Pokémon gets an unpopular new logo for its 25th anniversary
Pikachu goes back to basics.
In yet another reminder of how time passes, Pokémon is about to celebrate its silver anniversary. Yup, as of 2021, Pokémon will have been around for 25 whole years and the company has a new logo to celebrate – featuring everyone's favourite species, Pikachu.
Unveiled for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, the new logo (see it below) riffs on the Pikachu character. It's the outline of Pikachu's face, with its signature red cheeks embellished with a 2 and a 5 (for 25, in case you were unsure). It needed to be iconic for such a milestone, but do you think it rivals the best logos of all time? We're not sure.
The new logo has similarities to the 20th anniversary design (below), which also used Pikachu as its basis. But, while the new incarnation is super-simple with its block colour, the 20th anniversary version had a busy aesthetic, full of different Pokémon (check it out above).
We have to say, we kinda prefer the last one. Though the new iteration is striking, we wonder if it could be a little too simple? Its basic design reminds us of ClipArt, which is reminiscent of its '90s roots. So you could say it makes sense...
It certainly caused a stir when unfurled on the giant banner above a crowd of dancing Pikachus. Pokémon teased what's to come with the below tweet, showing that there are big plans afoot to mark the quarter-century since Pocket Monsters Red & Green first launched in Japan in 1996.
February 27th, 2021mark your calendars, folksNovember 26, 2020
Fans aren't sure about the new logo design, either.
Pokemon: let's make the new Pokemon anniversary logoGraphic designer: Great! I've got some great ideas based off of the 20-year anniversary with-Pokemon: pic.twitter.com/dXzTl0j3EPNovember 26, 2020
Yeah but they didn't really add ANYTHING special to it. It's just Pikachu with numbers for his red cheeks, and they already had that on the previousNovember 26, 2020
One even redesigned the logo in the style of the 20th anniversary version.
Get top Black Friday deals sent straight to your inbox: Sign up now!
We curate the best offers on creative kit and give our expert recommendations to save you time this Black Friday. Upgrade your setup for less with Creative Bloq.
all of these designs were either taken from the 20th anniversary, or they were traced from a cardThis took FOREVER! Trying to reproportion all of the old ones from the 20th anniversary to fit the 6 new starters, and have them all fit together like the 20th was super complicatedNovember 27, 2020
What do you think? We are looking forward to finding out what's in store for fans during the celebrations. If the success of Nintendo's Game & Watch revival is anything to go by, the Pokemon team should look to its past to satisfy its fanbase. And whatever celebrations are in store next year, if they're in line with what was revealed today it's sure to be joyful and... yellow. Definitely yellow.
Need a new console to play? Check out these Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals.
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
Georgia is lucky enough to be Creative Bloq's Editor. She has been working for Creative Bloq since 2018, starting out as a freelancer writing about all things branding, design, art, tech and creativity – as well as sniffing out genuinely good deals on creative technology. Since becoming Editor, she has been managing the site on a day-to-day basis, helping to shape the diverse content streams CB is known for and leading the team in their own creativity.
Related articles
- Back to grunge: Why '90s aesthetics are making a comeback in 2025
- First Impressions: freelance illustrator Marie-Alice Harel loves "the freedom" her work offers
- PUBG creator's new game engine lets you create 'an Earth-scale world generated in real-time' - and its free to try on Steam
- Did Lego drop a brick with its weird Marvel logo set?