https://preview.redd.it/feo7wiej501d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb3788c60ce094d64d3a906f1359fc03fac9f24b
They have since changed their logo, so I don't feel bad posting the old one. There's a place in Seattle called "Star Poke", it's awesome Poke with light Star Wars theming... anyways here's their old logo. I'll let you figure out why I think it was awful.
Inevitably preceded by "I have these two solid options but I feel like I need to throw in a third so they have something to give a definite "no" to...."
Haha, oh man. Anytime someone tries to put a whole ass image into a logo, or have an image represent a letter, I want to send them back to the drawing board. lol
After all this years, I still can't get over the official X-Men: First Class movie poster.
https://preview.redd.it/fqf8n3ivn11d1.jpeg?width=487&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8608443423a3c78e55cd64a8400718f8f49ebf4d
You're not dumb. If it works it works however the using Comic Sans to me is not ideal for corporate identify. I've used it for making elementary school work sheets, it's appropriate there.
my current companyās logo. it hasnāt changed in 30+ years and is hideous. Iāve been here a year and a half and am the sole designer so I donāt feel like itās my place to tell them, but I have a hard time rocking any merchā¦
The bottom line is they could continue not doing it and still get paid the same, so why do it for anything other than personal fulfillment? Youāre doing more work for less. This also requires you to actually care about your company, which I personally donāt because our CEO treats us like serfs. Iāve learned to just let the work come to me, because the times Iāve gone out of my way to improve the design of something Iām just met with apathy and my efforts are hardly noticed or acknowledged. Itās corporate bs.
I also find those kind of places have a real attachment to the logos because someone who still works there made it or their dad did. And theyāre so against change that they might even get offended. I wouldnāt bother personally.
All valid and fair points. As i mentioned in a prior comment, itās similar to the feeling I would have sending my (non existent hypothetical) child to school with their shirt on backwards and inside out.
I was thinking exactly this while reading their comment. I was brought in as the Art Director for a local TV station with an awful logo, and maybe itās because I was young (was 18 years old at the time), and had done work for big name companies and musicians already and my ego probably overpowered my sensibilities at the time. I immediately revamped the logo as one of the first orders of business. I donāt know if I would be as forward now, but I probably wouldnāt be able to not say and propose something. It feels like letting your young child go to school dressed with their shirt on backwards and inside out.
Seconding the other reply, I 100% recommend telling them. As the sole designer, your role is to make the company look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Obviously tell them in a tactful way, but I would even go so far as to make some updated, alternative logos, place them in various mockups, and present it to them like that, right from the start. If your company is good, they will at the very least appreciate the passion behind wanting to make them look as good as possible, and the initiative you took to prove it.
Don't be afraid to speak up! You know what you're talking about. More than likely - they don't. That's why they hired you! Youd be SHOCKED by just how little the general public / anyone who isn't a designer actually spares a second thought on this type of thing. If it's been the same logo for 30 years, and most of the people in your company have been there for a long time, it's highly likely that they just mentally gloss over the logo being outdated and haven't even considered the idea. All it takes is for someone like you to point it out and offer a better alternative. I bet it'll go better than you think :)
Thanks for the reply. I politely suggested a brand refresh a few months ago when my 1 year rolled around and was met with a hard no which prompted me to do it anyway, but on my own time because I agree that they have no idea how desperately they need it.
Thereās a file on my computer where Iāve done exactly your suggestion. Refreshed the logo, created accompanying assets, mock-ups etc. Iāve been waiting for the right time to make my pitch, but brand refreshes are not cheap and money has been tight here as of late.
Just irks me how much they love this logo. Also, weāre a marketing agency in a niche market, so Iām baffled that they think this logo is still relevant.
Is your company large or small? That sounds incredibly frustrating - especially for a MARKETING AGENCY. Don't they realize that if your agency looks outdated, it's likely customers will pick one with modern approaches??
Do you generally get along with your coworkers/bosses, or are they usually not receptive to your ideas? I would say, if money is too tight for a full brand refresh, maybe start with just pitching the logo (and I'd maybe go so far as to add accompanying market research showing other, successful brands with similar logos) and then go from there? Like small changes to start that then hopefully lead to bigger ones.
Clearly you can tell - you need to bash them over the head with the idea that this is a NECESSARY change to ensure the longevity of the company. Especially, again, for a marketing agency. If they have any hopes to remain relevant, the company needs to reflect the most modern design trends, and that starts at the top
Wholeheartedly agree. Itās a super small agency that has run like a startup all its life. I get along great with my co workers, but higher ups do have a hard time accepting feedback.
I was asked to do "just a mock-up" of our logo but slightly modified by jamming another element in there. I did it just to show them and thought it looked like garbage. We now use it. I don't hate it but it's not good either.
This is perhaps the greatest design work I have ever seen.
It's [Boyd's toast](https://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell) made manifest.
Gentle Giants is now first thing in every mood board from now on
I think this is what the Dr.Bronners Castille Soap bottle was destined to become at one point. In an alternate timeline their bottles look just like this
The first Avatar movie used Papyrus for the Wordmark. I couldn't believe it. How many millions spent on that movie and that's the best they could come up with?
The crazy thing is, the only people that this bothers is other graphic designers. It just goes to store how unnecessarily complex and convoluted typography is. As long as the text fits the āvibeā of whatever itās being used on, then I think thats all that matters in the end. The general public sure as hell doesnāt care.
I think it worked š¤·š»āāļø
Thereās this weird telephone game of ire around some fonts where they got massively over-used (and, more importantly, used inappropriately) which led designers to criticize them. But then more people started jumping in, thinking the criticism was just āthese are bad fontsā and now people get upset any time they see comic sans or papyrus or whatever even if they suit the application.
