Red Bull logo redesign: before-and-after evaluation
Has Red Bull redesigned its logo? How to judge before-and-after comparisons, check whether the files are true vectors, and separate download rights from usage rights.
Contents
The short answer
Publicly available information shows no wholesale redesign of the Red Bull logo. The core mark has stayed recognizably the same since the drink launched in 1987. It shows two red bulls charging toward each other in front of a yellow sun disc, with the Red Bull name in heavy red lettering. Its imagery comes from Krating Daeng, the Thai energy drink Red Bull was adapted from. Most before-and-after images found under searches for a Red Bull logo redesign are concept work by independent designers. They are not official brand changes.
Evidence gap: this article was written without source documents, brand guidelines or dated versions of the logo. For that reason it gives no dates for official refinements and claims no measured differences between versions. To confirm whether a specific variant is official, check Red Bull's own brand or press materials.
What a before-and-after comparison usually shows
- Official refinements: small changes to proportions, color values or lettering across packaging and media. These are hard to verify without dated brand files.
- Context variants: simplified lockups for things like sports liveries, small screens or merchandise, such as single-color versions, the bulls alone, or the wordmark alone. These adapt one identity. They are not a redesign.
- Concept redesigns: flat, minimalist, geometric or monoline versions that designers make as exercises or portfolio pieces. These are unofficial unless Red Bull says otherwise.
How to judge a redesign concept against the original
The original is very well established, so a fair review weighs how recognizable the new version is against how much it simplifies. The criteria below are editorial judgments, not measured tests.
| Criterion | What to check in the redesign | Why it matters |
| Recognition | Do the charging bulls, the sun disc and the red-against-yellow contrast still read at a glance? | The mark's value comes largely from being familiar. A concept that loses these cues is a new identity, not a refresh. |
| Reduction | Does it still work at app-icon or favicon size and in one color? | The detailed bull figures in the original can blur together at small sizes. This is the most common reason given for simplifying them. |
| Background flexibility | Does it hold up without the sun disc and on dark or busy backgrounds? | Sports and digital uses often place the mark on surfaces where the yellow disc is missing or weakened. |
| Lettering | Is the wordmark redrawn as custom shapes or reset in an existing typeface? | A typeface brings its own license terms, and a generic font can make the brand look less distinctive. |
| Construction | Are the curves smooth, are the shapes consistent, and are there no extra nodes? | Clean geometry is easier to scale, reproduce and edit than a traced or rough drawing. |
Check the files behind the comparison
Before-and-after comparisons are usually shown as images. For production, what matters is what the files actually contain. A file saved as SVG, EPS, AI or PDF may hold real vector paths, an embedded raster image, or both. The file extension does not tell you which. Open the file in a vector editor and switch to outline or wireframe view. Real vector shapes appear as editable paths. An embedded bitmap appears as a single image object, often an empty rectangle in outline view.
- Vector artwork: shapes made of paths and fills. They scale cleanly and can be edited point by point.
- Embedded raster: a pixel image placed inside a vector-format file. It blurs or pixelates when enlarged and cannot be reshaped as paths.
- Raster preview: PNG or JPG thumbnails and mockups of the comparison. They are useful for judging the idea, but not for production.
Also check whether the lettering is live text or has been converted to outlines. Live text depends on the font being installed and licensed. Converted outlines display correctly anywhere but can no longer be edited as type. Many circulating versions of the original logo are auto-traced. They tend to have uneven curves and too many points. If you compare a concept against one of these traces, you are comparing against a weaker "before" than the real artwork.
Permission is a separate question
Being able to download a Red Bull logo file, or someone's redesign concept, does not give you the right to change it or use it. Three separate rights are involved. The first is access: being allowed to obtain the file. The second is altering the artwork: the original logo and any designer's concept are both creative works, and someone owns each of them. The third is using the brand: the Red Bull name and bull device are trademarks owned by the company, and commercial use is controlled by trademark law. Any typeface used in the wordmark has its own license on top of these.
Showing a concept redesign as commentary or a portfolio piece is a different situation from putting it on products or promotional material. Whether a particular use is allowed depends on the purpose and the jurisdiction. This article does not answer that. Get advice for your specific case before using any version of the mark.