Jyllandsposten revives its 1877 Gothic logo

The newspaper Jyllandsposten is returning to its 1877 logo as it introduces a new design for its print and digital platforms and drops the hyphen from its name, DR reports.

Editor-in-chief Christina Agger said the newspaper had drawn inspiration from its long history. Its 155 years of existence, she wrote in an editorial, were evidence of stability and credibility, qualities she said were now more clearly reflected in the historic logo.

Agger acknowledged that some people might dislike the new logo, saying it was neither the obvious nor the easy choice. But, she wrote, that might be why it suited the newspaper, which had always had the courage to go its own way.

Art director Katinka Bukh said the Gothic lettering was much older than Nazism, in response to concerns that it could evoke memories of Germany under Nazi rule. She told the trade magazine Journalisten that the design strategy went back to 1871, when six men stood stamping hard into Jutland soil and decided to create a protest newspaper. She described its starting point as something defiantly rebellious.

Bukh also noted that The New York Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine and the Copenhell music festival use the same lettering.