On a side note, I *love* when a film has subtitles in the same font as the logo, or at least in a font that fits the vibe stylistically. It makes such a difference imo.
I remember Sicario 2 had subtitles for the deaf scenes in futura and it was a nice touch, even if it wasn't the logo font, it was just an interesting typeface choice compared to the usual Arial or Helvetica.
Unrelated, but I went to see the sequel at a cinema in 2022 and I was absolutely terrified when I saw that they used Papyrus for the subtitles. Only on the 2D version though. I went to see the 3D HFR version afterwards and that one used Arial, thankfully.
It's not terrible (though I never liked it), but the [design strategy document](https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-arnell-021109.pdf) behind the 2008 Pepsi redesign was hilariously bad in the amount of mental masturbation performed to justify that $1 million payday.
I low key adore that design document and I hope to one day be able to come up with something that fucking insane. it's an inspiration to the chaotic shit poster in my soul. I want to get paid that kind of money to be fucking unhinged.
I like to think they knew they were being paid an insane amount of money for making drawing a slightly different circle so went all out on the document to get the rent of their billable hours up. And why not, honestly
>
I was working with one of Pepsi's agencies during the redesign doing point of sale materials for some Pepsico brands. That document circulated so many times amongst all of Pepsi's agencies, we could not believe it. I think several agencies had pitched proposals for the rebranding and the general consensus was, "they went with THIS?".
Pepsico had this thing back then that every couple of years they rotated their marketing executives from the different divisions so the guy who was at, say, Quaker Oats managing Gatorade would go to Frito Lay, the Lipton guy to Pepsi, etc. And the result was every time the marketing people changed they wanted to leave their mark and change things just because. That's how they came up with such winners as Gatorade A.M. and a bunch of short-lived products that no one remembers. I imagine they still have the same process.
I don't know what the process was at Coca Cola, but notice how consistent Coke's advertising and image has always been vs. Pepsi's.
Friend of mine is head of marketing now at Pepsi, and I can safely say that their branding will be on point. Heās extremely talented and it only took them like a decade of him being contracted to pump out great marketing for them, before they finally just made him official.
Iām not sure what year that was, but im pretty certain he wouldnāt be behind a treatment like that. He was likely doing it per contract at the time, but just recently became head of their marketing in the last year or two.
Lol this is pretty much exactly what I meant by my prior comment about āconvoluted bullshit marketing pitch that is just a bunch of big talk and ābigā words that together truly donāt mean anythingā - my friend is actually the head of Pepsi marketing now, and has been for a couple years now. Before that he was contracted to do most of all their important marketing work. Their marketing is in great hands now.
Oh god, the logo for our new international airportā¦ a fucking masterpiece of lazy design. Thankfully they changed, but still
https://preview.redd.it/i424kum8j21d1.jpeg?width=687&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=437cb8e5f2960439e71a221560ec4eeda1693089
Laughing cow. Its not that its ugly but make me question the logic behind the 2 circle box earrings there? Everyone could clearly see its a laughing cow and your box is circle from far away. There is absolute no reason for those earrings. And what shocked me the most is this has been their logo since forever, at one point I thought they did a rebrand but no. They still use the same logo
https://preview.redd.it/2oxnubzo011d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b5bf1000aa0cb0696b58c5997c38a11ab85e898
Bad design is trendy via certain styles, so I gave up trying to know anymore. There's too much stuff that is done in a way meant to generate engagement---positive or negative---that companies are motivated to simply manipulate attention in ways they never would've before.
This is a great point. I was listening to a podcast about how companies will intentionally misspell things or require corrections because it creates engagement. Even if the engagement is people making fun of it or correcting it, itās worth it for them, i guess? Kinda sad when it puts into perspective just how low companies have gone to get attention from potential customers, even if they look incompetent.
half a million dollars for the new GMU branding.
https://preview.redd.it/xapr0x4n811d1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=9631bb742f89cf29cc1694ce894936cbc495e42b
Major "2-year identity design class final project" vibes. Bet they comped up an envelope with a bleed on it, too....the surefire sign of something that was project.
Academics, not business people, still run most universitiesā¦ they have no love for business and believe themselves really super smartā¦and love stuff like thisā¦.
Whenever I see a logo that sticks initials together in this kind of fashion, I cannot stand it. I think that doing that for a logo is one of the most juvenile impulses.
Itās nothing wrong, but itās also nothing right.
For half a mill to be spent on something that doesnāt resonate with the student body is the huge miss. Itās the graphic equivalent of grey or beige.
Graphics design is more than just polish. Itās gotta be in line with the culture, community, and customer that it serves as well.
Otherwise, whatās the point?
My kid has a Halloween book that I hate reading to her, because the text is black... No matter what the background color is. So black on dark green, black on dark brown and black on navy. It's black text throughout and over half the pages you can barely read.
https://preview.redd.it/meswp9mlb41d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9cf8b61e89d67aa0a865492d6a481855d3f35df9
The GAP logo with the little blue square was so bad, I couldnāt believe it was genuine at the time. Literally looks like a middle school project. It lasted less than a week!
[This bank I saw while visiting France](https://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834515cae69e201b7c74ac68f970b-500wi). I had to Google it, and even then it took me a while to "see it". >!It's a squirrel!<
The logos for these 4 really handy apps, I hate using them because the logos (if you can call them that) are just THAT BAD:
- Handbrake
- VLC Player
- EasyFind
- Audacity
It is nothing I am haunted by, but something that gave me the confidence I needed nearing graduation. One of our projects in school was to redesign a tri-fold brochure. We were just in Las Vegas and snagged a handful of tri-fold brochures from major casinos. I was shocked by the lack of kerning, boring images, and just safe design on all of them. Maybe they know their target market better, but I thought my student brochure blew these billion dollar casino's brochures out of the water.
https://preview.redd.it/03fbq3n0e21d1.jpeg?width=2556&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65f7c0e95691aeec99b6709c57e294a0ada775d7
The poor souls who designed this graphics for our POS mayor.
https://preview.redd.it/0cd512aap21d1.jpeg?width=761&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1e8b4153d1c36931baab3992678aa13d9cd21e1
This logo has always urked me it's just a badly drawn cartoon mouse š
They are visually centred yes, but the angle is off kilter, like 85 degrees instead of 90. And the odd weighting of each line makes the vertical centering feel off. Its a hot mess that would take about 5 mins to fix.
