logo

Yesterday, I had lunch at Olive Garden, and I started to think about how this restaurant’s logo changed. I didn’t really know why the logo changed, nor could I pin-point when the changed happened either. I did some research on it, I found out it changed almost two years ago and people were not happy about the new look. Olive Garden drastically simplified their logo. According to the Lippincott website, “[t]he new logo represent[ed] a modern face of Olive Garden, while staying true to its Tuscan heritage.” Unlike the original logo, the current logo features an olive branch in place of the purple grapes that were seen for more than 16 years. However, this new addition doesn’t scream olives to me. I guess it’s simply because I associated purple grapes (from the original logo) to the restaurant. The new logo also uses a different cursive-like typeface. I really don’t understand how this typeface relates to Olive Garden’s Tuscan roots. I think they could’ve used a different script typeface or even a modern serif typeface that was reminiscent to Tuscan type. Now, the only thing I really like about the current logo, is the color scheme of green, brown and white. I feel these colors work well together, and show up nicely on their takeout bags and other materials. It’s sad that this is the only aspect I like about the current logo. It’s probably because this logo is still fairly new as opposed to the old one, which everybody was used to seeing since 1998/1999 until 2014. As person who’s been eating Olive Garden since she was three years old, I honestly prefer the original logo over the current logo.