Expedia Gets a Bland Coat of Paint

The mid 1990s was a bad time for travel agents, that’s when Travelocity (1996) and Expedia (1995) first launched, and although it took a few more years before online booking killed the travel agent, the writing was on the wall. I’m a Travelocity Man by default, yet I have dabbled in Expedia a few times, mostly because at some points its booking fee was five dollars less than Travelocity’s, but I think this points to the larger, ongoing rivalry between the two main booking sites — Orbitz and Kayak are fine, but maybe suffer from bell-and-whistle syndrome. Expedia was first launched as a division within Microsoft and it was spun off as Expedia Inc., an independent and publicly traded company in 1999, it was then purchased by Ticketmaster in 2001 and in 2005 it spun off on its own once more. One consistent element among all these changes and success has been the yellow plane that has acted as its logo. Until now.

As before, an airplane and circular blue “globe” make up the new logo. But the plane is white, not yellow, and the whole look and feel is “less cartoonish,” said Paul Leonard, VP of brand marketing at Bellevue-based Expedia.

“We were striving for a more timeless and classic aesthetic,” he said. “It’s a little less whimsical and more sophisticated.”
— Seattle Times Article

As we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century — happy new year, by the way — it’s funny to think that dot-com logos are starting to acquire an ironic vintage style that will soon completely fade away soon (only to come back to bite us in the ass in 2030) and the old Expedia logo had that. As it evolved, the logo became more professional and better defined, but it never lost that playfulness of the original. The new logo has given up all equity and playfulness in exchange for a dull and generic rendering of an airplane that could be used by any travel agency in the world without making any difference — and it is oddly similar to another of Expedia Inc.’s businesses, Hotwire (see below). The typography isn’t an improvement either, there is a strange disconnect between “Ex” and “pedia” as if they came from two different places. To cheapen matters even more, the new tag line is set in not just a clichéd handwritten font but one that doesn’t even attempt to fake it correctly, just look at all those identical “e”s. The whole evolution is sadly lame, but at least the dot-coooom sign-off is still there.

Logo for Hotwire, another Expedia Inc. booking web site.

The new advertising campaign was created by The Martin Agency, but no word on whether they created the new logo as well.

Thanks to Alex Poleshuk for first tip.

Dale Campbell’s comment is:

I don’t mind the fact that they don’t want to come off as being “playful” anymore. That has to be respected.

The new icon - to me - is pretty nice. Given the fact that this in a mostly-online business, I can live with the gradient in the icon.

The only thing that I will miss is the simple design execution that made it appear as though the plane was circling the globe. For some reason, I always thought that was cool.

The tagline is another story - it comes off as an afterthought where the font looks to be something picked from dafont.

Is it Hand of Sean - the font?

yuck.

On Jan.04.2010 at 07:31 AM

Col_Corcoran’s comment is:

Love the execution, there is subtle hints of delicacy with the mark and the typographic treatment. It is a step above where they were, on the other hand; I am just sad to see such similarities to Hotwire’s treatment.

On Jan.04.2010 at 07:33 AM

Col_Corcoran’s comment is:

Afterthought, I really like the new logo, in all seriousness. But one small change would make this pop a bit more, the tip of the planes nose might work a little better by not overlapping the circle background, by doing this it would create a small bit of tension. Also, Dale’s I agree but I think that by adding to this new mark a bit of tapering on the jet-stream to show a circling-effect would be pretty sweet. Also, the tagline is ultra-beat…

On Jan.04.2010 at 07:39 AM

John McCollum’s comment is:

Completely fails in terms of distinguishing Expedia from its competition. The similarity to the Hotwire logo is inexcusable — as close to malpractice as one can get in branding.

“Blue” is not a sufficient differentiating factor.

I loved the quirkiness of the original logo; it at least tried to pretend that traveling was still fun.

On Jan.04.2010 at 07:44 AM

Moeed Mohammad’s comment is:

I don’t think it was necessary to completely redo the brand. It might’ve been better to touch up the existing icon and typography, as opposed to creating an entirely new one.

On Jan.04.2010 at 07:46 AM

jmk’s comment is:

ok so they wanna be “classic and sophisticated” and then they throw that garbage tagline font in there? i’d love to be a fly on the wall on these meetings. actually no, i wouldn’t.

