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Here is another one dating back from late September — apologies for playing catch-up on a lot of these recently, but the Q4 of 2008 was pretty hectic around here — the redesign of the French-language Canadian music channel MusiquePlus, which has been on the air since 1986. The new logo was designed by Montreal-based Sid Lee. The old logo was interesting in that it had that kind of cartoony, global, broadcasting feel or it could very well be the logo of one of those record stores where the sales people are all stuck up and get annoyed if you don’t know this or that band. But I digress. The new logo is certainly simpler and easier to read on screen but… why is it melting? I want to want to like it because I enjoy single-weight monograms like this one. But the ITC Bauhausesque “mp” looks a little cheesy and cheap. If the idea was to join the “m” and the “p” the loop of the “p” doesn’t really connect; a lot more custom work was needed on this one, much more than adding rounded endings and elongating the stems. Nonetheless, it’s a change in the right direction, even if not properly executed.
Thanks to Nick Alexander for the tip.
Jump to Most Recent Comment
Chris’s comment is:
Quick FYI: MusiquePlus is the French counterpart to MuchMusic (http://www.muchmusic.com/)
On Jan.26.2009 at 07:02 AM
Brandon Cox’s comment is:
I think it has good balance, but agree about the lack of connecting with the loop. The melting sort of resembles a scale of music, but I don't know that it would do a lot of good to attempt to draw out that image. It's okay.
On Jan.26.2009 at 07:09 AM
Jacob’s comment is:
I like it. (Really insightful commentary, no?)
On Jan.26.2009 at 08:42 AM
Dale Campbell’s comment is:
I don't mind it - I didn't think that it was "melting" until you brought that critique up.
I think it's an improvement over the original, but I also agree that the letter forms could have used a little more customization to distinguish it from a logo that basically is composed of two letters, one with a white stroke.
Keep well,
Dale
Mark’s comment is:
Hmmmm.
I like the old logo because of that perspective thing going on and it looks up to date, if only the dropped the globe it would be fine.
The new one while I sorta like it, looks a a bit graffiti like which looks cheap. Plus it seems to be a logo that would fit better in 1978, rather than 2008-2009. Also what is exactly is going on with that unseen curve below the M and P? Another thing is that the half M BOTHERS me for some reason!
On Jan.26.2009 at 09:38 AM
Mark’s comment is:
Hmmmm.
I like the old logo because of that perspective thing going on and it looks up to date, if only they dropped the globe it would be fine.
The new one while I sorta like it, looks a a bit graffiti like which looks cheap. Plus it seems to be a logo that would fit better in 1978, rather than 2008-2009. Also what is exactly is going on with that unseen curve below the M and P? Another thing is that the half M BOTHERS me for some reason!
On Jan.26.2009 at 09:39 AM
Ian McFarlan’s comment is:
I'm a fan of the older version; perhaps nostalgia from when I was younger. The older version screams of CHUM's influence but I guess now that CHUM is slowly selling it's channels it makes sense to let go of this image.
The newer version reminds me of something that I would see on MTV, which scares me :-S
On Jan.26.2009 at 09:42 AM
damon’s comment is:
it's a'ight.
I think it's almost cool, in a 15 year old
On Jan.26.2009 at 09:53 AM
jRod’s comment is:
Somehow, this logo feels like it is trying too hard and lacking finesse all at the same time. Does that make any sense? I dunno... it just feels kinda awkward and forgettable.
On Jan.26.2009 at 10:00 AM
Jacob’s comment is:
Another victim of CTVglobemedia's rampage across the Canadian media landscape. (Yes, the logo wasn't designed for CTVgm, but it's a result of the forced separation from Muchmusic.)
On Jan.26.2009 at 10:16 AM
oak’s comment is:
I can't get over the lack of connection between the "m" and the "p." that loop wants to connect. It's the first thing I noticed in the new mark even before reading through the write-up. I'm not sure I'd like the mark any more if it did connect, but at least it would look like it was crafted properly.
