Am I the only one that doesn’t hate the new NYC tourism logo?
There’s always heated debate over change
As human beings, we are creatures of habit, and our innate tendency to resist change has become deeply ingrained in our psyche. However, in the fast-paced world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, we must acknowledge that change is inevitable, and we need to be prepared for it, whether we are ready or not. ChatGPT is proofreading this for crying out loud.
Many people have developed a strong emotional attachment to the old logo, and it’s understandable that they may feel resistant to any changes. However, in a dynamic city like New York, it’s important to keep up with changing demographics and preferences especifally those of their visitors.
If I’m in that studio and was told the statistics of NYC’s tourists and how it’s getting younger and younger, than to appeal to this younger demographic, I’m changing our branding to reflect their tastes and preferences.
I believe the new logo reflects the new generation pretty well.
Most of our applications use Helvetica font and like wise. Almost everything is sans-serif now looking quickly at my everyday apps: Spotify, Google, and TikTok, all their logos/fonts are sans serif. In an era where legibility and accessibility is prioritized for every display I see the reason for the change. “Helvetica is considered to be one of the most easy to read”.
Some debated whether the new font is welcoming or not and I’ll play devil’s advocate and say that neither fonts really gave a welcoming vibe. When I think of welcoming fonts I do feel serif is more of a safer choice, but one that’s accompanied by cursive not typewritten. I think the first one worked more in having an unserious/quirky vibe, while the new one really works well in presenting NYC’s sophistication/grace.
What was the team told to sell to tourist? What are tourist interested in doing when going to NYC? NYC fashion week → also a change in fashion icons to sans, Does tourism spike during that week? Are we over quirkiness after COVID?
However, I’m still torn on the change to ‘WE’ instead of ‘I’, this might isolate solo travelers. I can hear the conversations of “we should change it to ‘WE’ to promote more community and group settings/travel”. I don’t know the statistics of those that go to NYC but doesn’t New York City’s image feel individualistic whether it’s the businessman who has a takeaway coffee cup in hand briskly striding to work or the well-dressed woman with a confident demeanor beckoning down a cab? I’m a bit biased here, only having traveled to NYC through mass media.
One thing I really do hate is that the stacking is so clumsy. The gigantic heart that’s misaligned with the rest of the font really does throw me for a loop here. How would this look on shirts, websites, etc, where stacking is necessary…hm? Looks more like a balloon emoji. I’m also reading it as “WE NYC ❤” than “WE ❤ NYC” which is also…hm. Spacing and sizing I think should have been deliberated on more here.
Although I have my own assemblage of questions pertaining to the whole design process, i’ll end them here.
While change can be challenging, it’s essential for businesses and organizations to evolve and adapt in order to remain relevant and competitive. What’s your opinion on the change?
Go ahead and read some of my older case studies since you’re already here WE ❤ Case Studies
