Warner Bros. Updates Its Iconic Shield Logo
Three years in the making.
From movies to TV, Warner Bros. has remained one of the titans of the entertainment industry and member of the “Big Five” film studios since its establishment in the 1920s. However, with such an expansive portfolio of titles, one of the company’s biggest challenges consisted of maintaining a cohesive brand identity on the big and small screens. Its signature blue and gold shield logo had not been updated since 1993 and was difficult to fit across newer forms of media like streaming platforms. The studio decided to team up with design firm Pentagram to modernize the logo and make it more adaptable across its versatile properties.
Designer Emily Oberman and her team conducted 140 interviews with employees to better understand the legacy and sentiment of the brand. The shield remained an important nod to the company’s rich legacy but by employing the golden ratio, it was revamped with a cleaner aesthetic. The sash across the shield was removed and the brighter version of the Warner Bros. blue hue was infused into the reworked emblem. The design team also introduced a more modern typeface of the “WB” monogram and a custom font that could translate across the studio’s digital and print assets.
Warner Bros. Chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff celebrated the launch of the new logo last week by unveiling the studio’s rebranded water tower. “As we approached our centennial, we thought it was the right time to take a good look at our brand, what it stands for and the values it represents,” said Sarnoff in a press release.
The new shield logo will be implemented onto screens in early 2020. In other entertainment news, Christian Bale recently confirmed that he turned down a fourth Batman to follow director Christopher Nolan’s wishes to keep it a trilogy.
