8 Sept 2013

Yahoo! New Logo, Not a Smart Move!

 When I Saw it I said to myself "Oh No! They didn't" That simply couldn't be The Golden Egg that they stayed on for weeks in that Billion Dollar Corporate!

A couple of days ago, I was hit by this image of a "Big Purple rectangle and an Amateurish word of "YAHOO!" across it" in an Effect that was probably made by one of the Illustrator B.C. Versions.

So, I decided to check what the Pros said on the Matter, and Educate Me, and You about it as well, Here we go!

The YAHOO! Logo Timeline:

 1995
 1996


 2000's


This Image of a Goofy like, Whimsy Logo have stayed with Us as customers forever. As a Designer, I can sometimes tolerate a Not-So-Good Service for a Good Logo, But then this New "Thing" -sry i can't call it a Logo- comes up...:
 2013


YAHOO! CEO Marissa Mayer said " On a personal level, I love brands, logos, color, design, and, most of all, Adobe Illustrator. I think it’s one of the most incredible software packages ever made. I’m not a pro, but I know enough to be dangerous :)"

PROS Said:

Aaron Taube - Business Insider

Larry Popelka - Bloomsberg Business Week
Bloomsberg article also referred to the 2008 Pepsi Logo change that "Arnell" was paid 1M Dollar for and Turned out to be a Fail... Very True!

Aurich Lawson - Ars Technica
He also added a quote: "Anyone can do this, so why waste more than a weekend of fun on it!"

Probably one of the very good analysis for the Matter was Benjie Moss - Web Designer Depot
He also added: "They have based the logo on Optima", whis may be a great choice for a Lawyer, but seems deeply inappropriate for a daring young brand with an '!' in its name"

MISTAKES YAHOO MADE- as Well as Other Corps. Before it:
1-The Yahoo! administration did NOT bear in mind the Consumer familiarity with the Previous versions of the Logo.

2- Re-branding isn't an Easy Task, especially for a big corp. like Yahoo!, and It's a process where the CEO has to KNOW That It Isn't about Him/ Her AT ALL. It's not his Final Call (at the heart of the Matter not the Paper work)

3- There were some basic points in the Logo looks that weren't put in account in the Re-Design:
Old Logo: Goofy, Friendly, Casual, Curvy, Youthful
New Logo: Sharp, Serious, Amateurish, Formal, &PURPLE is a Very Dangerous Colour if not put right, Poor Typography

4- I don't totally agree with this opinion:
Why? Because the "Expect-a-Surprise" Strategy - in my opinion- is not for the Online Campaigning, but rather Offline. Let's take the Abduzeedo logo re-design, the guys there were smart enough to realize that most of their visitors are Designers- Artists- Photographers, which means that if you left the Surprising to their Wild imagination, then they'll Expect something that The Big Site might not actually Meet, and if that Happened They will LASH YOU OUT in Criticism!

And that bring us to a Law: "If you're putting up a Surprise, You'd better make sure you're Up for it or it will Back-fire"

Recommendation
One of the Books that I Enjoyed reading recently is "Logo Design Love" by David Airey, It had a Great talk about the "Logo Don't Dos" which beside other things helped me in this Judgment of the Logo.

I personally would've suggested Ms. Mayer reads it before deciding the re-branding, I'd suggest to Anyone in fact!

References Links:
Aaron Taube Article- Business Insider
Larry Popelka Article - Bloomsberg Business Week
Aurich Lawson Article - Ars Technica
Benjie Moss Article- Web Designer Depot

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