Glossier quietly introduced a new logo for its summer collection

In June, beauty company Glossier quietly rolled out a new logo. Rather than use the brand’s sleek sans-serif black wordmark, it deployed a new, chunky typeface to promote its new seasonal capsule collection of hair accessories, lip balm, and a utility sling.

The new logo uses VolumeFour, a 2018 typeface designed by Ryan Corey based on the lettering on Black Sabbath’s 1972 album Black Sabbath Vol. 4. It’s set in a variety of summery hues designed to evoke lazy beachside days.

Though the ‘70s-inspired logo is technically just a temporary pop-up brand, people across the internet have started to wonder if it could perhaps be more permanent. Compared to the airtight rebranding of companies like Verizon, Glossier seems to be experimenting with quiet rebranding—a soft launch of sorts.

For a company like Glossier, which has a loyal, dedicated audience, introducing a temporary brand is a safe way to test drive a radically different visual identity. Founded in 2014, the beauty company became a leading example of “blanding,” the aesthetic of clean, minimalist branding popularized by tech companies and direct-to-consumer brands that catered to Millennials in the 2010s.

Blanding appealed to a generation coming of age at a time when minimalism was in and Instagram grids were clean and stylized. A decade later, though, as algorithmically sorted feeds and social video like Instagram Reels edge out the picture-perfect influencer aesthetic, type needs more personality to stand out on a smartphone screen.

Forecasters at the type foundry and retailer Monotype predicted in their annual type trend report that 2024 would see brands experiment more with nostalgia and fun in their type choice—both characteristics of Glossier’s ’70s-inspired font choice.

The Glossier summer capsule collection brand isn’t designed to only be photographed as a square image on a clean, nondescript background. Instead, the products were shot to appear poolside. The utility sling is splayed across the bare midriff of a model wearing a bikini while the Ultralip is photographed being held by a pair of lips.

Perhaps Glossier’s pop-up rebrand will be just a summer fling to be discarded as soon as the temperature drops again. Or maybe it’s an early sign of an end of a design era. Fun and nostalgia are back. Call it the great unblanding.