Gumtree Australia Has a New Logo – Is It Better?


Gumtree Australia, one of Australia’s (and the world’s), largest and most successful classified websites, has undergone a major rebrand.

Developed by UK-based marketing specialists Koto Design Studio, the rebrand sees the site’s iconic Eucalyptus tree logo, refreshed into a much simpler design.

The new design has finally made its way to digital screens across Australia this week, to coincide with the site’s tenth anniversary down under.

After initially launching in the UK at the turn of the year, the new green logo is identical to its UK cousin. The Australian version of the site has also been given its own unique color palette, inspired by the Australian landscape.

To gauge whether the rebrand has been well received or not by the public and designers alike, we’ve ventured to deepest depths of the internet (also known as Google) to find out what they think.

Let’s take a look!

Social Media

As usual, social media was awash with opinion; with most commentators praising the new look for its clean and minimalistic approach.

Gumtree’s social media channels cheekily asked users for feedback on the new logo via an online poll, with “I love it” and “I like it” as the only two possibilities to choose between.

There was unsurprisingly, some criticism that the logo’s new design made the brand less distinctive and seem more corporate. It also came in for repeat criticism due to its similarity to some existing logos.

Offline

One of the world’s leading monthly magazines for advertising and design, Creative Review, was generally positive in its feature on the new logo design.

While they admitted that the rounded sans font and simplified logo wasn’t the most distinctive or exciting, they still felt that the rebrand was a big improvement over the previous “outdated” look.

Online

US based graphic design firm Under Consideration, described the old logo as something they’d expect to see from the “estate of a Nigerian prince looking to transfer assets to a U.S. bank account”. Ouch.

They clearly felt the only way was up, describing the new logo as “100 times better than the original”. However, that didn’t stop them from criticizing the new abstract icon for looking more like a three-leaf clover than an actual gum tree.

Oak Base, a UK marketing agency, was universal with its praise. Two of the company’s designers felt that Gumtree’s new distinctive color palate added to the site, without taking away from the original brand.

They also praised the updated look for ticking every box for how a 21st-century tech platform should look.

Despite a skeptical start to their review, creative agency Dot Design turned out to be similarly positive with its praise. They stated the new design “belonged online and in print”.

What is your opinion of the site’s new logo and color scheme? Has the brand gone in the right direction? Or does the original still appeal to you?


0 Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.