On Jan.26.2009 at 10:23 AM
Camryn’s comment is:
The old one looks very 1997, and the new one looks very current. I guess music channels need to keep the look fresh for the young uns, but I like the old one better.
On Jan.26.2009 at 10:56 AM
damon’s comment is:
that should have read:
it's a'ight.
I think it's almost cool, in a 15 year old skateboarder mag. kinda way.
On Jan.26.2009 at 11:11 AM
voteprime’s comment is:
The "P" in the new logo reminds me a lot of the old Philadelphia Phillies logo.
And the style of the MP is similar to the the no longer existing Montreal Expos logo.
These two things stuck out strongly to me when looking at the new logo.
On Jan.26.2009 at 11:32 AM
ldahlke’s comment is:
It sort of looks like a hand with its finger pointed down - like its clicking on a mouse button.
On Jan.26.2009 at 11:47 AM
Charles’s comment is:
Might just be my dirty mind, but the "m" looks like the sort of penis you would graffiti on your classmate's school books as a teenager!
On Jan.26.2009 at 12:31 PM
Anonymous’s comment is:
Armin, allow me to be the one to say "please stop apologizing for your awesomeness and hard work." Barring the rare possibility of rehashing extensive conversation that's been had elsewhere, I doubt that the majority of us care whether a redesign is a one or two or twelve months old, and it has little bearing on the merits of the old vs. the new anyway. Seriously. Keep up the good work, and stop feeling so guilty for producing great original content.
On Jan.26.2009 at 01:45 PM
d13t’s comment is:
I think it's cool, but it does look depressed. I saw it melting right away and I think I know why. It has a 'melting' look, because it's aiming on a possible future music DOWNloading... something?!?
On Jan.26.2009 at 02:03 PM
jarek’s comment is:
There's something retro about the look which might not be a positive being that it represents something so contemporary. All it needs is the ubiquitous distress treatment. It's definitely not as punchy or memorable as the previous version.
On Jan.26.2009 at 02:48 PM
marley’s comment is:
RE: jRod "Somehow, this logo feels like it is trying too hard and lacking finesse all at the same time."
Kinda describes the channel, non?
On Jan.26.2009 at 03:04 PM
Serviceburo’s comment is:
Honestly, more than anything, this reminds me of what you would see in GD classes back at Uni. Whoever made this thing wanted to show you how many clever little visual tricks they could come up with at the cost of the effectiveness of the whole design. The implied perspective of the bottoms of the uprights is most likely a nod to the previous version of the logo, but the rest of it is just gratuitous. Whomever made this should have really toned it down, kept the basic "MP" figure and worked in only one "clever bit" and they would have had a much more successful result.
On Jan.26.2009 at 03:25 PM
jon’s comment is:
I agree with Voteprime. I saw the Phillies logo immediately. Reminds me of a sports logo, and a bad one at that.
On Jan.26.2009 at 03:46 PM
Paul Lloyd Johnson’s comment is:
*vomits*
On Jan.26.2009 at 06:52 PM
LogoForge’s comment is:
The new one is a big improvement over the old one, which is just silly. It's clean and strong. I have no inherited bias against Bauhaus, so the letterforms don't bother me, and the lack of connection between m and p doesn't either because it's balanced by the vertical separation within the p. As someone else pointed out, there seems to be a hand thing going on, albeit one with three fingers. To me it looks like a hand holding a guitar pick.
On Jan.26.2009 at 08:56 PM
Brad McCall’s comment is:
It looks very much like a hand folded over a wall to me. While I like the simplicity of it, I'd have to see how it's used in some of their branded materials before I could say yeah or neigh. (If it's used only like it is on their website, I'd say neigh.) There's a slim line between boring and simple and their riding a bit too close for my taste.
On Jan.26.2009 at 10:38 PM
fredfred’s comment is:
Sid Lee killed their own logo a few month ago, switching from a poor round handscript to an even poorer Futura UltraBold in caps.
On Jan.26.2009 at 11:43 PM
Gregory’s comment is:
I think it's a VAST improvement over the old logo. In my opinion, the old version is absolutely atrocious... The perspective? The framework globe? The colors? All horrible.
