Smartwater Logo
Smartwater is the world’s most recognizable bottled water. A seven-step purification process as well as the addition of minerals for better taste gave the company an advantage over its competitors. The brand managed to stay relevant to the consumer market over the years and became a success story. Like many brands, it turned to celebrities for marketing purposes, with Jennifer Aniston, Gal Gadot, and Zendaya raising Smartwater’s popularity to new levels.
Meaning and History
The founders of Glacéau Smartwater took advantage of the hype for bottled water in the 1990s. Ice Mountain Spring Water was launched in 1996. After a few months, Ice Mountain began to appear at hip cafés and health food stores, attracting the attention of individuals who were obsessed with fitness. Glacéau chose to rebrand Ice Mountain as Smartwater two years later. The new name meant to show that this particular water was a better choice thanks to the science and innovation behind its production. Over the years, the company grew to be a true bottled water giant. It expanded to nearby Canada as early as five years after its creation. The Coca-Cola Company completed one of its biggest acquisitions to date in 2017 when it paid an astounding $4.9 billion to acquire Glacéau, the company behind Smartwater.
What is Smartwater?
Smartwater is a leading water brand that originated in the US and spread to Canada. From the very beginning, the company positioned itself as a premium, healthy, and trendy bottled water.
1996 – 2006
The original logo is quite simple and minimalistic. It features the brand name printed in two lines. To create a unique look, the designers played with the font size as well as the thickness of the strokes. The company’s name, Glacéau, is printed in all caps above the brand’s name using smaller characters. The brand name is separated by the use of different stroke thicknesses, making the accent on “Smart” and the whole essence of the brand’s name. A black and white color palette allowed the logo to withstand the test of time and stand out against any background.
2006 – 20??
Designed by MoxieTM, this logo is much more elaborate. The designer added a drop-like backdrop of a blue color. It is placed under the first half of the brand name, which is printed in contrasting white. The rest of the inscription is printed in the same blue as the drop. The company also added a tagline that said “Purity you can taste” and “Hydration you can feel”. The color palette made the logo more closely related to the water theme.
20?? – 2019
The tagline was removed, which instantly made the logo look cleaner and drew all the attention to the well-recognized name. A darker blue color has also been used for the drop and inscription. The “Glacéau” part has been moved to the left side and the cross stroke of the “t” was adjusted to create space for it. This line introduced a sky blue color to the logo, which looked quite appropriate. The company turned to Hatch Design for this update.
2019 – Today
A very noticeable change was made in 2019. The blue color was replaced by a deep purple color. The full brand name was printed using the same stroke thickness. The sky blue was no longer relative and was replaced by an off-white used in the rest of the logo. It is also worth noting that the “Water” portion of the name has been moved to the left, so it slightly overlaps the drop. Kate Carmack was able to create a completely new look for the brand while preserving a well-recognized and established brand image.
2020 – Today
A completely different logo was created soon after the last update, but so far was used only for advertisement. First of all the drop was mirrored, so the pointed end lay flat at the bottom. The designer also decided to bring back the familiar deep blue color. The “Glacéau” line was printed in sky blue and placed on the right using a larger font size than earlier. This version looks familiar and new at the same time.
Font and Color
The original logo features a Neue Helvetica Pro 87 Condensed Heavy font for the first half of the name and Helvetica Light for the second half. Later, the company used the condensed version for the whole name. Although it is not special, the designers were able to make the logo look unique and closely associated with the brand.
During the first ten years, the company used a classic black for its logo. It was a good and safe choice for a company that was just starting out. For many years after that, the company stayed true to a deep blue and white color combination. Besides being associated with water, this color creates an image of a reliable, confident, and secure brand. Recently, the company changed the color palette to purple. It is a very unique color that creates a powerful image. The color supposedly uplifts and encourages, just like the Smartwater is able to revitalize the body every day.
