The British luxury house Burberry is going to restore the iconic Equestrian Knight for its logo. The rebranding is also bringing some other innovation into the visual identity, like the remastered wordmark to complement the brand’s symbol.
Entering a new branding stage, Burberry is abandoning the strict minimalism of solid forms in typography, which was created by Italian designer Riccardo Tisci in 2018.
Initiated in September 2022, the creation process of the new look for the company this time is led by Daniel Lee. Burberry’s visual identity will again include classic lines and a serif font, adapted, however, to the digital environment, as well as elegant and modern features, more stylized and in a larger size. Another thing to specially mention is the color. Now, the Burberry logo is executed in deep blue, against the background of ivory white, which will also be featured in the black-and-white version.
The return of the Equestrian Knight is one of the most remarkable aspects, though. The character has been a symbol of the luxury house for more than 120 years now, usually complemented with the Latin word “Prosum” on the knight’s banner, meaning “forward”. The iconic image also include a “B”, as the initial of the brand, on both the banner and shield.
While the brand has not been using its symbol only from 2018 to 2023, the previous pure wordmark logo was to attract younger customers. Burberry then aimed to encompass a new visual universe, with no nostalgia, more neuter and sober. That change was dramatic, and also rather hazardous, corresponding with what other fashion brands were doing.
On one hand, the brand seemed to have grown, creating a design system with the reworked monogram of interlacing “T” and “B” that honored the brand’s founder Thomas Burberry. However, the change of the emblem which got rid of the knight sparked a lot of debate.
The main question to elaborate the message of the new identity was what’s going on with the generation Z. And the company seems to have taken a decision to act in different ways. A few months ago, Burberry launched a promotion campaign featuring a collection of Minecraft balloons, obviously targeting a younger audience.
On the other hand, the new identity is being launched alongside a campaign which represents a more open feel, oriented toward a more mature audience and features, at the same time, some British celebrities, like pop singer Shygirl, rapper Skepta, and Lennon Gallagher, posing near the famous structures of London
