Black Logos Matter

Ford US put out a cryptic tweet on Tuesday:

Circle, pawn, square, golf hole, spade, sunglasses, cross

That makes about as much sense as the emojis round in Richard Osman's House of Games.

Turns out that the only significant thing about the emojis is that they were black - like Ade Adepitan in that Osman clip.

The teaser, as Carscoops points out, is for a new "Black" package for the Mustang:

It even has a black logo.

Black packages and variants are nothing new, Mercedes Black Series is supposed to

"represent the performance limit of a model range, where everything possible is drawn out of that model. This creates a new quality standard. Black Series bring together everything that can be achieved in terms of driving technology at a certain point in time and put it on the road."

Ford want us to come up with a name for this new black accent package.

How about "The Car of the Black Horse?"

I'm banking on that winning but can't be sure why that idea popped into my head.

Strange Choices

 It seems a strange choice to let your very small unrestrained child stick its head out of the car window when your travelling around:

Actually - it's just stupid - unless you don't actually like the child.

No, a strange choice would be to leave a lucrative job as Aston Martin's Design Manager having worked on the DBX, DB11 and Valkyrie...

...to go to do a similar job for Dacia.

But that is what this chap is doing:

He doesn't look like an Aston Martin designer does he?

His name is Miles Nürnberger - I've not heard of him.

But those cars show he is up to the job - and he's a bit older now and presumably wiser.  So there must be a good reason to move - probably financial but maybe the challenge or job security or he doesn't like his car-parking space - none of our business really.

What we do know though is that it's not that he gets to design the new Dacia Logo.

Sandero Logo's to GoGo.

 The Dacia logo is quite rubbish really:

I mean, what on Earth is that meant to be?

A boot release handle?

Upside down it could be the top of a car seat.

So here is the new one:

Double ended tuning fork?

It is meant to be the D and C from Dacia - the Autocar story is here.  It sort of reminds me of the badge on the front of a certain iconic car from the '80s:

Which in turn, mustn't be confused with this:

Anyway, walk this way and see how the logo does actually look quite good on the front of their concept small SUV:

Just a shame it is a small SUV.

Anyway, in some nice news, take a look at this:

No, it's not a graph or a weird steering wheel design - it is highlighting part of another famous graphic which has been renamed in honour of the late, great Sabine Schmitz.  That story, from the Top Gear website, is here.

Another Reason to Dislike Kia.

I'm probably being unfair but the image of Kia to me is the budget sibling of a budget brand (Hyundai) who make boring econoboxes.

Which is probably why they are rebranding.

I reported a couple of days ago about their new logo and the thoughts behind it.

Autocar have more news today.

I hate it when my boss uses the word "robust".

This is because I hate management speak.

So imagine how I feel when I read phrases like,

The Korean firm intends to “break away from its traditional manufacturing-driven business model”, instead expanding into “new and emerging business areas by creating innovative mobility products and services to improve customers’ daily lives”

and

the company will diversify into “eco friendly mobility services, centred on electric and autonomous driving across major global cities”

Ye Gods.

Now this is part of Kia’s long-term ‘Plan S’ strategy, which will see a focus on new dedicated electric vehicles - seven of which will be launched by 2027.

OK, seem reasonable.  The first will be a coupe-crossover.

Another bloody coupe-crossover!!

The preview shots (useless pictures of some vehicles in a hangar during a power cut) show a number of what Kia calls “Purpose-Built Vehicles” (PBVs)

PBVs!!

I already hate SUVs - now I've got to hate PBVs!

Meanwhile, over in America, the big news is, "Kia Sedona Minivan Could Be Renamed Carnival for 2022"

I guess the rebrand has begun.

Going Logo

 Last week, Kia launched their new logo.  They used drones and fireworks and set a new record for something or other to do with drones or fireworks:

It doesn't look that good as a logo to me - although the old oval one was pretty nondescript so I suppose it is an improvement.

And it looks better in black than in firework.

Meanwhile, Autoguide today point out that GM have done the same - no fireworks or drones but they have done the new-logo thing:

Autoguide want us to discuss which of the new GM & Kia changes is the best - they say, "Which of these two redesigns do you think is more successful? Sound off in the comments."

Nobody has - I thought I was the only car-related author that nobody ever comments on.

You have to be careful with logos though - I used to deal with telecoms company ntl: who used this logo:

If you ignore the "n" and tip it on its end you get a pig on a skateboard.

If you tip the new GM one on its end, you get an elephant looking over a fence it is sat next to.