On Jan.04.2010 at 07:55 AM

Fish’s comment is:

Attention passengers, this is your captain speaking, please brace yourselves for a water landing… Couldn’t agree more, “The new logo has given up all equity and playfulness in exchange for a dull and generic rendering of an airplane that could be used by any travel agency.” Perfectly stated.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:00 AM

Daniel Kent’s comment is:

The old brand gives me a sense of trust or security that I am dealing with people, which is hard to find these days. The new brand is cleaner and more sophisticated like a machine. Like a bank or credit card company. Do not trust. Lost the human factor.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:13 AM

Cristian Loghin’s comment is:

The icon is of course generic, but that’s nothing compared with the quality of the type. It looks like it was designed by Microsoft. Even the dot on the ‘i’ is messed up. Have they stopped teaching typography in design schools or is the logo made by a programmer turned designer?

I’m no type purist, but to mindlessly hack away at an otherwise innocent bunch of letters is just plain wrong. Congratulations, you ‘binged’ it!

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:14 AM

Tom’s comment is:

I agree with Daniel. The new logo gives me a corporate feeling, not a happy “I want to go on vacation”-feeling. Sitting behind your computer, checking all the nice places and hotels around the world.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:30 AM

John Holdun’s comment is:

I get it, but “Where You Book Matters” looks like a typo to me.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:30 AM

dbrenton’s comment is:

I love the old yellow plane logo BUT I think the new typography is not that bad. Especially when you look at the negative space created by the “Ex” it has that hidden arrow that FedEx uses. It’s subliminal to most people but once you see it, you can’t not see it.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:33 AM

Jon Swerens’s comment is:

In a world of bland logos, count me as a fan of whimsical. The reason for the switch sounds like the other kids on the playground were making fun of the cartoon-y airplane.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:40 AM

CJ’s comment is:

The icon is so incredibly generic. Disappointed they didn’t try to use the fly-around-the-globe-motion pane instead of the cutting-the-world-in-half plane. Meh.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:42 AM

JonSel’s comment is:

“We were striving for a more timeless and classic aesthetic,” (Paul Leonard, VP of brand marketing) said.

So generic icons and gradients are now seen as timeless and classic? Just shoot me now.

Unless they have a significant corporate travel business, this change makes no sense to me.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:42 AM

Adrian Rodriguez’s comment is:

I really don’t like the change. I think the old one definitely looks more original and unique. This one looks more like the fired the previous guy and hired someone who just started using Photoshop. Definitely not a good move.

On Jan.04.2010 at 09:06 AM

Matt Donovan’s comment is:

I just rolled off a gig with a law firm, so I read “matters” in the tagline as a noun (a matter is similar to case). Could just be a skewed perspective on my part, but I think the copy itself is poorly executed.

On Jan.04.2010 at 09:07 AM

Dennis Van Staalduinen’s comment is:

Ah we begin the new year with another company abandoning clear design differentiation, humanity, and playfulness in favour of generic “growed-up” corporateness.

Dear suits: this is a losing move. Such a change *may* make you feel more important on the golf circuit when you put on your brand new swag next to the IBM and AT&T guys. But - and you should pay close attention here - THAT’S NOT THE POINT OF BRANDING. As a matter of fact, it is an anti-brand manoeuvre. It makes you harder to find, harder to choose, and more importantly, harder to love. Sorry, I’ll try that again in smaller words: you will lose money.

Dear shareholders: please punish these self-important yo-yos.

On Jan.04.2010 at 09:12 AM

Chris’s comment is:

It’s no longer unique, and I really liked the old plane. It was a defining feature of the logo, but they’ve done away with it in favor of a generic corporate look. Nothing stands out. It’s just plain, bland, cold.

On Jan.04.2010 at 09:14 AM

Geoff Ponnath’s comment is:

Has anyone checked out http://expedia.com? If you thought the new logo was bad, I just fell asleep and had a siezure at the same time when I looked at their site. And why is it left justified with a header that just cuts off?

Also, notice that the big button looking things at the top right that read “Save on Top Travel Deals” and “Find Your Perfect Trip” have terrible usabilty, one isn’t even a button. It’s pretty much common knowledge that you never want to make something look like a button if it isn’t. It’s frustrating for users and makes it seem like something is broken.

Overall, its just sad. I used to use expedia and priceline for booking, but from now on I’m done with Expedia.

