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 25th anniversary logo (Image credit: Pokémon)
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...
The 20th anniversary version (Image credit: Pokémon)
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.
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 the Creative Bloq Newsletter
Daily design news, reviews, how-tos and more, as picked by the editors.
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.
Georgia has worked on Creative Bloq since 2018, and has been the site's Editor since 2023. With a specialism in branding and design, Georgia is also Programme Director of CB's award scheme – the Brand Impact Awards. As well as immersing herself with the industry through attending events like Adobe Max and the D&AD Awards and steering the site's content streams, Georgia has an eye on new commercial opportunities and ensuring they reflect the needs and interests of creatives.
