When was the last time you looked at a card badge and thought, Wow! Interesting and subtle.
Ever since the new millennium began, automobile manufacturers have gone big and bold with their brand badges, as if we needed more reminding about the make and model.
While there is certainly nothing wrong or unstylish about the new badges, they do feel a bit loud and self-conscious. Perhaps they just mirror the Instagram and Facebook generation of today.
A Forgotten Way
There was a time, not too long ago, when car manufacturers used subtlety and design intelligence to remind you casually of what’s speeding ahead. The ‘Debossing’ method, as is known in the industry, exhibited a simple, sophisticated style of stamping the model name on the rear of the car.
It felt almost symbiotic, as if the badge and the vehicle are deriving from each other. The brand name would appear confident rather than overconfident or even insecure.
Ferrari did it the best with the F40 debossed on the rear right wing; but then again, they are Ferrari. Ford put their best foot forward too with the Ranger debossed just above the rear bumper. A special mention goes to the now defunct DeLorean that also carried an understated badge.
In a digital age where everything is in your face, perhaps the automobile manufacturers can, once again, adapt the classy, but forgotten, debossed car badge.