Vintage Branding in Modern Times: Tips + Examples
Ever felt like you are all fashionable on the outside, but deep down you’re still old school? Craving for the warm, fuzzy feel that comes with vintage cars and vinyl records? Well, you are not alone! And did you know some brands feel that way too? Some might be targeting the modern audience but might prefer leaning into nostalgia. Others might wear their heritage like a badge of honor. They are all tapping into nostalgia as the key emotion to connect with their audience. Sound familiar? Then vintage branding might just be your thing!
Vintage branding can be many things. It can be a slick old-fashioned logo. Or perhaps about going all-in with antique charm reflecting in everything from your website to packaging. How much of your brand identity goes vintage boils down to why and how “vintage” works for your brand and audience.
But here’s the big question: will vintage still work in modern times? Times when brands are obsessed with flat designs and contemporary styles? Spoiler alert: yes! Stick with us, and we aim to explain why and also provide you with some useful vintage branding lessons. All this based on examples from real brands that have got it right.
So, ready to sprinkle some old-school magic over your brand? Let’s get started with this quick guide.
To Begin With, Why Does Vintage Branding Work?
The Allure of Nostalgia
Emotions are strong drivers that help brands make meaningful connections with their target audience. Nostalgia is one of the strongest, most relatable emotions. It is one of those emotions around which conversations can be built with diverse age groups. Of course, what makes each audience segment feel nostalgic might vary, but one thing’s for sure – nostalgia works. Almost always!
This is one of the reasons why many brands choose to go with vintage branding. No wonder, about 92% of consumers find ads to be more relatable when they evoke nostalgia.
Help celebrate the brand’s legacy
Vintage branding can also act as a powerful storytelling tool. It gives your brand the opportunity to showcase your roots, to celebrate your legacy.
Take Mountain Dew’s recent rebranding, for instance. The makeover was planned meticulously as a nod to the drink’s Appalachian roots. Blending old with the new, this new look has a subtle vintage style to it. Vintage designs like these help remind the audience of the brand’s legacy.
Build trust through timelessness
In a way, vintage branding communicates to your audience that you have been around for a long time. Therefore, there’s a clear message in this aesthetic: we’ve done this before, and we know what we’re doing.
Evidently, consumers trust brands that feel established. Brands with a sense of experience and legacy naturally come across as more reliable than fresh, unfamiliar names. This is especially true in markets where trust is a major deciding factor, like food, skincare, health products, or premium goods.
Cut through the noise
As you know, most store shelves are filled with sleek, minimalist, modern designs. Amidst these, vintage styles are sure to stand out.
For instance, you walk by the perfume aisle and you see the following packaging design. Don’t you think it will grab your attention amidst the other modern designs?
In short, vintage designs stand out – not just because they look good but also because they feel relatable and because of their emotional depth.
To conclude, vintage branding works when deployed effectively. But how do you do that? Let’s learn from some real-world examples.
Brands With Chic Vintage Branding & Logos
1. Barq’s
Owned by the Coca-Cola company, this 127-year-old root beer company has a beautiful vintage logo.
The design is anchored in the power of typography. In other words, the brand uses a vintage typeface to capture the brand’s rich heritage. The blocky, hand-drawn script is playful and fun. But most importantly, the distressed effect on the font makes it appear like letters on a chalkboard.
The vintage logo and subtle infusion of old-school elements into their packaging ensure that their cans stand out amidst other modern and vibrant beverage cans on store shelves.
2. Altoids
Mints come and go, but Altoids have a place of their own. Did you know that Altoids was launched in 1780? Yes, more than two centuries ago. Naturally, their vintage branding works like a charm.
To begin with, the logo uses a bold, ornate serif typeface that screams vintage.
Secondly, the overall packaging looks old-school, like those old and charming apothecary labels from decades ago. This comes from the intricate details and decorative borders. Not to forget, the muted colors that give the tins an aged look. It definitely stands out on shelves filled with bold and fresh packaging styles of other mint brands.
Moreover, in this case, vintage branding helps because the brand was originally marketed as a remedy for intestinal discomfort. Hence, the brand’s identity has always leaned into its medicinal roots. Accordingly, the vintage design elements serve to highlight this history, positioning the mints as a trusted, time-tested solution.
3. Jack Daniel’s
Jack Daniel’s has crafted a brand identity that exudes tradition and authenticity. The logo has remained consistent for decades and stands as a solid example of the power of vintage branding.
Its rugged design is built around the iconic Old No. 7 badge, a nod to the founder, Jasper Newton Daniel’s signature “charcoal-mellowed Tennessee Whiskey”. The subtly decorated emblem is the central element that sets the antique mood of the design.
To preserve this traditional aesthetic, the brand also uses a retro serif font, which is bold and loud. This elegant font helps reinforce the brand’s authority in the segment.
