A New Caribou

Caribou Coffee, the second largest coffee chain in the USA, just updated their brand. While I think their coffee is just as bad as Starbucks, at least their refreshing identity will make you think otherwise until you taste it. This is a huge upgrade from their old branding which tried too hard to feel “rustic,” but I hope they use the hand drawn elements sparingly. It can become too much, too quick. I also find the coffee bean/caribou body to be a little forced, however cute. See more over at Colle + McVoy—the Minneapolis agency who worked on the re-design.

From the Press Release:

When approaching the logo redesign, we didn’t want to lose the important equities of the previous logo, so the new logo still includes a leaping caribou, a shield and the words “Caribou Coffee.” What has changed, however, is the look: from a Northern lodge theme to a fresh variation of the same elements, now rooted in natural textures and fluid graphics.

“Because coffee is the heart and soul of our company, the body of the caribou is formed out of a coffee bean. In addition, the caribou’s antlers now form the shape of the letter ‘C’.” Another significant change in the logo is the direction of the caribou’s leap. While the Caribou in the previous logo was leaping left, the caribou now leaps right, signifying the direction the company is heading — into the future.

“The shield element has been updated to resemble the shape of traditional national park signage. This is a nod to our founders’ hike in Alaska’s Denali National Park, where they were inspired to start the company,” said Alfredo Martel, senior vice president of marketing for Caribou Coffee.