The City of Cape Town plans to change the City’s logo and – obviously – there is MASS OUTRAGE over their decision and – obviously – over the new logo as well.
Here’s what it is currently (wax crayons over mountain, left) and what they’re proposing (child’s multicoloured snowflake, right):
Many colours. Much circle. Very new. So round. Such different. Wow.
And here’s a video they’ve made explaining why they’re proposing the change and what’s behind the new logo:
Obviously, people don’t like change. It’s unsettling, and thus humans are naturally resistant to it. Personally, I find myself more unsettled by the city media manager’s comments last week:
The Argus quoted Cape Town city’s media manager Priya Reddy as saying that a review of the metropole’s current corporate identity and accompanying tagline – “This city works for you” – was found to be “completely misaligned to this government’s vision”.
Which, when you read it again, doesn’t sound great, does it?
Suddenly, everyone is a corporate logo design expert. All the people, with their insightful comments like: “The colours aren’t right”, “it’s too round” and the inevitable “It’s got to have a more inclusive feel and communicate with both the client and their audience, though simplicity and multi-medium reproducibility are obviously key parameters to groupthink when approaching iconic and practical corporate logo design”.
Hmm. Actually that last one might have been a real corporate logo design expert.
Of course, there have already been allegations of wasted expenditure but there’s been the usual hyperbole too: apparently the logo will cost “hundreds of millions” to introduce. Just like the new Portside building was going to be “as high as Table Mountain” and Jacob Zuma was going to be “a great president”.
I’ve always loved the way that people make stuff up to support their opinions.
As for the logo? I quite like it. The old one has been with us since I moved over to Cape Town, and, like me, it’s getting a bit long in the tooth and rather stale. Those arguing that the money could and should have been spent on something better are probably right, because there’s always something more needy than whatever we’re spending money on in South Africa. Always.
I would say that they were rather quiet when the City projected Nelson Mandela onto the face of Table Mountain with big green lasers though. Presumably because, although the big green laser money could obviously have been spent on something better, they quite liked the big green laser thing.
Understandably, too: It was quite cool.
But equally, see: summer water parks in the city, concerts in De Waal park, Christmas lights, the MyCiti bus service and traffic police roadblocks.
If this new logo is approved, then I’m willing to bet that in a decade’s time, there’ll be equal outrage when the City decides to change it again. Presumably (according to Priya Reddy, anyway) because people weren’t making progress possible. Together.
UPDATE: An expert opinion.
(But you probably don’t want to listen just in case you don’t agree with him.)