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Airbnb redesign: Monotype, Fitch, Coley Porter Bell and more share reaction

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By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

July 17, 2014 | 11 min read

Airbnb last night unveiled a new logo as part of a brand overhaul, which the accommodation booking site says celebrates 'belonging'. Featuring Bélo, the universal symbol of belonging, the logo has drawn a flurry of comments on social media, likening it to everything from genitalia to the 'w' in the Walt Disney logo. Here creatives from Monotype, Fitch, Coley Porter Bell and more share their thoughts on the redesign.

Ed Bolton, design director, Fitch

"Airbnb knows what it's good at and plays the part perfectly with its new brand concept, 'belong anywhere'.

"It shows that wherever you are in the world, you can find somewhere you belong and the logo could potentially be used universally as a symbol of that. They've utilised the community they've built and this logo invites others to join in, and, alongside their new brand, it seems like a tempting offer to me.

"The logo is lovely in its simplicity and they've packed it full of meaning. As Airbnb explains in its broadcast, it stands for people, places and love. To me as a designer, it's simplicity is what makes it: anyone can draw this anywhere. I can imagine guests staying at Airbnb accommodation leaving the logo behind on a window sill, or doodling it on their notepads. It stands for the idea that anyone can draw this logo, anyone can travel anywhere around the world, and anyone can belong there. This tugs on the heart strings without being overly-sentimental which often proves to be a difficult balance to find."

Ryan Arruda, graphic designer, Monotype

"An earnest simplicity seems to be at the core of Airbnb’s rebranding. Featuring a new symbol named the Bélo, this monoline mark is an entwined union of other symbols, among them a heart, a map marker, and an abstract “A” letterform.

"This new icon is certainly an upgrade from their previous thick-stroked (and more boisterous) script wordmark. Whereas that design felt a bit lumbering, Airbnb’s redesign feels more refined, more mature and more purposeful—but not in a manner that evokes a feeling of an artificially sleek or saccharine veneer.

"The Bélo, along with the site’s new sans serif typography and immersive photography, is warmly inviting, harmonizing nicely with Airbnb’s reiterated mission of fostering “belonging” across the globe.

"Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the company’s rebranding is Airbnb’s companion project Create Airbnb, in which the company invites users to create their own version of the newly introduced Bélo. While the notion of what Airbnb calls their new “shared brand identity” might seem like a coy marketing gimmick, releasing a freshly rebranded identity for others to freely reinterpret as their own is unusual indeed—it takes both a certain confidence and sincerity to pull off."

Craig Barnes, design director, Coley Porter Bell

"Well, gone are the days of the internet where you simply typed out your brand name with a drop shadow and bright colours and hoped for the best! Airbnb have joined the next generation of sites that have become richer, fuller experiences living and breathing like any brand, online or otherwise. The site looks great.

"I am feeling pretty smug that the first three things I thought of staring at the new 'Bélo' identity were later explained by Airbnb themselves in their rather neat video and I think the average Joe might be able to deduce at least two of those values, too. If I was forced to be critical I'd question if they're indeed the first brand to be offer such an identity, given that the AIDS ribbon did much the same thing when it broke ground more than 20 years ago. I also believe naming your logo and inviting others to create their own version of it seems a tad overwrought an idea at launch; elevating a logo to iconic status is something which occurs naturally and with time.

"It's wordy and worthy. As we become more sophisticated online users, and with the brands we have at our fingertips evolving all the time, I can't help but wonder if we will ever really find the passion and time to engage beyond the actual service offered. When I'm on eBay I just want to buy and sell, so here I may just want to find a place to stay that's cool and hope that they're a reliable bunch. That they're clearly passionate about people and places too is great. The fact they're pretty, even better. Can we just leave it there?"

Sean Kinmont, founding partner, 23red

“What I really like about the new Airbnb logo is that they’ve built in a ‘do’. By this I mean they’ve designed an identity which can be drawn by anyone in their own style, and in doing so they get feelings and thoughts about the brand. To encourage this they’ve launched ‘Create Airbnb’ where you can customise your own ‘Bélo’ symbol. It’s a clever way of engaging people in their brand and a great example of our motto, Do.Feel.Think.

“While I’m nostalgic for their original ‘airbed type’ logo I can see the need for them to become a global brand with a tighter identity which works better on mobile. In this respect I think the tight graphical design, which nods to the British Standards Institution Kitemark, is a good solution. I like the combination of the ‘A’, two ‘bs’, and the ampersand ‘&’ to make a heart, which is then inverted to look a bit like an aeroplane. I’d stick with that throughout the brand’s formal communications and see the hand-drawn idea as a social media campaign which allows their users to engage.