On Jan.04.2010 at 09:20 AM

Antti Tähtinen’s comment is:

I didn’t book that many flights in the nineties, so to me Expedia doesn’t actually say very much. It looks like another “me too” travel agent, with a clip-art logo, based in some college kid’s basement. The old vintage logo, while far from perfect, at least told me they’ve been around for a while.

On Jan.04.2010 at 09:22 AM

Gertrude’s comment is:

Ah, at least they got rid of this Microsoft-clipart-looking-with-thick-black-borders icon…

But I must agree that although the font looks nice at first sight, the quality of it is just not enough.

On Jan.04.2010 at 09:26 AM

Jonathan’s comment is:

Yes, Dale, it is Hand of Sean.

A FREE FONT…this ends up making the logo kinda like Aol.’s new strategy (just Futura isn’t a free font)…they are just asking for tons of parodies. Now anyone can write anything under the Expedia logo. Niiice.

I haven’t ever used Expedia, as far as I know. But something sticks with me…the original “DOT COOOMMMMM” sung in loud, deeper voices. Now it sounds like Yahoo’s “It’s Y!ou” commercial…it sounds like they just grabbed a bunch of people off the street to sing “DOT COMM.” And the lesser amount of o’s and m’s…it’s a lot shorter.

What does this all come down to?

Branding fail.

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:02 AM

Ronlewhorn’s comment is:

What’s “You Book”????
That reads so wrong. And Hand of Sean is a decent typeface for fun whimsical design, but i thought they were striving away from that?

It’s really unfortunate that this VP thinks he’s moving the “brand” in the right direction.

Took it from having character and being memorable to being generic and stale.

I’ll stick with Priceline.

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:10 AM

Ronlewhorn’s comment is:

What’s “You Book”????
That reads so wrong. And Hand of Sean is a decent typeface for fun whimsical design, but i thought they were striving away from that?

It’s really unfortunate that this VP thinks he’s moving the “brand” in the right direction.

Took it from having character and being memorable to being generic and stale.

I’ll stick with Priceline.

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:11 AM

NatalieB’s comment is:

The plane icon now has an incredibly weak presence. And it took me about 5 minutes to understand what they were trying to say in the tagline.

“It’s a little less whimsical and more sophisticated.” In other words, a little less unique and much more dull.

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:18 AM

Jacob’s comment is:

I like that new typeface, a lot. The angles play around with my eyes.

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:19 AM

John McCollum’s comment is:

“Especially when you look at the negative space created by the “Ex” it has that hidden arrow that FedEx uses.”

Again, if the best we can say about this logo is that it looks like someone else’s, we have complete differentiation fail.

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:40 AM

aaron’s comment is:

“It’s a little less whimsical and more sophisticated.”
It’s a website where people can book their own vacations cheap. They emphasize that anyone can do it, and the last-minute deals. Doesn’t that scream sophistication!

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:47 AM

abs’s comment is:

Lol I had to jot very quickly a small logo and tagline for a friend once, there was the word “book” in it and I ended up using Hand of Sean for that.
I felt quite ashamed for how bad the word “book” looked set in that font, but I just had no time.
I’m surprised to encounter it in a relatively high profile work.

On Jan.04.2010 at 10:59 AM

Alex P.’s comment is:

I’m not convinced of this new typography and icon is an improvement in style or concept. A “timeless and classic aesthetic” doesn’t have to be a lifeless and corporate aesthetic. Perhaps what they wanted could have been achieved by simply dropping the excessive gradients & glows but that would have been to easy.

On Jan.04.2010 at 11:02 AM

Marc Rapp’s comment is:

The typeface scares me. There is so much movement in it. Hard to accept it as a textmark.
The use of the registration marks break down, too.

On Jan.04.2010 at 11:03 AM

Colin’s comment is:

I, too, need an interpreter for that tag line. Where I book matters? Matters? WTF!? Like, “What’s the matter?” or, “Let’s just deal with the matter.” So, I go to Expedia to plan for my wife to be upset and my son to spill his milk on the carpet? Or maybe I’m booking matters of fact.

On Jan.04.2010 at 11:07 AM

Eric’s comment is:

The tagline implies that Expedia is the better choice for booking, but why is it? This doesn’t add or say anything new to distinguish Expedia from any other service, especially to jaded business travelers (the biggest slice of the online travel market.)

