Deliveroo Visual Identity – Up Yours

There’s plenty to say about food delivery service Deliveroo’s new logo, but first I need to get my gittishness out of the way. I say that because it’s easy to sit at my desk and make derogatory comments about new logo designs (see AirBnB), become a smart-bum keyboard warrior quicker than you can say, well, Deliveroo. Which is exactly what I did when I saw the new Deliveroo logo, thinking myself very clever, but, it turns out, about 9 hours after a few dozen other Twitterer’s had pulled the same visual pun.

So lets get it out of my system. It looks like someone sticking up two fingers. Which is especially apt as Deliveroo are slap bang in the middle of the debate about the “gig” economy. Deliveroo riders are self-employed contractors, but as with other similarly employed staff, such as those at UBER or Yodel, the way they work has some similarities to fully employed staff, but without the benefits of being employed on a contract. This means if, for whatever reason, they don’t make minimum wage, then tough. Holiday benefits, none existent or not comparable, same with sick pay, pensions. Riders in London recently protested at a new delivery payment plan that was due to cut per delivery costs by nearly half.

Two fingers to their riders then, two fingers to everyone in their logo!

I’m sure @Deliveroo couriers won’t be surprised that even their new #logo is sticking two fingers up at them… pic.twitter.com/5wL7dOAOof
— Kieran Harrod (@KieranHarrod) September 5, 2016

That off my chest then…

Dropping their original illustrated kangaroo with takeaway bag, accompanied by a typically “web startup” bit of wide spaced rounded serif text. The old did feel web startup, the kangaroo was well illustrated, better than many tech startups (remember that twitter bird with the quiff?)

The new introduces a more abstract geometric “roo” character designed by DesignStudio alongside the in-house Deliveroo Design team. You can see some other sketches in the process below, all keeping the kangaroo as the central element. It’s both more professional but less friendly than before, it’s got an awkward chaotic nature to it, all odd angles and wonky eyes. It’s generally the kind of thing I like, as a big supporter of the of the London 2012 logo.

The text has been demoted from all caps to all lower case and has been given the now obligatory chunky geometric sans treatment (MasterCard, Logitec, Google et al), looking at their website source code, it’s a modified version font called Stratos. I may be wrong.

Whatever, I dislike it.

The lowercase e looks squashed, the very deep cut into the v is not nice at all. Then there’s the very slightest hint at some serifs flicking out of the base of the d and top of the r. I’m not sure at all, none of these issues appear in the original Stratos linked above.

The whole thing is awash with that teal, which is OK by me, better than the brute red UK competitors JustEat and Hungry House use. I’m not so sold on the “it makes some angles to use in everything else” argument, the angles just seem arbitrary, despite having a relationship with multiples of 6º.

The cycling gear looks cool and bright, but I don’t cycle so I’m not the best judge. I see these around Derby, chaps on motor scooters and bikes with uncomfortably large boxes on the back and I look forward to seeing the new brand in action, which despite my reservations, and the whole two finger thing, isn’t all that bad.