Whatever your take on the billionaire space race, there's no denying that the idea of commercial interstellar travel is slowly becoming more of a thing. And to drive the point home, Virgin Galactic has revealed a new brand identity, complete with a bizarre new logo.
Designed by Pentagram, the new identity is a very purple affair. At the heart of the new look is the logo, made to represent the company idiosyncratic spaceship design. But followers are already giving the design a drubbing. Let's just say our best logos roundup won't be getting a new, intergalactic entry any time soon.
Designed to "connect the world to the love, wonder and awe created by space travel," the new logo replaces the previous logo, which was designed in collaboration with famed French industrial designer Philippe Starck and featured Branson’s eye (because that's not terrifying at all).
Old (left) vs new (right) (Image credit: Virgin Galactic/Future owns)
The Pentagram-helmed rebrand coincides with Virgin Galactic, the world's "first commercial spaceline", opening ticket sales for 90-minute space journeys set to take off at the end of this year. Starting at a mere $450,000, these will offer the experience of viewing the earth from space, aboard the company's VSS Unity shuttle.
But while the new logo certainly does convey the unique shape of the ship, it also looks like, um, some other things. From elf hats to fireplace blowers, the design is drawing some unfortunate comparisons online.
"Looks like an ancient war helmet," one user comments on Pentagram's Instagram post, while another adds, "what kinda hat is that?". Many have also taken issue with Pentagram's association with Virgin Galactic during a climate crisis. "Embarrassing and massively irresponsible. We are in a climate emergency, maybe designers at Pentagram would like to think about that?" comments one user.
Indeed, while we're normally big fans of Pentagram's work, from the ingenious San Diego zoo logo to the brilliant Rolls-Royce rebrand, we're not sure the studio was aiming for the stars with this corporate-looking concept. Still, at least it didn't do a US Space Force and literally nick the logo from Star Trek. If you're inspired to create your own logo, check out our guide on how to download Photoshop.
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Daniel John is Senior News Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of art, design, branding and lifestyle tech (which often translates to tech made by Apple). He joined in 2020 after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more.