The mark is safe-isticated. It is polished and professional, but it definitely lost some of its charm. While Expedia won’t lose any customers because of it (the Expedia name is strong), it’s a bit of a let-down to see a brand move away from whimsy in favor of sameness.

The ad is nice.

On Jan.04.2010 at 11:25 AM

Rico’s comment is:

Not to nitpick, but what’s with the dot over the “i”?

A) it’s off-center.

B) it looks like it’s been “doubled”, ie. two dots that overlap each other. Strange.

On Jan.04.2010 at 12:13 PM

Jeff’s comment is:

Took me about 10 reads to interpret the tagline. Thought it was “Where ‘You Book’ Matters.” Buying your own tickets online is apparently called You Book. Like, U-Haul.

On Jan.04.2010 at 12:17 PM

Mojo’s comment is:

Personally, where i get the lowest fare matters… Where i book- not so much.

On Jan.04.2010 at 12:18 PM

Anonymous’s comment is:

The Martin Agency is a great advertising agency…

It’s a shame that clients like Expedia don’t understand the importance in differentiating branding from advertising expertise. The result - unfortunately - is what we’re looking at now.

: (

Branding truly is a delicate art/science that should be reserved for those who understand it. The proliferation of “re-brandings” executed by web-designers and ad agency’s as of late is a sobering wake-up call to this fact.

On Jan.04.2010 at 12:19 PM

Colin’s comment is:

Ahah! Okay. “It matters where you book.” Except it really doesn’t. It just matters that it’s cheap..

I could not help but see “book” as the verb and “matters” as the direct object. The cadence of the woman in the ad didn’t help either. There should be a good pause before “matters” and she should strain the “ma” a bit, almost in a epiphanic manner, like you might do after saying “believe it or not.”

Everything about this new campaign bothers me.

On Jan.04.2010 at 12:31 PM

Darrel’s comment is:

bummer

On Jan.04.2010 at 01:01 PM

Jacob Halton’s comment is:

WHERE I BOOK? MATTERS? WHAT YOU AM BOOK MATTER!?

I ARE NEW LOGO! YOU ARE DOT KHAAAAAAN!!!!

FO BANK CHASE WUT MATTERS, FO TRAVEL MATTERS WUT BOOK?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is boring.

On Jan.04.2010 at 01:05 PM

Quinn Ianniciello’s comment is:

I think it’s just me and my university but all I see for “Where you book matters” is this…

http://wellbeing.wsu.edu

Ouch.

On Jan.04.2010 at 01:13 PM

blueEyedPeas’s comment is:

The new logo is nice, but does not match well with Expedia. You expect to see something bubbly or fun from a CheapTickets style site, not a corporate, serious tone.

Another issue is consistency, changing the logo but maintaining their old glossy “look” is a contradiction, while the old look (e.g. their website design) matched with the old logo, next to the new logo they appear detached from one another.

If they would support their other communication design elements with the look of the new logo, it would probably still be wrong, but at least it would have some consistency.

On Jan.04.2010 at 01:36 PM

Eye Forward’s comment is:

Why do I need to book ‘matters’? And what, pray tell, are they? The circle gradient appears to have been whipped up in photoshop in about 2 minutes. Nice.

The tagline looks like crap and sounds like farts.
The whole thing just stinks.

On Jan.04.2010 at 01:58 PM

John Lascurettes’s comment is:

We were striving for a more timeless and classic aesthetic,” he said. “It’s a little less whimsical and more sophisticated.

The new logo is neither more timeless nor more “classic” aesthetic (whatever that means). It’s definitely less whimsical, but there is nothing sophisticated about it (dare I say it’s rather sophomoric).

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:07 PM

Efren’s comment is:

I do not like the new logo. It does not have anything that is distinctive.

The tagline? I do not understand it.

Where I book matter?

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:16 PM

Bob’s comment is:

Hello all.
I am from Toronto and this logo change has given me a concern (it may be trivial, but it presents a good point for the logo) Located at a public square in our city, there is an ad for Expedia.ca and it features a pole with the globe logo. However, the yellow plane spins around the globe which is creative. I wonder bhow this logo will be used for that purpose, or any other creative uses…

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:19 PM

Bob’s comment is:

REVISION:

THE CANADIAN LOGO HAS NOT BEEN CHANGED! Sorry about that, I checked the canadian website (expedia.ca) and the logo has not been changed. I am not sure how long that will last, because it may happen a little later. A similar thing happened with the walmart logo here too.

