Breadline Design

Hot on the heels of the recent Visa re-brand, Mastercard International have taken it upon themselves to update their logo and change their name to Mastercard Worldwide. According to Mastercard:

“The three circles of the new corporate logo build on the familiar interlocking red and yellow circles of the MasterCard consumer brand, and reflect the company’s unique, three-tiered business model as a franchisor, processor and advisor.”

Hmmm, to be honest, I don’t really get it. The logo must surely be aimed at the end user, i.e. the consumer and I can’t really see why they would be interested in a “unique, three-tiered business model”. From a professional perspective, it looks like they’ve jumped on the glossy web 2.0 logo bandwagon. From an amateur perspective, it looks like a tumour growing out of an iconic brand.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m an advocate of old brands embracing the modern age. Visa’s re-brand brought a drab identity smoothly into the 21st century, but Mastercard seem to have embraced decoration over design, and may well suffer for it in the long run.