So BTS and ARMY got a new brand identity. What is brand identity? Brand identity is the identity, the core, motives and goals of the brand, basically everything that makes the brand itself represented in a visual aspect. Logo(s) is one of the most important parts of the brand identity.

This is BTS’ previous logo:

Why this logo no longer suits BTS:

• This logo is made specifically based on the meaning of BTS’ name in Korean, 방탄소년단 (Bulletproof Boy Scouts) taking the image of a bulletproof vest as the base • Technically speaking, it’s not really a practical logo. Too many small details lead to difficulty when used in small scale and used as strokes. • It’s created 4 years ago and the logo trend has changed a lot since then, going more towards minimalism (simpler logos). • Most importantly, it can only represent BTS in debut days. The bulletproof vest stands for “guarding against prejudice and oppression against the youth in their 10s and 20s”. But BTS’ success and achievement have far made them become more than that. They are not only simply defending prejudice and oppression but also offering consolation and hope for the youth as well as everyone else to move forward. This logo isn’t able to express that.

And so they changed BTS’ brand identity and not only did BTS get a new logo, our fandom, ARMY, got one too. (left: BTS, right: ARMY)

Why the new logo suits BTS:

“BTS’ new BI shows that they aren’t satisfied with the realities and symbolize their youth that is opening the door and stepping out in order to further grow, while their fanclub ARMY is visualized as the reflection of BTS’ youth that meets the members as they open the door. The meaning of the brand has expanded as a concept that merges the past and future. Since their debut, BTS has continuously expressed themselves as “boys blocking the oppression and prejudice that teens face” and have added that the meaning of “Beyond The Scene” is “youth that is not satisfied with the current reality and will pursue their dream without rest in order to grow”.” (Source: 매일경제 via Naver, Eng: Christie & Kylie @ allforbts)

• It’s a minimal logo design which has been the trend in the design field in recent years, with many big names changing their logo/brand identity like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, DeviantArt, Uber, PayPal, even in the Korean entertainment industry, we have YG Entertainment who changed their brand identity 4 years ago too. These are all for the purpose of catching up with the trend and renew themselves for a fresher and more suitable image for the company’s direction in the future and current success. Minimal logos have more practical use when it comes to digital and print design. This shows that BTS is catching up the flow of the times and not caught up in the past. The design is also developed from BTS’ old logo (the bulletproof vest one), the negative space between two shapes represents the front zip of the bulletproof vest. At the same time, it also resembles two panels of a door, symbolizing the action of open a door to move forward to the future, to a new beginning of BTS. This logo is an infusion of the past and the present, the future of BTS, they still stay rooted to their base but don’t dwell on the past, they are not satisfied with what they achieved and will continue to go higher.

• When flipped 90°, the logo resembles a door with a source of light ahead, meaning that when BTS opens this new chapter, there will be a bright future awaiting for them.

• The logo of ARMY is a reflection of BTS’ logo. Here’s a simple animation to show how BTS and ARMY’s logos are connected:

BTS and ARMY’s logos are reflection of each other representing the mutual influence of us and BTS. BTS give us music, hope, determination, ambition, dreams, energy and happiness, and we too are their source of strength, the reason they keep developing themselves to get better and better. As BTS always say, BTS exist because of ARMY and we ARMY are also a part of BTS. The overall shape of ARMY’s logo resembles a shield, meaning we will be the one to protect and shield them against the prejudice and hatred towards them.

• Another reason why I say this is a great logo is because, there are many ways to combine these two logos together. Two of them are:

Random person from another country: your entry sucks lmao.

Me: 

because we as a species were so lonely and we wanted friends so bad, we wanted to meet other species and we wanted to talk to them and we wanted to learn from them and to stop being the only people in the universe

and we started realizing that things were maybe not going so good for us– we got scared that we were going to blow each other up, we got scared that we were going to break our planet permanently, we got scared that in a hundred years we were all going to be dead and gone and even if there were other people out there, we’d never get to meet them

and then

we built robots?

and we gave them names and we gave them brains made out of silicon and we pretended they were people and we told them hey you wanna go exploring, and of course they did, because we had made them in our own image

and maybe in a hundred years we won’t be around any more, maybe yeah the planet will be a mess and we’ll all be dead, and if other people come from the stars we won’t be around to meet them and say hi! how are you! we’re people, too! you’re not alone any more!, maybe we’ll be gone

but we built robots, who have beat-up hulls and metal brains, and who have names; and if the other people come and say, who were these people? what were they like?

the robots can say, when they made us, they called us discovery; they called us curiosity; they called us explorer; they called us spirit. they must have thought that was important.