Thank you

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:21 PM

Catherine’s comment is:

For me, the plane is not the issue (though I have never been a fan of such a bland use of gradients), and I like the more abstracted, less cartoony plane. Rather, I think the type is the killer, for the reasons you pointed out. Such a downgrade from the previous.

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:26 PM

Andrea’s comment is:

The new “p” in Expedia is a sore in my eye.

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:28 PM

Adrian Gonzalez’s comment is:

I liked the old logo for it’s whimsy, it’s bright colors, and it’s subtlety.

Maybe it’s just me, but in the old logo, I see a blue lowercase ‘e’ behind a yellow ‘x,’ the first two letters of the company name. It was a subtle reminder of who the logo is connected to.

That subtle hint is gone now. I’m not impressed by the amateurish new design.

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:33 PM

Phanyxx’s comment is:

Frankly, I’m surprised at how little I like the new logo. While I probably wouldn’t suggest the yellow plane version for a new company, I think that Expedia has completely severed the connection customers may have had with their brand.

On Jan.04.2010 at 02:48 PM

John’s comment is:

EXPEDIA is a scam. Source: http://www.victimsofexpedia.com

On Jan.04.2010 at 03:30 PM

grubedoo’s comment is:

I think:
-The old logo has a much stronger personality (it at least has a personality).
-The type in the old logo is considerably stronger.
-The icon in the new logo is simpler, albeit more generic, which, at first glance, I prefer.
-The new logo hits the mark if they were going for a sophisticated (read boring) mark.

And a gripe:
When using “handwritten” fonts please, please, please actually handwrite them or, at the very least, adjust the repeating letters so each is unique and not distracting.

On Jan.04.2010 at 03:33 PM

Juan Rivera’s comment is:

I really like the old logo better. The new one, lacks personality, wich the old one had a lot of. It’s esier to read and to remember. The new one becomes another logo of a round ball with a gradient on it, just like Xbox and Xerox logo.
About the Typography, i don’t have to much to say about it, i really like de new fresh look. My problem is generaly about the icon.

On Jan.04.2010 at 03:45 PM

Juan Rivera’s comment is:

I really like the old logo better. The new one, lacks personality, which the old one had a lot of. It’s easier to read and to remember. The new one becomes another logo of a round ball with a gradient on it, just like Xbox and Xerox logo.
About the Typography, i don’t have to much to say about it, i really like the new fresh look. My problem is generally about the icon.

On Jan.04.2010 at 03:47 PM

Nate B’s comment is:

The old logo is way better. Traveling should be fun. The new logo not only looks like Hotwire’s, but feels far more cold than it should. The yellow plane is what made Expedia noticeable from a visual standpoint. Now it falls in the sea of similar design.

On Jan.04.2010 at 04:05 PM

Matei Tudor’s comment is:

All I can say, applying all I know about design - and I know a little something - is: meh.

On Jan.04.2010 at 04:36 PM

Rico’s comment is:

I’m also amazed by how small the logo is used on the website. Being a designer, I battle against “make the logo bigger” everyday (as we all do), but that actually feels a little on the small side to me.

On Jan.04.2010 at 05:49 PM

Rico’s comment is:

I’m also amazed by how small the logo is used on the website. Being a designer, I battle against “make the logo bigger” everyday (as we all do), but that actually feels a little on the small side to me.

On Jan.04.2010 at 05:58 PM

adam’s comment is:

minor question:

am i crazy or does the dot on the “i” look like it is a double dot and one of the dots was shifted over a bit?

On Jan.04.2010 at 06:20 PM

Dennis Van Staalduinen’s comment is:

For anyone interested, I expanded on my “brands are for customers not for golf shirts” rant on http://www.begtodiffer.com.

Funny, every time I read that tag line a different word is emphasized in my brain. Bleh.

Tip of the hat to Armin & Co for unearthing this little “gem”.

On Jan.04.2010 at 06:43 PM

Randy Hill’s comment is:

The kerning between the E and the x bothers me. I think it should be a smidge tighter. I like the old plane better too.

On Jan.04.2010 at 07:44 PM

Craig Hill’s comment is:

Weirdly if you’d asked me if there was any way to make the Expedia logo worse I probably would have said no - I won’t defend it because I was never a fan, cliparty & cheap come to mind. I couldn’t even bring myself to vote on this post I had issues with the type & icon on both logos

But this revision does what so many others have said - it’s just bland!

