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From the Department of No Way I Would Have Ever Known Without Someone On The Inside Filling Me In comes this tale of identity change from the deepest corners of Canada. To add to the intrigue, our informant wishes to remain anonymous.
I am a fan of the blog and enjoyed your pieces on Portland State University and Rutgers, so I thought this might be of interest: Kwantlen University College — a degree-granting college in British Columbia, Canada, with campuses in and around the suburbs of Vancouver — recently went through a redesign that took the school away from moody blues and purples to a bolder red, while also dropping the original classic crest (except for use in more formal applications) to primarily use the wordmark knocked out of red, like so. This was fine enough, and hardly offensive, if not a little bland. However, this press release arrived in everyone’s mailboxes this morning:
“Over the past few years many people have expressed disappointment over the loss of detail when our official coat of arms is reduced to business card, letterhead and other small applications. We have developed a new simplified version which uses our vibrant Kwantlen red, along with three key elements from Kwantlen’s coat of arms: our salmon (the Kwantlen First Nation’s symbol of new life), our river, and our book (the universal symbol of learning). The typeface remains the same - as designed by retired faculty member Stu Richardson. I presented my first business card bearing the simplified crest to Kwantlen First Nation Chief Marilyn Gabriel during the Kwantlen People’s ‘First Salmon’ ceremony on the reserve last Friday and she was very pleased with it. Peter Chevrier and his Marketing colleagues have succeeded in creating a crisp and simple design that is true to Kwantlen FN traditions and Kwantlen UC traditions.
This new simplified version of our shield will be used in many day-to-day applications and our official coat of arms will continue to be used on our credentials, our seal and other legal and ceremonial documents. Expect to see our new simplified shield slowly introduced on business cards and stationery as existing stocks run out.”
Detail of the crests
After stating the facts, our information now goes into his personal opinion:
“Crisp and simple?! I can’t tell what’s going on inside that fish and I’m looking at a gigantic version on my high resolution computer monitor! The image they sent is about twice the size of a business card, and that’s if the logo was the entire width from edge-to-edge. Also, why does the book look like it was drawn with a huge felt marker while the salmon looks like it was traced with a mechanical pencil? And since when does crisp and simple mean introducing a grey gradient to the background that doesn’t even gradiate properly? Also, I understand that someone squished a spider in the middle of the book, but couldn’t they have turned the page of our universal symbol of learning before immortalizing it in the logo? Lastly, anyone who has ever seen First Nation artwork knows how graphic it is, and this is not graphic, it’s an insult. Thank you for your time.”
No, thank you.
Jump to Most Recent Comment
Neven’s comment is:
Pretty good summary. The elegant text saw no improvement; that red just looks dated next to the gray. It reminds me of dungeon video games on the C64.
The graphic is really, really frustrating. There's a good mark somewhere in there, but the execution is worse than amateurish - it's deliberately awful.
On May.07.2007 at 04:38 PM
L.Vazquez’s comment is:
The books looks too clip-art-ish, and the thing as a whole looks dead.
I have a problem with the salmon. I think it should be full of life and vigor... maybe that's a bit too far, but should communicate progression, and strength... something that a college SHOULD be.
On May.07.2007 at 05:00 PM
Splashman’s comment is:
Two words: Ugh. Ugh. Barf. (That last one wasn't a word, it was a physical reaction.)
That clip-art book is maddeningly awful. I won't repeat the submitter's comments; they're right on the money. Overall, this POS looks like the 2nd runner-up in a secondary-school logo contest.
I love this line: "The typeface remains the same - as designed by retired faculty member Stu Richardson." Uh huh. So now anyone who chooses Friz Quadrata gets credit for 'designing' it? Gag. (Yes, yes, I know it's a terminology problem, but still. This is the most common type arrangement in all of logodom. Truly something to be proud of.)
On May.07.2007 at 05:00 PM
chris’s comment is:
That is probably the most unhappy-looking fish I ever have seen...
On May.07.2007 at 06:53 PM
C-LO’s comment is:
I own a kung-fu movie, and in it there is a scene where a guy rings a gong with a giant fish. Every time right before he rings the gong i yell out FISH! , this logo makes me want to do the same. And to change it because some buis. cards didn't come out right? try another printer. I am sure there are some that have digital capabilities that can handle some of those lines. Yes there are people who still rely on rubylit(sp?) Or do what the smart people are doing, create a simple vresion to use for your screen printing, buis. cards and what not, and keep the detailed one for your other things. And I can tell you who ever is going to print your shirts and stitch your polo's will still cry at those lines. Not to mention anyone with design sense.
On May.07.2007 at 07:08 PM
Joe M’s comment is:
Behold our protector: the omnipotent book-smart flying fish and occasional dope-fiend; adorned with waterproof lipstick, he (often) eats native-american racial stereotypes and swims in a stormy memphis sea comprised of chocolate and vanilla frozen yogurt.
On May.07.2007 at 07:10 PM
Paul Riehle’s comment is:
get rid of the fish and get rid of the book, and you might have the beginning of a somewhat decent logo...A wavy shield!
