A Bit of a Facelift…

We’re doing a little bit of a rebrand, and I’d love your feedback – here’s our old and new logo. It’s extremely stressful for us to think about changing it, but we’ve had lots of feedback about our old logo being hard to read, especially in a supermarket context.

What do you think? Is it an improvement?

 

PS. What about the colour?

22 thoughts on “A Bit of a Facelift…

  1. Don’t think it is an improvement. It is too like Ben and Jerry’s with the two names but I do like the colour.
    Some rebranding would certainly be good particularly when you do serve some very fine coffee and other delights and the original brand does’t really represent this. If I was a millionaire I would pump marketing money into Murphys as I feel you really don’t get the recognition you deserve – so perhaps some rebranding might help 🙂 For inspiration check out http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/3/12/willies-cacao.html I think something strong like this would be suitable, good luck

  2. I prefer your original style & font as its gives the impression of a creative, hand crafted & stylish product. I agree that it might be difficult to make out the brand name against the blue background but I would suggest making a few simple tweaks first before moving toward the formal block letter styling. I would keep your original blue colour also, its the same colour as a number of social media brands so is quite trendy.

    a) increase the thickness of the white font against the blue background & reduce the tailing on some of the letters
    b) change to a blue font on a white background (as above) but again beef up the font slightly & reduce the tailing on the lettering (look at alternative hand signature fonts).
    Anyway, that’s my tuppence worth.

    Best of luck with the project,
    Paul D

  3. I think I prefer the old one, but the new one is really nice. The font is really nice and I love the teal shade. It reminds me of the beach and ocean which I’m guessing was deliberate. Is that exactly how the new one would appear or are you going to mention icecream in it like the first?

  4. Easier to read for sure but the you’re dropping “ice cream” in favour of “Sean & Kieran”? Really?

    I can understand if you plan to branch further away from Ice cream you might want to de-emphasize that, but do you think people will *ever* say “I’m going to go to Sean & Kieran Murphy’s” rather than “I’m going to Murphys”? I guess what I’m saying is that adding your forenames … adds nothing. I don’t know what I’m supposed to get from that that is not already conveyed by “Murphys”. Your (sur)name is on the door … that’s good enough to tell me you stand over your product.

    If you’re dropping “ice cream” to de-emphasize ice cream, then you should emphasize the direction you want to go in “Murphy’s Caca milse” or whatever but “Sean & Kieran Murphy” … sorry, but it doesn’t do anything for me. Still, I love the ice cream and will continue to buy … “Murphy’s”.

    Just my 2c and not worth a penny more.

    Derek

  5. The old logo is great, but I see the point about recognition and legibility.

    I’m not digging the new one yet. The colour is perhaps neither blue nor green. Check the new colour out against different background colours such as mint, chocolate, brown bread, mango and other colours. You’ll need it to work with many colours?

    On the typography:
    1. “Seán” and “Kieran” are too close to the “&” perhaps?
    2. The “&” might be too big? Might also be better in the same font as either the names or the “Murphy”
    3. The overall shape of the logo is a short, wide triangle. Doesn’t gel with me somehow.

    It’s better than anything I could do, but I hope I was contructive!

  6. I also strongly agree with paul above, I myself really like the handcrafted message & look that came from your orignal logo along with the Blue & white colours they worked so well, hope you will take on board his & others advise to tweak it here and there to make it stand out a little more & continue to use the Murphy’s Brand Name with bigger font & reverse the colours to make them stand out better & make it much eaiser to read, what about our friend the Kerry Cow? I would like to see him make an apperance on new packaging,to promote the Rare Kerry breed of cow & Kerry’s history of great food.

  7. I would prefer the lovely blue colour of the old logo. The font could be simplified to make it more readable as others have suggested. The new font looks like it was inspired by old shop signage and is quite nice except for the colour. How about the new font in the old blue colour ?.The addition of the Sean and Kieran names makes the logo too crowded and fussy.

  8. Guys…Do not like the new one at all. Sorry but its lacking the personal. Its too commercial blocky bordering on boring…sorry. Oh…I hate the colour of new one. Its green and not a grass Kerry or sea green. It does not resonate with the ol heart at all whereas the old one does. Drop yer names I agree with whoever said that. Do not drop the icecream in logo. Thats what yer selling so put it in the branding. If ye bring out other products later well slip out icecream and put in the other product name on that product.
    I like the colour of the first logo….I like the font but yer I can understand how e.g a US costomer might struggle to decipher it.
    I agree with the idea of another commentator above about using an very legible Gaelic type font.

