'Premium' logo redesigns go viral on TikTok

We've seen plenty of viral crazes come and and go on TikTok over the last year, covering everything from personality quizzes to photo editing hacks. And racking up millions of views this month are one designer's 'premium' rebrands for decidedly un-premium brands. 

From M&Ms to Fanta, Creative Director @brand_da's 10 videos all show a confectionary brand being given a swanky makeover in Adobe Illustrator, each resulting in a new logo and packaging. But while TikTokers are loving the luxury designs, others are less impressed. (Check out the best Illustrator tutorials if you're inspired to create your own design.)

@brand_da

What should I design next? ##mandms ##mms ##chocolate ##design ##logo ##logodesign ##logodesigner ##rebranding ##logoredesign ##redesign ##business ##packaging

♬ original sound - Creative Director | Daria

There's a rigid formula to each clip: @brand_da announces that her job is to make "brands look more premium," before showing the current logo of a brand. Cue a few shots of typography being tweaked in Illustrator, and then we're shown the final product.

The results are all fairly similar, with dark colours, light and often lower case typography and high quality stock footage of the product in question (usually chocolate) in the background. But there are some stand-outs – the skewed typography of the Mars logo is pretty striking, while the new Lays crisps packet is rather smart. Check out the best free fonts if you're after typographical inspiration.

@brand_da

Would you eat it? ##lays ##chips ##experiment ##redesign ##rebranding ##luxury ##concept ##logo ##logodesign ##designer

♬ original sound - Creative Director | Daria

But over on Facebook, commenters have been less kind, with many pointing out that the designs all like pretty much, well, the same. Rather than 10 unique and iconic brands, these all look, as one user puts it, like the same cosmetics company. Indeed, it could be argued that rather than "redesigns" of the existing logos (let's be honest, none of them resemble the original designs), these are simply their names written in a nice new font.

@brand_da

What should I design next? ##hersheys ##chocolate ##design ##logo ##rebranding ##logodesign ##logoredesign ##redesign ##business ##packaging

♬ Rasputin (Single Version) - Boney M.

But then again, it's great to see design and creativity being championed on TikTok – and hey, if these videos inspire more young people to get designing, what's not to like? And there's no denying that @brand_da's designs look classy (even if they all look classy in a similar way).

It seems all the biggest trends start on TikTok at the moment. From the Apple AirPods Jump campaign to that viral colour personality test, it's all about the video platform right now. If you're still not up to speed on how it works, see our guide to how to edit a video on TikTok.

Read more:

• Unseen AirPower prototype reveals the secrets of Apple's cancelled charger
• This 'X-ray' optical illusion street art is blowing minds in Rome
• KFC's latest billboard is utterly shameless. We love it