Rolls-Royce, ready to announce the new Ghost, has revealed a new host of brand identity logos and graphics for communications going forward, as well as an illuminated dash fascia for the Ghost itself.
House of Luxury
Rolls-Royce has seen a lot of change in recent years, now possessing a portfolio of five models that has changed the way it does business. For instance, almost every vehicle Rolls hand-builds at its Goodwood, UK, facility is a Bespoke car, tailored specifically to each client's demands, while the Black Badge range - Rolls-Royce's 'alter-ego', according to the marque - provides edgier and more distinctive options for a customer base that is now considerably younger than in Rolls' history: the average age of a buyer these days is 43.
To that end, Rolls-Royce appointed Marina Willer, a partner at design studio Pentagram, to create a new brand identity that would move the marque from being the 'Best Car in the World' to its current presence as a true 'House of Luxury'. After an exploration of the company, its products, its design ethos and more, Willer said: "What soon became apparent is that Rolls-Royce has evolved from being regarded as an automotive manufacturer into a leading light in the world of luxury. It was essential for us to ensure that the brand's new identity reflected this shift. We needed to present Rolls-Royce in a forward-facing, fresh and relevant way - speaking to new audiences while respecting the company's loyal clients.
"I do not come from an automotive background. This vantage point provided me with the opportunity to observe Rolls-Royce as a manufacturer of luxury products. My ambition was to celebrate the luxuriousness of the brand while providing it with the means to visually communicate with Rolls-Royce's younger, increasingly diversified audiences."
Redesigned iconography
Various icons and corporate communications will now be presented in the new fashion. For instance, the Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet emblem will gain increased prominence in the marque's brand identity. While the actual item that adorns the front of the cars remains unchanged, a simplified illustrated version will be used in much of the marque's social media presence and in other areas of the business. The corporate colour moves to a deep purple, augmented by Rose Gold, and in future the signature colour of the cars will be Purple Spirit, while the Black Badge line's 'Noir' imagery will be 'punctuated by bursts of colour'. While the double-R 'Badge of Honour is unchanged, the 'Rolls-Royce Motor Cars' logo has been redesigned and there's a new font in play for communiques and more, which is Riviera Nights - replacing Gil Sans Alt, the previous typeface.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce, said: "As the marque's digital presence increases, there has never been a more important time for the visual language of the company to reflect our standing as the leading luxury brand in the world. We have embarked on a fascinating journey of modernising our brand identity to echo those changes seen in our portfolio, our client demographic, their lifestyle and the luxury world that surrounds them."
Illuminated Fascia
Beyond the fresh corporate identity, Rolls-Royce also showed off the Illuminated Fascia, a feature of the impending new Ghost. This features a glowing 'Ghost' nameplate surrounded by more than 850 stars and can be seen on the passenger-side dashboard, where it forms a link to the excellent Starlight Headliner that has become one of Rolls-Royce's modern signatures. The illumination of this fascia involves 152 LEDs mounted both above and below the surface, these being colour-matched to the cabin's clock and instrument dial lighting. And, fastidious to the last, to ensure the Ghost graphic is evenly lit, a 2mm-thick light guide featuring more than 90,000 laser-etched dots across the surface is employed by Rolls-Royce.
Michael Bryden, lead Bespoke designer, said: "Illuminated Fascia is perfectly in tune with the Post Opulent design direction we pursued with new Ghost. This elegant and minimal aesthetic is a specific response to the layer of clients who respond to Ghost: men and women who share a desire for a clean, pared-back expression of Rolls-Royce. Like the rest of the motor car's progressive design, this hidden-until-lit feature hides the complexity required to create a sense of effortless luxury with a simple decorative statement."