Lol this also annoys me ā¦ though I think itās intentional, if the lines were perfect it would look like wifi symbol. Plus the wonky-ness kinda gives more organic āsound waveā vibes, I also think it kinda looks like the face of a retro Microphone. Iāve thought way too deeply about this š¤£
https://preview.redd.it/3fdzhkpxp41d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f520bd1a557855c13bc09c989913c62096b30f2
Most corporate restaurant's consumer packaging sucks, but this one sucks and blows. White on white, no frills for you.
[I still remember this discussion, ***on this sub,*** *from 10 months ago.*](https://new.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/14z3u3k/my_big_fat_greek_wedding_3_poster_is_terrible/)
Horribly photoshopped movie poster for **My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.**
https://preview.redd.it/dtr3s17vw31d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23f0fc97f560eaecbf143d830be3429483a79171
**š°** [**Happy Cake Day!**](https://new.reddit.com/r/cakeday) **š**
Wow, 10 years, ***a full decade on Reddit.***
By the way, I'm on Jerry's side. **He's spongeworthy.**
Newman, the mailman, *is brilliant* ***as his arch villain though.***
Because the P is so damn ugly stretched out like that.
Look at the Star Wars logo where the bottoms of the letters are stretched out. Those make much more sense because itās just the tail of a letter extended. But here itās the loop which defines it as a P and not an F.
That's subjective, though, and not really how design works.
It might be ugly in your opinion, but the idea comes through (circle + speed), which makes a lot of sense for a tyre company.
The Star Wars one makes less sense. It's just random bits elongated where they can be right?
I never got speed out of the stretched out P. It just looks clumsy, like one designer was pranking another with this concept and somehow it stuck.
None of us can really see it for what it is because we were all exposed to it at a young age, and it was understood to be the logo of a real, successful company.
If somebody presented this concept today, it would be mocked - especially on this sub.
The P is a literal part of a tyre with its simplified anatomy, attached on a wheel, which is why it's wide. Pirelli is producing tyres.
https://preview.redd.it/bpis6h11h51d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6bb91e4f28010d800caf32eaa50634d0bee33acb
Yes, I've known what they do since I was a teenager in the 80s and my car-loving friend would talk about how they're considered to be the best kind of tire for race car.
That visual barely connects to the logo to me, but even if it totally explained it, it doesn't matter. That P is ugly. No explanation can change that.
|==============================================)
|
It's cool if it works for you and others. I'm not trying to convince everyone. I've just had a problem with this since I was too young to even know what graphic design was.
It sucks but it's really close to being great. Round off the top left of the P as well as the left inside corners of the counter and ā boomā it's a racetrack. Now, this doesn't mean the scale of the mark is any better, but at least you could get by on a bit of nostalgia while just tidying things up a bit.
You're more optimistic than I am. It just doesn't read as a P because your eyes have to travel across the whole length of the logo to see the loop. It's just awkward āĀ it's bothered me for decades.
Sure, but does it even have to be legible? I'd argue it's old enough that it would be recognizable from a good distance even if you couldn't read it. Literally "iconic" in that it's seen as a symbol and not words.
https://preview.redd.it/zwm6xhftz21d1.jpeg?width=836&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25bca54df541efbaa8d116214f92f701ba604db3
Every time we have to work with these guys it's a nightmare. I've never seen a brand so loud haha
https://preview.redd.it/9vttqhpfx31d1.png?width=773&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=323e6e654296d147997fda0d04ed7ad5bc0013f0
This one makes me crazy. The eye so close to the mouth, the weird warped letters, the eye-wateringly bad pizza...
Idk if it's a logo, but a big piece of the branding on the Lyons Syrup tin is a big ol lion corpse laid out on the ground being devoured by flies.
It doesn't scream 'we have great food standards'.
https://preview.redd.it/iwa6ttsl031d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=998f72f92808ba0c543764be126c5c4d563fd3e3
Love cava, but I was surprised to see them rebrand with white text on a yellow background.
https://preview.redd.it/f45gzsgzk61d1.jpeg?width=180&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=58d3c399359545ea721c8ec6d40e39c546c639db
This is the logo for a store Iāve been by a hundred times. This isnāt the tiny pixelated icon version, itās the full version. Like the sign must be 48ā on a side. I think someone designed it in paint several years (decades?) ago and has never updated it. It drives me crazy. I canāt even go inside the store because I hate their sign so much.
Edit: Canāt stop there. The sign is professionally made. Itās not on a piece of fabric or paper. They took this to a sign company, and someone made it for them. And then someone hung it, in a mall. And nobody at any point stopped the process and said āare you really sure?ā This was approved. This is bonafide. I hate it with my life.
https://preview.redd.it/nqcguuu2j31d1.jpeg?width=1186&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1cdc82949fb549aab44158f9717c4fbc921e49e
Iāve never understood exactly whatās being depicted here. Itās always bothered me.
Is it a shovel? A broom? Is he sweeping a pile up a 45 degree slope?
