'V for Verizon'

Verizon’s rebrand brings a bold, energetic look that’s a big shift from the stable identity Pentagram created nine years ago. Turner Duckworth’s “V for Verizon” icon and vibrant red-and-green color scheme aim to modernize Verizon and make it stand out in a commoditized internet services.

While the rebrand exudes a less corporate vibe, some elements — like the intense colors and V-pattern background — could seem like a mirage for this telecom giant. Overall, it’s a solid move to re-energize the brand, but the design’s trendy, striking elements may not age as gracefully as the previous, more Swiss look.

Coming off the well-established Verizon that Micheal Bierut and Pentagram helped create around 9 years ago, to this contemporary, energized rebranding is a bit a pill to swallow. I'll reward the Turner Duckworth team to rethink the lightning check icon into "V for Verizon".

All the right pieces are here. And the team has attempted to brand the invisible data network that supplies internet service — which at its core is pretty commoditized today. The modern internet consumer is a vibrant personality, who embodies the "live. work. play." principles. The energy of the red must feel a bit too overbearing for some folks, overall the culture hits right.

There is a very clear progression forward from where we began with the Pentagram identity 9 years back. Overall the grid layouts, use of the Neue Hass Grotesk, and overall strong focus on type are standstills that remain from the previous iteration.

What's new is the growing energy that Verizon want's to modernize itself with. It wants to lose the highly corporate look, and become a brand that stands out in a commodotized internet service space. The move away from the red check to the "V for Verizon" era is growing on me. I can come to love it for what it is.

Changing an icon at this stage of maturity is no small feat, and they've done an exceptional job choosing the letter over any abstract motifs.

The sharpness of the electric green superimposed on the vibrant red is a bit obnoxuois — especially for what is a corporate internet company. The one thing that may not work great for me is the stylized v-shaped pattern being used in the background.

I think it adds a cutting edge feel, but honestly scatters the image more than it brings everything together. I think it adds a bit too much of chaos that makes it look imperfect — which is not a bad thing in thematic terms, afterall, the everyday person using internet isn't perfect either.

Is the ribboned V the most novel concept? Likely not. And does it resemble Netflix's "N" a bit too closely? Maybe. But looking at the rest of the identity, we see a use of sandstone instead of white (which is a trendy bit to use an off-white color), and the red and green highlights show an overarching trend towards louder brand design to escape noise — especially in B2C businesses.

I'd say we see some new touches, but even the dynamic window-like treatments on the new "V" icon have been emulated from others before it. I don't think we're seeing groundbreaking originality here, but Verizon doesn't have to do that really.

The glow-up here is in working order. It takes a highly corporate feeling Verizon brand and turns it into a force of energy and vibrant provider of internet. If that's what they're going after, especially with data and internet services being commoditized, then the brand is moving in the right direction. Still people know Verizon for what it is, so I do fear if the overbearing color scheme and strikingness of the new look will turn off people — because at the end of the day, people look more at monthly cost and added bonuses when choosing the right internet plan, not so necessarily the branding.

Pentagram's iteration lasted 9 years. But the growing trend in the industry is for a change every ~4 years. I don't expect that with Verizon considering the total implementation costs of rebranding such a large-scale company, but still there's some trendy notions about this new Verizon look that I feel could get in the way.

I understand the glow effect and how that plays into a newfound energy for the brand, but flat design always outbeats attempts to commercialize a 3D type of logo, with effects that may not work in every touchpoint.

Pentagram's version was so tightknit that we've kept the use of type and grid layouts in almost the same fashion, and it's become synonymous with the brand. I think the red color itself could become oversatured after a while, just with how vibrant it is. So that subtleness is missing, whcih will give us a bit of trouble in making this brand endure overtime.