Primark (very lightly) rebrands with tweaked logo and graphic portals

Primark has announced a rebrand carried out by its creative agency VCCP. The logo has undergone slight changes, based around a wider type family developed by the foundry Colophon, called Primark Basis. Weights of the wordmark have been increased and the lock-up has been re-kerned, “to work better at a small scale in social and digital,” says VCCP. A new framing device has also been introduced, which VCCP is calling a “portal”.

The portal is a graphic window made up of two oblongs (a P when placed together) that cuts out to reveal campaign assets. This technique was used by numerous brands in 2023, including Porto Rocha, who spoke recently about the saturation of this approach when used in a more formal, identity format. A press release calls the portal technique: “a window into the world of Primark, which will be used across campaigns and the wider brand world; bringing everything Primark offers to life.”

A new secondary palette has been introduced to support the Primark aqua blue, which has also been refreshed. VCCP says this change was “primarily for accessibility purposes”. The new type family developed by Colophon is an adapted version of Basis Grotesque, the clear-cut sans serif. In the logo, you can find small details of added curvature. VCCP says it wanted to include “playful characters”, “better representing the brand’s personality”. The rebrand and new framing device will appear across assets for Primark’s new campaign, Viva Summer.

Primark’s approach to marketing and branded partnerships has undergone shifts in recent years. Since 2021, more focus has been placed on telling audiences about its Primark Cares initiative, through which it commits to becoming a “sustainable and circular business”. This project includes nine commitments it’s working to achieve by 2030, including making all of its clothes from “recycled or sustainably sourced materials”, halving carbon emissions across its value chain, and “pursuing a living wage for workers in its supply chain”.

In Metro, Erin Bush-O’Brien of Fair Fashion Project referenced Primark Cares as an example of greenwashing, stating: “Businesses and companies know that people care and want to make a difference – and they’re exploiting that fact that we want to do our bit. If a company is still using a linear fast fashion business model and making sustainability claims, I think that’s greenwashing.”