F1 team logos redesigned to reflect popular design trends

With this year’s Formula One (F1) Grand Prix season in high gear, global creative platform 99designs by Vista has unveiled reimagined logos for the 10 racing teams ahead of last week's 2022 French Grand Prix. Created by freelance designers across four continents, the redesigned logos take inspiration from popular design trends this year.

Patrick Llewellyn, CEO, 99designs by Vista said that the creativity and scope of the project reflects the global appeal and excitement the sport is inspiring in popular culture and mainstream audiences around the world. “From retro rubber hose characters, to Ukiyo-e inspired illustration, bubble design and parametric pattern, these reimagined logo concepts bring some of the year’s biggest visual trends to life in a way that we hope resonates with design and motorsport fans,” he added.

Here’s a look at the reimagined racing team logos:

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo has two reimagined designs, each capturing very different design trends. The first (pictured left) uses layered elements, where colour, pattern and text interrupt each other. In this case, the transparent impression of the more vintage style of red typography over the word “Alfa” creates a striking and interesting visual separation of elements within the design.

Meanwhile, the second version (pictured right) is inspired by the Ukiyo-e flat design trend. This expansive and detailed design is reminiscent of the style of art using hand-carved woodblocks, where poses were often exaggerated with a touch of fluidity and movement. According to the designer, the Alfa Romeo logo brings, in a very minimalist way, several icons from the Milan region. These were illustrated in an extremely exaggerated and fluid way, working with colours and textures as in old Japanese prints and adding some racing elements. As a final touch, the bottom of the logo includes a tribute to the painting “The Great Wave off Kanagawa", the most famous icon of the Ukio-e flat design.

AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri's reimagined logo uses stretched and continuous lettering. This visual trend leverages distorted typography to push boundaries and create an infinite look and feel. At the same time, drawing the viewer’s eye to a particular place within the logo design creates visual diversity and allows creatives to emphasise elements of the brand itself.

For instance, in this logo the stretched "P" and "R" are reflected in the forward motion and implied speed of the bull emerging from the "I" in "Tauri". The designer, who goes by the name vuveeh on 99designs by Vista, added: "I thought an interesting way to show speed and motion in the AlphaTauri logo was to use the iconic bull and have it morph from the 'I' in Tauri. This worked beautifully to achieve that look and feel of being in motion. I knew that for such an effect to be achieved and have a logo that looks cohesive, I had to stretch the typography to fit this new layout.”

Alpine

Grunge revival has taken hold in the design world, as seen in the reimagined Alpine logo. Characterised by gritty textures, grunge revival oozes energy, as smudge marks and scribbled details create a sense of motion and almost uncontrolled motion. According to the designer who goes by the user name AdriánKG on 99designs by Vista, the concept for this logo was based on the energetic, fast and intense feelings of the Grand Prix -  the rough textures of the ground, the feeling of movement, and the racing track marks drivers leave on the ground with their tyres. 

Aston Martin

Aston Martin's new look is based on a Y2K design trend, that taps into nostalgic styles and textures that reflect the renewed technological optimism that characterized the early 2000s. The pinks, blues and iridescent color palette in this Aston Martin redesign are reminiscent of the backs of CDs, creating a sense of innocent nostalgia that is a little kitschy in an endearing, youthful way. This Aston Martin logo redesign is inspired by the retro-futurism, Y2K design style, characterised by the gradients representing a futuristic look combined with the heritage British racing green colour of Aston Martin, the designer said. 

Ferrari

Ferrari's new design was created using hand-drawn typography, inspired by retro bubble design, with a bright red color palette rather than the darker heritage red the brand has now transitioned to. While bubble design can often be found in products targeted at children, due to its rounded graphics and lettering styles, the exaggeration of visual elements and forms help designs feel a little more refined, while nurturing that spark of child-like delight captured in this reimagined Ferrari logo. 

Haas

This Haas team logo is filled with elements of the 90s nostalgia design trend. This trend is all about comfort and fun, with aesthetic references to childhood memories through bright colour blocks, Memphis design patterns, abstract geometry and bold combinations. The vivid colors and simple, clean lines of this logo create a feeling of familiarity and fun that counters the overwhelming experience of the past two years. 

McLaren

McLaren's redesigned logo taps on the rising trend of experimental lettering. In this logo, designer Ravastra Design Std used a custom font, inspired by the iconic McLaren swoosh. While it represents the curvature of the body of the Kiwi bird in the original logo, the swoosh was placed nearer to the centre and used as the curve for the "R".

Mercedes

This year saw designers pulling patterns to the forefront by using parametric geometry in their visual design. These fluid lines and three-dimensional effects create a sense of motion that is perfect for an F1 visual brand. According to the logo's designer, skaarj, it is also one of the few design styles that can produce artwork with 3D depth while using flat colours.

Red Bull Racing

The redesign of the Red Bull Racing logo takes inspiration from the rubber hose logo design trend. The logo is complemented by typography inspired by advertisements from the early 20th century, using hand-drawn fonts and halftone textures to recreate the personable and accessible style of this trend. The logo's designer, Glerm Rubini, said that the Red Bull brand has a tradition of exploring the use of cartoons in its communication and the idea for the logo was to make a literal illustration of a red bull in a racing environment, next to a very friendly tyre.

Williams

Wiliams' new logo uses blur effects, a popular experimental design trend used to emphasise fluidity and movement. At the same time, the blurred effects captures the speed and the logo's dynamic look, the designer added. Designed to look fast and never-resting, the strong and symmetrical "W" in the middle, coupled with the clear and modern letter mark below, pushes that illusion of movement even further. 

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