Brand refresh for the beloved line of historical dolls and books that continues to inspire girls today.

Originally created by Pleasant T. Rowland in 1986 and now part of Mattel, the iconic American Girl line of 18-inch historical dolls and their accompanying books have inspired millions of girls to grow up with courage, confidence, and strength of character.

We developed a new visual identity and brand strategy for American Girl, drawing on the company’s own rich history to build a more premium and cohesive brand experience. The evolution represents the first significant refresh of the brand since it launched almost four decades ago. American Girl is now a legacy toy brand that families love and trust, but as it grew over the years and new product lines were introduced to reach a wider age range, the overall impact was diminished. At the same time, the doll category that American Girl helped establish became more crowded with competing brands. The company needed to rediscover the essence of the brand and revitalize its strengths.

The moment was right for a rebrand; the dolls’ original millennial fans are now becoming parents themselves, and American Girl has seen a resurgence in its pop-culture profile—in references ranging from “Saturday Night Live” and online memes, to a serious cultural history and think pieces in The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Paris Review.

Storytelling is what makes American Girl completely unique from every other doll on the market––even from her Mattel sister Barbie. The books encourage girls to read by making each doll the lead character in her own engaging tale set in a different period of US history, such as pioneer girl Kirsten Larson on the frontier in 1850s Minnesota and spirited Molly McIntire on the US homefront during World War II. What started with the stories of the dolls has expanded to represent the multifaceted experience of how wonderful, magical and challenging growing up really is.

We immersed ourselves in the rich visual history of American Girl. After conducting a comprehensive audit, they developed a brand strategy that sets AG apart by combining its premium, elevated quality with the special spot it occupies in girls’ lives, positioning it as uniquely telling the “Exceptional Story of Girlhood.” A new brand tagline, “Find your inner star,” supports a spirit of independence and self-reliance.

The framework encompasses a new wordmark, bespoke typeface, expanded color palette, packaging, environmental graphics and an array of historically inspired patterns, glyphs and other graphic elements to create a distinctively ownable, playful and modern system. Identities for American Girl sub-brands—Truly Me, Bitty Baby, WellieWishers, the annual Girl of the Year, and Create Your Own, the most premium line—have also been updated to tie them into the parent system.

The refreshed identity extends to all touchpoints of the brand, from shopping bags, doll boxes and other custom packaging to books, catalogues, the American Girl website and social media, and art direction for store interiors. The branding comes together in the immersive play experiences at the popular American Girl stores, including the new Los Angeles flagship that opened in September 2023. Contemporary illustrations by Joana Avillez put a new spin on the meticulously detailed look of the brand’s past hand-drawn style, familiar from collectible “grin pins,” posters and the American Girl books and magazine––now incorporating hidden stars as Easter eggs for fans. Pentagram developed a comprehensive consumer products guide for a consistently confident look and feel as American Girl continues to grow and inspire a new generation of modern girls.

The team was made up of true American Girl superfans—many of whom still have their dolls from childhood—and the project offered us an unforgettable opportunity to help shape the world of a brand we love.

Read the full case study at pentagram.com