On May.07.2007 at 07:15 PM
Bobby Henderson’s comment is:
The book element is really cheesy. It reminds me of the clip art on so many ESCO mass-produced signs for churches situated in corrugated metal industrial buildings. The bait shop next door has a flashing arrow sign with flimsy changeable copy letters the blew away in the wind.
I have nothing against Friz Quadrata. IMHO, Trajan and Albertus are more over-used these days (sometimes in the same work...arrgh!)
On May.07.2007 at 08:58 PM
Calvin Ross Carl’s comment is:
It's a shame, because their type is good. Not great, but it is nice and clean and academic looking. However, the logo looks like someone smacked their head on their keyboard, and this is what happened. Shame, shame, shame that this person that designed this calls themself a designer.
On May.08.2007 at 01:31 AM
Von Glitschka’s comment is:
I bet the secretary is proud of her design.
On May.08.2007 at 02:40 AM
Gerard McGarry’s comment is:
Good post. The first thing I noticed was the gradient and lack of contrast with the largely gray fish. I have no problem with the book - it's bold if not a *tiny* bit clipart, but stylistically, the fish should at least have a stronger border or something to make it stand out.
On May.08.2007 at 03:17 AM
Maus’s comment is:
No wonder the fish looks unhappy. You'd be too if your internal organs were on display...
On May.08.2007 at 04:41 AM
Peter Marquardt’s comment is:
I sincerely hope somebody studying there will reply to the press release with this post and comments.
The mark is a failure on so many levels. My logo design instructor would have killed me for that.
stock_illustration’s comment is:
Horizontal move...no net gain.
On May.08.2007 at 10:01 AM
Joe’s comment is:
I think if the line thicknesses were made a bit more consistent, and the contrasting issues settled between the reds and the grays, there would be a FINE logo there.
They only had a few steps left... They coulda been a contender.
On May.08.2007 at 12:02 PM
Darren’s comment is:
These people have no clue. They are not free to adopt whatever coat of arms (NOT A CREST!!) they choose- arms in Canada are granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority. Adopting one is like adopting a degree you've written up in crayon, or granting yourself a knighthood.
Any shield-shaped logo will be assumed to be a coat of arms- Kwantlen is completely out to lunch here.
On May.08.2007 at 01:21 PM
might’s comment is:
A close friend of mine works at Kwantlen, so when I saw this posting, I had to give her a quick call to see what the hell was going on over there. She said that no one at Kwantlen likes it and that there was no consultation done with staff or students. Neither she, nor the people she works with, are graphic designers, but even they know enough to know that it looks terrible and very amateurish.
I work at a competing post-secondary institution, and I've witnessed first-hand the reluctance to change established branding, no matter how dated it looks. The Marketing department at our college would love to hire an outside design agency to redesign our logo, but every time they try to obtain a budget to do so, senior management tells them that it's a horrible idea. I'd love to show them fantastic examples of rebranding, such as Portland State, and show them it can be done with solid, positive results.
On May.08.2007 at 02:54 PM
Nick’s comment is:
Being from the Province of British Columbia Canada, in which Kwantlen is also based, I'm sorry to see them go this way. Obviously the original needed work, but why use the cliche'd Red, Black and White scheme of colors? Granted it has something to do with the Native Heritage and background of the school. But the three colors are so over used. The fish-like image is a common theme used for BC based logos. From the Victoria Salmon Kings to the Vancouver Canucks just to point out the ones off of the top of my head. Speaking of the Vancuver Canucks. There are talks brewing that they will be changing their logo once again (thank god) from the current "Berthing Whale" logo due to the ownership change form Orca Bay to the Aquilini Family. There are talks that they might use they're classic "Vintage" logo. I am excited to see what happens. It better be good this time.
On May.08.2007 at 03:44 PM
Danny Tanner’s comment is:
hmm...
it looks like a school...
somewhere...
about fishing...
thats about it...
Mark’s comment is:
My suggestion TOSS OUT the shield!
leave the text NOW you have a more decent logo.
(why does it need the shield anyway? does it make it look "better"?)
On May.09.2007 at 02:34 AM
Tony Goff’s comment is:
I much prefer the older version, perhaps if they tidied up the symbols in the old one and added some colours to make it look a little fuller and more solid then you they could have ended up with a great logo which, to me, says education far more then the giant red book and freakish looking fish (what is it with that fish?).
I just had a quick google and something like this might work -
Far more detailed and works a lot better, it's not perfect but hopefully you'll know what I mean. Combining that with the original logo could have worked.
On May.09.2007 at 04:57 AM
Darrel’s comment is:
decent idea, bad implementation.
On May.10.2007 at 05:16 PM
Nuno Coelho’s comment is:
omg, is it clipart?
On Jul.16.2007 at 06:13 AM
Janeen Mcgowan’s comment is:
14pckau5opcn7jnl
On Nov.13.2008 at 12:58 AM
Comments in Brand New, V1.0 have been closed.