Finally, the classic feel of the Jack Daniel’s logo feels complete due to its ornamental old distillery style border design and fine detailing on the packaging. Overall, the design accentuates the vibe of the logo itself, making it a pivotal component in branding rather than just another visual identifier of the brand.
4. Ben & Jerry’s
Remember we spoke about brands that are not strictly vintage in every aspect? Ben & Jerry’s is one such. With its ethos, marketing graphics, and overall branding, the brand appears fresh, modern, and bold in most places, but at its heart, it carries a charmingly vintage, slightly rustic logo. This strategic blend is key to their unique brand appeal.
The logo features a custom chunky serif font on a brown banner. The slightly aged or distressed look on the banner elevates the traditional appeal of this logo and differentiates it from the other popular ice cream brands in the market.
Ben & Jerry’s is again one of those brands that uses typography to define their style. While you’ll find charming modern illustrations and bold details on the packaging and websites, there is also the consistent use of vintage fonts across various designs.
Summing it all up, the brand’s unique way of blending old and new reflects the company’s commitment to tradition, social activism, and a playful spirit.
5. Reese’s
Reese’s logo is like a sweet throwback to the candy aisles of the 1950s. It’s got that playful, retro charm that makes you smile. With its unique combination of orange and brown, the branding definitely grabs attention in a crowded market.
Evidently, the Reese’s brand identity is not overtly vintage like Jack Daniel’s or even Altoids. However, it balances the border between vintage and modern.
The playful, rounded script font that Reese’s uses is not instantly vintage. But it’s the combination of colors and the design details, like the thick shadow lettering, that give this logo a subtle vintage touch. This is a great idea for brands that do not have a long and rich history but still wish to adopt a slightly vintage twist for that nostalgic appeal.
6. Fentimans
Fentimans, the botanical brewers from the UK, are a prime example of a brand that has masterfully embraced a sophisticated, genuinely vintage aesthetic. This shines not just in their logo but can also be seen woven throughout their entire product experience, particularly their distinctive bottles.
The idea behind the design here is to capture the brand’s heritage and transport consumers to the era of handcrafted beverages. Accordingly, their visual style on the whole captures the classic elegance. The logo features the brand’s founder, Thomas Fentiman’s dog, Fearless, and it has remained pretty much the same for more than a century.
Since the vintage logo has become a crucial brand identifier, even the current-day packaging has been built around it. Take a look at the traditional serif fonts on the label and the retro flourishes that capture the vibe.
7. Guinness
Can vintage style be timeless? Of course. The Guinness brand identity is the perfect example.
Over the years, the Guinness brand has become synonymous with Irish stout. Their powerful logo is a testament to the enduring strength of vintage branding. The brand’s identity shows that a carefully crafted vintage logo and identity aligned with the brand’s personality and used consistently can help strengthen a brand’s stance in the market.
The notable element in the logo is the Irish harp in muted gold. This color choice is intentional, and it preserves the old-school aesthetic of the logo while letting the brand name font give this design a fresh, slightly modern twist. A perfect balance, don’t you agree?
Here again, the vintage branding strategy works in establishing the brand’s authority in the market, its traditional roots. Besides, the beer market is flooded with modern designs, and hence, Guinness’s classic, vintage logo makes it instantly recognizable.
8. Trader Joe’s
Another well-known brand that wears vintage branding with pride is Trader Joe’s. This is one of those brands that carries this aesthetic across its digital and print designs.
To begin with, yes, there is the unique logo. Though it is a simple wordmark logo, it’s the font that gives this brand a fine vintage feel. But yes, on its own, the logo alone does not carry that much of an old-world feel like many other logos with classic emblems and distressed textures. Instead, the brand achieves this aesthetic in layers.
A majority of this is built around the brand’s website. While it looks clean and modern at first glance, look closer and you’ll notice the little vintage details. Like the visual cue for their podcasts, for instance. That’s definitely a fresh and creative way to represent something modern with a traditional twist.
In terms of print, here’s the vintage art that appears on Trader Joe’s reusable grocery bag.
In addition to reinforcing the power of vintage aesthetics in branding, Trader Joe’s identity and approach to design also demonstrate the strength of custom illustration. By creating an illustration style unique to your brand and consistently using it on all your brand designs, you carve a niche for yourself in a crowded space.
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Think Vintage is the Right Move for Your Brand? KIMP’s Here to Design for You
All these vintage branding examples prove that old-school doesn’t mean outdated. If anything, it can be the secret sauce for standing out in a digital-first, design-saturated world filled with AI-generated art and graphics that all look more or less the same.
As we’ve seen, brands turn to vintage styles for a number of reasons – to tell a story, build trust, or simply to cut through the noise. Whatever be your reason, pulling off vintage aesthetics takes more than just a distressed font or a grainy filter. You should know what fonts to bring back so that your brand feels like you! That’s where a professional design team like KIMP comes in.
With an unlimited design service like KIMP, you get unlimited design requests tailored to your brand vision – vintage, modern, or anywhere in between.
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