In Thursday’s just released Reflex Blue Show, Steve, Donovan, Aaron and I got to talking about the hideous (in my opinion) amounts of new-logo-hate that seems to have taken over our profession. Mostly this came out of conversations surrounding the newly designed “B1G TEN” logo by Pentagram. I thought, as I still do, that the design was well-executed. While I am sure other designers land somewhere between that viewpoint and “poorly executed,” I was shocked to see how many people were taking an all-or-nothing approach to the mark.
The “B1G” mark was good, the “B1G TEN” was the most awful thing that had ever been perpetrated against design. The whole logo is a failure! The client must have made them do it! No self-respecting designer would ever, ever do that!
Obviously that is an extremist opinion, but I heard it everywhere I turned, a few rational voices not withstanding. From my perspective, it amounted to little more than jealous sniping and catty behavior from designers who would give their left nut (or… ovary?) for a shot at business of that scale. And what I was left with was the thought of how bad this makes us look as an industry.
My prevailing response can be seen in the second panel of Wednesday’s comic, and I can make no more compelling argument than that. If we as an industry tear down every new logo design we see, independent of quality as I often see is the case, to a point where companies like The Gap reject their work and revert to previous designs, we become our own cancer. We are those most loudly declaring that expensive design is not worth the expense. As the business community begins to take notice, they may come to agree with us. And at that point, our profession is finished.
Every designer’s public voice represents our industry as a whole to those who hear it. Please speak responsibly.