DDB unveils new look with old names

Omnicom agency DDB has revived Doyle, Dane and Bernbach by adding the three founder names to the visual identity of the agency.

The new look, unveiled Friday, includes a logo that closely resembles the agency’s original logo (right) with two upper case Ds stacked to form a B. The three names have been added to the lower D, which will always be black. The top D is yellow for the agency’s master logo, although a select number of other colours will be used.

“As other agencies are commoditizing their agency names and turning away from their founding principles and visions, DDB is doubling down on the values that Doyle, Dane and Bernbach founded our agency on—creativity and humanity,” stated a release announcing the change.

The new logo was created by DDB North America’s design team led, by chief design officer Barry Quinn, who is based in Toronto. The Brignell typeface is by Toronto font designer Ian Brignell.

The primary goal for the logo was “taking the best from our history and making it a little more contemporary,” said Quinn. “The company is an extension of the creativity and the beliefs of our founders. My test was to bring that to life visually. We wanted the logo to have more humanity in the shape and the way it feels, bringing in the names and letting people know it is not faceless, it is a company of people.”

He explained how the simple shape and strong silhouette will also be highly recognizable while allowing for some customization—both with colours and within the logo itself—across the DDB offices. “We ended up with these really bold counters within the D, we can use that as a palette,” said Quinn. “We want this to be alive, we want this to be an organism.”

David Brown