Avis is a global car rental company founded in 1946 by Warren Avis at Willow Run Airport in Detroit, Michigan, where it became the first car rental operation located at an airport [1]. The brand is known for its red wordmark and the long-running “We Try Harder” slogan [2]. Today Avis operates as part of Avis Budget Group, Inc., which was formed in 2006 when Cendant Corporation split into four independent companies [3].
Design and History
The Avis logo has gone through at least three major iterations since the company’s founding. The first version, used from 1946 to 1964, already featured the red color and bold sans-serif letterforms associated with the brand today. That early mark included a stylized “A” with ends that turned and stretched beyond the logo’s borders to imitate a highway, and a globe replaced the dot above the “i,” suggesting worldwide reach [4].
In 1964, the logo was simplified. The highway motif, globe, and black text were removed as the brand became more established [4]. The resulting mark was a red, italicized, condensed wordmark that remained in use for nearly five decades.
In September 2012, Avis introduced a new identity alongside a new advertising campaign. The company dropped its previous condensed italic logo, retaining the red and white color palette but setting the letters in a regular, upright style [5]. The letters grew wider, while the overall width of the wordmark stayed the same, making the mark less dynamic but more legible at a distance [4]. An official Avis statement described the refreshed logo as “symmetric, more expressive and elegant,” noting that the characteristic red color was retained [6].
The 2012 rebrand also replaced the “We Try Harder” slogan, which had been in use since 1963, with “It’s Your Space,” a campaign developed by Leo Burnett Business [5]. The new tagline was aimed at business travelers and positioned the rental car interior as a productive or restful space [7].
Meaning and Symbolism
The “We Try Harder” slogan, created by DDB copywriter Paula Green in 1962, was a candid acknowledgment that Avis was the number-two car rental company behind Hertz, turned into a promise of superior service [7]. The campaign was a major success, reversing the company’s losses within a year [7]. Avis’s official brand materials describe the company as “worldwide renowned for our red logo and the brand’s strapline ‘We Try Harder'” [1].
Typography and Design
The current Avis logo is a pure wordmark set in bold sans-serif letterforms. The 2012 redesign removed the italic styling that had characterized the previous version, replacing it with upright, wider letters [4]. The red and white color palette was retained through the change [5]. The specific typeface used in the wordmark has not been publicly documented in available sources.
Logo Index is an independent educational archive covering logos, visual identities and graphic design history. All trademarks and brand assets remain the property of their respective owners.
