Walmart's new logo's debut coincides with CEO H. Lee Scott's goal of transforming the company into a more environmentally friendly corporation. Walmart's new typeface, breaks with the company's 46-year tradition of using bold capital letters.

"Wal-Mart's [new logo], can be seen as an attempt to recast itself as a kinder, gentler company," says Tobias Frere-Jones, a professor of typography at Yale University and a principal at Hoefler & Frere-Jones, a type-design firm in New York. "The redesign looks like an effort to advance the discount retailer's reputation as environmentally friendly."

"[The new sunburst] looks organic. My sense is they are trying to say, 'we're an eco-aware company,'" says Marty Neumeier, president of Neutron, a branding firm in San Francisco. Over the past two years, Walmart has increasingly offered sustainable packaging and products, as well as reduced its truck fleet's energy consumption.

In general, corporations change their logos when prompted by the marketplace, be it increased competition or an economic downturn. Such redesigns are more than just prettying up an outdated logo. Walmart's latest logo redesign is surely not its last.

But it's clear that a new logo alone can't save an ailing company during tough economic times. For instance, Starbucks announced hundreds of store closings despite the use of a new logo earlier this year. New lettering and imagery will no doubt liven up Walmart's look, but the company will have to keep delivering on Scott's lofty environmental goals.