ugly logo?

[wannabewarlord]

Johnson! I need a logo in half an hour!". But that's not the way it (usually) works.

Unfortunately, that is exactly how it all too often works, especially when marketing budgets are small. I am not saying this is the case for Firaxis here or for the big name brands in general, but in economic hard times, marketing budgets are cut first and people start to go for quantity over quality or simply demanding everything to be cheaper and faster which often decreases quality of the end product.

 

[King William I]

Right, so I'm not sure how many would agree or care about it, but logo works is one of the best ways to judge a book by it's cover, a judgment that will usually prove correct (because that saying is full of crap). As in if a logo looks cheaply made, the rest of the product will most likely be cheaply made

2K didn't even have to make G&K Why don't you focus more on what we're getting and less on what the package looks like? If it bothers you that much than just don't buy the game.

Moderator Action: Please don't tell others to shut up.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

I apoligize for my origianal post.

 

[OrsonM]

Unfortunately, that is exactly how it all too often works, especially when marketing budgets are small. I am not saying this is the case for Firaxis here or for the big name brands in general, but in economic hard times, marketing budgets are cut first and people start to go for quantity over quality or simply demanding everything to be cheaper and faster which often decreases quality of the end product.

Sadly it's all true, but not just in corporate culture, this pretty much applies to how people perceive marketing or design as something that is wholly unnecessary or that they could totally do it if they knew how to use the photoshops (since over sized ego = any skill you don't have).

There's even stories of "nightmare clients", that have absolute no idea of the process or value of design work, but that are very telling of how people perceive the trade.

 

[dexters]

With the white on black scheme and the gold V
there's not a lot they could do.

I think the idea of a 'good' logo to some is that they hired an arist to design the XP logo at some cost so they they feel like there's work done.

To me, that's a really strange valuation. If anything, making the new subtitle colored, flashing, or anything other than sticking to the while on black scheme would look ridiculous.

 

[sukritact]

With the white on black scheme and the gold V
there's not a lot they could do.

I think the idea of a 'good' logo to some is that they hired an arist to design the XP logo at some cost so they they feel like there's work done.

To me, that's a really strange valuation. If anything, making the new subtitle colored, flashing, or anything other than sticking to the while on black scheme would look ridiculous.

They was quite a bit they could do. Different arrangements, additional embellishments/ effects (honestly, they should have at least embossed the text to match the original!), and a better font choice (you may not notice it at first glance but their chosen font goes horribly with the dignified feel of the original logo).

They could have tried a multitude of different things. (my DIY logo is just one example and Poomermon's just shows that a well though out arrangement could have made all the difference.)

 

[PSPSoldier534]

They was quite a bit they could do. Different arrangements, additional embellishments/ effects (honestly, they should have at least embossed the text to match the original!), and a better font choice (you may not notice it at first glance but their chosen font goes horribly with the dignified feel of the original logo).

They could have tried a multitude of different things. (my DIY logo is just one example and Poomermon's just shows that a well though out arrangement could have made all the difference.)

Actually, a simple rearrangement would work wonders. I'm going to try it right now.

 

[PSPSoldier534]

How is this?

 

[78stonewobble]

We all know that orange is the best colour ever in the history of colours and everything that isn't orange (or anyone not spraytanned orange) are just plain old ugly.

Oh wait ... that just someones subjective oppinion...

 

[PSPSoldier534]

We all know that orange is the best colour ever in the history of colours and everything that isn't orange (or anyone not spraytanned orange) are just plain old ugly.

Oh wait ... that just someones subjective oppinion...

Don't forget hair held in place with rubber cement and spiked.

 

[Minor Annoyance]

Who gives a crap what the logo looks like?

 

[brianshapiro]

Simple is good.

Overdesigned, overthemed logos that look like garish, flashy candybar packaging = kitsch.

 

[OrsonM]

Kitsch is welcomed in design. Design is not art by any stretch (though they will overlap in technique and medium at times).

For the most part it's about conventions, the new logo looks rushed and as if the designer didn't studied the market well enough before releasing it. It doesn't look like an expansion logo and certainly it doesn't look like a logo designed by the same designer.

But yes, simple is good, less is more, etc. But a logo also has to stand out.

 

[brianshapiro]

Kitsch is welcomed in design. Design is not art by any stretch (though they will overlap in technique and medium at times).

For the most part it's about conventions, the new logo looks rushed and as if the designer didn't studied the market well enough before releasing it. It doesn't look like an expansion logo and certainly it doesn't look like a logo designed by the same designer.

But yes, simple is good, less is more, etc. But a logo also has to stand out.

Kitsch being bad isn't a matter of art its a matter of taste.

Anyway, technically, design is traditionally understood as decorative art versus fine art.

 

[OrsonM]

Applied Arts seems is a better term, but it's still simplistic. There's way too many topics that delve with design, for example that design is meant to improve the life of people (even Graphic Design)

So for example most things made by Apple have this same design philosphy (of improving the life of people, or their experience, etc), of which my only observation is that it was ripped shamelessly of the Ulm School of Design.

And Kitsch being bad being a matter of taste... debatable I guess, I think all art should aspire to sincerity, Kitsch lacks any of it.

 

[brianshapiro]

And Kitsch being bad being a matter of taste... debatable I guess, I think all art should aspire to sincerity, Kitsch lacks any of it.

When designing things like logos, you have the same concerns as with art, I think. Does using flames and electricity and all sorts of junk that screams 'badass' really make the logo more badass? No, imo. It just makes it look tacky.

Telling the difference between something that just works and something that is tacky is a matter of taste. I don't know what you have in mind for the logo, but I think computer game logos and packaging are generally overly tacky, and I think the Civ 5 design was a good step in the right direction, though I'd like it a little simpler still.

 

[Pouakai]

Okay, let's look at this for a second. Assuming that they put five days work into producing a good logo, then rushed the expansion, we would get pages and pages of complaining threads more than usual, which would nearly take over the forums. If they put together a cheap logo and do a good job on the expansion, who's going to care about the logo?

 

[OrsonM]

I could swear that dashing fella OrsonM made a similar observation in the OP...

 

[stfoskey12]

This has already been said, but I think the logo could be better, but who cares (that's a rhetorical question)?

 

[forty2j]

This has already been said, but I think the logo could be better, but who cares (that's a rhetorical question)?

The school of thought is that if the branding is a total hack job, it stands to reason that the product is too. That's not necessarily the case, but it is cause to be wary.