In a recent edition of The Daily Heller, Steven Heller discussed his thoughts on the new logo that Russian “McDonald’s”— now Vkusno & Tochka— designed in response to the fast food icon’s departure from the country. Heller noted its resemblance to the logos for Marriott Hotels and Warner Music Group, but perhaps the most uncanny similarity yet comes from an independent designer.
We’ve featured Portuguese lettering artist Rafael Serra a couple of times on PRINT for his charming, nostalgic redesigns of iconic logos. Last year, he created this ’80s-inspired version of the McDonald’s logo that traded the golden arches for a more structured, geometric dot-and-dash look. While Serra’s design is a bit thicker and more angular than the final logomark for the Brand Formerly Known as McDonald’s, the similarities are so striking that it’s hard to imagine the Vkusno & Tochka team hadn’t seen it.
But Serra was in good spirits when we reached out to him for comment, and isn’t taken aback by the resemblance. “At the time, it was just me having fun with a logo,” the letterer said.
Whether it’s a rip-off or pure coincidence, we see this as an especially strong case in favor of hiring independent designers and letterers. You can check out Serra’s full body of work on his website and Instagram.