Toyota Motor Europe has joined numerous other car brands by opting for a flat redesign of its logo with a revised visual identity created by The&Partnership that includes removing its wordmark.
The new logo and branding was created by agency The&Partnership for Toyota's Europe division and sees the automaker's name removed and its old, 3D design flattened, leaving just a simplified, 2D emblem made up of three overlapping ovals.
This change, according to The&Partnership and Toyota, was an acknowledgement of the brand's visual recognition amongst European consumers, meaning it no longer needs to plainly state its name to be identified.
Toyota has revealed a new 2D logo
This the first time the Japanese auto company have rolled out a new logo since 2005, and the first time it has renewed its visual identity since 2009. The new logo follows in the footsteps of many other car brands including Nissan and BMW that have swapped out the 3D designs of their logos for more minimal, 2D formats.
However, head of art at The&Partnership Dan Beckett doesn't consider this wave of flat design to be a "trend", but rather a practical resolution to the growing issue of readability at a time when digitisation has taken over.
The logo is designed for use in digital formats
"By their very nature, people experience car brand logos in the real world in the form of shiny silver things stuck on the nose of the car," Beckett told Dezeen.
"Twenty years ago it b...