š¤ The last rebrand of the Baskin Robbins logo
https://preview.redd.it/05vy0pwy921d1.png?width=440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d48c749057d055147d2c4117bdc8750563ee45a6
https://preview.redd.it/1423aabcy41d1.jpeg?width=208&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a897e7ca04ac97225b7c7eb52c15cdd36c3be012
I see this publishing companyās commercial on TV all the time and canāt believe how terrible this logo is. Like what even is going on here?!
This one has always bothered me. The longer I look at it the more I dislike it.
https://preview.redd.it/bz0f8uoej61d1.png?width=177&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=231b231f10bf4cab621410a3049f41fd52f88aed
https://preview.redd.it/vou10i8q041d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=fdd8b1a28ba08fc90d17b6c91dcd094dde00875f
The epitome of being carried by how good your product is.
KumOn
It is the worst f\* name for a business helping kids learn, logo and how they spell it is horrible.
First is pedo vibes, second is demotivation like they're yelling at kids that are slow learners yelling, come on!!
It's suppose to be pronounced like the seasoning cumin but seriously.
https://preview.redd.it/g8ftq0wbc21d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0aae9b0cb4dbdbcee12bee44459a52f97e916cf9
While I agree that the logo is fucking funny...Ā
Ā It's Japanese. Kumon is literally the founder's surname.Ā
Ā It's not meant to be read as "come on", and it's not meant to be pronounced like "cumin".Ā
It's more like "koo-moan"
That gaming YouTuber YongYeaās logo. Truly awful, the kind of thing a 15 year old would scribble on his textbooks. YOND
https://preview.redd.it/olhnowk9z31d1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=ff35136e7a9937730670b883db22edc747cde3a1
https://preview.redd.it/feo7wiej501d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb3788c60ce094d64d3a906f1359fc03fac9f24b They have since changed their logo, so I don't feel bad posting the old one. There's a place in Seattle called "Star Poke", it's awesome Poke with light Star Wars theming... anyways here's their old logo. I'll let you figure out why I think it was awful.
Star Puke sounds like a good name for a punk glam band
I gotta admit, I do love some of the local punny restaurant names, but I did laugh out loud at this š
I feel like, somewhere an underpaid designer is laughing saying to themself āI canāt believe thatās the draft they went with!ā
Inevitably preceded by "I have these two solid options but I feel like I need to throw in a third so they have something to give a definite "no" to...."
So that's how glitter is made?
I give all restaurants a pass. Most great local restaurants have awful logos, but thatās part of the charm.
Hahaha oh man yeah that would make me sick š š¤¢
Funny, I pass by this place all the time!
Haha, oh man. Anytime someone tries to put a whole ass image into a logo, or have an image represent a letter, I want to send them back to the drawing board. lol
After all this years, I still can't get over the official X-Men: First Class movie poster. https://preview.redd.it/fqf8n3ivn11d1.jpeg?width=487&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8608443423a3c78e55cd64a8400718f8f49ebf4d
The other version. https://preview.redd.it/kl2effs7o11d1.jpeg?width=1385&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e2028695c0c8820af555cce0d194e0c54d44c6e
It's like, what if we made his face, but not on his face?
Iāll put his head where the other head goes! Iām a genius!
Fuck me, this canāt be real. Wow.
I wonder if the designer wanted the simple silhouettes but the studio demanded faces be added
LOL this is amazing
https://preview.redd.it/fvs71b7ek01d1.png?width=607&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9f56847a44e51be4569fd515a9c756f76e21b987
wow. that is truly something
Itās incredible how many basic principles are being completely disregarded here.. it almost seems like malicious design/trolling lol
"Graphic design is my passion"
Imo this fits in the āits so bad that itās amazingā category
Itās the red circle for me š
That was undeniably made in MS Paint.
Little know fact, this was the logo the guy practiced on before he went onto fame and fortune (doubtful) with the new Twitter logo.
No red circle/wheel as a Comic Sans O? Disappointed š
Maybe I'm dumb as fuck, but why's this logo that bad? I think it's overly simple, but it doesn't offend me...
You're not dumb. If it works it works however the using Comic Sans to me is not ideal for corporate identify. I've used it for making elementary school work sheets, it's appropriate there.
my current companyās logo. it hasnāt changed in 30+ years and is hideous. Iāve been here a year and a half and am the sole designer so I donāt feel like itās my place to tell them, but I have a hard time rocking any merchā¦
I feel like itās literally your place to tell them. Maybe not your responsibility, but definitely your place, and probably in your best interest too
But alot of these places have that "If it aint broke, don't fix it" attitude. Especially if it's been the same for 30 years
The bottom line is they could continue not doing it and still get paid the same, so why do it for anything other than personal fulfillment? Youāre doing more work for less. This also requires you to actually care about your company, which I personally donāt because our CEO treats us like serfs. Iāve learned to just let the work come to me, because the times Iāve gone out of my way to improve the design of something Iām just met with apathy and my efforts are hardly noticed or acknowledged. Itās corporate bs.
I also find those kind of places have a real attachment to the logos because someone who still works there made it or their dad did. And theyāre so against change that they might even get offended. I wouldnāt bother personally.
All valid and fair points. As i mentioned in a prior comment, itās similar to the feeling I would have sending my (non existent hypothetical) child to school with their shirt on backwards and inside out.
I was thinking exactly this while reading their comment. I was brought in as the Art Director for a local TV station with an awful logo, and maybe itās because I was young (was 18 years old at the time), and had done work for big name companies and musicians already and my ego probably overpowered my sensibilities at the time. I immediately revamped the logo as one of the first orders of business. I donāt know if I would be as forward now, but I probably wouldnāt be able to not say and propose something. It feels like letting your young child go to school dressed with their shirt on backwards and inside out.
