What the Hell is this?!
dpc (359 points) | Mon, 2008-02-04 15:58
Can someone tell me what Animal Planet was thinking with this?
What is the point of this terrible thing?
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
Commenting on this Forum topic is closed.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
It looks like a grade school project!
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
Give them some credit, it's atleast a high school project!
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
Guess they tired of the elephant and globe look, but this is worse. Much worse. With their budget and wide-access audience I think they could have done a hell of a lot better that this. Hopefully someone in their marketing department will find this thread and hear what real designers have to say about this.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Must have been Wolff Olins who designed this one (ie 2012 Olympic logo!)
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
PR Article.
Another crappy logo from a british agency. :\
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
Watch what you're saying about crappy British agencies. ;o)
www.jamnittygritty.com
Hey, I'm sure they don't all suck as bad as this agency and Wolff-Olins! :)
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
Can anyone figure out how much Animal Planet paied for this??
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
Who knows what they were thinking...
Maybe their focus group was on crack that day. :)
Terrell Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
Testing logos and ads with focus groups to begin with was most likely the problem. Nothing good ever comes out of "design by committee."
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Visit The Graphic Mac for graphics and Mac OS tips, reviews, tutorials and discussion.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
As was the group that okayed our province's (Ontario, Canada) new logo. It's been nicknamed the Jacuzzi logo because it resembles three men in a hot tub.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2006/06/23/to-trillium20060623.html
Rub a dub dub whose back is being rubbed? I'd say Bensimon Byrne's by the looks of things. It cost us taxpayers close to a quarter of a million dollars. Hmmm....do I smell another ad agency scandel in the works? I knew there was a reason I didn't vote for McGuinty!
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Rub-a-dub-dub is right.
They let you all vote in Canada? :)
lol
Terrell Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
This is enough to make me move back to Quebec! ;)
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
Is that why you moved out of Quebec and into Ontario because of the last ad scandel involving Montréal's Groupe Everest? Are you, Art Fiend, somehow linked to these two identity scandels? Last time Liberal, this time Tory.
ARE YOU AN NDPer???!!!!!
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
That was really very messy! Needless to say, the libs lost alot of fans, only the hardcore stayed with them...including myself...well, considering the alternative, Bloc Quebecois, it was the right choice!
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
It's recognisable, green showing the nature side, bizarrely it reminds me a little of animal pattern stripes such as a zebra.
I'm not it's biggest fan, but I understand where they're coming from.
www.jamnittygritty.com
Plugz, You're British. Right? ;)
Terrell Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
I thought maybe it was about stripes... then I thought, no. I really don't think those are stripes. And anyway, how do stripes encompass everything about animal planet? And just because it's green doesn't mean that it stands for all animals or nature.
I didn't know a logo redesign could be worse then the xerox 'xbox' logo or Dairy Queen's stupid swooshes.
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
Plugz, you're kidding, right?!
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
Wishing I wasn't at the moment. ;o)
The logo isn't bad.
It's just far from being good.
As an instantly identifiable channel ident, it will actually do a good job as it's using bright colours and has several easily recognisable elements to it.
I'm not praising it as a great piece of design, but I have to admit, when flicking through channels, it's an ident you'd notice due to the unconventional design.
For that reason alone, I think it's doing it's job.
The UK design market is cut throat at the moment, especially in the realm of pay-TV services that are a big market right now with the switch to digital and move to HD broadcasting.
Maybe my opinion is skewed my some of the other channel idents out there.
I'll pull together some examples later when I have a chance as a contrast and compare, perhaps that'll explain why I don't hate it.
www.jamnittygritty.com
I'm there if they are. =P
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
I wouldn't advise it.
I'm planning to decamp to the US if I can in the next few years.
www.jamnittygritty.com
Nope. Still not seeing a professional logo here. I find it sloppy, staid and old hat. They could have done a number of things such as shaped the words into an animal, or hit the letters with stripes, leopard fur, and so forth...had some fun with it. My five year old brings home better work than this from school. Maybe I should start farming out his work to agencies.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
On so many levels, this is the worst logo I have ever seen by a major company.
Does anyone know of any others that can top this one? Please post.
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
Capital One has a redesign that makes the logo look older rather than newer. Scroll down the page a little ways. This one's pretty bad...
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
Everyone check this out. Interesting.
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
Strive to Thrive
What was Capital One thinking??? I hate those gradients. Ugh!
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
The crappiness of this logo was painfully apparent even as we all collectively gushed "Awwwwwww" at the antics of the 'Puppy Bowl' featured on Animal Planet during the SuperBowl.
While the logo must be the worst ever, you have to admire the marketing genius of Animal Planet by dedicating an entire show to puppies playing and a halftime show of kittens playing followed by more puppies playing. Pure gold!
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
I have nothing against their lineup... and the Puppy Bowl and Kitten halftime show is genuis... but nothing excuses this logo.
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
If you really want to stretch the reality of this logo, I think I see a large beak coming off the "I".... but, hey, now we're delving into psychology's ink blot territory.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
I really find it hard to believe that firms actually get paid very good money to crank out this kind of stuff. It looks like animal dung.
