The Can, Stripped Back
Coca-Cola rolls out a new packaging design system across its core trademark, marking the brand's first visual update since the "One Brand" unification launched in 2016.1, 2 The redesign is developed in collaboration between Coca-Cola's in-house global design team, based in Atlanta, Georgia, and the design firm Kenyon Weston.1
The new system removes several legacy graphic elements from the can's surface: the red disc and the wave line are discontinued.1 The Coca-Cola logotype, rendered in the brand's iconic script typeface, is repositioned toward the upper area of the can, an arrangement intended to evoke an uplifting quality.1, 3 Increased negative space across the surface reinforces this reading.
Uniform Across the Trademark Range
The system applies uniformly across Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, and Diet Coke.1 For Coke Zero Sugar, the change is particularly visible: the variant shifts from its previous black-dominant packaging to a red can with black typography, aligning more closely with the master brand.1, 2 Full conversion across all variants is planned for completion by 2022.1
The redesign reflects a wider direction in consumer goods packaging toward minimal, uncluttered surfaces that perform clearly in both physical retail and digital commerce contexts.
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. PRINT Magazine, Chloe Gordon, "Coca-Cola Redesigns For First Time Since 2016", 14 April 2021, for the new design system across the Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar and Diet Coke brands, for its development by Coca-Cola's in-house global design team, based in Atlanta, Georgia, with the design firm Kenyon Weston, for the change being the first since 2016, for the removal of the red disc and the wave line while the Coca-Cola red and the script lettering stay, for the logo being pushed towards the top of the can to symbolise the drinks' "uplifting" possibilities, with the added white space extending that metaphor, for Coke Zero losing its signature black and becoming black text on a red can, and for the company expecting all variants to be converted by 2022. https://www.printmag.com/branding-identity-design/coca-cola-releases-their-new-simplistic-packaging-design-system/
2. The Coca-Cola Company, "Coca-Cola Reveals New 'One Brand' Packaging", press release, Mexico City, 18 April 2016, on the company's investor site, cited as the replacement for the same release on coca-colacompany.com, which the verse was written from and which now returns an error, page not reachable on 25 September 2026. The release is the source for the One Brand strategy of 2016 uniting the Coca-Cola family under one visual identity, and for black as the signature colour of Coca-Cola Zero under that system. https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/820/coca-cola-reveals-new-one-brand-packaging https://www.coca-colacompany.com/press-releases/coke-reveals-one-brand-packaging
3. Wikipedia, "Coca-Cola", read 25 September 2026, for the logotype's distinctive cursive script, chosen by Frank Mason Robinson in 1885, as the brand's own script. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola
