Unless you’ve spent the past week in isolation at a mountain retreat you’ll probably have heard about the Jaguar rebrand. A colourful ad that looked like a spot for fashion brand and a new logotype with no big cat promptly had people sounding the death knell for the iconic British car maker.
Even Elon Musk, not exactly a man known for great rebranding, was quick to mock. Where are the cars? he wanted to know. Well, last night Jaguar revealed some – or concepts at least. And they look like something Musk would love.
At Miami Art Week 2024 at 1am UK time, Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern revealed the Jaguar Type 00 concept in two colours: London Blue and Miami Pink. The two-door won’t go into production, but we’re told the styling and detailing will influence a road-going Jaguar slated for 2026.
McGovern began his presentation by making it clear that the controversy created over the past week was entirely intentional, drumming up more publicity than a concept car reveal would normally achieve. “Getting attention in today’s world is not easy,” he pointed out. “…we’re delighted to have your attention.”
But the rebrand wasn’t just controversy for the sake of it. McGovern seems to have seen it almost as Jaguar’s duty. “Controversy has always surrounded British creativity when it’s been its best,” he said, highlighting people like David Bowie and Vivienne Westwood as his own creative heroes. He also mentioned Jaguar as breaking the rules with its classic E Type back in the day.
“Create new objects of desire,” were the words he gave in his brief to his team, he says. And that’s what they did, recapturing the essence of Jaguar’s innovation in colossal proportions fit for the social media age.
While, the new tagline is ‘copy nothing’, anyone involved in design know that’s pretty much impossible. Plenty of influences can be seen in Type 00 design. We thought the leaked Jaguar images looked like a Barbie x Action Man collab, but it’s hard not to also see the influence of the Tesla Cybertruck in the Type 00’s colossal proportions and chunky low poly-looking lines.
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It seems Jaguar adopted Musk’s obsession with trying to make a car that looks ‘futuristic’. But Jaguar’s vision is a vehicle that more people will find desirable. The gaudy look could have big appeal among many people who can actually afford the things, while the Cybertruck looks like a tin shed on wheels.
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The Jaguar Type 00 design concept(Image credit: Jaguar)
(Image credit: Jaguar)
(Image credit: Jaguar)
Much has been made of the sans-serif logotype, which mixes caps and lowercase letters, but there’s a plethora of symbolism in the vehicles, not just a single logo. They include a ‘strikethough’, which must be the single most pretentious symbol in car branding, but nothing is accidental, and the branding is starting to make sense and could sway new converts to electric vehicles.