    I imagine the name would shine out too in black but blue is yer signature colour on shopfronts etc. Dont change anything that aint broken remember that. Are ye yerselves getting bored with the brand or is it something customers said? Why not use a comical face of one of those gorgeous Kerry cows appearing from side of the packaging or something… Keep yer freshness and fun side showing and keep yer passion for yer product shining through as it always has. Look at yer uniqueness and let that show through in brand and in product.
    Kerry if amazing place, its got something very special and so has yer product. Don’t lost that in the search for change.

    Hey…..I am from Cork….I know ye have Guinness icecream….how about Murphys in a Murphys or vice versa??

  9. Hey guys,

    From an objective standpoint (I’ve only just discovered Murphy’s so there’s no nostalgic bias from me!), I think the font in the first one looks immeasurably better. But I agree that it wouldn’t really work for your brand name in a supermarket setting.

    One thing that I’d suggest is writing the flavour in that font in big writing on the middle of the tub while keeping the newer logo above it in a much smaller font. I think that could work great!

    I have a few more ideas and suggestions for you. Get in touch if you’re interested.

  10. Thanks again, everyone, for your feedback! Helen – we’ve made a Murphys Murphys before – maybe it’s time to bring it back again. My father’s a Corkman, so I’m sure he’d approve!

  11. As a catering company in Orange County, a lot of our events are outdoors – so Ice cream melts! BUT I want to try this at home.

  12. Stopped in your shop in Dublin. SInce we had just had dinner,I selected a coffee which was as beautiful as it was delicious. I noted that you also had a shop in Killarney. unfortunately, we never had a chance to try the ice cream. I had read about your ice cream so you are receiving good advertising,
    My suggestion is to stay with the original logo which is much softer and attractive. If you are hesitant to change, it may not be the right decision. Good luck with your marketing from an American who dreams of the Irish dairy products

  13. I much prefer the old logo; the flowy lines remind me of icecream! I think it’s personal and feminine whereas the new logo is bland, masculine and doesn’t give any indicator what the product is.
    The old logo is subtle and creative whereas the new logo is too in your face and obvious. I am curious as to why you dropped ‘ice cream’ and added your names!

    I don’t think you need a reinvention at all! keep up the delicious icecream =) there are better ways to spend money!

  14. I really don’t like the new name! I think, like the others have said, that it is impersonal and corporate! I love the colour of the original a lot better than the teal. I have known Murphys for at least 10 years now and its that signature blue that stands out to me and what helps give you that classy personalised feel the business. It is bright and cheery. I understand that some people might not be able to read the writing, but please don’t do anything too drastic. You can just lose a bit of the cursive. The Forenames dont do anything for the brand either. I know many people who know Murphys Icecream, and when they speak about it its usually Murphys or Murphys Icecream. I believe your mame has already been established with many customers especially the locals in Dingle, and changing it now may lead to confusion, especially if your old customers use murphys ice cream and your new ones use sean and kieran or something to that effect! Please please dont do anything drastic with the logo and name!!! Please!

  15. I don’t know why you would even consider going with “Sean & Kieran Murphy”, it’s got nothing to do with food and sounds like a pair of plumbers or used car salesmen. Ditto the new colour, it’s not food friendly at all. The old logo and name was much better, maybe it just needs a bit of tweaking to make it more legible? Baby, bathwater etc. Sorry to sound a bit harsh but you’re great at what you do and I really think the new one would be a huge mistake. Best of luck.

  16. I still much prefer your older branding. I do not like the addition of Seán & Kieran to the brand either as your brand is now known as Murphy’s Ice Cream. If you weren’t familiar with the murphy brand this new style could easily represent any type of business. The older brand is much more suitable for an ice-cream company such as yours. As mentioned in other comments received it just needs a little tweaking – maybe a slightly simpler font but colour is still nice. May I also add that I love the branding style on your vans also and it would be a shame to change this.

    The suggested new style of branding in my opinion is too business-like and loses the fun element!

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