You know Logitech, that company that makes the great keyboards, and the great speakers, and the great gaming mice? Itâs going to start calling itself just âLogiâ now, and that transition begins today.
When I asked exactly why it decided to karate chop its tenured brand name in half, the answer was simple: tech means nothing.
âTech is everywhere,â says Logitechâs VP of brand development Charlotte Johs, a big âL-O-G-Iâ comically emblazened on the silk screen behind her. âTech is in the air you breathe...itâs in your clothes...in the future, âtechâ doesnât say anything,â she tells me.
In a way they have a point. After all, Gizmodoâs own tagline is âEverything is Technology.â There are precedents for the name-splitting, too: Remember when Steve Jobs decided to go all King Solomon on Apple Computer? Now itâs just Apple.
Seemingly a better fitting name for a new brand of Swedish furniture than one of the leading companies for tech accessories, the important distinction is that Logi isnât a word. Itâs not quite âlogic,â which was of course the reference in the original name, and I highly doubt theyâre referencing Logi the fire giant from Norse mythology. One definite bonus, though, is the company would finally be able to have the same brand in Japan, where Logitech is known as Logicool due to trademark complications. Logi, as far as Iâm aware, doesnât mean anything offensive in Japanese. Phew.
When I asked where exactly this delightfully zen new identify came from, Johs said Logitechâs Boom series of Bluetooth speakersâthe companyâs most popular productâwas in many ways the very first Logi-inspired piece of tech. In other words, the Boom happened when Logitech started starting giving a shit about design. The name just didnât exist yet, says Johs.
And so, Logi was born.
From looks alone, the new logo is a visual step up from its 34-year-old predecessor. Itâs clean, modern and has all the visual cues of a 21st-century startup (even the lowercase!). The color palette accompanying the makeover is bright, vivid and âin your face,â another element ripped from its Boom speakers. But it also sacrifices decades of brand identity for a short and sweet logo thatâs on the one hand completely unobjectionable and pleasant-looking, but on the other, kind of bland.
The name Logitech isnât retiring quite yet. For one, itâll remain the companyâs formal name and be sticking around on a lot of Logitechâs older stuff like mice, keyboards, and even Boom speakers...at least for now. But Logitech says, that if everything goes accordingly, Logi will be the name inscribed on almost all the things it makes, because tech isnât spoken anymoreâitâs understood.
Note: Logitech flew me to Ireland to check out its design studio and other fun tech stuff (I drop-tested an iPad and destroyed the fuck out of it). They also put some grub and booze in me and also gave me a little notebook. I use it for D&D campaigns now.
