Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

theverge.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 193 posts

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#121

Post by teepo »

sharkmerry wrote: post #81
allovernow wrote: post #63

Change for the sake of change is how good apps and brands are ruined. >Jens Thiemer, senior vice president of customer and brand, says it was designed to “radiate more openness and clarity" Clearly a decision made by a non-technical person thinking with his heart and not his brain. How these people get away with such buzzword bullshit at huge multinational corporations is beyond me. I wonder how much he makes. Remind…

>> Reminds me of that infamous Pepsi PDF Holy shit, you weren't kidding, That was really something special https://jimedwardsnrx.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/pepsi_grav...

This is incredible. The Pepsi Ratio vs the golden Ratio.

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#122

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

0xffff2 wrote: post #93
atoav wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally it isn't well composed. I learned graphics design from a guy who actually learned it by using his hands to pit down the letters. He had us move one black square around on a white page for 3 hours and explain why we put it where we did. Then we were allowed two squares of arbitrary size, later colors etc. If you are learning it from that basic level you cannot unsee badly unbalanced design. You cannot jus…

Okay, help someone who never learned anything about graphic design from anyone. why isn't it well composed?

Compare the lettering on the two versions. The use of 3D-ish black and fake embossing on the original makes the letters pop.

The lack of both on the new version makes the letters look like they've been crammed into a tiny space at the top of a big empty ring.

This might have worked with new lettering with different proportions. But it's literally just a flat copy of the original letter shapes, without any of the original context.

The 3D effect on the original print/blueprint/engineering marker/quadrant feels dynamic. The impression changes as you move your eye over it. It conveys movement and substance. It works with the black to suggest a car tire, but also a sophisticated (black...) crafted object.

The new version looks like a printer reference mark. It's just... there. It doesn't do anything.

The grey is meaningless and neutral. Again, it's just there. It fills a space, and that's all. The transparent version doesn't even do that. There's literally nothing there.

Removing the 3D creates a uniform space inside the ring, which is why the letters now look as if they're squashed up at the top for no reason. There's poor alignment, and no metaphorical or literal highlight.

Overall it suggests that management don't care about engineering or about appearances.

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#123

Post by oilrefinery »

libria wrote: post #88
atoav wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally it isn't well composed. I learned graphics design from a guy who actually learned it by using his hands to pit down the letters. He had us move one black square around on a white page for 3 hours and explain why we put it where we did. Then we were allowed two squares of arbitrary size, later colors etc. If you are learning it from that basic level you cannot unsee badly unbalanced design. You cannot jus…

> This thing looks like it has been made by the CEOs daugther in Powerpoint. Off topic and nit-picky: Let's say "CEOs kid" to keep it gender neutral since it's a negative example. I know it was a random choice, but managing other's perceptions is part of sensitivity.

Why don't you fuck off and take your PC bullshit elsewhere?

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#124

Post by pupdogg »

0xffff2 wrote: post #93
atoav wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally it isn't well composed. I learned graphics design from a guy who actually learned it by using his hands to pit down the letters. He had us move one black square around on a white page for 3 hours and explain why we put it where we did. Then we were allowed two squares of arbitrary size, later colors etc. If you are learning it from that basic level you cannot unsee badly unbalanced design. You cannot jus…

Okay, help someone who never learned anything about graphic design from anyone. why isn't it well composed?

Well, since you ask...keep in mind that these are only my opinions:

1. Lack of depth...yes, depth can be introduced in any 2D/flat design utilizing color and space illusions

2. The curve/arch that the letters follow is not fully concentric to the center circle

3. The letters appear to be transformed vertically to make their height such that it fits between the outer circle and the inner circle...this in-turn throws of the original aspect ratio of each letter of the given font

Minor inconsistencies as such are aggravating for graphic designers who generally tend to be OCD. I hope this helps.

