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About
(Est. 1948) “Lotus Cars build world class, high performance sports cars including the class-leading Evora, the iconic Exige, the legendary Elise and game-changing 3-Eleven. All Lotus cars are rightly regarded as being the benchmark for handling. Colin Chapman always believed that a driver wants feedback and control, instant response, precision and agility, the power to accelerate and the ability to stop almost instantly. Over the last seven decades, Lotus has remained true to the ethos of its founder Colin Chapman. Applying his approach to precision engineering and automotive innovation, using the latest technologies and advanced materials, ensuring that every Lotus is strong yet light and simply amazing to drive. Each Lotus car is built by hand at the famous factory in Hethel, Norfolk. Immensely proud of its heritage, Lotus combines the very best of British craftsmanship with cutting edge design to provide customers with an un-paralleled experience.”
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All Lotus branding reflects the company’s new corporate identity, which features a revised roundel and new typeface for the wordmark. Simon Clare explained: “We’ve looked back at the original Lotus roundel and thought about Colin Chapman’s philosophy – to simplify and add lightness. We’ve applied that to create a new roundel, taking the weight out of the lettering and adapting the spacing. We’ve also straightened the word ‘Lotus’ so it’s consistent with the Lotus wordmark.”
Lotus press release
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Opinion
Based on some light Googling it seems the old logo has some fans and that it has a bit of an iconic status. Not being a car person, as I had mentioned recently, I don’t see anything particularly great about it, other than the funky lozenge shape, which looks great in the new logo in this flat iteration inside the more lime-y yellow circle. I also like how the straight sans wordmark looks better than the curved serif, which was kind of awkward before. I had to also Google “What does the ABCBABCABBCBABABABABACCC mean in the Lotus logo?” because I have no idea in what order the letters are meant to be read. Top result: It’s ACBC, for Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman, founder of Lotus. A car person would have known that. Given that it stayed the same, structurally, I guess it’s fine and no more or less readable than the previous serif version. Now that the “C” in it is a circle, the monogram does sit more snuggly within the lozenge. In single color, inside a stroke, it also looks quite nice. Overall, having no emotional connection to the old logo, I think this is much better and more representative of a modern-day car, especially ones so future-y-looking.
Thanks to Nathan Pitman for the tip.