This is my favorite post on this website. 

I’ve seen this post in screenshots before, and the first time I read it, I cried. Just sat there with tears running down my face. 

Because this, right here, is the best of us, we humans. That we hope, and dream of the stars, and we don’t want to be alone. That this is the best of our technology, not Terminators and Skynet, but our friends, our companions, our legacy. Our message to the stars. 

I’m sorry that this turned into an extremely long answer, but I felt the need to do this.

Hm, I don’t know, I can’t say I agree with you. I mean, I wouldn’t say that they aren’t overworked or anything, but how come no one has ever considered that maybe it’s the members who want this, and it isn’t the company that is forcing it unto them?

I’ve mentioned this before, but BTS was formed for their musicality in the first place, they have a different purpose in comparison to other idols. Most if not all the members focus a lot on the music part of their career, so I find that it’s only normal that they would want to constantly come out with new music, which explains all the active comebacks they have despite the short breaks between comebacks. Same goes for concerts/tours that they do; if you’re someone who wants to make music, you want to connect with people through music, naturally you’d want to be able to perform and showcase this music, no?

And regarding BigHit, I think people don’t give them enough credit, honestly. Yeah, they lack in certain areas, but which entertainment company out there can you call perfect? If anything, BigHit has done swell when it comes to the management of the boys.

Before I talk about the good in BigHit, I am aware about their problems as a company. They constantly come up with new content to sell to the fans for extra profit, and they never really give fans much time to prepare themselves for a new comeback/release of new content. When it comes to the members themselves, I’m sure they have their own complains towards the company. Take Suga, the one who has been the most vocal about his complaints, as an example. At the start of BTS’ career, he talked about how he was conned into learning how to dance and becoming an idol, when all along he thought and was promised that all he needed to do was write music and rap. He was expecting to become a group like 1TYM, not a group known for their knife-like choreography. Watch the evidence here, it starts at 19:00. But over the years, I think Yoongi doesn’t feel against it anymore, because BTS is recognized for their dance and has been rewarded a ton of awards for best dance. Then fast forward after countless of comebacks with multiple hair colours, Yoongi has seriously damaged scalp and over bleached hair. He said he was going to sue BigHit for hair loss, and even though most took it as a joke, he didn’t only talk about it once, he said it twice. If anything, Yoongi isn’t really someone to say things he doesn’t mean. He’s a straightforward type guy, and he probably really feels dissatisfied towards the company for constantly bleaching his hair. The first time he talked about it was here (5:19 mark), and the second time, here (2:22 mark). He also talked about how people who dye their hair constantly suffer at the Gaon Charts Yinyuetai interview earlier this year. The era where they were most overworked was probably during their RUN days, and Yoongi talked about this too. It’s in this video, at the 5:09 mark as well as the 10:59 mark onwards. They haven’t slept more than 3 hours, they have back to back schedules, etc.

Now, with all that aside, I am aware of the vices of BigHit, but back to my point - BigHit has done swell when it comes to the management of the boys. 

There are a few aspects when it comes to this. We can talk about the efforts BigHit makes in ensuring that they are able to keep their artistes satisfied. One classic example would be Yoongi. I just talked about how he’s complained throughout the RUN era about his hair and scalp, and what did BigHit do for the Blood, Sweat and Tears era?

The fact that BigHit gave Jin and V the opportunity to sing bangtan’s first ever OST instead of the other members would be another classic example. BigHit could’ve given the duet to Jungkook and Jimin easily, considering they are the main and lead vocals respectively, but they gave it to Seokjin and Taehyung instead. Okay, you can argue and say it’s natural that Taehyung got it since he’s the one acting in the show, but how about Jin? Watch this, from the 28:00 mark. You can tell Seokjin really wanted a chance to sing an OST, and BigHit indeed gave him one, which he’s so grateful for.

Back to Yoongi again (he seems to be surfacing a lot today), as well as Rap Monster this time, and in due time, J-Hope. The former two have always been extremely passionate in their music, and there’s a lot of areas they cannot explore as rappers/musicians when it comes to working as a team, because they have to ensure that the song fits 7 members, that the song is something worth putting on an album, etc. It limits them a lot, so what did BigHit do? BigHit opened a SoundCloud account for them where they can freely post up their own tracks and random raps and even song covers when it comes to vocal line, and they’ve never limited what bangtan do/post on the SoundCloud account. In fact, BigHit even fully funded Yoongi and Namjoon’s mixtapes despite not being able to make any profit from doing so. They provided a set, cameras, make up and stylists, everything necessary to produce an MV, just so that they are able to come up with their own mixtapes for them to showcase the stories that they were unable to tell through BTS.

