Hatrack River Forum: An exercise in poor taste.

This is topic An exercise in poor taste. in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

Last month, I was hired to create the logo for next year's Computer Science fair, called BOOM. They were vague on what they wanted, design-wise, and wouldn't really clarify what they were going for. I knew what they'd chosen the year before, though..... this monstrosity.

It looked terrible. It was illegible and was dorky on a white t-shirt. So I gave them three ideas for logos that would look good on a t-shirt, my favorite of which was this.

Now, okay, maybe it's not the finest logo ever created. I had very little to work with in terms of what they wanted, and I thought it was a fun interpretation of the computer science fair. It was also a draft, and I was expecting to make changes after they reviewed them.

So.... I don't hear back from them. One day I get an email from a mailing list I'm signed up for saying that they're running a design contest for the same logo. Uhhh.... right. Yet another week goes by, and they email me to let me know that they've decided to pursue other options. Okay, whatever. I'm disappointed that they didn't like my designs and weren't willing to give me another chance after feedback, but whatever. They're still paying me.

Today, I saw what they DID choose for their logo. View it here.

What else can I say?

Posted by Fitz (Member # 4803) on :

If you scroll down a bit, it shows the logos of the runners up. I think Edward Hsu should have won.

Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :

Their taste may be poor but looking at the past selections, it is also consistent.

Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :

It looks they weren't picking a logo based on what would look best on a t-shirt, but what looked best on other things, like the computer screen.

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :

Well, if that's what they were doing, they still chose differently than I would. To my eye, the logo they chose for this year looks cheap, in an unplesant '80s sort of way. Edward Hsu's design, on the other hand, looks pretty cool to me.

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Don't worry, most people will think its crap as well.

edit: seems like a design by committee situation, basically. They each knew something they wanted and would only accept a logo that combined them all, despite that any such combination could only be crappy.

[ November 20, 2003, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: fugu13 ]

Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

Really? I showed it to my boss, and he thinks it's great. Seriously, wouldn't change a thing about it.

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

[Razz]

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

Ayelar, to be honest, your design was apparently not techie enough for this crowd; they're obviously a fan of the "dark background with fiddly bits and technical diagrams" look, which IS fairly popular among geeks.

Personally, the only thing I didn't like about the design they chose is the God-awful lettering.

[ November 20, 2003, 02:30 PM: Message edited by: TomDavidson ]

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Ayelar -- also, your design wasn't futuristic enough for their tastes.

Posted by Rhaegar The Fool (Member # 5811) on :

Say, Grrrr

Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

Yeah. I see that now.... but they didn't explain that at all when I started this. I looked at last years and saw "jumbled and confusing", not "high-tech and futuristic". Oh well. I certainly wasn't the right person for them. Maybe I'll make my own t-shirt. [Smile]

Posted by ae (Member # 3291) on :

I think either honourable mention would've been better.

Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :

With a name like 'Bits on our Minds', there's no where to go but up.

Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :

quote:
To my eye, the logo they chose for this year looks cheap, in an unpleasant '80s sort of way.

That's almost exactly what I though, Noemon.

I also agree that Edward Hsu's is better than Laura Johnson's, but I wouldn't have chosen either of them. Frankly, all of the past logos are ridiculuously cliched. Mona Lisa? The Thinker? Give me a break. I can understand that they want it science-y, but they could at least try something creative.

I also want it noted that I am heroically refraining from saying anything about what computer science people find cool. [Wink]

Posted by Dead_Horse (Member # 3027) on :

At least it's not "Bits on our Brains". [Roll Eyes]

Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :

I like Hsu's design, but I don't understand what Leonardo Da Vinci's drawing has to do with digital technology and applications. Unless the lines were all ones and zeroes and I didn't zoom in enough to see it.

I hate to admit it after it was called a monstrosity, but I kinda liked the '03 one.

Posted by Narnia (Member # 1071) on :

Rain...'Bits on our Brains' would make a REALLY funny acronym though. You've gotta admit. *laughs out loud*

Yeah, I'm not funny.

I liked yours Ayelar. I would've put it on a t-shirt and you can revel in the fact that that other one would look tacky even on a BLACK t-shirt. blech!!

Posted by Hazen (Member # 161) on :

I'll agree with you that most of their designs look bad. All three of this year's are way too busy. But yours looks kind of cartoony. Were you planning on fixing that? The one's I liked best was 2002's.

Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :

Actually, if someone had told me they wanted a design (and, y'know, there was an artistic bone in my body. Even a little one) and said design was going to be put on I T-shirt I would've made something simple and cartooney as well.
Who wants something that complicated on a T-shirt? Would it work at all? Seems silly to me.
That said, all those designs were missing was a lens flare [Wink]

Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :

An exercize in really poor taste

Posted by Ayelar (Member # 183) on :

Yeah, I really just like the cartoony look, especially because of the t-shirts. I guess I'm just tired of seeing things that were obviously created entirely with a mouse used in design. Rigid lines, pixelated, filled with way too many details because the designer didn't know when to stop.

I prefer the simple, natural look of hand-drawn anything, but especially when used in web and graphic design. Does that make any sense?

So yeah, I was going for cartoony... Obviously (now) not what they had in mind!

I'll just make my own t-shirts! With blackjack! And hookers! In fact, forget the t-shirts! And the blackjack!

[Wink]

[ November 21, 2003, 02:32 PM: Message edited by: Ayelar ]

Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :

I have one word for that. Yuk. Yuk and yuk again. Oh, wait, that was... (counts) Five words.

..

Eh. (shrugs) It's still gross.

Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :

aspectre...that really DOESN'T look good on a t-shirt!