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#125

Post by errantspark »

0xffff2 wrote: post #93
atoav wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally it isn't well composed. I learned graphics design from a guy who actually learned it by using his hands to pit down the letters. He had us move one black square around on a white page for 3 hours and explain why we put it where we did. Then we were allowed two squares of arbitrary size, later colors etc. If you are learning it from that basic level you cannot unsee badly unbalanced design. You cannot jus…

Okay, help someone who never learned anything about graphic design from anyone. why isn't it well composed?

There's no accounting for taste. This isn't the sort of thing you can really quantify, and if you do you'll lock yourself into a way of viewing things that prevents you from being a good designer. Design is mostly trying 100 things and picking the good one because you have taste, which is a thing you get through years of study, practice, and reminding yourself that you're a worthless hack at 4am in the morning.

Anyway as someone who's spent the requisite sleepless nights I've been granted the power of justifying my taste. It's not the same as "why" because the understanding comes from a felt sense, and then I just make up some bullshit to explain it.

In this case the design isn't well composed because the removal of the background has left the logo un-grounded. The outer ring is now dominated by the letters B M W, making the design top heavy. Also worth noting is that the letters themselves are no longer balanced. The M and W are no longer the full cap-height in the center, which further unbalances the design by making it lighter to the right. The "simplicity" reduces legibility. The design is now dependent on the color of the background rather than working anywhere. Though I can't imagine a color upon which this logo would work better than the previous one. There's also an unpleasant visual ringing that occurs at hard edged transitions like the center of the checkerboard which was previously mitigated by the dividing lines.

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#126

Post by riffraff »

blackearl wrote: post #32

Usually I think these "modern design" complaints are whiny, but man that new BMW logo looks so flat and lifeless. It needs something to make it pop. Also the lack of outline and white lettering seem a hassle to use on anything. I always thought the Red Hat breakdown of what/why changes of their logo was really well done: https://www.redhat.com/en/about/brand/new-brand https://www.redhat.com/en/about/brand/new-brand/d…

that was a fantastic reading, and it makes way more sense than most re-branding discussions I've seen.

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#128

Post by johnbrodie »

randcraw wrote: post #60
blattimwind wrote: post #19

New logo looks like shit. Being ironed is the least of its problems. What kind of potato-headed executive greenlit this BS?

Probably it's the same exec who decided BMW steering should become numb and lifeless, apparently to remind drivers that BMWs are luxury cars first and fun cars second. And to anticipate the response, no, this wasn't inevitable as steering became more electrical. At the same time, several other carmakers produced far superior electric steering systems to BMW's (e.g. Audi, Porsche). About 2012 BMW made a design choice…

As a car guy, I increasingly view BMW as I view Maserati - A car that is leased by people that want to display a certain level of wealth. BMW's decreasing reliability reputation backs up that thinking, along with the changes you mention.

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#129

Post by rootusrootus »

xhroot wrote: post #106
samsolomon wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. It seems like the obvious solution would have been to just remove the light gradient—and maybe the bevels.

Maybe they should have gone with a slight tweak of the 1963 version https://cdn.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/BMW_logo_... and scored retro-nostalgia points with the older crowd, too.

Yikes. Putting it on the same page as the past logos just emphasizes how chintzy it looks.

Re: BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

#130

Post by JohnFen »

tomtheelder wrote: post #119
JohnFen wrote: post #11

The flat aesthetic: making the world uglier one icon at a time.

This has absolutely nothing to do with "flat" design. BMW historically had a flat shaded logo [1]. The current logo is just supposed to be the flat shaded badge that goes on the cars, but rendered as if it's actually being lit. The problem is just that they removed the black ring that is key to the logo and the brand. Add that back, and it's virtually identical to the logo they had for whole second half of the 20th c…

> This has absolutely nothing to do with "flat" design.

I don't know the design history of the logo or the intent of the redesign, but I do know that it fits well into the current "flat" design aesthetic, so I lump it in with that. If it walks like a duck...

Post reply on HN