Wednesday 2 September 2015

typeface or spaghetti and meatballs

In light of one of the internet’s prime estate’s decision to re-brand its appearance with a little kerning and serif that makes one wonder about the endurance of the iconic and recognition—since of course logos and charges evolve and grow more sophisticated or shed their more esoteric heraldry in favour of something cleaner and simpler (Google too has of course doodled through several phases and still true to it’s refrigerator magnet alphabet theme and still rather a bit evocative of juvenile clothing line but nothing so tremolo-terrible as what the label GAP tried or new Coke), it was refreshing to see that others debated and agonised over the identity that logos impart.
The original emblem, in the tradition of a military unit patch, of the US National Aeronautic and Space Agency (NASA) came to be known as the meatball once it was replaced by a sleek modern, artisanal font. The rendering of the acronym last from the early seventies until the early nineties and was referred to as the worm, the agency having decided—not without controversy, to the original meatball design. Still mindful of this schism, the graphic design team that not only created and promoted the worm but also the vocabulary of standard icons—the template for a launch pad service truck, rocket parts, shuttles, spacesuits, etc that mission-planners had in their quivers to stage their presentation, are hoping to offer a big blank-book of these creations in small batches in a context that underscores their style with all its associations and aspirations.