Cheetos is a cheese-flavored puffed corn snack brand produced by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. The brand was formerly styled as “Chee-tos” until 1998, when the hyphen was dropped from the name. The visual identity of Cheetos has undergone numerous changes since the product’s introduction in 1948, evolving from simple mid-century packaging to the bold, character-driven designs associated with the brand today.
Design and History
Cheetos’ visual identity has changed repeatedly since 1948. Documented logo iterations include a 1948 design with white lettering on a red background, a 1963 version with dark red lettering on white, a 1981 blue-and-white color scheme, and a 1995 design featuring a yellow border and black banner. In 1997, when the brand name was simplified to Cheetos, a streamlined logo was introduced. A 2001 redesign brought back yellow, replacing white, and introduced a gently arched yellow wordmark with an orange outline set against a solid black background that repeated the letter contours. A special logo designed for the Russian market between 2010 and 2014 featured the letter “O” rendered with a cheetah’s paw print. [1]
In 2020, a significant redesign took place in Mexico. New regulations introduced by the Mexican government under the official standard NOM-051-SCFI/SSA-2010 banned characters, cartoons, animals, celebrities, and mascots from packaging of products carrying warning labels, in an effort to discourage child-targeted marketing. [2] Because Chester Cheetah had been the brand’s mascot in Mexico for 30 of its 40 years there, PepsiCo had to retire the character from packaging and rethink the brand’s most recognizable asset. [3]
The redesign was led by PepsiCo’s Global Design Team and PepsiCo Marketing in Mexico, with Dennis Furniss serving as creative director and Daniela Maldonado and Juan Carlos Martinez as art directors. [4] The project was initiated, completed, and launched in Mexico in 2020. [5]
Meaning and Symbolism
Central to the 2020 Mexican redesign was a new graphic asset called “The Big Letter C,” a typographic element designed to be authentic, unique, and mischievous, and intended to represent the essence of the brand. The C was designed to work across the entire flavor portfolio and to be localizable for different markets. [5] The new visual identity reimagined the brand’s colorful characteristics within a design driven by this iconic C, described as both contemporary and playful in attitude. [6]
In Mexico, the new packaging replaced Chester’s image with a large C decorated with an animal print, a visual reference to the cheetah mascot that had been retired. [7]
Typography and Design
As part of the Cheetos rebranding, PepsiCo’s team conceptualized new brand assets that would be as irreverent and fun as Chester had been, particularly for scenarios where the mascot was no longer present. In collaboration with PepsiCo LATAM’s in-house Design Center, a custom typography was designed with a casual and extroverted style intended to convey the brand’s unique personality through its texts. [8]
The typeface, released in 2022 by the foundry Enigma, was developed based on three different moments of fun people experience when snacking. The design team worked with a partner agency to create a customized font that would convey the personality of Cheetos across a variety of communication formats. [9] The typography was recognized with a Mención Honorífica at the 2023 Premio Nacional de Diseño: Diseña México and was selected for the 2022 Bienal de Tipografía Latinoamericana. [8]
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