Unlike many of the previous posters, I don't have a lot of issues with the new version. I don't think it's a perfect logo, but I don't take offense from it. I think it can work in several different mediums, both as printed and screen viewed, and is recognizable at any size. It looks like some more time could have been spent on it, especially with the M-P connection, but who knows, maybe the designer was getting underpaid and abused by the client.
On Jan.27.2009 at 12:53 AM
Nate’s comment is:
Reminds me of the CW network logo. If ellipses/swooshes were the epoch of the late 1990s, the first decade of the 21st century will go down as the half-assed minimalist/vector era.
Strange geometric drippy lettermark. Eh.
On Jan.27.2009 at 05:12 AM
ScribBleed’s comment is:
I could almost look like a hand playing a chord on a piano but ... not quite there, though.
On Jan.27.2009 at 07:05 AM
weavero’s comment is:
Having never seen the original logo before, and without nostalgia or familiarity attached to the brand, I'll annoy a few people by adding this: the old branding is horrible - trapped inside a 1996 shaped bubble in which it's now managed to burst out. The new logo gives out solid musical overtones; fingers playing instruments, notation, and a balanced rhythm in the letterspacing. The 'p' blatantly being a minim isn't a coincidence, either.
On Jan.27.2009 at 08:45 AM
Char’s comment is:
It's ok. Not too crazy about it. I agree about the disconnection between the M and the P. Oh, also it looks like a million things, but then again that wasn't the intention to anything and I think it's completely irrelevant when it clearly resembles nothing... and definitively does not look like a penis.
On Jan.27.2009 at 12:39 PM
Filipe’s comment is:
Nate said it all... it looks like a hundred "geometric-lettering" logos we've seen on the last decade
but
its better than the old one, for sure
Bruce’s comment is:
Doesn't do anything for me. But it does look kind of like a hand reaching down to pick something up, perhaps a CD or vinyl record. But then, the company is about digital music.
On Jan.27.2009 at 10:29 PM
mart’s comment is:
looks like a gas station identity.
On Jan.28.2009 at 09:06 AM
roberto’s comment is:
On Jan.28.2009 at 09:47 AM
Mark’s comment is:
compared to atrocious new logos like the Duane Reade monogram and Pepsi. This one doesn't seem so bad.
On Jan.28.2009 at 11:51 AM
Ruggomatic’s comment is:
Isn't this logo supposed to represent a hand 'tinkling the ivories' so to speak (playing the piano, to anybody unfamiliar with the term)..?
Perhaps a little too subtle, if that's the idea.
On Jan.28.2009 at 09:39 PM
intr0vert’s comment is:
looks a lot like the logo for DW (Drum Workshop) inverted and tightened.
JF Fortier’s comment is:
A friend of mine did this remix a couple of days after the release. Since then, I can't look at the logo the same way.
Mongoose’s comment is:
The new logo doesn't seem at all.. western to me. The last time I saw those thick curvy letterforms, they were Korean on a bowl of ramen. The 'mp' logo to me seems more Asian-inspired, more akin to Korean or Japanese or such, not quite making English letters at all.
I echo Armin's summary: clever idea, so-so execution. I give it a C-, because the old logo, while being a tad cheesy, was tightly constructed and fashioned.
--Chi
On Feb.08.2009 at 11:09 PM
Louhead’s comment is:
Looks horrible. if the original logo was the new logo it would have that "so retro, it's cool" vibe. But new logo looks like it's trying to hard-or not hard enough-to be retro-cool.
On Feb.11.2009 at 10:38 PM
Michèle Champagne’s comment is:
Reminds me of the Westport Youth Film Festival logo:
http://www.westportyouthfilmfest.org/images/wyff_new_logo.gif
Brent Rinne’s comment is:
Looks like the designer was influenced by the Microsoft Word icon for Mac, turned upside-down of course.
On Feb.19.2009 at 05:12 PM
Harith’s comment is:
So when does Much Music get a logo redo? I've always hated their logo.
On Feb.20.2009 at 07:12 PM
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