New Logos For Holiday Inn & Hilton Worldwide

By Jennifer Farley | September 26, 2009 | Web Design Tutorials & Articles

In the past couple of weeks, two of the world’s biggest hotel chains have revealed new identities and rebranding.

First up, the Holiday Inn logo. Designed by Interbrand, it replaces the old, somewhat unusual reverse italics logo. As we know, branding is not just about the logo and in this case the new logo is just part of a massive overhaul throughout the organization. Holiday Inn has over 3,000 properties across the world and each one is getting a facelift with improvements in bedding, landscaping, and believe it or not, a Holiday Inn scent. Every hotel is now obliged to plug in a lobby “scent machine” producing a mild aroma of ginger, white tea, citrus and musk. The cheaper Holiday Inn Express sites will be pumping out a scent of sweet grass and green tea. Below you can see the before and after logo design.

Holiday Inn Before

Holiday Inn After

New Holiday Inn Express Logo

Personally, I really love the new logo. It’s bright, fresh and friendly.

The Hilton Hotel group have also recently made changes to their corporate name, logo and website, changing the name from Hilton Hotels Corporation to Hilton Worldwide to signify their global reach. On the new logo design, Hilton have said,

The platinum and gold stylized H evokes quality, stature and the richness of Hilton’s heritage. The two halves are reflective, which are a reminder of the company’s storied past and vibrant future, and the open curves are welcoming, symbolizing the world of travel by suggesting the round edges of the globe, the arch of a bridge and posts of a bed.

The new logo

The new website

Hmmm, I can’t say I’m feeling inspired by either the new logo or website from Hilton Worldwide. For a company like Hilton, I would have expected something a little more elegant. Obviously there are two completely different audience’s being targeted here, but there is a such a huge contrast between these two. The choice of colors and shapes of the Hilton logo are pretty dull, while the Holiday Inn typography and colors have welcoming feel.

What do you think of the new logo designs?

Written By:

Jennifer Farley

Jennifer Farley is a designer, illustrator and design instructor based in Ireland. She writes about design and illustration on her blog at Laughing Lion Design.

Website - >> More Posts By Jennifer Farley

Tagged as: logo, logo design, Web Design Tutorials & Articles

{ 18 comments }

Lady GaGa October 8, 2009 at 12:01 am: Paris needed a job.
Aljiro September 30, 2009 at 1:39 am: ChrisH is right about the Holiday Inn logo. The H Icon works well on its own.
About the Hilton Logo… Nice explanation ;)
ChrisH September 29, 2009 at 6:09 pm: The Hilton logo is a disgrace. Incredibly amateurish. 5 minute Photoshop job. Looks like they gave it to a first year design student who went with their first idea and never did any pre-design (thumbnails, concepts) on paper. I’d be embarrassed if it was mine. And what’s with the layout? Whatever happened to the principle of alignment?
The Holiday Inn text one…not sure…doesn’t seem to add anything to the brand, maybe even detracts a little. The “H” on its own works well though, and will look great on signage.
griz326 September 29, 2009 at 12:57 pm: They paid designers to “develop” that?
Is terrible being too kind?
jphilapy September 28, 2009 at 10:24 pm: I don’t like either logo. The Holiday Inn logo looks like much thought didn’t go into it. The Hilton logo doesn’t look balanced. When I am looking at the Hilton page, I get caught on the logo because it distracts from the rest of the content.
Jeff
TomBradshaw September 28, 2009 at 9:13 pm: I haven’t been a fan of some the recent logo redesigns, but the Holiday Inn one is a marked improvement! probably because the previous one was just so outdated. I’m not so sure about the Hilton one either, I agree for such a high class brand I’d expect something a little more sophisticated, sharper and cleaner. I understand their press bit, but it just doesn’t wow me – and the typography looks like a last minute thought to be honest – not great.
AlexW September 28, 2009 at 5:09 pm: The new Hilton logo looks more like a construction or finance company to me — bridges and arches — and is very static and establishment.
Interestingly, the guys who did the web site take a lead from those curves in the logo, but tilted them a little and got a much more energetic feel. Pity the logo guys didn’t go a bit more that direction.
I don’t want to be scapegoating here, but the bevel looks like something the client insisted on against the wishes of the designer.
skunkbad September 28, 2009 at 12:08 pm: I like the old Holiday Inn logo better.
hartofalyon September 28, 2009 at 6:49 am: The new Holiday Inn logo looks great. They’ve chosen a font that’s relatively similar to their old one so the brand is still easily recognizable. Unlike the disaster that is the Tropicana carton re-branding.
Sy September 28, 2009 at 6:08 am: I truly can’t believe that either organization actually ‘paid’ for these new logos as both are terrible! I think they’re both cheesy and absolutely dreadful. As classy as the Hilton is or is trying to be, I think their new brand looks like a starched Bow Tie and hardly reflects “Filling the earth with the light and warmth of Hospitality”. The new Holiday Inn logo…well gee, a lot of thought went into that one, eh?
Paul September 27, 2009 at 5:11 am: I am suprised someone was paid for the Hilton logo, it looks like a default bevel in Photoshop and job done. Awfull.
bellafaith September 27, 2009 at 3:42 am: I agree, the Holiday Inn logo definitely seems tailored to their target audience. I can understand why Hilton went with gold & platinum and their “logo explanation” definitely helps their cause. I think if the styled “H” was all gold or all platinum, it would look better (try covering one of the halves). Something about the gold & platinum makes it look like it was designed 10 years ago. They’ve tried to modernize it by pairing it with a modern font. I don’t think it’s a logo I would want very large, it seems to look better the smaller it is. I, too, would have liked a more elegant design. As for the site, it just seems very simple. The flash slide show has elegant transitions, but it seems as though they put all their money into it.
Steve September 27, 2009 at 3:11 am: I like both, but especially the Hilton it reminds me of a crown and a bed, which I think is fifty for a high class hotel
Takingweb September 27, 2009 at 1:56 am: it seems to me a little bit like “Hotel Plan”
xathras September 27, 2009 at 1:14 am: Scent machines? Seriously? Do they not get that hundreds of thousands of people have sensitivities to artificial fragrances? Do they not get that people like to sleep in places where they can breathe, and continue doing so all night? Bad enough all the junk they use in cleaning, now they want to add to the chemical stew? No amount of logo change is going to make people want to stay somewhere where they wake up gagging on their own snot. Sorry for the derail, but GAH!
Designfacet September 27, 2009 at 12:28 am: Both very weak logo’s.
anonym September 27, 2009 at 12:22 am: good…
Tommy Van de Velde September 27, 2009 at 12:13 am: Not to mention the cheap bevel on the hilton logo..