Victims Of The Logo Modernization Trend

Ever since I began pursuing my ambition to be a Graphic Designer I’ve had great designers like Paul Rand and Saul Bass to look up to. These were designers who created logos that defined some of our nation’s most recognized corporations. These logos stood the test of time and defined not only the companies they described, but also American industry and graphic design. In the last few years, we’ve been seeing some of these classic logos being modernized with rather disappointing new images.

The AT&T globe logo, designed by Saul Bass in the early 1980s, is the latest victim of the recent corporate logo modernization trend. It has been turned into a multi-toned three dimensional logo with some similarity to the original, however it does not seem to communicate the same strong image that Bass’s original had, in my opinion. The first problem I notice is that they’re going to have a hell of a time getting it to print consistently in all of their materials. Is it the new trend to make printing even more complicated than it already is?

Bass created the original globe logo for AT&T in the early 80s, following the antitrust lawsuit which forced AT&T to break up. Now, AT&T has merged with SBC, which is one of the Bell’s that was spun off from AT&T during that big break up of 1984. I guess they got that one back.

The AT&T/SBC press release about the new logo contains all the usual corporate fluff:

The revitalized mark symbolizes these attributes: innovation, integrity, quality, reliability and unsurpassed customer care. The new globe is three-dimensional, representing the expanding breadth and depth of services that the new AT&T family of companies provides to customers, as well as its global presence.

Actually, I think it represents someone in the focus group saying, “Hey, can we make it 3D like that cool Firefox logo?” They go on to say:

Transparency was added to the globe to represent clarity and vision. Lowercase type is now used for the “AT&T” characters because it projects a more welcoming and accessible image.

As a concept, it’s not too bad. But the actual execution leaves something to be desired. After reading through the press conference, it comes across as more fluff than bang. It definitely looks more like they’re just trying to follow the latest trends and then they’re just coming up with a spin on what those trends represent.

Then there’s the text, which is actually about as disappointing to me as the changed globe. They brought the once powerful uppercase AT and T down to the lowercase level below the lowly ampersand? This is dangerous. Before, the AT and T stood high above the ampersand reminding it of its place low on the totem pole of typography. But now? Now all second-rate characters are going to demand equal billing. The tilde and hyphen have demanded voting rights. The semi-colon is on strike until it is recognized as a complete colon. They’ve thrown the grammar world into a tizzy.

Ultimately, the logo is a huge mistake mainly because it relies on shading to make any sense of what you’re looking at. It will not degrade well in print and will not print consistently. This doesn’t even begin to include the issues of getting it to work on other branding opportunities. Try to imagine that logo embroidered onto jackets and baseball hats, screened onto water bottles and frisbees and tee shirts. I hope they have a plan B.

Another recent major corporate logo change came from UPS in March of 2003 when they replaced the bow-tied parcel and shield logo, which was originally designed by Paul Rand. The new logo, designed by New York-based FutureBrand, is a two-toned, 3-dimensional shield topped with the cliche swoosh. The logo uses a slightly modified version of the Dax font, which you probably recognize from its overuse by something like 80% of the other corporate logos designed in the last 10-15 years. UPS CEO Mike Eskew said in the UPS Press Release that “UPS is a vastly different company today than most people realize. Today we are bringing our look up to speed with our capabilities.”

I’ll admit, UPS’s new look has some successful qualities, however I don’t believe it quite measures up to the classic identity system they once carried. Executives at UPS think they’ve brought their company “up to speed” with this new look, which may be the case to the masses who don’t know any better - but to people like me who have no time on their hands and think about these things, the logo is filled with design cliches that appear to me to be something a focus group came up with instead of an artist/designer. I bet the focus group ideas sounded something like this - “I want to see a swoosh to signify speedy service! Swooshes work for so many companies! Why not UPS?”

I’ll tell you why not, because UPS isn’t every other company. Set yourself apart from everyone else! Stop changing old classic logos! Since logos are meant to represent companies and foster recognition by consumers, it’s counterproductive to redesign logos like this, especially when the logo has been used for so many years. UPS didn’t need to change it.

So who’s the next victim going to be? Paul Rand’s IBM logo? William Durant’s Chevy Bow-Tie?