Losing to gain : Balancing style and texture in the Starbucks logo

This chapter examines some of the key ways in which the progressive stylisation of the logo has gone hand in hand with its increasing texturisation or, in other words, with a growing identification with the experiential rather than merely symbolic meaning potentials of the Starbucks brand. Ultimately, the Starbucks logo has been 'losing' graphic traces to 'gain' in materiality. Having both its roots and headquarters in Seattle, Starbucks has regularly used this city as a 'lab' to test new approaches to branding and store design. As an iconic global corporation, Starbucks has been a pioneer in the development of approaches to branding that rely to references to the material world, first through appeals to authenticity, then locality and, also texture. With the creation of idiosyncratic spaces set apart by regular patterns, Starbucks skilfully balances style and texture and ultimately also sets out to order both the symbolic and material aspects of our everyday lives in urban space.