First and obvious is the darkening of the red in 1973. This tones the visual energy down resulting in a more sedate, sophisticated visual statement. Less obvious is the crest’s outward flare towards the top being eliminated. The crest's vertical sides are now parallel. It's likely this adjustment was made to make better use of material. The prior angling outward of the crest required some amount of metal waste per badge. Not much perhaps but any conservation is money saved, particularly when one looks at cumulative costs over many years.

     In 1994, the horse is refined resulting in a less cartoony figure. The PORSCHE header font is squashed vertically to express a more contemporary,“fast feel.”  PORSCHE letters are also now in black as opposed to the far less visible blind emboss.

     In 2014, the background the horse resides on is lightened. This draws the eye to the center of the crest and makes the horse slightly more prevalent.

     As this is written, some crests now appear with the STUTTGART  lettering above the horse in the traditional blind emboss while other crests present STUTTGART in black. This variation suggests a refinement having been made and the old “blind emboss” version being flushed from the marketplace and the new—more visible—black version of STUTTGART being installed. Whether this is a genuine corporate flush & install or an unauthorized “rogue” modification has yet to be seen. Given the much increased visibility of STUTTGART, it would seem another progressive change authored by Porsche's branding department.

     Incremental corporate identity "refinement" is the signature of sophisticated brand management. The awareness at play is a clear understanding that people/consumers become attached to brands. More, people value stability, visually and otherwise, in the brands they favor. For this reason, companies often do as Porsche has done in order to protect & preserve the recognition their brand has garnered over years of marketing investment. This is not to say dramatic brand changes cannot be done successfully. Because doing so is of measurable risk, large companies quite often prefer to take the conservative route as Porsche has done.

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Small change. Big Process.

 

For a global company such as Porsche, logo refinements, even small modifications, are planned well in advance—perhaps years in advance. For any visual refinement, several design options are typically developed & presented to internal decision makers. The approval process usually requires several executives and possibly the Board to arrive at a consensus. This process is not necessarily a quick undertaking given opinions on visual imagery being abstractly subjective on the part of each approver. A leader in visual strategy is absolutely necessary to intelligently rationalize what the options are and recommend the best solution depending on specific corporate goals. This leader is usually the head of marketing or brand management. Debates on even minutia can last months. (Perhaps Porsche is faster at such processing than others.) Following approval of a visual change, ALL corporate media files require updating. Then marketing materials need to be reprinted or otherwise reproduced. Digital applications need to be updated. Structural visuals need to be taken down & replaced or refurbished. The mission in hand being to flush the old crest from the marketplace and install the new. To what extent this is done throughout the company's entire global visual communications system is a decision management makes per visual change. Bottom line, given Porsche’s international presence, the cost & complexity to institute even a “minor” change in branding represents an immense and expensive undertaking. 

 

Expressing Quality.

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Ferdinand Porsche was a man driven by performance. Quality, usually very precisely measured in his engineered world, was integral to his expression as a consummate perfectionist. Proof of his creative genius, to himself then others, came by his creations winning races, a practice he managed quite often. Born into his father’s exacting realm, Ferry carried his father’s meticulous traditions seamlessly forward. When speaking of the Porsche crest design he authored, Ferry efficiently distilled what could have been a complex statement into a simple goal. He said he wanted a design that expressed what was most important to him, “Quality.”  His father’s son he surely was.