This was another portfolio project of mine exploring a possible direction for a new concept for the monster energy logo.. My goal was to keep the intensity and raw energy of the original logo while simplifying it to ensure consistent usability across all platforms and areas of application.
The first round of sketches where I explored some ideas for the logo design. I definitely wanted to keep the motive of claws/slashes in there, but in a more simplistic manner.
In the second round of sketching I dug a little deeper and you can also find the sketch that will be turned into the final design.
I always try to explore a few more concepts in a more refined way to see what they have to offer. Although I really liked the first and second on the top, I eventually went with Nr.3 as I found that one to be both, simple and yet powerful.
The original design works, and it’s known everywhere around the world. If it would get an official redesign, I’m sure there wouldn’t be a great deal of changes to it. It works as it is, although the gradient and the double outline on the logotype are outdated and quite frankly unnecessary. These two aspects were things I wanted to clean up in my design. I also found the custom type to be a little hard to read from further away as it is quite thin and the double outline with the grey and black make it even harder to read. From a standpoint of brand recognition, this might not be a smart thing to do. You want your customers to be able to easily identify your brand within a split of a second, having them to squint to read the name from a distance is definitely a hindrance in that.
My objective with my redesign was to tackle the problems I identified in the original design. My goals were to declutter their logo by getting rid of the gradient in the symbol as well as the double outline in the logotype. I also increased the overall stem thickness of the letters to increase their overall readability from a distance to increase the potential for quick brand recognition. With the reduction in color and noise the new design carries a lot of aspects of the original while bringing in more readability and scalability. Increases brand recognition helps customers to identify a company before they identify a competitor and will lead to more sales and thus, more profit.
I didn’t make any crazy changes to the colors. I kept the black and white and added a single shade of neon green in exchange for the gradient of the original design. Making any crazy color changes would’ve done more harm than good for this conceptual redesign and I’m sure, if the Monster Energy brand would do a rebrand, they wouldn’t make any big changes to that either.
For the logotype, I decided to create all letters from scratch. My goal was to marry the symbol with the logotype by adding visual elements of the symbol to the letters. I utilized the claw shape for this very purpose. You can find it in the M, O, N and the R. I think one key factor that gets a logo from good to great is consideration for the type. The design would’t have the same power if I just pick a font from the internet and slap it next to the symbol.
You can see here, that I kept some unique aspects from the original type and incorporated them into my own design. The O has the same stroke through the middle as it has in the original. The S goes a little further down as like it does in the original, the T has a similar angle on its foot and the leg of the R extends in the same way as it does in the original. My reason for doing so is the emphasis on visually connecting the new design with its roots so that old customers and potential new ones can make that connection instantly.