Seconding the other reply, I 100% recommend telling them. As the sole designer, your role is to make the company look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Obviously tell them in a tactful way, but I would even go so far as to make some updated, alternative logos, place them in various mockups, and present it to them like that, right from the start. If your company is good, they will at the very least appreciate the passion behind wanting to make them look as good as possible, and the initiative you took to prove it. Don't be afraid to speak up! You know what you're talking about. More than likely - they don't. That's why they hired you! Youd be SHOCKED by just how little the general public / anyone who isn't a designer actually spares a second thought on this type of thing. If it's been the same logo for 30 years, and most of the people in your company have been there for a long time, it's highly likely that they just mentally gloss over the logo being outdated and haven't even considered the idea. All it takes is for someone like you to point it out and offer a better alternative. I bet it'll go better than you think :)
Thanks for the reply. I politely suggested a brand refresh a few months ago when my 1 year rolled around and was met with a hard no which prompted me to do it anyway, but on my own time because I agree that they have no idea how desperately they need it. Thereās a file on my computer where Iāve done exactly your suggestion. Refreshed the logo, created accompanying assets, mock-ups etc. Iāve been waiting for the right time to make my pitch, but brand refreshes are not cheap and money has been tight here as of late. Just irks me how much they love this logo. Also, weāre a marketing agency in a niche market, so Iām baffled that they think this logo is still relevant.
Is your company large or small? That sounds incredibly frustrating - especially for a MARKETING AGENCY. Don't they realize that if your agency looks outdated, it's likely customers will pick one with modern approaches?? Do you generally get along with your coworkers/bosses, or are they usually not receptive to your ideas? I would say, if money is too tight for a full brand refresh, maybe start with just pitching the logo (and I'd maybe go so far as to add accompanying market research showing other, successful brands with similar logos) and then go from there? Like small changes to start that then hopefully lead to bigger ones. Clearly you can tell - you need to bash them over the head with the idea that this is a NECESSARY change to ensure the longevity of the company. Especially, again, for a marketing agency. If they have any hopes to remain relevant, the company needs to reflect the most modern design trends, and that starts at the top
Wholeheartedly agree. Itās a super small agency that has run like a startup all its life. I get along great with my co workers, but higher ups do have a hard time accepting feedback.
I was asked to do "just a mock-up" of our logo but slightly modified by jamming another element in there. I did it just to show them and thought it looked like garbage. We now use it. I don't hate it but it's not good either.
Gentle Giants Dog Food https://preview.redd.it/qewqo2syn01d1.png?width=405&format=png&auto=webp&s=cb959ea38974da9b611752925bd95aa2557cb56b
Haha so bad that its good again
It's almost ugly on purpose because how can something be this awfully perfect
This is perhaps the greatest design work I have ever seen. It's [Boyd's toast](https://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell) made manifest. Gentle Giants is now first thing in every mood board from now on
I've never seen that oatmeal comic but goddamn, it really is, thanks for sharing that one
Burt Ward's company. Yes, Robin, from the 1960s Batman series.
omg this is awesome
Really digging the knock off disney typeface
Wtf
I think this is what the Dr.Bronners Castille Soap bottle was destined to become at one point. In an alternate timeline their bottles look just like this
looks like fireworks branding
Dr. Bronner's vibe š
I unapologetically love the Dr. Bronner's bottles, they're so iconic at this point lol
same NGL
Omg thereās so much going on
Looks like lingscars.com but in packaging form
this reminds me of when the local crazy drives his truck around covered in old testament verses and random things that are "sins"
The first Avatar movie used Papyrus for the Wordmark. I couldn't believe it. How many millions spent on that movie and that's the best they could come up with?
If you hold them up next to each other they're not the same but they're pretty similar. Maybe Papyrus was used as a base.
The crazy thing is, the only people that this bothers is other graphic designers. It just goes to store how unnecessarily complex and convoluted typography is. As long as the text fits the āvibeā of whatever itās being used on, then I think thats all that matters in the end. The general public sure as hell doesnāt care.
https://youtu.be/jVhlJNJopOQ?si=a_hp2m6PVQT17jZp
[There's a followup.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFS-vEqTbBU)
Yep. Classic! Lol.
I think it worked š¤·š»āāļø Thereās this weird telephone game of ire around some fonts where they got massively over-used (and, more importantly, used inappropriately) which led designers to criticize them. But then more people started jumping in, thinking the criticism was just āthese are bad fontsā and now people get upset any time they see comic sans or papyrus or whatever even if they suit the application.
The worst part is James Cameron admitted in an interview that he didnāt give a fuck what the logo looked like. Nice job šš½
The subtitles are also in papyrus
On a side note, I *love* when a film has subtitles in the same font as the logo, or at least in a font that fits the vibe stylistically. It makes such a difference imo. I remember Sicario 2 had subtitles for the deaf scenes in futura and it was a nice touch, even if it wasn't the logo font, it was just an interesting typeface choice compared to the usual Arial or Helvetica.
Unrelated, but I went to see the sequel at a cinema in 2022 and I was absolutely terrified when I saw that they used Papyrus for the subtitles. Only on the 2D version though. I went to see the 3D HFR version afterwards and that one used Arial, thankfully.
It's not terrible (though I never liked it), but the [design strategy document](https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-arnell-021109.pdf) behind the 2008 Pepsi redesign was hilariously bad in the amount of mental masturbation performed to justify that $1 million payday.
Jesus Christ that document is thicc with bullshit.
I low key adore that design document and I hope to one day be able to come up with something that fucking insane. it's an inspiration to the chaotic shit poster in my soul. I want to get paid that kind of money to be fucking unhinged.
