My friends, submitted for your approval on this fine New Years Day is a pamphlet found in the attic of my parent’s house.

What you see is just part of a piece of 1950′s Cold War propaganda in the vein of such nonsense as “Duck and Cover,” This particular piece was produced by New York state in association with Time Inc.’s Life Magazine as a civil service and is bound by no copyright. A pamphlet like this one would have been distributed to help individuals prepare for “The Bomb” which at that point many felt was inevitable. Nevermind the fact that in an actual atomic blast these methods would do very little, if anything, to save one’s life. They both created and eased fear among the populous while fostering dependency and loyalty to the government.

To me it’s an amazing piece of American history both from a psychological and a design standpoint.  My grandfather was a chemist and member of the Nassau Country Civil Defense Commission and near as I can tell this was his, there may be more. If I come across anything else I’ll post it as well.

Enjoy.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I had the opportunity to attend An Event Apart Chicago, the conference for people who make websites. There I got the opportunity to meet a lot of interesting people, hear some amazing lectures and learn more in two days than I have in a few years.

An Event Apart is a great way to refresh your thinking and get exposed to amazing new concepts in web design. I would recommend it to anyone who does any sort of web design or development work.

I’ve posted some shots of some of the presenters on my Flickr. Please feel free to check them out.

Many thanks to Jeffrey Zeldman and Eric Meyer for putting together a great group of speakers and an amazing event. I went last year and it was worth it, I’m glad I got the opportunity to go again this year.

I have so much to write about, so much to tell.  My world has just been bursting with inspiration in the last few weeks, but I have so little time to share. So I’m leaving you with a simple link to a site I’m working on.

The SiNNERMAN ensemble is a new upcoming theater production group based out of Chicago. They will be premiering their second play this May. I’m working closely with them on establishing their brand identity, including but not limited to: their logo and their website. Stay tuned.

Ultimately this discovery lead me to try something drastic and pick up and move to Chicago from New York where I had spent my entirely life until that point. While I miss NY and I miss my friends, I’m happier now and I’m carving out a new niche for myself here. I’ve missed web design a lot and I’ve lagged behind. Well, I made a decision to do something about it and last month I attended An Event Apart: Chicago with the hope it would get me back into things.

Boy was I right! Since the conference I’ve had design on the brain non-stop. I found myself creatively inspired in particularly by Jason Santa Maria, Jeremy Keith and Liz Danzico. I’ve been fussing over a site design for this site here for over three years and it gave me the guts to finally scrap everything I had and start rethinking. I’ve found myself re-energized. The new header graphic treatment is hopefully a taste of things to come as I plan to be a much more active participant in the design community so stay tuned.

Coudal Partners attempts to defend the logo but to me I almost find their defense offensive to common sense. They attempt to state 10 reasons why it should be loved, they make no comment of the fact it’s visually unpleasant. Regardless of why we ‘should love it,’ the fact remains still that the logo is ugly. No amout of politicing in it’s favor will change that fact. However, for the sake of argument I’ll bite and respond to their defense:

It’s not boring. The bright colors and distinctive design definitely DO stand out and it’s immediately recognizable. Everyone’s talking about it. Designers always complain about the status quo, so we find it surprising that so very few are taking a stand for a somewhat radical design.

It looks like something out of the Flintstones. Just because it stands out doesn’t mean it’s good. I’m kinda insulted by the end of that statement really… The whole ‘designers always’ comment. Just because it’s a radical design doesn’t mean it’s good. I’m all for daring and unique if you can pull it off well and it looks good. Yeah this logo is definitely daring and definitely unique, but it doesn’t look good.

It’s different. It avoids all the go-to pratfalls of current logo design. No brushstrokes! No feathered drop shadows! No mirrored reflections! No gradients, patriotic colors, rainbows, ribbons, landmarks, symbols of unity, maps, swooshes or globes!

Yes it avoids a ton of cliché’s, and that is a good thing, but it subscribes to several others, most notable the neon pink ‘futuristic’ look of the early 1990s children’s toys and TV. I feel like I should be watching Saved By The Bell.

It’s reproducable. Aside from the word “London” going chunky when sloppily rendered for the web (notably on the BBC reproduction that ended up on every site critiquing the logo), it’s good to see a logo that’s so easily printable, broadcastable, embroiderable and moldable (think of how horrible those 9-color rainbow brushstroke logos look when they’re process-printed out-of-register with a 100 line screen on a McDonalds Cup!). It even looks pretty great in black and white.

It’s flexible. A variety of color combinations, shapes, and patterns are available, keeping the logo slightly different on each view, but consistent (the BBC showed only the pink and yellow version, which didn’t help its case). Also, keep in mind that an Olympic logo is almost always saddled with the logos of corporate partners. This square, bold mark will hold up.

