Australian logo ditched after going viral for all the wrong reasons

Australian Made logo
The current logo (left) vs. the alleged new version (right) (Image credit: Australian Made/Future Owns)

Some rebrands are successful, some less successful, and some are just plain baffling. Australian Made's new logo certainly fell into the latter category last month, replacing its beloved kangaroo with something that looked a lot more sinister. Thankfully, the viral redesign has now officially been canned. 

The Australian Made mark is designed to signify products that are, you guessed it, Australian made. According to its website, the logo is "the mark of Aussie authenticity". But as many pointed out online, the new version looked remarkably like a virus. Not quite where we'd look for logo design inspiration – especially in 2020. 

See more

Believe it or not, the new design wasn't actually supposed to look like a virus. According to ABC, it was meant to represent the golden wattle, Australia's native flower that appears on the Commonwealth Coat of Arms. That makes more sense – although with the sheer amount of virus imagery doing the rounds this year, we can't believe Australian Made didn't make the connection.

According to The Australian, the updated logo, designed by marketing agency BBDO Sydney, will now be replaced with a different take on the wattle. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham says the design was completed last year, long before the 'c' word became quite so ubiquitous. “Obviously COVID means there’s a need to have a look at that piece of work – particularly the logo element – given some of the associations people were drawing,” he said.

See more

Fortunately, the abandoned logo didn't actually represent a blanket rebrand for Australian Made. The company took to Twitter (above) to announce that the kangaroo wasn't disappearing – the new logo was only planned be adopted by businesses and government agencies. 

Now that the viral wattle has officially been ditched, exactly what logo said business and agencies will eventually end up with remains to be seen. But if said experts are looking for inspiration that's slightly less, er, biological, they could do well to check out our best logos of all time. 

Read more:

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Daniel Piper
Senior News Editor

Daniel Piper is Creative Bloq’s Senior News Editor. As the brand’s Apple authority, he covers all things Mac, iPhone, iPad and the rest. He also reports on the worlds of design, branding and tech. Daniel joined Future in 2020 (an eventful year, to say the least) after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more. Outside of Future, Daniel is a global poetry slam champion and has performed at festivals including Latitude, Bestival and more. He is the author of Arbitrary and Unnecessary: The Selected Works of Daniel Piper (Selected by Daniel Piper).