多种方式重新组合，可以是白色的，也可以是照片元素的遮罩。优步的u型框架让优步从汽车转向自行车、嘟嘟车和飞机，它需要一个简单、积极、强大的身份。这种重塑品牌的尝试是一种勇敢的尝试，很可能是成功的。

A little less than three years ago, Uber rebranded as the cab-service of choice for dystopian sci-fi pac-man fans. It was a move reportedly intended to recast the startup as the choice of every day people; it actually stripped the brand of all personal connections.This week, a little less than three years longer than it should have waited, Uber have unveiled a far more coherent, far more appealing identity.Designed by the “Uber Brand Experience” team alongside Wolff Olins, the rebrand does an excellent job of correcting the obvious deficiencies in the previous identity.As a corporation—they’re really no longer a startup—Uber is globally recognized; from name-drops in Netflix series, to street signs in Rome (mis)informing potential customers of heavy fines for using the service, you’ll struggle to find anyone who doesn’t have some idea of what Uber is, and what Uber does. This despite the fact that until now they had an underwhelming visual identity.The biggest issue for Uber’s expansion has been an identity that worked globally. The old approach was to be adaptable to local cultures, the new approach is to be so simple that it works anywhere.Uber’s global arrow iconCentral to the rebrand is a new logotype. And yes, as you feared, it’s based on a geometric sans-serif. (For anyone not au fait with type classifications, it’s the same style recently adopted by Google, Opera, Airbnb, Mastercard, et al.)At first glance the Uber logotype is a little unbalanced, the weight on the left making it appear to rotate counter-clockwise. On closer inspection, it’s not the spacing, but the density caused by the proximity of the stems on the ‘U’ and the ‘b’ and specifically the lowercase style terminal on the uppercase ‘U’. What’s that doing there? Is it…does the whitespace…is it…a…road? If so, they must be gutted they didn’t name the company “Uiber”.Having spent some time with the logotype, it’s growing on me. It doesn’t feel as effortless as I’d like, but it feels utilitarian which is a positive step away from Uber’s early exclusivity.Designed alongside the logotype the company has commissioned a new typeface from LA-based studio MCKL. Named ‘Uber Move’ it does an excellent job of tying the brand materials together.Uber’s custom typeface, Uber MoveUber is adopting the color black—already heavily utilized in its previous branding—which alongside white replaces most color in the company’s communications. ‘Safety Blue’ has been introduced to call out important elements, ironically calling to mind Mirror’s Edge (in which you traverse a metropolis on foot). There is also scope for a few muted colors, but their inclusion feels less practical, than boardroom placating.Uber’s ‘Safety Blue’ paletteOn top of the other elements, Uber is introducing a new u-shaped frame. Adaptable, subtle, yet distinct, the frame can be repurposed in a number of ways, either in white, or as a mask for photo elements.Uber’s new u-frameAs Uber moves away from cars alone, and towards bikes, tuk-tuks, and aircraft, it needs a simple, positive, robust identity. This rebrand is a brave, and probably successful, attempt to deliver that.