Jaded and Cynical

As I get older I catch myself having more and more jaded and cynical reactions to things around me. It’s just what happens to certain people when they get older. This doesn’t make being jaded and cynical a good thing. Case-in-point: Co.Design’s headline and review for Cooklyn’s identity system:

Is This The Most Brooklyn Branding Ever? Aruliden’s Visual Identity For The New Restaurant Cooklyn Is Almost So Trendy It Hurts.

Perhaps nothing captures brand Brooklyn more completely than aruliden’s communication design for Cooklyn (that name!), with thick stationary watermarked by an old-timey map, copper accents, and a logo reminiscent of a cattle brand. The business cards are embossed with an elegant art deco copper overlay on one side and historical cartography on the other side. The minimalist logo features the sans serif letters CKLN clustered together as if they’re attached to the business end of a branding iron. Even the clipboards on display have precious copper accents. Aruliden arranges every component of the visual identity together with wooden blocks and cylindrical copper paperweights that look like they fell out of a general store from 1889. It’s the kind of pure, artisanal wood-and-metal-and-marble aesthetic that pairs well with a thick slab of bacon and tufts of ironic facial hair.

Lazy and corny name aside (Cooklyn, really?)—what beautiful gold foil, watermarks and typography. Those trendy assholes at aruliden created a top notch identity system, how lame! Shame on you!

If beautiful design systems like this are what we think warrant negative reviews, we have problems. There’s more businesses than not that would be lucky to have an identity system this thought out.

Update: Over at Designer News, Matt Legrand reminds me of Co.Design’s track record of click-bait-bullshit articles.

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Identity

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Jumpman

From Sports Illustrated:

A photographer is suing Nike in federal court, alleging that the sneaker company used his work to make its famous “Jumpman” logo of Michael Jordan’s silhouette.

Image taken from Brand New
It looks like the logo was derived from those photos to me.
Flashback: When I started this blog almost nine years ago, my third post compared the Air Jordan “Jumpman” logo with the Shaq “Dunkman” logo.

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Identity

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Flat Design Isn’t the Problem

Gabby Manotoc on the new Netflix logo and the rise of the flat design trend:

This flat design is in trend with many logo redesigns. Its approach is an attempt on minimalism. The Helvetica-esque typeface disregards the personality of Netflix. The company doesn’t need to be a wayfinding system; its users want it to be fun. Cinema is a form of entertainment that contains boundless levels of energy. The old logotype was reminiscent of the old Blockbuster signs–which was incredibly appropriate considering the service the company provides. The new approach is not only sterile, but it appears to have no rhyme or reason behind it.
I find it interested that at the same time as we’re seeing a surge in flat visual treatments on everything—logos, mobile user interfaces, web sites—we’re also seeing a surge in copying the old, naive type treatments from 100+ years ago. Talented designers like Jon Contino, who imprefectly draw their work out by hand, are more popular than ever (a Contino logo pairs well with a ring made from a coin from Etsy).
It’s also important to note that the fact that the new Netflix logo is flat isn’t the problem. The problem with the Netflix logo is that it isn’t better than the original. It’s not telling a story.
The same goes for the not-flat UPS logo:

The question we need to ask ourselves isn’t whether a logo is flat or not, but whether it’s good or it’s shit.

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Identity

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PayPal Logo

Armin Vit on the new PayPal logo by fuseproject:

The new logo is a really good evolution that unquestionably modernizes the previous logo. The double-P monogram has a nice rhythm to it and the two “P”s assemble together warmly — they are spooning. The typography, a modified Futura italic (or, actually, oblique), is a perfectly acceptable solution that reads more cleanly than the previous whateveritwas. The brighter blue hues help the logo compete better against the livelier identities of other payment gateways like Square.
I disagree with Vit. The new logo is shitty. My beef is specifically with the dark blue shape formed from the overlapping “P”s. It’s muddy and too close in value to the blues around it. I’m fine with the letterforms comprising the logo mark and the word mark (you know there’s a difference between a word mark and a logo mark, right?).
Call me old school, but I think a logo should activate the space in and around it. Let me dig into my Graphic Design 101 bag….. gestalt! Yeah, this thing has no gestalt, there’s no dance between negative and positive space. If you’re looking at a logo you should have an active role in deconstructing and understanding it.
Why am I wasting this critique on PayPal of all companies? As Vit notes in his post, this is the company that hasn’t updated its logged-in dashboard view in 12 years.
Update: Happy I’m not the only one who isn’t impressed with the new logo

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Identity

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The Opposite of Identity

comcast_dec2012.jpg

How stupid is Comcast for appending the NBC peacock to their logo?

As stupid as Volkswagen appending the Lamborghini emblem to their logo (VW owns Lamborghini, Ducati, Audi, Porsche, Bentley and others).

volkswagen_lambo_logo_mutant.jpg

Or as stupid as Pepsico slapping mister Quaker Oats dude on top of their logo:

pepsico_quaker_oats_logo_mutant.jpg

*Note: The Comcast logo is the only real logo in this post. If you didn’t figure it out, I made up the Volkswagen and Pepsico versions for demonstration purposes.

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Identity

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