Bandai Namco has changed its logo again

Bandai Namco has changed its logo again, before it even got a chance to start using its previously announced one.

The publisher revealed in October 2021 that it was ditching the previous yellow, orange and red Bandai Namco logo, which had originally been designed to represent the fusion of Bandai and Namco when the two companies merged back in 2005.

The October announcement stated that the new logo would feature the words Bandai Namco inside a magenta speech bubble, and that it would come into use starting in April 2022.

However, while sharing details on its mid-term plan (April 2022 to March 2025) with shareholders today, the publisher also revealed that the logo will now be red instead.

The thought process behind the new logo was explained again during the mid-term plan report, and much of it repeats what was said in October when the magenta logo was revealed.

“The logo’s design incorporates ‘Bandai Namco’ into a motif that brings to mind a speech bubble, called ‘fukidashi’ in Japanese,” the publisher said.

“Through this design, the logo expresses the potential of the brand to connect with people around the world through dreams, fun and inspiration and inspire them with amazing ideas.

“The speech bubble also represents Japan’s manga culture, which has become popular around the world. In this way, the logo stands for our determination to communicate and connect with fans worldwide as we strive to create entertainment unique to Bandai Namco.”

However, in October, Bandai Namco also stated: “The magenta used as the motif colour not only represents diversity, but also creates a bright and fun impression and is easy to reproduce.”

This has been replaced in the new mid-term plan with a new explanation for the decision to make the logo red.

“For the motif colour, we sent questionnaires to employees around the world to gather their thoughts about words that express images associated with the aims of the Group,” the new explanation reads.

“From among the words that were frequently mentioned, we selected candidate colours through scientific methods linking words with colours. From among these candidates, we selected a bright red colour that creates an impression that is enthusiastic, fun, active, and bold.”

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The publisher gave no reason for the change from magenta to red in its report. Indeed, it makes no reference to the magenta logo at all, as if it had never happened.

Brand designer Nico Vliek, who created logos for various entertainment brands including Scott the Woz and Cinemassacre, had previously shared his thoughts on the magenta logo on Twitter.

Vliek had pointed out that the magenta colour made sense from a business standpoint because it could be faithfully reproduced on most ‘normal’ printers.