Walmart 2.0

In case you hadn't heard yet, this week retail monster Walmart debuted their new logo for the world to see. This logo re-design, part of their effort to "refresh" their stores, is the

sixth logo redesign in the company's 46 year history (although one logo was never used for signage etc.) The new logo's color and simple, clean lines reflect to some extent the Web

 2.0 "style" that has been spreading beyond the internet, and influencing the corporate logo world. 

The Web 2.0 "style," and I use that word loosely, is characterized by large, clean, simple fonts, usually in bright or pastel colors, and they often appear shiny. Many employ gradients, drop shadows, reflections and other effects as well. Overall, there seems to be a trend towards getting away from a "box" and towards more of an icon, like on your computer desktop. In the past several years there has been a rash of corporate logo redesigns - most of which reflect the simpler style popularized by the Web 2.0 websites. 

Here's just a sampling of some of the other logo redesigns in the past few years. Some, such as Volkswagen, are very minor, whereas some, such as Holiday Inn and GM Goodwrench, are quite drastic.