Strive to Thrive
While it looks like something a person who just learned to distort text in Illustrator might have made.... it's a lot more interesting then their old logo. In that context, I almost like it.
That's a great point. The new logo is less busy, more unique and might actually be recognizable. It is freakin ugly though.
... the bird? The A forms the body and the eye, and the lopsided M is the beak.
As much as I enjoy anyone's atempt to figure this pile of crap out, I don't see any bird.
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
I saw it on the tube last night and only glanced it and went: "What the?!?" BUT after looking at it a while online its not that bad. I guess its just different and doesn't conform to an existing 'swooshy style" It also communicates the idea of "primitive" very well. I think that's the idea: "Primate"? Hmmm Maybe you have to be like Lisa Simpson at the Jazz bar when the guy sitting next to her says:
"I dunno, doesn't sound very good. . ."
"You have to listen to the notes that she's not playing." she replied
"Hrumph, I could have done that at home"
lol
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
This logo is not worth the money spent on it. The fonts are distorted and the M turned sideways is amateurish and silly and at best downright illegible. These things are rookie mistakes that an experienced agency just should not make. If I showed this logo to any of my clients I'd get laughed out of their offices!
This logo unequivocally sucks. However, not all of British design sucks. There's a lot of great British design out there.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
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Dirt and Rust
I really believe that it was supposed to LOOK like that for a reason. . . Its VERY unassuming and 'safe.' :)
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
I hear what you are saying about the natural / primitive feel... but they could have achived that in a different and less akward way. And really it's not natual looking, besides the green. It just looks like a highschooler was learning illustrator - not like an experienced agency was trying to be natual and animal-like.
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
But WHAT is "natual [sic] and animal-like."?
It reminds me of something though. . . something I had seen before. . .
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
Um, their old logo was closer than this one is. :)
This one is just poorly thought out. You see examples of this from beginning/student designers, you shouldn't see them from experienced agencies.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
----
Dirt and Rust
There is something about it that on closer inspection makes you realise that its very, I dunno, free spirited. I know you guys hate it. I don;t fancy it that much myself, BUT it says something that the other logo (which u must agree is dated) didn't. Its young primal and 'free' feeling.
That's the way I see it. . . The way the 'm' is on its side looks like a beak trying to bite the tail of something. . . maybe I'm high on coffee or something. . . lol
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
You are definitely high. :)
This logo took approximately 5 minutes to make; it just doesn't appear as well thought out as you are giving it credit for.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
----
Dirt and Rust
The purpose of this logo was to coerce older viewers to tune in. This "grownup" logo was supposedly meant to convey animals' primal instincts. My instinct is to block it out.
The only thing going for it is its adherence to the green, re: Animal Planet's stance on global conservation, but that's as far as I would go regarding any purported merits of it.
Another point: confusion with lettering if you weren't already familiar with it...you know, if you lived on another APLANET. Also, it reeks of Paula Scher's Public Theater Posters; not that that's a bad thing, the woman's work is phenomanal, yet please, try to come up with your own ideas. (sample: http://typophile.com/files/pub_theater_01.jpg)
I also have a feeling of being caged/boxed in with this logo, something I don't think you would like to portray for animals of the wild.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
i love some of Paula Sher's work....but some of it looks like a 3rd grader's collage work. I give her credit for being a pioneer, but i think a lot of her work is composition and not ideation. For ingenuity i give credit to one of my faves Saul Bass...
Identity, film, print...the man was amazing. His collaborations with Hitchcock, Preminger and Scorsese really set him apart. I especially like his work on Hitchcock's Vertigo...the extreme close-up on a woman’s face spiraling as a bloody red soaks the screen. Genius thought for 1958.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Unrefined... wild... something about it works for me. Especially how its presented on their website: http://animal.discovery.com/
Cheap parlour tricks don't hold water with me. You can Photoshop the hell out of any logo or text to give it some zing, but if you need to resort to these types of tactics to garner interest so early on in the game with a brand new logo then hasn't your design failed somehow by not being able to stand on its own?
What's next...the addition of various animals peeking around the letters? An elephant on one, a monkey another. Now wouldn't that just gum up the natural progression of a new brand recognition program?
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
It's not going to appear on its own very often.
It doesn't represent a company, it's not going on headed paper or business cards, it's not going to appear alone on a billboard as part of a product launch.
It's a sub-brand of a larger organisation, as such it is almost always going to be used on screen in association with advertising or as part of an ident.
It doesn't need to stand alone.
www.jamnittygritty.com
Sometimes rules are meant to be broken and sometimes one man's drink is another man's poison!
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
My apologies. I hadn't realized you were part of their marketing team and privy to their plans for this...now, what is the media calling it?...logo. It's good to hear that it doesn't need to stand on its own through a line of stationery or used in signage.
In regards to representation, it may very well not be the logo for the entire company, but it is still representing a segment of it. Many large corporations have subsidiary products that fall under one umbrella, each with their own logo and branding strategy. To come forth and state that it doesn't need to be strong or stand alone is a reversal of what any identification program is all about.
