I'm all for redesigns. I'm all for keeping things fresh and updated. And I'm all for designing things with shelf life and some timelessness so that a few years from now they hopefully won't appear to be yesterday's trend.

That being said, I can only imagine the tidal wave of critique experienced by the designers responsible for redesigning Ontario's traditional trillium logo. At a cost of $219,000 to a government reportedly running a deficit, Bensimon Byrne produced a mark described as "resembling holly," "spiky," "unfriendly," and "structurally unsound."


Public and political outrage have ensued, and with the role of the web giving people a voice, the response is a loud one. I personally don't care for the redesign either, and personally don't understand where that money went, to yield such a poor outcome. I'd love to see the focus group testing on this one. Maybe the budget went to paying them off?

Labels: Design