The second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., Verizon, has recently unveiled its new visual identity. The company, with origins tracing back to the telecommunications giant AT&T, originally started in 1984 as Bell Atlantic before adopting its current name in 2000 following the acquisition of the GTE telephone company. The name “Verizon” came as a combination of “veritas,” meaning “truth” in Latin, and “horizon.” With an annual net income of $12 billion, Verizon offers a wide range of services from cable TV to telematics.
Verizon’s rebranding aims to highlight the new offerings of the company through a fresh design that embodies the liveliness and energy experienced in everyday life, work, and holidays, all while being inspired and supported by Verizon. This was revealed in an official press release. The company also emphasizes its position as a strong, trustworthy brand that plays a significant role in the lives of millions of people. According to Verizon’s Chief Marketing Officer, Leslie Berland, the new visual identity and design language aim to showcase the company’s operations and heritage, reflecting its impact on people’s lives and experiences.
The updated visual identity includes the introduction of Verizon’s new slogan, “Can You Hear Me Now?”, inspired by a 2002 Verizon commercial. A special campaign will promote the current branding and service updates, as showcased in a recent video released by the company featuring details of the new brand design, including an animated V-logo.
The company’s previous redesign took place in 2015, carried out by Pentagram and designer Michael Bierut. The brand then adopted a black wordmark followed by a red checkmark as a kind of a design trick. While retaining the previous iteration’s typography, the new Verizon logo, however, showcases a different distinctiveness.
The most notable feature of the lettering, executed in a bright red color now, is the initial “V” drawn as a folded band, with a slight yellow gradient. Due to this effect, the letter is perceived dimensional, and this remind us of a similar solution for Netflix’s N-sign. Differing from the rest of the lettering, the “V” is certainly suitable to serve as a standalone symbol of the company.
In terms of typography, the brand relies on its own custom typeface Verizon-NHG, where NHG stands for Neue Haas Grotesk. That font, in fact, was a precursor of Helvetica, developed Max Miedinger in the 1950s and “restored” by Christian Schwartz from Commercial Type in 2010. So the corporation’s identity is evidently based on the traditions of the Swiss font design which is rather uncommon for American companies.
Verizon’s logo redesign represents a successful evolution of the brand, maintaining respect for the previous design while incorporating new graphic elements. The comprehensive efforts involved in this balanced overhaul, which likely included collaboration among graphic designers, font designers, brand guide specialists, Verizon’s brand managers, and other employees, have resulted in one of the most notable rebrandings in recent times.
