For the first time in 20 years, Burger King has redesigned its entire identity inspired by its’ 70s look and new “real food” commitment.
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The Strategy: Real Food and Digital-First
The redesign comes after Burger King announced last year its commitment to achieving the highest standards of food quality and digital-first expression. The company has removed all artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives from menu items; and even created a viral campaign promoting a Moldy Whopper to show what real food looks like.
The new BK restaurants will also be renovated to adapt to the post-pandemic needs. This includes digital menu boards, pick-up lockers, multi-lane drive-thrus that provide a view into the kitchen, and solar-powered canopies where customers can order through QR codes.
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As you can see the brand has evolved so much that according to Fernando Machado, global CMO of Restaurant Brands International, the visual identity needed to be adjusted to reflect what the brand is about. The new look and feel stays true to its heritage and captures the unique characteristics of the Burger King brand: Mouthwatering, Big & Bold, Playfully Irreverent and Proudly True.
“As our business evolves, we felt that our brand personality, attributes, and all the work we’ve done around food quality should be better reflected in our visual identity.”
Rapha Abreu, VP, Global Head of Design
at Restaurant Brands International
Logo: Buns Don’t Shine
Burger King’s new logo is inspired by the design the brand had from ’69 to 1999 and was refined to reflect what BK is all about — real, simple and delicious food.
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In comparison with the vintage logo, the new one has a curvier font (you can clearly see it on the G) and new colors to make it feel less synthetic and more like the colors of food.
The proportions of the bun have also been adjusted to look more like a real burger, and the shiny effect has also been removed, because as the CMO of the company says “…buns don’t shine.”
![](https://thebrandinquirer.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/burger-king-logo-history-redesign-2021-new-logo.jpg?w=900)
It’s probably the 90s kid in me, but I have nothing bad to say about this. In fact, I think this was a good time to make this change because Millennials who grew up with this logo will look back at the brand, and the new Gen Z who saw this vintage design on shows like Strangers Things will also connect with it.
Let’s not forget that in 2019 Burger King released a special edition of its famous Whopper called “Upside Down Whopper” to promote the premiere of Stranger Things Season 3; I guess it had a positive response so they decided to fully commit to it.
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Typography: Yummy and Rounded
Burger King’s new custom typeface designed by Colophon Foundry and called Flame, is an irreverent semi-serif that throwbacks to the ’70s typeface Cooper Black inspired by the shapes of BK food – rounded, bold, yummy.
According to Lisa Smith, executive creative director at Jones Knowles Ritchie, the team didn’t want to follow the trend of the sans serifs without personality that we’ve seen over and over again in the past years (And that I’m also tired of). Instead, the idea behind this design was to have a ‘mouth-watering’ font that evoked the organic shapes of the food, so you can almost taste the typeface.
![](https://thebrandinquirer.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/bk-burger-king-new-identity-jkr-branding-logo-2021-restaurant-signage-typography-custom-flame.jpg?w=900)
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Colors, Packaging and Illustrations: As Fresh as BK’s Ingredients
The revamped rich and bold color palette also follows the concept of “real food” by getting its inspiration from Burger King’s flame-grilling cooking method and fresh ingredients — beef, lettuce, tomatoes.
The new colors come to life in the playful illustrations created by Spanish duo Cachete Jack which can be seen everywhere, from error messages on the website to social graphics to the paper that goes on top of your tray.
![](https://thebrandinquirer.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/bk-burger-king-new-identity-jkr-branding-logo-2021-colors.jpg?w=900)
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The new packaging is also more colorful in comparison with its previous version designed in 2015. The new wrapping paper includes illustrations of the ingredients and adjectives such as “crunchy” and “tasty” in a very Austin Powers way.
The whole identity is giving me 70s hippie-boho vibes, and the earthy colors could have made the brand look outdated very easily, but I think the way they were used in the illustrations, packaging, and uniforms gives them a new twist.
Burger King’s redesign comes a few months after McDonald’s also revealed its new global packaging designs.
![](https://thebrandinquirer.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/packaging-burger-king-new-identity-jkr-branding-logo-2021.jpg?w=900)
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My Final Opinion
I’m so glad we are starting 2021 with a big, bold, and amazing redesign! Burger King hasn’t always been the fast-food restaurant known for its design and creativity, that’s usually its cousin McDonald’s, but this time I think they flipped the script.
From the unique illustrations to the groovy typography—that thank goodness is not boring sans serif—the new brand world of BK screams personality. As I said before, bringing back the old logo and color palette could have given the brand a rusty look, but instead, the new design looks fun, friendly and tasty.
But well, that’s my F opinion. What’s yours?
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