8.04.2009

The not so terrible, horrible, very bad logo

One of my favorite children's books is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I'm sure you can guess the plot, but to sum it up:

People of all ages have terrible, horrible days, and Alexander offers us the cranky commiseration we crave as well as a reminder that things may not be all that bad. As Alexander's day progresses, he faces a barrage of bummers worthy of a country- western song: getting smushed in the middle seat of the car, a dessertless lunch sack, a cavity at the dentist's office, stripeless sneakers, witnessing kissing on television, and being forced to sleep in railroad-train pajamas. He resolves several times to move to Australia.

Moving to Australia might be extreme, I'd settle for an extended vacation. Especially to Melbourne, just based on their new identity:



I think Armin Vit, of Brand New, hits the nail on the head:

The gradients are subtle and help add a sense of depth and breadth that you would not get with a flat logo, which is clearly evident in the 1-color application where the logo looks like a bad diagram in progress and loses its enigmatic feeling from the color version.

The more I see this logo, the more I like it. I love the gradients, the shapes they create, the left vs. right; all in all, I think it works really well.

So the next time I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (hopefully not too soon!), instead of a move to Australia, I'll be a little more specific and dream of a vacation to Melbourne--if only to admire their identity in person.

2 comments:

Chelsea said...

I'm going to Australia in November, actually...

Not Melbourne, but Sydney. I don't they even *have* an ID - and certainly not one as nice as this! http://cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/ Sydney got the short end of the stick in the design department.

tracie valentino said...

Yes they did! I'm sure your trip will be awesome, no matter what the city's logo (or lack thereof) looks like.

I'm jealous!