New Starbucks logo loses the words 'Coffee' and 'Starbucks'

The world's largest coffee shop chain, Starbucks, has unveiled a new logo at the start of the year as part of their future brand strategy for 2011.

The new logo retains the iconic green colour and the twin tailed Siren, but loses the words 'Starbucks' and 'Coffee' paving the way for expansion into other markets. Starbucks plans to extend its product range in the USA initially to include beer, wine and ice-cream.

This is the first time that Starbucks has changed its logo in 20 years when it became a plc in 1992, and ties in with the companies 40th anniversary. The new logo will appear from March onwards.

Mike P, Senior Creative Manager of Starbucks describes the process: "We broke down the four main parts of the mark – color, shape, typeface and the Siren. After hundreds of explorations, we found the answer in simplicity. Removing the words from the mark, bringing in the green, and taking the Siren out of her ring. For forty years she’s represented coffee, and now she is the star."

"We improved composition, brought in more sophisticated stroke width and spacing and a smoother line flow. When it came to her – the Siren – we enhanced her form in subtle ways, smoothing her hair, refining her facial features, weighting the scales on her tail to bring the focus to her face".

As brands become established and globally recognised there comes a point when words are no longer necessary to describe what they do. Nike, for example, uses it's stand alone 'Tick' and McDonald's has it's 'Golden Arches', both without the need for wording but with no loss of identity. 

Despite the initial criticism it may be a success long term and will allow for diversification of the Starbucks brand. With profits for the first three quarters of 2010 more than double the 2009 figures it might be a clever time to ensure continued growth.

The only downside though, ask anyone what the Starbucks logo looks like and the likelihood is they'll say it's green and says Starbucks Coffee on, but see if anyone can remember that the inner roundel features a Siren...

More a more in-depth view of the brand's future visit the Starbucks website