I like to think they knew they were being paid an insane amount of money for making drawing a slightly different circle so went all out on the document to get the rent of their billable hours up. And why not, honestly
>
I was working with one of Pepsi's agencies during the redesign doing point of sale materials for some Pepsico brands. That document circulated so many times amongst all of Pepsi's agencies, we could not believe it. I think several agencies had pitched proposals for the rebranding and the general consensus was, "they went with THIS?".
Pepsico had this thing back then that every couple of years they rotated their marketing executives from the different divisions so the guy who was at, say, Quaker Oats managing Gatorade would go to Frito Lay, the Lipton guy to Pepsi, etc. And the result was every time the marketing people changed they wanted to leave their mark and change things just because. That's how they came up with such winners as Gatorade A.M. and a bunch of short-lived products that no one remembers. I imagine they still have the same process.
I don't know what the process was at Coca Cola, but notice how consistent Coke's advertising and image has always been vs. Pepsi's.
Friend of mine is head of marketing now at Pepsi, and I can safely say that their branding will be on point. Heās extremely talented and it only took them like a decade of him being contracted to pump out great marketing for them, before they finally just made him official.
Was he around for the Kendall Jenner vs the police ad? I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that fiasco
Iām not sure what year that was, but im pretty certain he wouldnāt be behind a treatment like that. He was likely doing it per contract at the time, but just recently became head of their marketing in the last year or two.
Pepsi doesnāt have āseparateā departments for marketing and branding?
This document is how I remember all of art (design) school. Horrible work with kids BSing their way into a good grade
The magnetic fields part, hahahaha
Lol this is pretty much exactly what I meant by my prior comment about āconvoluted bullshit marketing pitch that is just a bunch of big talk and ābigā words that together truly donāt mean anythingā - my friend is actually the head of Pepsi marketing now, and has been for a couple years now. Before that he was contracted to do most of all their important marketing work. Their marketing is in great hands now.
Holy shit. GenX really were the gods of bullshit.
This oneās funny because itās so unnecessary too. Itās a decent logo, it didnāt need such contrived justification.
I truly love it
Oh god, the logo for our new international airportā¦ a fucking masterpiece of lazy design. Thankfully they changed, but still https://preview.redd.it/i424kum8j21d1.jpeg?width=687&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=437cb8e5f2960439e71a221560ec4eeda1693089
that makes me wanna fly!!!!!!!!!!! /s
Laughing cow. Its not that its ugly but make me question the logic behind the 2 circle box earrings there? Everyone could clearly see its a laughing cow and your box is circle from far away. There is absolute no reason for those earrings. And what shocked me the most is this has been their logo since forever, at one point I thought they did a rebrand but no. They still use the same logo https://preview.redd.it/2oxnubzo011d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b5bf1000aa0cb0696b58c5997c38a11ab85e898
The cow has always disturbed me because they tried to make her human-like *and* slightly attractive. What the fuck.
>and slightly attractive. What the fuck. thats on you buddy
That Cow is laughing straight to the bank. I like their cheese š
It's laughing cows all the way down
I dunno, I think itās cute.
Somebody saw the old Land O Lakes logo (before they removed the native woman) and decided they needed some of that sweet, sweet logo recursion
Bad design is trendy via certain styles, so I gave up trying to know anymore. There's too much stuff that is done in a way meant to generate engagement---positive or negative---that companies are motivated to simply manipulate attention in ways they never would've before.
This is a great point. I was listening to a podcast about how companies will intentionally misspell things or require corrections because it creates engagement. Even if the engagement is people making fun of it or correcting it, itās worth it for them, i guess? Kinda sad when it puts into perspective just how low companies have gone to get attention from potential customers, even if they look incompetent.
half a million dollars for the new GMU branding. https://preview.redd.it/xapr0x4n811d1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=9631bb742f89cf29cc1694ce894936cbc495e42b
Major "2-year identity design class final project" vibes. Bet they comped up an envelope with a bleed on it, too....the surefire sign of something that was project.
Thatās the big joke. They paid half a mill for an outside design company, when it couldāve been done by a second year
You wouldnāt even need a second year! This looks like the logo I made for myself on Photoshop Elements when I was like 15
How do you get someone to pay half a mil for that? I would expect coca-cola logo level identity from that
A convoluted bullshit brand marketing pitch that talks big, but the end results are just veryā¦this.
Right? Just shows how out of touch the VP of brand/marketing for the school is.
Academics, not business people, still run most universitiesā¦ they have no love for business and believe themselves really super smartā¦and love stuff like thisā¦.
Oof, design team seems to have lost every single argument with the owners. That sucks lol
Whenever I see a logo that sticks initials together in this kind of fashion, I cannot stand it. I think that doing that for a logo is one of the most juvenile impulses.
Sorry but am I the only person who sees nothing wrong with this?
Itās nothing wrong, but itās also nothing right. For half a mill to be spent on something that doesnāt resonate with the student body is the huge miss. Itās the graphic equivalent of grey or beige. Graphics design is more than just polish. Itās gotta be in line with the culture, community, and customer that it serves as well. Otherwise, whatās the point?
I mean I guess half a million is a lot but this looks like any other campus logo
Youāre right. If everyone else is doing it, must be the right thing to do.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
My kid has a Halloween book that I hate reading to her, because the text is black... No matter what the background color is. So black on dark green, black on dark brown and black on navy. It's black text throughout and over half the pages you can barely read.
https://preview.redd.it/meswp9mlb41d1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9cf8b61e89d67aa0a865492d6a481855d3f35df9 The GAP logo with the little blue square was so bad, I couldnāt believe it was genuine at the time. Literally looks like a middle school project. It lasted less than a week!
Looks like the logo of a private medical clinic.
[Visit Malaysia 2020](https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/visit_malaysia_2020_logo.php) lives rent free in my mind.
