Tag: corporate

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Scion vs. Sinclair

Compare logos of Scion and SinclairLeave it to a 14-year-old to point out to this “experienced” designer that automaker Scion has a logo very similar to the Sinclair computer, marketed to Americans in the early-1980s by Timex. He ought to know, he is my son—a gifted computer programmer—well-schooled with vintage computing devices. As of this writing, design bloggers have yet to take notice of the resemblance. While the Scion designer did add a nifty bit of flair by rounding the edges, the similarity is unmistakable.

I reckon my son has made a true discovery—and uncovered either an homage to a great-looking logo from the past, or a case of another sneaky corporate design rip-off.

As an ironic aside, Sinclair’s founder, Clive Sinclair, boldly told the Guardian UK, “I don’t use a computer at all!”

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Urban Outfitters’ new “branding”

Urban Outfitters websiteHot on the heels of the Gap’s infamous lazy logo redesign (since withdrawn) comes another epic fail, Urban Outfitters. Usually reliable for being ahead of trends in clothing design, merchandising and communication, the apparel giant unveiled a clunky new look for its logo and website. The logo is a masterpiece of asymmetry and plainness, while the website’s sidebar navigation willfully mixes extended and condensed typefaces. Many critics have cited the logo’s similarity with Word Art examples found inside Microsoft’s Office suite, enabling amateurs everywhere to curve and bend type to create their own corporate logotype.

I would bet that by year’s end there will be an “emergency” logo design revamp, because this dog won’t hunt!

UPDATE
Since this was posted, UO has changed to a similarly bizarre branding scheme—at least for its website. This time round, clearly the same retail marketing team are conjuring 1991 with all its dots and squiggles. What do you think? Leave a comment below…
—Scott

Urban Outfitters 2013 home page

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Unsuck-It.com

Unsuck-It.comA team of graphic designers at San Francisco design studio Mule had had enough of obfuscating corporate jargon, and decided to demystify those annoying phrases, allusions and metaphors commonly heard by anyone working in a “cube farm” (Unsucked: an office containing many cubicles). Unsuck-It.com works like any online dictionary. Enter a phrase, such as “idea shower” (Unsucked: using your imagination), “dog’s breakfast” (mess), or “low-hanging fruit” (easy goal), and it is instantly “unsucked” in simple English.

If your phrase is not in the database, a “you define it” button appears allowing you to be the douchebag jargonist and provide your own definition, and of course, you must use it in a sentence. I searched for “paper tiger,” which is frequently abused by the tech industry. Alas, it was not in the database, so I unsucked it. It means, “something that appears threatening but is not,” or more commonly, “its bark is worse than its bite.” Used in a sentence: “Organizations often make investment decisions on the basis of tight budgets and business cases that are actually paper tigers.”

I urge you to share the Unsuck-It link with all your d-bag friends.