London Has a New Logo.

I don't do as many "design" posts as I'd like... so what a perfect opportunity- with my favorite city in the world, London, coming out with a new logo!

London's mayor, Boris Johnson, announced on April 1st that the city has created "London & Partners," a new agency meant..."to showcase London as the best city to visit, invest and study in." And with that announcement came this new logo.

And now I feel I must explain. The old logo, with its bright colors and more graphic design, has been used since 2009 (I believe), and was created to try and represent all of London without focusing on one specific landmark. The bottom skyline consists of real London buildings, and the top represents everything there is to do in the city. It's quite detailed and busy, which made a few people grumble. But not as much as this new logo. Watch this short promo film for  London & Partners...

Since this new logo and announcement came out on April 1st, people initially thought this was a joke. So, already not a good sign. To counterbalance the old graphic, this one is extremely minimal, with the red German typography. But what is the squiggle? Viewers who commented on Creative Review's post on the London logo thought it... "looks like someone lying down gasping for air," "a broken egg," "embroyonic," and umm, "an old man's penis."

Well, it's actually the Thames River. It's supposed to be even more representative of London than the skyline because it is the river that runs through it. It encapsulates the city. I think incorporating the Thames was a good idea in theory, but I had no idea what it was. I don't live in London so I didn't know the shape of the river. My friend didn't recognize it either, and I believe the fact that us foreigners didn't know, means a lot of other people won't know.  And the whole point of the logo is to bring tourism, business and ultimately just people to London. 

Still, it's minimal, clean and straight to the point. But I miss the whimsical logo already. Another reason for the new logo was because the old one was a little too popular: 

I think it's good, not great. What do you think of the new logo? Love or Hate?