Alcatel is a brand of mobile devices designer and developer. It was established in 2005 in France and was acquired by Nokia in 2016. Today the Alcatel trademark is used under license by TLC Communication Ltd.
The Alcatel visual identity has had three major redesigns since the date of the brand’s establishment, but all of its logo versions were text-based and didn’t have any additional details, looking strict and professional.
What is Alcatel?
Alcatel is the name of a European mobile phone manufacturer; which was established in France in 2005 and bought by the Swedish Nokia company in 2016. Today under the Alcatel brand there are not only mobile devices but also WiFi modems and accessories are being manufactured.
The very first logo for the company was introduced in 1996 and stayed with Alcatel for eight years as an official emblem, though stayed on some of the phone models until 2007. It was a gray rectangular badge, stretched horizontally. On the badge, there was a white sans-serif lettering written in all capitals, which the middle letter “A” drawn as a solid white triangle, and an orange mirroring shape above it. This colorful icon was the only graphical element of the logo and made it recognizable and eye-catching.
The redesign of 2004 brought a very laconic logo version to the brand — it was monochrome lettering, set in one or two levels, depending on the needs and placement. The main logo was composed of an “Alcatel” in all capitals and “Mobile phones” in the lowercase placed under it. Both lines were written in black using a simple and clean sans-serif typeface. The main inscription could also be used on its own, without a tagline.
In 2010 the logo was redesigned again. It was a necessary rebranding after the label changed its name to Alcatel OneTouch. The emblem from 2010 featured a black capitalized “Alcatel” inscription in a custom sans-serif typeface with rounded angles and straight cuts, and a light blue “One touch” placed under it and written in the lowercase. The new blue color of the brand’s palette added some freshness and a sense of a progressive approach.
In 2016 the brand changes its name back to Alcatel and the logo is being redrawn again. Today the Alcatel badge is composed of a lowercase wordmark, which is available in light blue and black color palettes. The smooth rounded sans-serif typeface with wide contours and clean lines has its second letter a stylized. The “A” is drawn in white and placed inside a blue abstract shape, resembling a location pin or dialogue cloud. The Alcatel logo looks minimalist yet fully reflects the purpose of the brand, its professionalism, and its reliability.
The friendly lowercase logotype from the primary badge of Alcatel is set in a bold sans-serif typeface with full, rounded shapes of the letters and clean contours. The closest fonts to the one, used in the Alcatel insignia, are, probably, Circa Bold, or Vilane Regular, but with some modifications, which make the contours of the characters more minimalistic.
As for the color palette of the Alcatel visual identity, it is based on a light and bright shade of blue, which looks fresh and cool, and evokes such feelings as trustworthiness, reliability, and protection. Blue here also looks very professional and progressive, showing the main values of the company.