trivago, the Düsseldorf-based hotel and accommodation search platform founded in 2005, has undergone several distinct visual identity changes over its history. The most recent and significant transformation came in December 2023, when the company unveiled a new logo and visual identity developed by the London-based agency DesignStudio.
Design and History
trivago’s earliest logo, created in 2005, placed a bold orange “T” inside a solid blue circle, with the remaining letters of the wordmark rendered in a mix of colors. The three distinct color groupings, “tri,” “va,” and “go,” reflected the brand name’s syllabic structure from the outset [1].
In 2007, the circular emblem was dropped in favor of a single-line wordmark set in a modified Tahoma Bold. Overlapping letterforms in three colors, blue, yellow, and red, gave the mark an informal, energetic quality suited to the company’s early growth phase [1].
A December 2013 update replaced the irregular letterforms with a cleaner wordmark set in a modified Avenir Black. The three-color concept was retained, but the treatment became more considered, with a square dot above the “i” distinguishing the custom cut [1].
In April 2018, trivago introduced a separate corporate logo called “Wabi,” an imperfect tri-color ring created by the in-house design team. The new symbol referenced trivago’s original blue, orange, and red colors, replacing the multi-colored type of the consumer logo with a more refined single color and transferring the three colors to the symbol [2]. The Wabi mark was designed by trivago designers Anna Druckrey, Katalin Varga, and Dawn McCance [3]. Importantly, Wabi did not replace the tri-color consumer logo; it was created specifically for corporate channels and tools to distinguish internal company activities from the consumer-facing brand [4].
In December 2023, trivago announced a full brand refresh with a new logo and visual identity developed by DesignStudio [5]. The refresh replaced the long-running tri-color wordmark with a custom logotype set in a purpose-built typeface called Savvy Grotesk [1]. The new wordmark features a more vibrant and inviting look, with the lowercase “t” given a particularly distinctive treatment [5].
Meaning and Symbolism
The 2023 logo’s symbol doubles as a checkmark, representing how easy it is to find a hotel that suits your needs on trivago, and a smile, reflecting the satisfied feeling when you have scored a great deal because you used trivago [5]. The brand refresh is centered around the tagline “Search Savvy. Feel Super,” which encapsulates the core benefit of providing travelers with a smart, efficient way to compare hotel offers [5].
The 2018 Wabi symbol was described by trivago as seeking “to capture and represent our spirit as a company, fluid and ever-evolving, yet simple, authentic, and imperfect” [2]. The company considered Wabi to be the “digital embodiment” of its culture [2].
Typography and Design
The 2023 identity introduced Savvy Grotesk, a customized font created in collaboration with Studio Feixen. The typeface supports several hundred languages, helping with the reach of the platform, and features highly exaggerated, bendy inktraps and sharp corners [6]. The new identity also introduced a mascot character named Hank, a door-hanger character created by DesignStudio that guides users through the search comparison tool [7]. Hand-drawn illustrations for the identity were created in partnership with animation and design studio Niceshit [7].
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