It’s the basis for a graphic system. Events require a complicated system of signage, identification, ornamentation, and even architecture. This logo and its associated colors, shapes, type and patterns are the perfect starting point for some fantastic signage, event icons, banners, tickets, uniforms and merchandise.

So… basically it meets the requirements for being a logo? The whole point of creating a logo is to be able to create a brand image around it. Anything that can’t be printed with other logos or in different sizes would be simply unacceptable. Just because this logo can do these things doesn’t mean it should be picked.

The last part in that group actually scares me… ‘a basis for a graphic system’ ugggg a whole theme based around this hideous thing… yuck!

It’s timeless. We’ve read complaints that it’s reminiscent of Tangrams (popular since the 1800s), Jamie Reid’s “Never Mind the Bollocks” cover (1977), MTV (1981), ’80s new wave design (Swatch, Bennetton), Emigre Magazine, early 90s television titles (Wacaday, Going Live, The Ben Stiller Show). We’ve read complaints that it’s too ‘current’ and it’ll look dated by 2012. We’ve also read complaints that it’s too futuristic or modern. As far as we’re concerned, all design is influenced by other design. This design rises above its influences, yet remains simple enough to stand on its own. If current trends continue (towards four color, “computery” 3-D), this logo will be even more fresh in five years.

I hate this defense.. just because there is a lot of bad design out there that seem to have a lot of similar conventions which this one lacks doesn’t mean this is good. It just means this one manages to stand on it’s own with it’s ugliness, it succeeds in being ugly in a completely refreshing way.

It’s English. The two names that come to mind when we hear “british design” are two of our favorite designers of all time: Neville Brody and Peter Saville. Without being a direct knockoff, the 2012 logo is evocative of their work, the punk and new-wave movements, rave culture and everything we like about the United Kingdom.

What? Because it’s jagged and neon it evokes all these things? I kinda find that demeaning to those cultural movements.

When we hear “my kid could have done that!” we think “success.” Some of the greatest logos of all time involve two lines (the Christian cross) or three lines and a circle (Mercedes). Your kid COULD have done that, but she didn’t. Nor did she design the graphics standards manual that goes with it. So give it a rest. Or send us her resume.

There is a difference between this logo and a Jackson Pollock painting. Sure they both have that same criticism of them, and that defense. But the fact of the matter is Pollock’s work managed to have an air of excitement and interest around it, bottom line, it was good. This logo is just ugly. Just because it’s simple or different doesn’t make it good, this defense could be raised to almost any piece of art that is simple, doesn’t mean it’s right or worth defending, and it detracts from the real instances where this defense is important. It comes off as that elitist ‘art for art’s sake’ attitude that so often leads people to think all artists are self righteous nut-jobs. It hurts the design community as a whole when you use this excuse on something not worthwhile.

It cost £400,000. That’s probably a bargain for an incredibly high-profile complete graphic identity system for an international company/event designed by experienced professionals. Anyone valuing the importance of design should give that argument a rest, too. We wouldn’t have taken the job for a shilling less.

Do you know what that translates to in Dollars… shit. I’d kill for a gig like that and laugh all the way to the bank. I cannot believe London’s olympic committee got suckered into that. It’s comparable to the emperor’s new wardrobe. Someone must have convinced them this was smart when the fact is they got takenL The emperor has no clothes on.

It’s unexpected. Chicago is bidding for the 2016 Olympics and the temporary logo is a perfectly decent design. It’s attractive, memorable and generally liked. It even generated a fair amount of internet buzz. But those brushstrokes and gradients don’t reproduce well, the narrow vertical orientation complicates usage and by 2016, the Sears Tower is likely to be Chicago’s third-tallest building. More than anything, the London logo takes the Olympic logo to a new level of boldness, abstraction and simplicity. And we’re a bit jealous.

Just because it’s unique doesn’t mean it’s good. It doesn’t hide the fact that it’s ugly. Yes it stands out.. because it’s ugly.

To make matters worse it says nothing about the olympics ANY logo could be put in the middle of that zero and it would symbolize that. The logo cannot stand alone and evoke any sort of meaning. It cannot exist and say ‘olympics,’ ‘sports,’ ‘competition,’ or anything for that matter without the olympic rings in it. seeing things like this make me miss people like Paul Rand who knew how to use symbolism to make something meaningful, is there no one like him left these days? There is a point where abstraction without meaning is just dumb and any function is lost. This is way past that point. Is there really a whole generation of designers out there that meaning and symbolism is lost on? That scares me really.