Tidying up a logotype in an Amsterdam way

Cosmetic changes – this is how you can describe the modifications made to the logo of the Dutch capital city. A little more was done for the visual identity, but is it a qualitative change?

Changes in the Amsterdam logotype can be summed up in one word: none. To be more precise, none except for the removal of one detail that was present in the old version of the logo. Colors – unchanged. Typography – virtually unchanged. The symbol – unchanged, i.e. unchanged for 3 of 4 of its elements. The fourth one was simply removed and that pretty much sums up the refreshment of the logo of the city.

The new logo of Amsterdam

The current logo of Amsterdam

It is true that Amsterdam used to have 40 variants of the logo (consistent thanks to its coherent graphical line). Now, however, it has only one logo in several simplified variants. The project also included identity, but – interestingly enough – the designs of the new business cards and envelopes look just horrible:

Advertising materials are not bad, though, especially the pictograms that create a consistent clean graphical line.

The branding studio Edenspiekermann, which updated the visual identity of Amsterdam, worked on this project for more than 4 months. Unified identity includes: a refreshed logo, paper, envelopes, business cards, flyers, and pictograms. Cost of the project: EUR 100,000.