“I like their new ‘upside-down ampersand heart’ logo. However I don’t think the schizophrenia in its execution serves the brand well. On the one hand we have the hand-drawn, touchy-feely version of their ‘Bélo’ logo. On the other is a graphic, rational design: this looks like a compromise between the free-spirits and the money-men, and the new brand identity is the weaker for it."

Emily Penny, co-founder and brand consultant, Be Colourful

"Airbnb embraces all those things that represent an antidote to global capitalism: it’s local, individual and personal, and not institutionalised, austere or regimented. It’s the equivalent of wonky organic fruit at the farmer’s market and it celebrates difference and personality.

"People-centred brands can feel quasi-religious and slightly cult-like with their emphasis on wellbeing and sermons on philosophy. They know how to rally a crowd with compelling speeches and tone of voice. The new symbol is not unlike the universal Christian fish symbol. It stands for belonging and has it’s own name, Bélo, which feels terribly earnest to the cynical British ear.

"Adopting a simple symbol, especially one that works well in a small square format, is of course hugely helpful with mobile apps and social media being such important touch-points. We’re seeing more and more symbols replacing unwieldy typographic marks. And like the Nike swoosh, we should expect recognition of this symbol without any need for the name at all. We’re seeing a global language of pictograms more and more that borrows as much from the East as the West.

"This is a brand focused not on selling but on celebrating friendship, and making friends. The photography and video imagery goes straight to the heart, but I’m not sure the symbol has charmed me. This is a people brand yes, but Airbnb has grown up and the brand identity is actually cleverly contrived, commercial and fit for purpose."

Jonathan Ford, founding partner and chief creative officer, Pearlfisher

"So Airbnb has a new symbol, a symbol of belonging. A hand drawn upside down heart with a person inside which is also an A. And in it is a big idea - that the rather earnest and drawn out introduction from the founding fathers of this rapidly growing and iconic travel, er sorry, 'belonging' brand, wanted to hit us right between the eyes, with its sense of meaning.

"So, do I like it? Well it's better than the awful typeface they had before, but so much emphasis was put on just the logo and the endless iterations that can be drawn from it that I’m left thinking it's just that: a logo, with endless iterations. Everything else about the brand expression seems to have been redesigned separately - including an enhanced website and improved user experience - but with the logo top left and not much of a brand expression connected to or from it.

"If I covered up the logo would I know it is an Airbnb website? I'm not sure. So I guess with my fleeting guest preview (along with the 14425 other people who whiled away 30 minutes listening to story telling, cute songs and folksy animations against a overall soundtrack of sentimentality), we will just have to wait and see how this brand identity rolls out further. I’d like to see more of how it creates a truly connected brand experience or if it is, just a logo with endless iterations of belonging."

Natalie Alexander, co-founder, ButterflyCannon

"Upon initial viewing of the new logo, no I didn’t think of boobs. Or bums. Or lady bits. I was actually reminded of the Habitat logo but this isn’t such a bad thing when you consider that Airbnb is celebrating the ‘home’ and the sense of belonging. Without doubt, the new identity looks more contemporary and more grown up than its previous incarnation and by moving away from the cold blue colourway used by other San Fran tech start-up, allows it to still feel playful. The most interesting aspect of the new identity is that it isn’t static, it really is interactive and personal; with the ‘Create Airbnb’ feature users are able to customize their own ‘Bélo’ symbol.

"The newly enhanced website provides a more coherent user experience and by introducing ‘living photos’ it feels more personal and helps move Airbnb into more of a lifestyle brand. This reinforces the message that it’s an experience far removed from staying in a hotel. When you consider that it’s ordinary people’s homes that are being marketed and not high end hotels, it’s incredible how much more alluring their website is.

"Airbnb has been in the news a lot of late, along with stories of its success (the company was recently valued at $10bn), it has also been the subject of regulatory scrutiny and the nemesis of the hotel industry, and so by choosing to reveal the new brand identity in such a public way it was sure to create debate. There has been an uproar on Twitter saying that the logo has sexual connotations but this has just given them additional coverage. Perhaps this buzz was part of the plan? Either way, it goes to show three things: 1. how Airbnb is becoming part of our lives, 2. that we’re particularly interested in the new identity because in this case the brand is effectively ours, it is our homes that are being marketed and, 3. what filthy minds we all have.

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