Following two years of development, Red Hat has unveiled the next evolution of its red fedora mark. The rebrand was a result of Red Hat's Open Brand Project - an open initiative to update and simplify its corporate logo and brand system. Since the project's launch in 2017, members of open source communities, current Red Hat customers, partners, and associates have made their opinions known.
Red Hat's Brand team has been collecting this feedback from customers and partners, coordinating work with well-known design consultancy Pentagram, and collectively poring over survey data and iterating on the new design.
"For decades, Red Hat has been a flag bearer for the commercial open source movement, and open source startups have looked to Red Hat as a beacon, a guiding light illuminating a new (and now, I would argue, an undoubtedly better) way to build enterprise software," commented Tim Yeaton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Red Hat. "Red Hat has always been the champion of the 'open source way': open, collaborative and inclusive community innovation. Yet our iconic logo-including the partially veiled, fedora-wearing 'Shadowman,' as we Red Hatters affectionately call him-wasn't squaring with the values we firmly believed the logo stands for.
"Thousands of loyal customers, partners and open source communities clearly recognize what Red Hat-the company-stands for. But the data was clear: Perceptions of the logo among people who didn't know us weren't matching the reality of our brand. In fact, it was antithetical to what we all believed it should evoke.
"The new logo reflects Red Hat's evolution-from a scrappy upstart 'sneaking' into data centers with boxed copies of a Linux-based operating system (not to mention mugs and t-shirts) to the world's leading provider of open source solutions for enterprise hybrid cloud environments, someone working daily with the largest companies and agencies in the world to develop and run mission-critical solutions.
"When people who haven't yet heard of Red Hat see the new logo, I want them to associate it with an innovative hybrid cloud company rooted in the power and trustworthiness of Linux-a company expertly capable of working alongside them to tackle technology challenges with a broad portfolio of solutions, a valued and trusted partner.
"And yet, when the curtain rises on our new logo at Red Hat Summit 2019, I want existing customers, partners and open source communities who see it to feel a comfortable familiarity. I want them to smile and say, 'That feels like Red Hat.' In our bolder, more modern logo, they'll instantly recognize all the things they've told us they expect from us: a culture of openness, a spirit of co-creation, a willingness to share knowledge, a dedication to enabling others (not just selling to them), and a commitment to catalyzing communities capable of solving the world's biggest technology challenges.
"That's what the red fedora will always represent-today, tomorrow and as Red Hat enters the next quarter century of its revolutionary history."