The thing that stood out to me (that’s been mentioned by others) is the ‘hidden FedEx arrow’, I suspect some of the kerning weirdness between the E x is to try & steer away from it - but I wonder if there was an opportunity to push it farther & even embrace it.

The Ex produce an negative space arrow moving ‘east’. Imagine if they’d taken the time to get the negative space between the xp (maybe chop the left support of the p out?) to form an arrow heading ‘west’ - perhaps even using the globe/plane icon to get a circular motion between the negative space arrows… so you have this circular continual FedEx(ish) arrow reminiscent of the circling the globe connotations of the old logo & enforcing that age old phrase

One of the best bits about travel is coming home again..

Don’t know how it would work on a golf shirt though

Oh & for gods sake - take a sharpie, write your tagline out & scan it in…

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:02 PM

Fiona Flowers’s comment is:

I see XBox logo when I look at this and an IBM feel of machine coldness. The afterthought tagline diminishes any real attempt to warm things up. The fonts in this logo are far from attractive and don’t speak “travel booking agent” online to me. Anyway, I never liked Expedia; perhaps my private prejudice is a blinding bias.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:14 PM

felix sockwell’s comment is:

i never liked the old one. this is better, if only slightly.

my hunch on “who designed it” goes to an identity arm of the Martin Agency: Collins.

On Jan.04.2010 at 08:20 PM

Drew Tufano’s comment is:

This post seriously ruined my day. I’ve been an Expedia fan from the beginning.

Wow, why do companies mess with good things. Way to lose all your brand equity Expedia.

Was at least encouraged to see the poll results agreed with my sentiments.

On Jan.04.2010 at 11:57 PM

andyRespire’s comment is:

Where does this leave the Golden Suitcase?

I liked the ads with the yellow Expedia suitcases. Without the yellow plane, will they ditch the matching suitcases too?

On Jan.05.2010 at 12:20 AM

binoygopal’s comment is:

not that much good

On Jan.05.2010 at 01:17 AM

r4i software’s comment is:

I thought one of the interesting aspects of the new Expedia logo is the new tagline, “Where You Book Matters,” which they use in the new TV commercials.

On Jan.05.2010 at 03:57 AM

James’s comment is:

I prefer the old one, had much more character to it. Not to mention a splash of colour! I can’t help but think they could have been better off with evolution over revolution.
The new one isn’t particularly bad - but i can’t work out is the dot above the ‘i’ meant to be a circle?

On Jan.05.2010 at 04:30 AM

cchana’s comment is:

as much as i love using expedia, their logo always looked a little off with the yellow plane. with the new colours, it looks a whole lot more professional and definitely cleaner. great move by them and their designers

On Jan.05.2010 at 05:18 AM

John McCollum’s comment is:

Quoth cchana, “it looks a whole lot more professional and definitely cleaner”

I say, “professional” is such a low bar. And “cleaner” is completely irrelevant. This is a major brand, and it deserves something that differentiates them and creates or maintains brand preference.

If I want “professional” and “clean,” I can get that for $500 somewhere.

On Jan.05.2010 at 10:28 AM

Chad’s comment is:

The execution and the results are commendable. I would have personally like to have seen the plane icon flow more with a bend. It seems they’ve lost out on important brand equities with the new logo. I miss the yellow but like the new typography. I feel with a few minor tweaks it could really compliment the brand more. It seems someone rushed to deliver a new logo that is almost done but not quite. Unfortunate but it is what it is folks!

On Jan.05.2010 at 10:51 AM

Philadelphia workers compensation lawyer’s comment is:

Love the new one, it takes away from that vintage 90’s theme but I feel as though when trying to put yourself as an international face that is immediately recognizable it’s sometimes alright to placate the masses and whitewash the logo. It’s a pragmatic way of forsaking the art.

On Jan.05.2010 at 01:58 PM

MSGDS’s comment is:

This update is making the Expedia brand weak and dull. It’s no longer distinguishable. Very bad choice of type - the letterforms don’t seem to go together, especially the “Ex”. What’s going on with the “i”?? That dot has to be a mistake.

I liked the little yellow and playful plane which made Expedia recognizable. They surely could have made some small improvements, but went in a different direction and failed miserably.

