Datsun is a Japanese car-brand, established in 1931 and owned by Nissan Group. The brand is focused on the manufacturing of low-budget vehicles and is highly-recognizable across the globe.
Meaning and history
The Datsun brand was created as a tribute to Japan. It’s original “Datson” name was changed in order to celebrate the land of the rising sun, as well as the first brand’s visual identity, which has been a symbol of Datsun until its last redesign in 2014.
The iconic Datsun logo was composed of a red circle, symbolizing the sun, with a royal blue rectangular and a white bold wordmark on it. It was bright, stylish and meaningful. The all-caps of the wordmark was perfectly balanced in its simple sans-serif typeface.
The redesign of 2014 was meant to celebrate the brand’s revival and its come-back to the market. Datsun kept the original shape of the logo but enclosed it into a massive silver frame, which made it look less elegant but more masculine and brutal.
The red color left the Datsun emblem, being changed to gradient blue, which makes the emblem three-dimensional and dynamic.
The wordmark was also completely changed. Its typeface now features thinner lines and black shadow. The color palette was switched to gradient silver, balancing the framing.
The Datsun logo from 2014 looks like many other car logos, it lost its bright individuality but gained universality and confidence. It represents a strong and stable brand, which is focused on quality and aims to evoke a sense of trust and reliability.