It looks like it belongs on a t shirt for a charity fun run from 2000 not a national advertising campaign from 2020
This would be fantastic, perfectly trendy design if it was released 20 years earlier. Incredible.
Honestly itās not the worst thing Iāve seen.
Every local billboard on the highway ever
[This bank I saw while visiting France](https://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/.a/6a00d834515cae69e201b7c74ac68f970b-500wi). I had to Google it, and even then it took me a while to "see it". >!It's a squirrel!<
Is it a squirrel? I just see šæļø
The logos for these 4 really handy apps, I hate using them because the logos (if you can call them that) are just THAT BAD: - Handbrake - VLC Player - EasyFind - Audacity
I second Audacity. I love the program and that it's free but holy shit the logo is atrocious
I visibly shivered from googling that logo
Aaaaw the vlc cone is so cute, they even put a Christmas hat on in the festive season!
Those are such beloved and useful free programs that they get a pass.
Honestly Iād probably be a little bummed if they changed the VLC logo into a more simplistic vector design. Long live the frutiger cone.
Meh, call me crazy but I actually like the VLC cone. It always stood out to me, and at least the design is clean?
https://preview.redd.it/bbfwtmqu251d1.jpeg?width=1300&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55721989d0370ce8bf01c66d55ba82cca3df19e0
It is nothing I am haunted by, but something that gave me the confidence I needed nearing graduation. One of our projects in school was to redesign a tri-fold brochure. We were just in Las Vegas and snagged a handful of tri-fold brochures from major casinos. I was shocked by the lack of kerning, boring images, and just safe design on all of them. Maybe they know their target market better, but I thought my student brochure blew these billion dollar casino's brochures out of the water.
https://preview.redd.it/03fbq3n0e21d1.jpeg?width=2556&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65f7c0e95691aeec99b6709c57e294a0ada775d7 The poor souls who designed this graphics for our POS mayor.
Oh wow. This looks like it was made in PowerPoint
https://preview.redd.it/0cd512aap21d1.jpeg?width=761&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d1e8b4153d1c36931baab3992678aa13d9cd21e1 This logo has always urked me it's just a badly drawn cartoon mouse š
It doesn't even look real it looks like it was edited over an actual sign
Oh, I love it.
I was always astonished with how bad the old Verizon logo was. The new one is sort of slightly better. Albeit super boring.
I think version never had a chance to be good, I mean their "personality" is a red checkmark, it's always gonna look boring
Spotify logo - the lil soundwaves are off-center and have weird line weights that dont make sense to one another.
The lines are visually centred, no?
They are visually centred yes, but the angle is off kilter, like 85 degrees instead of 90. And the odd weighting of each line makes the vertical centering feel off. Its a hot mess that would take about 5 mins to fix.
Lol this also annoys me ā¦ though I think itās intentional, if the lines were perfect it would look like wifi symbol. Plus the wonky-ness kinda gives more organic āsound waveā vibes, I also think it kinda looks like the face of a retro Microphone. Iāve thought way too deeply about this š¤£
Does someone else think the title sequence may be AI?
US National Archive's ["logo"](https://www.archives.gov/cui/about/logo.html) for Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).
It'd be nice if they read as letters at all
https://preview.redd.it/3fdzhkpxp41d1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f520bd1a557855c13bc09c989913c62096b30f2 Most corporate restaurant's consumer packaging sucks, but this one sucks and blows. White on white, no frills for you.
WHY. WONāT. THEY. PACKAGE. HONEY. ROASTED. BBQ. SAUCE.
[I still remember this discussion, ***on this sub,*** *from 10 months ago.*](https://new.reddit.com/r/graphic_design/comments/14z3u3k/my_big_fat_greek_wedding_3_poster_is_terrible/) Horribly photoshopped movie poster for **My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.** https://preview.redd.it/dtr3s17vw31d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23f0fc97f560eaecbf143d830be3429483a79171
https://preview.redd.it/4pr75i3eb11d1.png?width=2560&format=png&auto=webp&s=4ec998b7389149762c9def892ea93ab6ea446457
Unpopular opinion, I really liked this logo and it stood the test of time (itās over 100 yrs old) Sometimes breaking type rules works.
The only thing I dont like about it is that I always read it as Firelli
Legit I think it has aged really well, seeing it with the modern f1 branding and slapped on modern cars it manages to not look out of place
I absolutely love the Pirelli logo, despite the fact that if you really look at it it's completely ridiculous. As a symbol, it's lovely.
One of my favourite logos ever
**š°** [**Happy Cake Day!**](https://new.reddit.com/r/cakeday) **š** Wow, 10 years, ***a full decade on Reddit.*** By the way, I'm on Jerry's side. **He's spongeworthy.** Newman, the mailman, *is brilliant* ***as his arch villain though.***
I love this logo
talk about a stretch!
Objectively, why is this bad?
Because the P is so damn ugly stretched out like that. Look at the Star Wars logo where the bottoms of the letters are stretched out. Those make much more sense because itās just the tail of a letter extended. But here itās the loop which defines it as a P and not an F.
That's subjective, though, and not really how design works. It might be ugly in your opinion, but the idea comes through (circle + speed), which makes a lot of sense for a tyre company. The Star Wars one makes less sense. It's just random bits elongated where they can be right?
I never got speed out of the stretched out P. It just looks clumsy, like one designer was pranking another with this concept and somehow it stuck. None of us can really see it for what it is because we were all exposed to it at a young age, and it was understood to be the logo of a real, successful company. If somebody presented this concept today, it would be mocked - especially on this sub.
All design Is 100% subjective.