On Jan.05.2010 at 01:58 PM

Pichu’s comment is:

I think the old one was more friendly and the typography in the one it is not well finish, my point they where backward

On Jan.05.2010 at 02:00 PM

Joe’s comment is:

When I think of leisure travel I think of fun…. This new logo geared too much after the corporate/business traveler, and not that appealing for the everyday vacationer. Also, what is up with the new commercials being all about the girl’s weekend?? Are boys not allowed to travel on this site? In my opinion it was a bad move.

On Jan.05.2010 at 06:32 PM

Wat’s comment is:

Quote: “and it is oddly similar to another of Expedia Inc.’s businesses, Hotwire (see below)”

from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotwire.com

“Since 2006, Hotwire has been overseen by Hotwire’s 2004-2006 CFO Eric Grosse, another one of Hotwire’s four founding members. Grosse is a graduate of Harvard Business School. In January 2009, Eric Grosse became the CEO/President of Expedia Worldwide “

On Jan.05.2010 at 06:41 PM

Alessandro Mingione’s comment is:

And where is the yellow? My dear yellow! It’s gone!

On Jan.05.2010 at 07:25 PM

Dirk’s comment is:

The old logo is better, by far.

On Jan.05.2010 at 08:46 PM

Katie’s comment is:

I saw this commercial on tv about an hour ago. I didn’t notice it was for Expedia, for whatever that’s worth (which I think may be a lot, to the company).

On Jan.06.2010 at 12:01 AM

Craig Hughes’s comment is:

Stephen Hawking writes books on matter, event planners book matters, and it apparently matters where I book. Terrible copywriting on the tagline. To use two different words that can be either nouns or verbs (book and matters) seems to cause a lot of confusion. A simple rephrasing by adding only one more word would have been more clear: “It matters where you book.”

But while we’re at it, might as well come up with a better tagline. It matters where I book, so what? There’s no inherent association with Expedia. By the tagline’s account, the fact that I book at Travelocity also matters.

On Jan.06.2010 at 09:10 AM

amr’s comment is:

Great Logo! But the tagline font is atrocious.

http://amrevolutions.com

On Jan.06.2010 at 12:55 PM

z’s comment is:

uhmmm… dont hate it or like it, but it totally lost the 3d aspect with such a straight airplane breaking the sphere and the tip of the plane overlapping is an eyesore ( is creating TENSION ) …… smh….. also is reminding me of xbox for some reason :?

On Jan.06.2010 at 03:05 PM

ZuTroy’s comment is:

I am not a fan of the old logo. It did nothing for me as far as my personal aesthetic preferences. But I was easy to recognize. Hey wait, what’s the point of a brand? Maybe I didn’t like it but I knew it. I don’t particularly like the Coke wave or the Nike swoosh either but neither of those companies will ever drop them.

The new airplane in the logo is so timeless and classic, that I wonder how well they will be able to protect it in trademark lawsuits. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to ask a logo sweatshop like logoworks for a travel agency logo and get two concepts with that exact airplane (air plain?).

The font: I don’t mind the “expedia” but the tag line… Where do I start? There are so many things wrong with the tag line.

This logo was not designed by brand designers. It was designed by yes-men.

On Jan.06.2010 at 05:21 PM

Roby Fitzhenry’s comment is:

The rebrand looks wayyyy too much like Hotwire’s identity. FAIL x 100.

On Jan.06.2010 at 11:32 PM

jive’s comment is:

I like the older one better. The new one just looks like everything else out there and doesn’t have the same charm as the old logo. Perhaps the old logo was showing its age a bit and wasn’t as corporate looking for them, but they could of tweaked it.

On Jan.07.2010 at 09:25 AM

monomatica’s comment is:

Booooring. I like the old logo and feel it’s bolder and more fun and unique with the yellow airplane. It looks so much like Hotwire, it’s remarkable that someone approved it. Obviously the Martin Agency wants to take a more sophisticated approach and move away from the yellow suitcase icon from their old advertising. Perhaps that was part of the driving factor to get rid of the “yellow humor” in their brand? Although they do still have the yellow airplane flying across the globe before settling on the white. I don’t know. Just another corporatization of branding!

