Warner Bros. Discovery is not going with the “initial wordmark” revealed last June as its official logo.
Variety has obtained a low-res copy of a new logo that is being circulated on internal memos at Discovery and Friday, ahead of the expected close of the merger transaction later today.
Discovery did not immediately respond to request for comment on the Warner Bros. Discovery logo. Variety has learned this image may not be the main logo used for all company branding.
See the new logo below, and the “initial wordmark” beneath that for comparison.
That first logo was unveiled last June, along with Warner Bros. Discovery as the name of the proposed WarnerMedia-Discovery combined company. The image immediately drew derisive remarks on social media and has been widely panned since.
Some observers criticized the new logo as either amateurish, dated-looking or both, with a design aesthetic more than a few noted was reminiscent of the 3D text effects available in Microsoft Word’s WordArt utility. Several cited the “Graphic design is my passion” meme, an implicit slam of the new logo.
As Variety previously reported, the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger is expected to close as early as Friday. Discovery CEO David Zaslav will lead the new company in the same role, maintaining a tight grip on the company with a leadership structure revealed Thursday.
Zaslav plans to have a direct-report relationship with the leaders of the businesses he doesn’t know as well as he does cable channels and advertising sales, including Casey Bloys, chief content officer of HBO/HBO Max (who will be adding Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network to his responsibilities), Warner Bros. Pictures chairman Toby Emmerich and Warner Bros. TV Group chief Channing Dungey.
Zaslav has also tapped trusted Discovery lieutenants for key operational roles, including Bruce Campbell, JB Perrette and Kathleen Finch.
