OnePlus Brand Change, Again, Less Blocky This Time
Today OnePlus revealed a new branding direction for their smartphone and smart accessories company. Instead of rolling with a branding that relied on rectangles and a number one made of boxes, this new brand is simpler, stronger, and slightly less brutal. Two major marks changed – one the "OnePlus" logo, the other the "Never Settle" tagline.
The OnePlus logo was a number one formed of 8 squares, surrounded by a box interrupted by a plus sign. The OnePlus bit was two different weights, the ONE heavier than the PLUS, both of these living inside a red rectangle. Now the words One and Plus are together with the same weight lettering, with no red rectangle. The Plus box is very similar, but adjusted to be more visually tight.
At first, it looks like OnePlus made the 1 part of the logo weaker by moving from a geometrically consistant boxy 1 to a 1 that matches the rest of the font family used in the rest of the logo. The key to the strength in this move is in the alignment of the neck of the new 1 with the space between the square and the +. This solution is more mature, and matched with the rest of the logo, the entire construction feels more professional.
The NEVER SETTLE is similarly modified, moving away from the spacing between letters that allowed "Never" and "Settle" to live in equal-sized rectangles. Now the boxes are gone, and the "Never Settle" is less intense. This fits well with the evolution of the brand – there's now a lot less reason to yell. It's more generally accepted that OnePlus is a brand that will "never settle" – this isn't so much of a battle cry that needs to be screamed.
The most recent font used throughout the brand identity for OnePlus was a font called OnePlus Slate. They've moved to a very similar, but – in fitting with the rest of the design modifications in the logo marks – more mature sort of font. Less intense, yet more powerful in its slightly more relaxed, versatile readability.
If a brand redesign is interesting to you, you'll definitely want to see our feature on the last major change for OnePlus – in the OnePlus 7T from September of 2019. At that time, I suggested that OnePlus 7T's most important feature is the box – and I stick by my claim here in March of 2020. Can't wait to see what they do with the OnePlus 8!