On Jan.07.2010 at 09:04 PM

Christian’s comment is:

@Armin: In your commentary, you write: “it’s funny to think that dot-com logos are starting to acquire an ironic vintage style that will soon completely fade away”. I’d love it if you’d look through our archive some time and elaborate on that point: It would be fun to see what became of the cartoony web-safe logos of the nineties, if they even persist.

On Jan.08.2010 at 02:37 AM

Pesky Illustrator’s comment is:

Hi, ya’ll. Been away a long time…

It’s not that I personally like or dislike this new logo, but that the old one - along with the twangy audio tag - made sense, at least to the degree that it HAD personality. It had humour and confidence to not be bland. When I saw the new logo and heard the new tag, I immediately knew they threw away all the brand equity they had established. And the new mark was just ordinary. Too bad….

On Jan.09.2010 at 08:48 AM

Alexander Greyling’s comment is:

The new brandmark looks like it belongs in the “before” logo position. Bland, boring, predictable and not something you are going or want to remember.

With all the elements centered, this smells of the bean counters having a hand in this. Maybe the slogan was conceived by a lawyer (or two).

A new logo? Sure. A brand evolution? Nope. Brand erosion? Yip!

It is so bad that there is not anything else to say about this without wasting valuable time that could be spend on viewing other exciting brand identities.

Author of
Face your brand!
The language of visual branding explained

On Jan.10.2010 at 03:33 AM

Varick Rosete’s comment is:

Ugh, this is awful. I agree with all the comments that say they’ve lost their character and personality. Downgrade.

On Jan.10.2010 at 10:24 AM

Brent Fagerburg’s comment is:

The Good: An example of a logo being updated without the need for ridiculous 2.0ing. Instead of dipping the mark in a coat of ultra gloss, they cleaned up the type while maintaining the familiarity of the brand.

The Bad: The graphic. The original, albeit cutesy execution actually had a solid concept in its visual: anywhere in the world in one motion. The new one is a glowing ball with a plane going through it. Go through the world? Cut through a pool ball? If you’re going to attempt a gradients and such, at least take advantage of it and give the plane some depth in order to maintain the fly-AROUND concept.

On Jan.11.2010 at 12:37 AM

Danielle ’s comment is:

I personally like the ‘cartoonish’ feel of the old design more than the generic, corporate design of this new one. It is totally generic (as others are saying), and even looks just like Hotwire.

I like what Daniel Kent said,
“The old brand gives me a sense of trust or security that I am dealing with people, which is hard to find these days. The new brand is cleaner and more sophisticated like a machine. Like a bank or credit card company. Do not trust. Lost the human factor.”

Totally true. And I think it is funny that the commercial still uses the yellow plane, if only for a brief moment.

On Jan.11.2010 at 01:40 PM

Jeffery Wright’s comment is:

Old logo, clever and charming, the new one?

Unremarkable.

On Jan.12.2010 at 09:01 AM

Judi Moffatt’s comment is:

Not that I’m one to adhere to the old, but the old logo was Expedia’s distinction in an ever growing competitive market, and to change it to something as bland as this is paramount to shooting oneself in one’s foot! The new font is barely different from the old, and a futile waste of money and marketing.

On Jan.12.2010 at 12:34 PM

Anonymous’s comment is:

LPK of Cincinatti is responsible for the logo, not Martin.

On Jan.12.2010 at 06:39 PM

elisa’s comment is:

I’m not feeling this logo yet, but I think it has potential, it seems like the icon should be a little more pulled together, something is missing.

On Jan.15.2010 at 06:16 PM

Mark’s comment is:

UGH Chalk me up saying this is a step in the wrong direction.

The old one was fun, unique, IDENTIFIABLE it had quirkiness and it had something that caught your eye and you knew immediately what it was.

This new one looks way too much like Hotwire’s and pours in the blandness.

They took out the human element and replaced it with corporate machine like rigid coldness.

Old one wins.

On Jan.17.2010 at 09:36 PM

vDev’s comment is:

I’ve been waiting a long time for Expedia to get rid of the “clipart” likeness and go with something a little more exciting - ummm, (wait for it…) this isn’t it!

The plane just doesn’t have any life to it. It’s almost like someone stretched a piece of used gum over a ball and said “Hey, check it out. The new Expedia logo.”

The font is slightly stronger but I’m not digging the ‘globe’ gradient color. Somehow it just doesn’t seem to mix well with the font color IMO.

On Apr.13.2010 at 05:56 PM