The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission recently unveiled the new logo to be displayed on all New York City cabs. And in typical American bureaucratic fashion, what results from such committee processes is the unsavory "logotype" you see above (top cab displays the current markings, bottom the new).
Eric was the one to point it out to me the other night on our way downtown, so he can fill you in on all the wonderful transit logos that exist in Europe and beyond. What infuriates me is that an assignment as important as this would ordinarily result in a design competition between rival firms. Many a strong designer would kill for such an opportunity to see their work on the 13,000 taxis that fill our streets; in short, the mark of an icon.
What existed previously was by no means good design. But the "spray painted" stencil lettering had a certain crudeness that if not appropriate, felt so over time. At best, it didn't call much attention to itself. Not so this new blocky, near-illegible logo that is to be displayed in 4 places on each cab. Without getting into a design critque, I wish they would have stopped at just the T in a circle. We're aware it's a cab; the car is painted bright orange.
I personally like the checkerbox pattern in the back that is suppossed to subtley communicate speed as evidenced by the fact that the ones in back are being whisked away by the breeze. Seriously, the design on this would have been better acheived using a spirograph. Lame with a capital L and in NY of all places. For Shame.
Posted by: Presh | September 25, 2007 at 09:26 PM
It's so horrible. The NYC is difficult to read (I also think the whole use of "NYC" is undignified and overused, by the way, but I think that we are going to be seeing even more of that swollen NYC logo), and the T is too far away from the AXI.
And that checkerbox pattern. Terrible, terrible, terrible. More stupid nostalgia-driven crap design. I'm sure that tourists visiting from Kansas City will like it though!
I wasn't expecting something as good as Barcelona or London, of course, but this is pretty damn sad.
Posted by: Eric | September 26, 2007 at 12:33 PM
i like the speeding checker, tho at that scale seems abit wimpy.
the rounded "T/AXI" text is reminiscent of a vintage Hot Dog font, which is alright at best... but the bloated NYC is unnecessary.
i'd rather these graphics leaned more truly towards the Ski-Doo aesthetic they aspire to.
Posted by: A.J | September 26, 2007 at 01:00 PM
This is not a subject that most people could even fake an opinion about. I mean, why are you even thinking about this?!?!
Posted by: Angela Lansbury | September 27, 2007 at 04:17 PM
Oh I don't know. Maybe because I do this for a living.
Posted by: Tony R | September 29, 2007 at 01:12 PM
bummer.
Posted by: Angela Lansbury | September 30, 2007 at 10:22 PM
People like "Angela Lansbury" are why things in the U.S. are so fucking ugly. Most people don't care what they are looking at, and the few of us who do are forced to live in constant agony.
Posted by: Eric | October 01, 2007 at 12:55 PM
Granted, the speeding checkerbox is the only non-shiteous thing there. But it's still kinda cliched... half of the major transit agencies out there have some variation of it.
Posted by: tservo | October 01, 2007 at 01:21 PM
That doesn't look "bright orange" to me. Are you sure you're a designer?
Posted by: Tim | October 01, 2007 at 10:59 PM
As good as London? You could paint them all black and they'd be like old London. Or shrinkwrap an advert for some bookmaker and have new London.
Not a big fan, but I think we need to aim higher. (Unless you're phasing out all the old cabs and bringing in the big boxy London ones. Then I'd be a fan!)
Posted by: Steve | October 04, 2007 at 07:44 PM