GM considers revamping Buick logo

[BigPontiac]

http://www.freep.com/article/20121121/BUSINESS01/311210044/GM-considers-revamping-Buick-logo

[G. David Felt]

Cool, I have some great Ideas and I think Buick could use a Modern 21st century look.

I Think people here should post their ideas for a 21st century Buick Logo.

[ocnblu]

Give us 3D red, white and blue Tri-shields and I'll be happy.

[G. David Felt]

Give us 3D red, white and blue Tri-shields and I'll be happy.

I was thinking of that but in a 3D Hologram Logo.

[GMTruckGuy74]

This should have been thought of in 2009, before the brand reinvented itself after the bankrupcy. A BIG change to the tri-shield emblem now will just confuse consumers. Maybe a return to the red, white & blue coloring would be best.

[Drew Dowdell]

logos are so blah and gray now anymore, a return to color would be nice.

[ocnblu]

No way do I advocate doing away with the tri-shields... just a return to color, which they never should have gone away from, imo.

[Drew Dowdell]

What logos still have color other than silver? Just Ford, Chevy, Cadillac, and BMW, right?

[hyperv6]

I suspect this will be a remake along the lines like the one at Cadillac. It would be nice to see a major change but I will not be suprised if they just take what they have and make it more modern.

Changing a logo is difficult as there is a lot of brand equity with a symbole but when you want to express that your product is all new this is a good way to do it. I just hope they don't drop the ball like they did at Olds with the logo change they did. Not only was it too late but that one just never worked. Too many people just did not identify with it.

The one thing I do request is that if they are going to add color make sure the emblem will hold up unlike the Chevy bow ties that look like hell in 3 years of auto car washes. The soap eats them up Nothing worse than a emblem that looks like hell on a car that is not that old. It says a lot about your product.

I think the change will be connected to many all new post chapeter 11 Buick that will be fitting of the Change. We have yet to see a full clean sheet of paper car from Buick post Chapter 11 yet ala like the ATS and new CTS at Cadilac. We know so little of what Buick is doing it should prove to be interesting once they get the new product in play. The present cars have show the ideas but not the full direction yet.

[GMTruckGuy74]

What logos still have color other than silver? Just Ford, Chevy, Cadillac, and BMW, right?

GMC is ruby red and chrome.

[hyperv6]

Ford still uses Blue with white and chrome.

Ferrari has color as well as the hand painted Porsche details.

There are still some color out there.

I remember the old Tri Shield badges getting broken in the 60's on my Great Uncles 225's [he bought a new one every year].

I think he lost two of them on different years. They were very detailed back then and jeweled like.

Edited November 24, 2012 by hyperv6

[balthazar]

Some of Buick's logos over time :

In general here tho, I prefer 'shield' emblems, such as the '39 and the '50.

I have no problem with the current 'blank' one. Its very modern as is.

I don't think adding color back in will do anything of measure.

[Delta Force79]

As long as they keep the tri-shield I don't mind change. I never cared for the new Oldsmobile logo that debuted on the Aurora. It was fine for the Aurora at the time, but I missed the older rocket logo on the rest of the lineup. They could have done something along the lines of the current all chrome look like Buick has and kept the rocket logo. If Buick updated the look of 1959 logo Balthy posted, I think that could look pretty sweet.

[balthazar]

^ Well, that 'update' of the 1960 logo would be the 1990 logo, no?

[ocnblu]

I'm guessing these have something to do with the Buick family coat-of-arms? What nationality was DDB?

[PurdueGuy]

I'm guessing these have something to do with the Buick family coat-of-arms? What nationality was DDB?

From the article:

The LeSabre, Invicta and Electra models, which inspired the three shields, have been discontinued, but the tri-shield structure endures.

[ocnblu]

Yup, but the tri-shields are an evolution of the earlier, single shield, as seen in balthy's post above. The cross, the elk, and the checkered banner all appear to be elements of a family coat-of-arms, and the 1942 version is clearly so.

[Robert Hall]

Interesting..didn't know the tri-shield only goes back to 1959..

[balthazar]

DDB was Scottish. The crest's elements, as depicted in the '37 emblem (the first year it was so used), were described in text in an 1851 edition of Burke's Heraldry. Harley Earl had instituted a research effort to discover DDB's possible family heraldry. Red shield, NW/SE diagonal silver & azure sash, stag head & cross with hole in it are the elements related to Buick. The '42 version is merely 'gussied up'.

