I get it - seasons, culture, arts, cuisine, squirrels… Come see and love all that is New York.
Given the ubiquitous charm of the IHeartNY logo, and the pride it instills in even the most nomadic native son and daughter worldwide (including myself)* it is understandable public sector PR and marketing reps were wary of overly changing the 1976 Milton Glaser pop rebus - and more notably so after the renaissance of the logo - and the New York phoenix itself – following Sept. 11.
If the logo has been immediately recognizable for it’s first 30 years, it’s legend now.
The forehead-whacking genius of Glaser's sharply simple graphic design now adorns everything from t-shirts and hats to key chains, lighters, shot glasses, and comedic pet apparel. This affinity for the logo and saturation of all-things New York since 2001 progressed to "I Heart<...whatever...>" spinning out out into the contemporary global lexicon - perhaps resonating with so many people as much for its immediately recognizable pictograph as by its easy-going linguistic attitude or by its positive, full-glass message.
So, given its surge in popularity, iconic status, graphic merit and commercial success, the question remains: Why (re)touch a classic?
More importantly, why do it so poorly?
Merely tepidly tweaking a logo of this caliber not only fails to take advantage of über agency Saatchi & Saatchi’s strengths - it also sorely lacks justification for the $17 million price tag.** S&S is best at its most dynamic, and clients should be open to a significant trajectory change before commissioning at this level. More interesting would be a review of the rejections from storyboard brainstorming sessions at Saatchi before, what seems to me, like cold feet set it from one side or the other. The city could have saved its allocated re-branding budget, naturally taxpayer-supported, by using an in-house intern.
The resulting logo looks as if it did, anyway.
To quote Jerry Seinfeld in an old Saturday Night Live skit: “Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?”
Having fun with a classic image is fine, truly. And the IHeartNY variations presented are, indeed, fun, almost clever... or should be if it were not for the heavy-handed free clip-art influences (which is another topic).
There is a lack of visual clarity, or sharpness or composition or.. or..., compared to the original <"hey look out, here we come!"> stark, right on, design. There is no soul to the new design, or perhaps I’m out of touch with the American zeitgeist - or very likely I am spoiled living amongst clever Dutch designers. Far worse, however, are the poor choices, with which this mighty, landscape-diverse, melting pot of a state is labeled.
Squirrels? Butterflies?
How about representation for the much-higher cockroach and rodent populations? I did see a bunny in Central Park once, but it was on a leash.
What's up with the pitchfork symbol? Heritage, apparently. Yes, even frenetic Manhattan was pastoral from Central Park and higher until the late 19th century. The image of the pitchfork, however, looks more like the preferred method of burying mafia hit targets.
Where's a mountain? The upstate Catskills and Adirondack Mountains are stunning (great fly fishing in the rivers too). Rivers and beaches and, ah yes, water. Niagara Falls may be cliché, but perhaps a boat signifying New York's key international port and harbor - and, of course, the first stop for generations of immigrants - could pop up on the logo amongst the grape leaves (?) and the dude either doing tai chi or dancing the hustle. Consider outlining the logo in stage lights or the heart traced in individual light bulbs as if it’s a backstage dressing room mirror. Cue the digital loop of a line of tiny Rockettes kicking across the front of the font with matching slab serif legs!
Alas, no.
Meanwhile, there is a crudely imaged lolly-pop of a historical marker on a stick. A simple, column-fronted structure with an A-line roof - for instance, such as on maps – is more identifiable as a location bearing historical significance. Not that New York is lacking for identifiable architecture.
Zero tourists will know what that historical marker is, much less be inspired by it and dart to the rental car agency in mid-town, drive in mad, congested taxi traffic to a bridge or tunnel and then actually search out these easily missed, dark, metal signs dotting country back roads throughout America. People who do that are usually natives who are fleeing the city in summer for the cooler mountains because their apartments have no air conditioning. That is not the target audience for tourism advertising. Although, it IS lovely just an hour from the city and more people, especially those people IN the city, should venture outside their borough much more, the snobs – why, even New Jersey has some charming woodlands surprisingly intact.
Cute, if limited, as the many incarnations of NY represented by the city and state tourist bureaus vis-a-vis Saatchi are, let's not pretend these logos are anything more than banner-ad quality. This is not anything I'd associate with a top international ad agency, nor is it a worthy face-lift for such a NY grand dame of a design.
"I Heart a NY Classic!"
…says this New Yorker in Old Amsterdam.
[There is an interview with Glaser describing the spirit behind his IHeartNY logo – created in the 1970s during an earlier incarnation of down-on-its-luck New York. It's in Believer Magazine at the following link:]
www.believermag.com/issues/200309/?read=interview_glaser
------
*After surviving three years on the Manhattan rock and in the concrete jungle, Amsterdandi is a self-appointed New Yorker who definitely did it 'her way' before starting a new chapter in Europe. She is also a recovering Texan (which is, again, another topic altogether).
**Please note: This commentary focuses exclusively on logo change/$17 million is the cited overall campaign cost, including logo.