You like the logo, I don't. It's just a matter of opinion.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
But what we have been saying all along. . . what is the target group. Someone said earlier older people (if I'm not mistaken) and that it has failed. . .well ok how did they know that? How do we know it has failed?
We design things for use by people, but people hardly EVER use what things are designed for. lol If you can figure that out then I applaud u! What I am saying is that this 'logo' is doing something different. I applaud that, whether it works or not is not the point, it does for me what a LOT of GD's I believe are afraid to do. try something else.
We keep 'decrying' these stock logo sites because we say that they remove the designers input into the creation of a solid brand and for good reason because they are all redundant and generic and one looks just like another following the design trends of the time. This Animal Planet logo is doing something that I haven't seen before. . . its different and I think that's why I think it works. It DOES stand out and I do BELIEVE its a radical move from what they had before which is necessary. . .
The easy way out would have been to be conservative and go with the 'trend' this logo seems to do NEITHER and simply put it shows something that a lot of logos miss: Simplicity and character. If you think the character is all wrong for "Animal Planet' so be it but as the viewer I believe it gets its message across quite interestingly. . . but I may be wrong, because I may not be the target!
my two cents. . .
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
Yeah, you're right about the nastiness aspect of my post. Sorry. That wasn't necessary. I'm frustrated with another aspect of my work life and it's spilling over into everything lately.
Plugz--forgive my sarcasm. I know what you're saying; just wanted you to see my outlook when it came to identifiers.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Don't sweat the small stuff! :)
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
I'm man enough and more importantly, clearly more cultured than you heathens who don't appreciate good design...
*flees*
www.jamnittygritty.com
Sarcasm is positively dripping from that post. ;)
www.jamnittygritty.com
You think that was bad? You should have read the one I sent off to one of my clients and his new "assistant", a woman who is making my life a professional hell. Change this, change that, see that burning hoop? Jump through it. I'm just about ready to stick the hoop up her hoop! She's one of those wannabe designers and it seems her boss has given her free rein to "help me" design a cover. Thank god they're not touching the layout of the inside pages.
And it's not only me that is frustrated with them. Several of the other managers at this company have commented on these two as well. I wonder when their boss, a person who is currently submitting five of my designs into a North American competition, will realize what these two are doing.
I'm a designer. Let me do my job and I won't pretend to know how to do yours.
Hmmm....maybe I should send the assistant the ad posted for a designer up in Canada's Northwest Territories.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
In the northwest Territories?!
I'll take it! :)
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
I'd take that, too.
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
It really is a beautiful region, especially the light show that the Aurora Borealis puts on. You just have to be able to handle the isolation factor and the lack of daylight hours during certain points of the year. Oh yeah, and make sure to pack a parka!
http://www.explorenwt.com/
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
I would move there in a minute if it weren't for my husband. =P
I love your healthcare system, too. Ours sucks (obviously).
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
And will probably be spending more time there. My parents are retiring this year and buying a place in Arizona (my mother is half American). It should prove to be an interesting 2008 Christmas without several feet of snow to contend with.
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
I live in Colorado, and have been for almost 18 years. But basically grew up in Las Vegas (born in Connecticut and lived there until I was 9 though), so I can understand about not having a "white Christmas." I am not a warm weather person myself—only when I'm vacationing. LOL
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
Just wanna see how small we can get this box.
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
*testing*
www.jamnittygritty.com
and smaller
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
Graphic, Web and Logo Designer from Pittsburgh, PA http://www.davidpcrawford.com
tiny
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
molecular
an ion
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
maybe it'll go inverted? :)
----
Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
----
Dirt and Rust
Even though the sound is something quite atrocious.
~
way to go, julie!
ttfn!
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
I'm
a
mime
trapped
in
a
box
. . .
help!
"Try
not,
Do!
or
do
not,
there
is
no
try."
-Yoda
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
That's
Just.
SIlly.
www.jamnittygritty.com
Who started this anyway? Too funny.
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
I disagree. By its very definition a logo needs to stand alone as well as communicate.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
My latest web design work
----
Dirt and Rust
although i think it looks like amateur crap by itself....it is versatile and may actually look good on different media. It has borderline neutral colors and it is very unassuming. I mean, its like they got so generic that they were hoping the logo would just be a minor supplement to all their advertising campaigns. I think (for print) this could really work with some kick ass photography...
If it was 1985. And the client was PepsiCo. And the words were changed to "Mountain Dew."
-Johnny
...I've seen it before! LOL
But its not exactly what I had seen before but close.
This was the first thing that came to mind. . . but STILL not what I remembered . . .
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
hehe
Terrell Thornhill
e-zign Design Group
A Maaaaadddddd houuuuuussseeee!
"Try not, Do! or do not, there is no try."
-Yoda
LOL
www.jamnittygritty.com
It could be worse...they could of had an AMP logo.
Now everyone fear the next new TV logo change, when National Geographic Channel, goes "natgeo".