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Milton Glaser (Designer of "INY") creates a logo for climate change.

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H

Horse Detective

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Milton Glaser is one of the greatest graphic designers in the world, having created the seminal "I♥NY" logo back in 1977, New York Magazine, and an iconic 1966 poster of Bob Dylan. But his latest work may be his most important yet: a logo for climate change. The new logo, a simple but evocative gradient green and black orb obviously symbolizing Earth, is part of a new campaign by Glaser to create greater urgency about climate change solutions, according to Dezeen. The logo is being used on billboards around New York, and for $5 buttons that Glaser hopes will motivate governments and businesses to address climate change in a more meaningful way.
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terrisus

terrisus

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a simple but evocative gradient green and black orb obviously symbolizing Earth
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"obviously?"
How is that obvious?

It's a circle.
Without being told what it's supposed to symbolize/what its purpose is ahead of time, that could symbolize countless things.

Plus, you know, unlike that circle, the earth isn't a perfect circle.
So, pretty much fail all around.
 
A

AbsolutBro

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Not sure this will have the effect of his other work. There's nothing that screams "CLIMATE CHANGE IS BAD" or even "CLIMATE CHANGE" in that. It's a green and black orb. Woo.
 
Gouty

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Pretty much baby boomers in a nutshell.

Born at the right time, got rich doing work that would have gotten them eaten alive if forced to compete with today's work force.

This is literally a child's first fifteen minutes with Photoshop.

Edit: so I'm off 17 years. Still, his work is dog shit.
 
T

temp

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terrisus said:
"obviously?"
How is that obvious?

It's a circle.
Without being told what it's supposed to symbolize/what its purpose is ahead of time, that could symbolize countless things.

Plus, you know, unlike that circle, the earth isn't a perfect circle.
So, pretty much fail all around.
Click to expand...

I mean, in-context it's obvious. Out of context, could be anything. Plus, people conceptualize the Earth as a circle, so I wouldn't really call that a mistake.
 
terrisus

terrisus

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temp said:
I mean, in-context it's obvious. Out of context, could be anything.
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Well, most times people see this - say, on the buttons they're making - it's going to be completely out of any context. It's just going to be a green gradient circle on someone's shirt.

And, working off of one misconception to correct another misconception doesn't seem the best of approaches either.
 
H

Horse Detective

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Gouty said:
Pretty much baby boomers in a nutshell.

Born at the right time, got rich doing work that would have gotten them eaten alive if forced to compete with today's work force.

This is literally a child's first fifteen minutes with Photoshop.
Click to expand...

What a phony. This is going on a billboard and obviously needs to be a vector.
 
S

Stet

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Gouty said:
Pretty much baby boomers in a nutshell.

Born at the right time, got rich doing work that would have gotten them eaten alive if forced to compete with today's work force.

This is literally a child's first fifteen minutes with Photoshop.

Edit: so I'm off 17 years. Still, his work is dog shit.
Click to expand...

He also designed the classic DC logo.

 
indigo-cyclops

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temp said:
I mean, in-context it's obvious. Out of context, could be anything. Plus, people conceptualize the Earth as a circle, so I wouldn't really call that a mistake.
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Yea, and the point of the logo is to deliver that context quickly and universally. This logo doesn't do shit. So instead it is most likely accompanied by a mess of words creating context or people linking to the equally vague website where I can send money for buttons of a gradient.

I♥NY is certainly an iconic logo and deserves respect; but this output is beyond silly. I can't believe it's the same guy? Highfalutin designer be damned.
 
T

temp

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terrisus said:
Well, most times people see this - say, on the buttons they're making - it's going to be completely out of any context. It's just going to be a green gradient circle on someone's shirt.

And, working off of one misconception to correct another misconception doesn't seem the best of approaches either.
Click to expand...

Well yeah that's what I'm saying, I think the article is saying it in the context of "we've already explained what this is, so now it's obvious to you".

And an abstraction isn't a misconception, unless you think the heart symbol or bathroom signs are misconceptions.


INDIGO_CYCLOPS said:
Yea, and the point of the logo is to deliver that context quickly and universally. This logo doesn't do shit. So instead it is most likely accompanied by a mess of words creating context or people linking to the equally vague website where I can send money for buttons of a gradient.

I♥NY is certainly an iconic logo and deserves respect; but this output is beyond silly. I can't believe it's the same guy? Highfalutin designer be damned.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'd love to see the brief he was working from, because it seems pretty bad at first pass.
 
E

Elfforkusu

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Uh... I don't care how good his previous works are, I'm not sure I buy "test of photoshop gradient tool" being passed off as a genius new logo.

For climate change, aka the 21st century problem.

I guess in other words what I'm saying is that this logo is garbage and someone should design (maybe already has designed?) a better one.
 
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Loofy

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Actually as a button pin I can see that being pretty awesome.


Wont work for anything else though I dont think.
 
terrisus

terrisus

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temp said:
And an abstraction isn't a misconception, unless you think the heart symbol or bathroom signs are misconceptions.
Click to expand...

The fact that it's a circle as opposed to a spheroid isn't my major issue with it.
That said, the heart symbol and bathroom symbol are just to label something/stand in for something, not to address a misconception.

The main issue, of course, is that the logo does absolutely nothing to convey anything about its message without it being accompanied by text beating the person over the head with the message.


Loofy said:
Actually as a button pin I can see that being pretty awesome.


Wont work for anything else though I dont think.
Click to expand...

In a "this looks kind of nifty" way?
Sure, it's possible.

In a "this conveys a meaningful message" way, though?
Definitely not.
 
indigo-cyclops

indigo-cyclops

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temp said:
Well yeah that's what I'm saying, I think the article is saying it in the context of "we've already explained what this is, so now it's obvious to you".

And an abstraction isn't a misconception, unless you think the heart symbol or bathroom signs are misconceptions.




Yeah I'd love to see the brief he was working from, because it seems pretty bad at first pass.
Click to expand...

As would I, it's just astonishing. Good design shouldn't rely on me trying to seek out context for a logo or someone trying their best to explain it to me.
 
A

Archaix

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Sure it's stupid, but the fact that it doesn't explain what it is really isn't an issue. People figured out what Pink Ribbons and Yellow Bracelets meant, the green gradient is meant to be something along those lines. In theory. I mean, it's still pretty crappy and all.
 
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