I thought this wast a joke, evidently not. Actually a series of images with the new upper case “A”, lower case “ol” and a dot. I guess that “com” thingie is not that cool anymore, just the period. And to be sure the iconic topographic image is passé they are coming out with six equally silly logos. I guess the brand consultants smell a breakthrough, dozens of new “innovative” cartoonish swooshes instead of a pure symbol. How come I don’t see 50 floppy disks with “Aol. .IN.side” or something? The press release and rest of the logos – Silicon Insider – AOL Unveils New Brand, New Logos.
The golden fish would have been nice if the dot was actually the eye. And what is that in the middle of the second row? Is there a color consultant with Wolff Olins? OK, deliberately fluorescent range. Ugly is the new beautiful.
I have to confess though, I like the dot at the end, there is something fresh about this. Perhaps a logo is redefined in front of our eyes. In the age of cascading visual stimuli a single image feels confining. The underlying idea of a theme instead of a traditional icon is the breakthrough we have been waiting for. Just to complete the theme they should add one with the middle finger! Now can we have a sound to go with the logos, I miss the dial-up modem static and the busy signals…
- Further Reading:
- Rhombic Hexecontahedron is Wolfram|Alpha 60-Faced Solid Logo
- Google Redesign from Concave to Convex
- How to Talk to a Web Designer for Dummies (and Very Smart People)
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