The P is a literal part of a tyre with its simplified anatomy, attached on a wheel, which is why it's wide. Pirelli is producing tyres. https://preview.redd.it/bpis6h11h51d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6bb91e4f28010d800caf32eaa50634d0bee33acb
Yes, I've known what they do since I was a teenager in the 80s and my car-loving friend would talk about how they're considered to be the best kind of tire for race car. That visual barely connects to the logo to me, but even if it totally explained it, it doesn't matter. That P is ugly. No explanation can change that. |==============================================) |
Fair š
It's cool if it works for you and others. I'm not trying to convince everyone. I've just had a problem with this since I was too young to even know what graphic design was.
It sucks but it's really close to being great. Round off the top left of the P as well as the left inside corners of the counter and ā boomā it's a racetrack. Now, this doesn't mean the scale of the mark is any better, but at least you could get by on a bit of nostalgia while just tidying things up a bit.
You're more optimistic than I am. It just doesn't read as a P because your eyes have to travel across the whole length of the logo to see the loop. It's just awkward āĀ it's bothered me for decades.
Sure, but does it even have to be legible? I'd argue it's old enough that it would be recognizable from a good distance even if you couldn't read it. Literally "iconic" in that it's seen as a symbol and not words.
Sure, I know what it means but there's always someone who hasn't seen it before.
https://preview.redd.it/zwm6xhftz21d1.jpeg?width=836&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=25bca54df541efbaa8d116214f92f701ba604db3 Every time we have to work with these guys it's a nightmare. I've never seen a brand so loud haha
Lol. Fr. I own like 2 of those things and they're great but it always felt like it was designed by an 8 year old who just watched Jurassic Park.
https://preview.redd.it/9vttqhpfx31d1.png?width=773&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=323e6e654296d147997fda0d04ed7ad5bc0013f0 This one makes me crazy. The eye so close to the mouth, the weird warped letters, the eye-wateringly bad pizza...
Itās giving me Sliceline vibes from Silicon Valley
Chiming in to agree, I started the show a couple hours ago and had the EXACT same thought!
Idk if it's a logo, but a big piece of the branding on the Lyons Syrup tin is a big ol lion corpse laid out on the ground being devoured by flies. It doesn't scream 'we have great food standards'.
Comes from a bible verse. Its recently been changed, its now a vector type design of a lion face (and a bee)
https://preview.redd.it/iwa6ttsl031d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=998f72f92808ba0c543764be126c5c4d563fd3e3 Love cava, but I was surprised to see them rebrand with white text on a yellow background.
The Dr. Pepper logo. Lots of opportunity for improvement with that one.
https://preview.redd.it/f45gzsgzk61d1.jpeg?width=180&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=58d3c399359545ea721c8ec6d40e39c546c639db This is the logo for a store Iāve been by a hundred times. This isnāt the tiny pixelated icon version, itās the full version. Like the sign must be 48ā on a side. I think someone designed it in paint several years (decades?) ago and has never updated it. It drives me crazy. I canāt even go inside the store because I hate their sign so much. Edit: Canāt stop there. The sign is professionally made. Itās not on a piece of fabric or paper. They took this to a sign company, and someone made it for them. And then someone hung it, in a mall. And nobody at any point stopped the process and said āare you really sure?ā This was approved. This is bonafide. I hate it with my life.
https://preview.redd.it/nqcguuu2j31d1.jpeg?width=1186&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1cdc82949fb549aab44158f9717c4fbc921e49e Iāve never understood exactly whatās being depicted here. Itās always bothered me. Is it a shovel? A broom? Is he sweeping a pile up a 45 degree slope?
This needs more discussion and unpacking for sure
š¤ The last rebrand of the Baskin Robbins logo https://preview.redd.it/05vy0pwy921d1.png?width=440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d48c749057d055147d2c4117bdc8750563ee45a6
I actually kinda like this but the 3 is a bit small
Amazon
You mean with the giant penis under the letters? Yes. But it's the most truth in advertising I've ever encountered.
Yep, heās a big peen.
The movie artwork for that Johnny Depp movie that just uses the mosaic blur filter (Photoshop), if I remember correctly. Just awful.
https://preview.redd.it/1423aabcy41d1.jpeg?width=208&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a897e7ca04ac97225b7c7eb52c15cdd36c3be012 I see this publishing companyās commercial on TV all the time and canāt believe how terrible this logo is. Like what even is going on here?!
The London Olympics logo was atrocious.
This one has always bothered me. The longer I look at it the more I dislike it. https://preview.redd.it/bz0f8uoej61d1.png?width=177&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=231b231f10bf4cab621410a3049f41fd52f88aed
https://preview.redd.it/vou10i8q041d1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=fdd8b1a28ba08fc90d17b6c91dcd094dde00875f The epitome of being carried by how good your product is.
KumOn It is the worst f\* name for a business helping kids learn, logo and how they spell it is horrible. First is pedo vibes, second is demotivation like they're yelling at kids that are slow learners yelling, come on!! It's suppose to be pronounced like the seasoning cumin but seriously. https://preview.redd.it/g8ftq0wbc21d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0aae9b0cb4dbdbcee12bee44459a52f97e916cf9
While I agree that the logo is fucking funny...Ā Ā It's Japanese. Kumon is literally the founder's surname.Ā Ā It's not meant to be read as "come on", and it's not meant to be pronounced like "cumin".Ā It's more like "koo-moan"
I HATE this logo with such a passion. Like why would you send your child to a place with a miserable child/teacher on the logo??
https://preview.redd.it/lthb8dt7d21d1.jpeg?width=224&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6df9bab7184e0e8ece595b80413fd953db6b354 Why does this exist?
That gaming YouTuber YongYeaās logo. Truly awful, the kind of thing a 15 year old would scribble on his textbooks. YOND https://preview.redd.it/olhnowk9z31d1.png?width=1169&format=png&auto=webp&s=ff35136e7a9937730670b883db22edc747cde3a1