John Lewis and Partners (how NOT to redesign a logo)

[Paul Murray]

Yes, this is what they've actually gone with, it's live on the John Lewis website right now.

I know that whenever there's a rebrand of a famous company designers are the first to have an opinion, and I often try and reserve judgement until I can read a case study or some rationale, but I really don't like this one. It just screams 'inexperienced designer' to me. I wouldn't be surprised if it was handled internally by marketing.

The tiny text is the most frustrating thing about it. Lack of scalability is a common issue with logos posted here for critique and this one is no better.

Here's how it looks on a phone (well in Chrome). When you scroll down they just show you a non-text version:

 

[hankscorpio]

Are they affiliated with Waitrose?

 

[hankscorpio]

Oh - turns out they are... it's very meh.

 

[scotty]

Here's something I saw this morning about it.

Of course, it's accompanied by a new "heart warming" ad.

 

[scotty]

...bloody hell! It's all over the net! :O

 

[Levi]

In all honesty, I don't dislike the redesign.... I question the reasoning for partners but I suppose the JL store does often have 'mini stores' inside them (my nearest JL is about 30 mins away) so I guess that's what it's relating to. Waitrose is the 'food' brand of JL for anyone wondering, my local stores are either side of a mall and are in all honesty seen as a 'higher end' store (JL does actually have some good quality clothes) and price accordingly...

The issue I have is that the choice of font could have been better (and kerning imo) because the one they picked just feels so incredibly generic.

 

[hankscorpio]

To be honest, I wouldn't know Waitrose and JL were connected. Now I do.

I don't particularly like the design. But I understand the reasoning - and it ties both together so you know both are related.

 

[scotty]

in all honesty seen as a 'higher end' store (JL does actually have some good quality clothes) and price accordingly...

My wife got a £100 gift card from her class's Mums for John Lewis at Christmas and she had a nightmare spending it as everything other than price matched electricals and stuff are just over priced, designer tat IMO.
They remind me of massive duty free shops with the duty on to be honest and all the staff at the Sheffield (Cole Brothers) JL are all a bit snobby.
Never heard of most of the brands.

To be honest, I wouldn't know Waitrose and JL were connected. Now I do.

I guess that's why they've done it, to bring JL and Waitress together which I think they've done pretty well.
The logotype is nothing ground breaking and a bit safe but I guess it's supposed to be.
What I like is how they've carried the branding across everything else like the signage, uniforms, carrier bags and such.
I think it's quite understated yet strong.

Can't say I'd shop there but I might buy my elusive iPad Pro from there as they're price matched.

(Just for the carrier bag)

 

[Levi]

My wife got a £100 gift card from her class's Mums for John Lewis at Christmas and she had a nightmare spending it as everything other than price matched electricals and stuff are just over priced, designer tat IMO.
They remind me of massive duty free shops with the duty on to be honest and all the staff at the Sheffield (Cole Brothers) JL are all a bit snobby.
Never heard of most of the brands.

I'm not really on about 'fashion brands' (most are stupidly overpriced, just look at supreme...) more on about suits and the likes, you can get some pretty good stuff from them imo.

Can't say I'd shop there but I might buy my elusive iPad Pro from there as they're price matched.

They should also come with a standard 2 year warranty instead of 1 like say pc world, most people usually price match JL to get the 2 year warranty as standard. Actually, after checking, it looks like the iPad gets 3 years as standard.

 

[Paul Murray]

When you see the rebrand as a whole it makes more sense, which I sxpected, though the Waitrose side is definitely stronger. For example, this is really nice…


… but the John Lewis side feels like an afterthought. If it was just an umbrella brand for their sub brands then it probably wouldn't matter, but I still think the logomark is weak, especially coming from the likes of Pentagram.