Skoda, a leading car manufacturer from the Czech Republic, has brought a drastic design change to its 30- year-old logo. It now has a new trendy logo that addresses its new aspiration to enter the electronic vehicle market. The new logo will appear on the Company’s new Electronic series of vehicles and as part of the automaker’s Strategy 2030.
The Company launched the new logo in two versions. First, the word-only logo comprises the Company’s name SKODA. And the second is a combination logo with its historic emblem and the Company’s name in a stylish font below. On the use of the emblem logo, the Company said that it would appear on the inside of the car and other parts, such as the wheels.
The Company has already stopped displaying its flying arrow logo from its car’s rear, replacing it with the typography-based Skoda logo across the car’s back.
What prompted Skoda to redesign its logo?
Electrification and digitalization are the two inspirations behind the Company creating a new logo. Since the world is moving toward electronic vehicles, the Company is preparing to enter this segment in 2024, when it will launch its next-gen Skoda Superb and Skoda Kodiaq electronic car models. These two car models will be the first to have the new logo. Besides these cars, the newly designed logo will also be on its seven-seater SUV.
According to Skoda, this radical change in its logo design is also intended to make the logo print-friendly. The Company wanted people to recognize the logo easily on displays and print products. The existing three-dimensional logo with wings looks big and does not look impressive on prints and digital products.
The new logo is part of the Company’s Vision 7S concept, which is its 7-seater SUV.
The Process
The logo design process started in the Company itself. The in-house team of designers and other employers worked on the brand’s identity and new logo. The team invited the design ideas from the entire employee force of the Company and got 165 design proposals. Then, the team shortlisted just three design ideas, which were thrown to the 2,200 people from the Czech Republic, Norway, Germany, Italy, and other countries.
The new logo will be first shown on social media and in the Company’s communication materials. Then, starting in 2024, the logo will appear on new Skoda models.
Design Elements Of The New Skoda Logo
Typography
The new Skoda logo is a typography-based wordmark featured on the rear and the front of the Skoda cars.
Caron over S
Another feature of the new Skoda logo is that it addresses the issue of caron or the inverted circumflex accent over the letter S. The Company thought that the global audience did not understand the accent since it is from Czechoslovakia.
But the Company came up with a unique and exciting solution to the caron issue. Rather than ditching the historical accent, the Company included it in the new logo design. It finds a place in the letter S shape. So while those who know what a caron is can recognize the separated dash in the S as a caron, those unfamiliar with the caron can ignore it and take the S as a stylish letter.
At the same time, since the brand name is still officially spelled as Škoda with the accent, people gradually will associate the letter S design with traditional caron.
According to Martin Pavlik, Skoda’s team member who worked on the new brand identity, said, “The accent was a challenge for us: from a global perspective, it tends to be confusing for most of our customers. In the new form, this symbol will be integrated and blend in with the symmetry of the company’s logo, while customers in the domestic market and some others will still recognize it in the lettering.”
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Color
Skoda’s traditional green has been replaced with two new shades, emerald and electric. Emerald green is vivid or bluish green. The new minty green is trendy.
Another color the Company now uses is the electric color that appears to glow with intensity. Such electric colors are inspired by colored electric lights used in commercial signs, but these are white shining lights, unlike red neon lights.
The new color shades still link with Skoda’s traditional green identity, but the new color choices also give the logo and brand a refreshing look for strong electromobility.
The Company chose the new shades also because these look better on mobile, which modern people use so frequently.
The Wings Flattened
Skoda has also flattened its historical three-dimensional emblem winged-arrow logo to make it appear two-dimensional. The intention here is to simplify the car logo to look more modern. In addition, by flattening the logo, the Company can now use it on different marketing and advertising products in small sizes, especially on digital platforms.
What will happen to the winged arrow?
Once the Company fully adopts the new typography Skoda logo, will the existing legendary winged logo be dumped? The Company has said that the winged arrow logo will be slightly modified. It will now be simplified from the present three-dimensional to two-dimensional design. Now, it will appear more as a flat design. However, the fundamental meaning of the logo, shape, and size will remain the same.
How The Skoda Logo Evolved Over The Decades
Know that Skoda has made numerous changes in its logo design, and its evolution history goes back to 1895 when the Company was called Laurin & Klement. Back then, it manufactured bicycles and motorbikes. At that time, the L& K.appeared on cars.
Slavia Logo (1895-1905)
As you can see, the logo design reflected the Company’s business of bicycle and motorcycle manufacturing. The wheel logo had lime leaves as a symbol of the Slavic nations.
L&K Logo (1905-1925)
The L&K logo design resulted from the influence that most designers in those times had of the early-20th-century Art Nouveau artistic style. The laurel wreath in the logo is symbolic of victory.
Škoda Logo (1926-1933)
The Company had a different brand name Skoda by 1926. The logo had an oval shape with the brand name in the middle. It continued to have the laurel wreath to keep with the cultural symbol.
Škoda Logo (1926-1990)
The historic winged arrow was introduced in this period, though its origin is still unknown. But the symbol was clear in its message, with the arrow standing for speed and wings for a joyful car ride and innovation. It also resembled an Indian wearing a feature headdress.
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ŠKODA AUTO Logo (1999 – 2011)
It was in 1999 that the Company first used the now historical and legendary green color, which gave the SKODA brand its identity. At that time, black was another color incorporated into the design to represent the hundred-year tradition. Green stood for the environment.
ŠKODA Logo (2011 – 2016)
In 2011, the Company came up with a new tagline, “The New Power of ŠKODA.” This time the winged arrow looked even more distinct due to the use of a new spectrum of colors.
ŠKODA Logo (since 2016)
Until the new typography-based Skoda logo is entirely used on the Company’s vehicles and marketing materials, the winged-arrow emblem will continue to be its brand identity. There were some changes made to the logo in 1916. A significant change in the logo design was that the wordmark in the new layout was placed underneath the picture mark. The winged arrow also appeared in a chrome ring.
Also, the company released the new logo as just the wordmark only with no emblem. It will appear on the bonnet of the Skoda car as can be seen in the following image.
Conclusion
Skoda has come up with a complete overhauling of its old winged-arrow logo of more than three decades. The new logo is a typography-based design featuring the brand name only. The traditional coron over the S letter has been transformed in the new logo. The coron now appears at the side and as part of the letter S in the Company’s name. This change in logo is in line with the Company’s foray into the electronic vehicles market.