I should also take the moment to ensure than the '70s hawk did not replace the tri-shield on cars, but was heavily used in print/TV advertising in addition to the Tri-Shield. It's misleading IMO, because all the others are from the cars themselves.

Interesting..didn't know the tri-shield only goes back to 1959..

Well; 1960. Whoever compiled the graphic apparently was unaware of a little thing called 'model year'.

The Tri-Shield appears no where on any MY 1959 advertising or the cars themselves, I can assure you.

[daves87rs]

logos are so blah and gray now anymore, a return to color would be nice.

Agreed...

[Robert Hall]

Interesting..didn't know the tri-shield only goes back to 1959..

Well; 1960. Whoever compiled the graphic apparently was unaware of a little thing called 'model year'.

The Tri-Shield appears no where on any MY 1959 advertising or the cars themselves, I can assure you.

Ah...do you have this emblem?

[balthazar]

^ Ya! It was optional on the LeSabre, but standard on the Invicta/Electra (I have an Invicta).

Buick really used 3 emblems on the '59s :

on the front (all series wore the hood emblem), and this on the deck:

Note the family crest elements still incorporated here.

[Delta Force79]

^ Well, that 'update' of the 1960 logo would be the 1990 logo, no?

That's true, but it's lacking the detail of the '60, such as the family crest elements and nice detailing in the silver that splits each shield. If a new logo could add those in, in some modern way I think it would be nice.

[Paolino]

Update the tri-shield. Put back the color but don't make it a flat color. I don't think they can deviate too far from the current without causing some confusion amongst people who are finally starting to look at Buick.

[Robert Hall]

Keep the tri-shield, bring back the red, white and blue and give the colors a jeweled appearance. Some shiny but tasteful bling could work.

[balthazar]

I vote for keeping it as is.

[smk4565]

I can see adding the color back, but I wouldn't change the logo from the tri-shield. Changing logos confuses people and costs marketing dollars explaining why you did it.

[bobo]

Buick has been using the tri-color logo in China for several years now, if not forever, and it was the North American logo that changed to all chrome. I could see having a uniform logo worldwide, if for nothing else, manufacturing uniformity, and it would seem logical to have the red, white, and blue back in North America. I don't know what value there would be in changing the Chinese logo.

Buick China site: http://www.buick.com.cn/

[G. David Felt]

I vote for standardizing on the Chinese red, white and blue tri-shield. Give it a jewel look so it is a bit more modern and call it a day.

[ocnblu]

I understand Buick is selling a quadruple number of vehicles in China v. what they are selling here. The most shameful thing I have ever heard. Americans need their heads examined.

[ZL-1]

The colored tri-shield lookgs good IMO; I'd reintroduce that in the US and call it a day... Juicier rumors are the ones indicating that Alpha Buicks are on the way as that makes me wonder if we'll get a modern-day Opel Omega and/or Senator...

[Robert Hall]

I understand Buick is selling a quadruple number of vehicles in China v. what they are selling here. The most shameful thing I have ever heard. Americans need their heads examined.

If it wasn't for the China market, Buick would be as dead as Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile, etc.

[ocnblu]

I believe that if it weren't for China, Pontiac might still be here and Buick, the very foundation of GM, may have gone away.

[smk4565]

I understand Buick is selling a quadruple number of vehicles in China v. what they are selling here. The most shameful thing I have ever heard. Americans need their heads examined.

If it wasn't for the China market, Buick would be as dead as Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile, etc.

Yes, too bad China saved them.

[balthazar]

Yea- I reject that theory. At the time it was floated circa the bankruptcy, no U.S. Buicks were imported to China, so Buick in the U.S. could easily been shut down with no effect on the Chinese market. And clearly the Chinese models weren't selling on the image of the Lucerne here. There's no logic to it.

[Justin Bimmer]

I can see the circle around the shield going away.

[G. David Felt]

I can see the circle around the shield going away.

That would be a nice update, use Jewel looking colored on the tri-shield and get rid of the circle. That would give it a nice modern look.

Here is my poor MSFT Paint Job on the Tri-Shield

[Camino LS6]

The colors should have never been gone.

Put them back and up the quality of the emblems.

This is one issue where I agree with Hyper - lousy quality emblems really send the wrong message. When an emblem looks shoddy, it implies a lack of pride in the product.

Chevy needs to take a lesson here.

[ocnblu]

Nothing worse than seeing a watermark in a golden bowtie. Ford's blue oval emblems have the same problem though, they peel and separate too. And you guys are so right, it implies a lack of pride in the product.