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New Logo and Identity for Library of Congress

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Re: New Logo and Identity for Library of Congress

#32

Post by koverda »

[deleted] wrote: post #31
smacktoward wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's even worse in the examples where they jam an image in the middle of the word LIBRARY. Welcome to the LIBR ARY LIBRARY OF CONGRESS! Dear God.

[deleted]

I thought those were a joke, custom made, but then I went back and looked at the lock-up suggestions, and indeed those are the suggested ones by the designer.

Re: New Logo and Identity for Library of Congress

#33

Post by alexpetralia »

koboll wrote: post #18
reustle wrote: post #4

I definitely prefer the old logo. The new one feels like it was made in paint using system default fonts. It's not necessarily bad, just feels generic.

I get that Pentagram feels they have enough of a handle on good design that they know the right way to break some of the rules of design. But this feels like breaking the rules of design so much that it's actually breaking the rules, in a way that produces something unpleasant and ugly. I mean... a close cousin of Impact? Black and orange? A second, unnecessary copy of the word 'library' that's so large it's hard to…

It's seriously surprising that a premiere design company produced this.

Re: New Logo and Identity for Library of Congress

#35

Post by wavefunction »

smacktoward wrote: post #15
amacbride wrote: post #6

Gah, that's awful. It looks more like the branding for a protein bar: "New EXTREME library to the maaaaax! Get some!!"

It is kind of amazing how inappropriate a slab typeface feels for a library.

Libraries are serving their communities all sorts of media beyond just books.

Re: New Logo and Identity for Library of Congress

#37

Post by Fomite »

bovermyer wrote: post #19
pizzetta wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely prefer the old logo. The new one is extremely generic and does not convey any feeling via the logo.

My biggest problem with the new logo is that they're effectively un-branding the Library of Congress by trying to brand it as LIBRARY. That's like trying to rebrand the White House as HOUSE.

Their concern is that too many people read "...of Congress" and assume it's not for them. They're very much pushing the idea that it's a library first.

Not sure I like how they did that, but I get the idea.

Re: New Logo and Identity for Library of Congress

#38

Post by Fomite »

clircle wrote: post #5

My gut reaction is that this new logo is strictly worse than the old one. This is my first time seeing either of the logos. Can someone with a graphic arts background explain why the LoC is so attracted to this new design (after only 8 years with the previous one)?

It's part of a push to help people recognize that the LoC is for them, not for congress.

Re: New Logo and Identity for Library of Congress

#40

Post by dictum »

claytonjy wrote: post #22

interesting tidbit from the comments there; this design firm, Pentagram, also did the recent redesign for EFF: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/07/effs-new-logo-member-s... Looks very similar, and while I strongly dislike the Library of Congress redesign, it almost works for EFF.

The "fight the power" aesthetic of late-1980s/early 1990s zines feels at home with EFF's history and mission statement. The Library of Congress is the power.
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