Angus’ A-Z of logos: Tesla (or Toxic)

Pentagram partner and creative director Angus Hyland describes the origins of the Tesla logo and how, to many people, the brand has recently collapsed in popularity.

The electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla takes its name from Nikola Tesla, the Serbian-American futurist inventor responsible for creating among many other things, alternating current (AC) technology. Fittingly, the geometric form of its T-shaped logo is based on the cross-section of an electric motor. Clearly influenced by its CEO’s love of all things science fiction, both the stylised letter ‘T’ and the futuristic type that sits below it wouldn’t look out of place in a Philip K. Dick movie adaptation.

It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time when Tesla was the epitome of cool — the go-to EV brand for tech-savvy, eco-conscious consumers. In fact, Tesla was riding high until all of the things that matter to a business – sales, share price and reputation – took a nosedive.

The old PR cliché that "there’s no such thing as bad publicity" doesn’t hold up here. Thanks largely to its chairman — the self-anointed king of “dark gothic MAGA” — his lurch to the far right, and an increasingly public bromance with POTUS, Tesla has, in just a few months, become a toxic brand.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, after some extremely questionable hand gestures from Herr Musk, people have started referring to Tesla as the ‘Swasticar’, and suddenly the futuristic logo has started to resemble something very aggressive and much more sinister. It's become a signifier for the new Trumpian era and everything that represents.

So what – if anything – can be done when your brand reputation has gone down the toilet? Under normal circumstances, if you can’t ride out the storm then a rebrand and possibly a change of name might be the answer (see Evri, formerly known as Hermes). Meanwhile, the EV market is becoming increasingly competitive, and some might say that Tesla made the mistake of focusing too heavily on its celebrity chairman who’s busy hanging around the White House and closing government departments.

The shift that’s occurred isn’t superficial — it’s fundamental. No amount of fancy rebranding can fix a brand that has alienated its core customers. Cars are a lifestyle product, a reflection of our status and an extension of our personality. And despite the high-profile endorsement from Trump, who effectively turned the White House lawn into a pop-up Tesla showroom in an embarrassing show of solidarity for his new best friend, there simply aren’t enough EV-loving MAGA supporters to fill the gap.

Next month, a logo that says what is does on the (shoe) box.