idfive | informed design

I have been critical, recently, of a few logos (Dairy Queen, The Bank of New York and Phoenix)and I have liked a few (such as Citi and Credit Suiss).

So here is a liker.

I am enamored of the new msnbc logo primarily because the old one was so God-forsaken-awful. Unlike some logos where it is hard to put your finger on what exactly is so troubling about it, the old MSNBC one is right there in your face. Lets dissect it and then move on to the new one.

First, the peacock is both lovely and familiar, modern-retro, gentle, and with delicate lines. It has been in my face for so many years I almost can’t see it anymore. But next to the clunky barbarous type beside it, it immediately becomes apparent that the ONLY thing that is interesting here is chermayeff & geismar’s peacock, the type has gotta go.

Lets look at what is so bad about this type. The S and N are my biggest problems. Stretching them horizontally is simply wrong on so many levels – and it is completely inexplicable until you look below:

Has anyone seens such a cluttered rough mast for a major brand? Basically, in order to produce a vertical box treatment for the logo, the designer did evil with type. So that the S and the N would fit vertically beneath the M, they have been stretched to the M’s width. This throws off the balance so that when looking at it, lets say on tv, it is always hard to read.

At the bottom read the word decision, and then try to read the letters in the logo. Feel the difficulty? You have to actually work your way through the logo.

Similarly, the boxed vertical version is even more troubling, it jumbles up before your eyes and almost grows abstract. See how easy it is to read the numbers, the 8 for instance, as opposed to the N?

So for all these good reasons, MSNBC has decided to become msnbc.

msnbc has spoken about why they feel the brand needs an upgrade:

“”Msnbc.com inspires consumers to explore the ever-unfolding human story,” said Catherine Captain, vice president of marketing, msnbc.com. “The Fuller Spectrum of News campaign speaks to msnbc.com’s rich consumer experience, an online environment no other news site offers. It’s designed to bring to life compelling, original and even quirky stories, and showcase the diversity of media, sources and platforms consumers discover on the site.”

A Fuller Spectrum of News, created with New York-based strategic communications firm SS+K, takes consumers on a lively and colorful journey through msnbc.com. The cross-platform campaign is comprised of broadcast, print and online executions, including banner ads, an online game and an interactive screensaver, in addition to the first branded in-cinema motion sensor game.

“The thing people really love about msnbc.com is the wide range of stories, from Iraq to Angelina Jolie,” said Marty Cooke, chief creative officer, SS+K. “Color is a great metaphor and gave us a dynamic way to illustrate the rich variety on the site beyond using the obvious news photos.”"

So they aren’t fooling around, which is cool, and I think their claim that a “full spectrum” is an equivalent metaphor to “360″ or “wide-range” is dead on.

SS+K has done some great work with Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG brand, and have also somehow managed to make unicef appealing.

The new logo is set in Gotham, a font used for high-falutin museums and such, and so you might be hoping for a newsier font, something that evokes timeliness or beat reporters clamouring for a scoop; but I am very pleased with how inviting it appears and compared to the old logo I am willing to let nearly anything slide.

The biggest criticism I have seen thus far is that it is too web 2.0. That it is just screaming to have a “beta” stuck on it. While I will grant that point, the logo does so many other things right:
1/ the new logo makes the peacock look better. Or at least doesn’t make it look worse.

2/ the new logo is inviting, and to the extent that it is web 2.0 then I am pleased, because msnbc is make a serious stab at more audience participation. So it fits.

3/ The new logo is integrated with a whole new campaign, and this surrounds an exultant use of color:

And that is really nice.

4/ it is genuinely hard to revitalize and change something while retaining the best elements of the predecessor. This new mark does that and I think it is graceful and subtle as well. I feel like it more NBC and maybe more Microsoft than the original, and so this upgrade has left the parentage and legacy improved and intact.

Take a look at what it means to be full spectrum.

Brand New, as always, has some good comments.