Even when it comes to schedules, BigHit never makes the members do things they don’t want to. Remember in Yoongi’s track, ‘The Last’?

Show me the money, it’s not that I couldn’t but I didn’t shit

Also, realize that Yoongi is the only member that has never tried emceeing yet? Yoongi is the only member who has yet to have his own solo appearance in any one variety show/schedule, and if you ask me, I really think it’s because Yoongi never intended to live the idol life in the first place. He just wants to make music, not go on shows for more exposure or anything. But BigHit never once forced him to doing any, doesn’t that say a lot?

Enough with keeping their artistes satisfied, let’s move on to the care factor the company has. In any other company, their idols are all overworked to the point of fainting/working despite injuries or health issues, etc. But what has BigHit done every time any one member is injured? Here’s a compact list of the more prominent occurrences.

28th Dec 2013 - Yoongi was diagnosed with appendicitis, BigHit withdrew him from year end schedules.

27th Dec 2015 - BigHit cancelled 2 concerts in Japan for the sake of Yoongi and Taehyung.

30th Dec 2015 - Namjoon was withdrawn from year end schedules because of his leg injury.

24th July 2016 - BigHit chose to let Namjoon rest despite the hospital giving him the green light to resume schedules because there was nothing seriously wrong with his health.

30th Sept 2016 - BigHit withdrew Namjoon from the 2016 K-Pop World Festivalperformance as well as the Busan One Asia Festivalperformance so that his leg will not result in injury. It was a preventive measure on their end.

22nd Dec 2016 - BigHit withdrew Yoongi from all further activities so that he can rest, when it was a ear injury which technically isn’t a very big deal.

BigHit could’ve easily made the members continue to promote and perform, because in most cases, it wasn’t really anything serious, but yet, they chose to make them rest instead. Other companies wouldn’t have done that unless the member has a leg injury or is bed ridden.

BigHit has also been very protective of their artistes. It’s very important that a company addresses issues early in order to protect their artistes, and it’s even more important that the company is willing to come to the rescue of their artistes when the need arises. There’s this, and there’s this too. There was also this too.

Another thing would be how BigHit doesn’t limit the boys in any way at all. Even as trainees, the boys were given handphones and allowed to communicate with the outside world through logs and Twitter, unlike every other idol trainee out there who practically lives in a dungeon. There was never dating bans in their contracts (evidence here) and they were never told to behave a certain way nor were they put under extremely strict diets. When they dieted, it was mostly out of their own will rather than their company wanting them to be slim or whatever.

In lyrics, they were never told to not talk about a certain topic, and in fact, they are now known for always attacking real world topics and issues. They aren’t the first group to do so, but it still definitely sets them apart from boring old romance lyrics in present day kpop.

And the most important thing of all…

And then there was Jin who talked about missing the managers,

I mean, if you don’t enjoy the time you spend with the company I don’t think you’d talk about missing them. You can tell they are grateful to these people who care for them no matter what. Remember how they all hugged their managers (not one, all) when they won the daesang?

Look at the managers looking so happy for them. The one in green striped shirt was hugging Jungkook and there’s Namjoon hugging the other manager on the right.

I don’t know about you, and although I wouldn’t say that they have a family bond with the staff, but you can tell they all really love each other and there’s definitely some form of a bond between them. Not just with the managers, but even with the producers who have worked hard behind the scenes for the boys. Look at this video, Mr Son and the staff who were with him were literally so elated for BTS’ first win. And then there was this, where Slow Rabbit (Big Hit producer) cried when bangtan got Artist of the Year at MAMA. Then there’s Pdogg (Big Hit producer, aka the man behind BTS’ title tracks) who was constantly supportive of the boys in his tweets here and here.

I can understand the heart of those ARMYs who are constantly upset with BigHit because they are worried about the members’ health in general, but sometimes we have to look at things from different perspectives. In my opinion, bangtan is happy under their management, and when they have complaints, Bang PD is willing to talk it out with them. I mean, he’s clearly close to the boys, to the point where he’s alright with joking around with them all the time. If he wasn’t we wouldn’t be blessed with things like this: