What mid-sized corporations do you think have ugly logos?
March 31, 2010 7:38 PM Subscribe
What mid-sized corporations do you think have ugly logos?
I'm a graphic design student and we have to come up with a few logo designs. One has to be for a mid-size corporation. The problem is that I can't think of any ones off the top of my head. I've looking under "ugly logos" and saw some awesomely bad examples, but they were all small businesses and non-profits. So, hive mind, what mid-size corporations have staggeringly bad logos in your opinion?
I'm a graphic design student and we have to come up with a few logo designs. One has to be for a mid-size corporation. The problem is that I can't think of any ones off the top of my head. I've looking under "ugly logos" and saw some awesomely bad examples, but they were all small businesses and non-profits. So, hive mind, what mid-size corporations have staggeringly bad logos in your opinion?
I don't know that it's horrible looking, but the Kum and Go chain of gas stations....well, I don't even need to explain that one. So much fail.
posted by TrialByMedia at 7:42 PM on March 31, 2010
posted by TrialByMedia at 7:42 PM on March 31, 2010
Can it be a megacorp? Walmart's new logo looks to me like somebody just discovered the asterisk key.
Anyway, look at downmarket stuff. Mervyn's logo...yikes. The JCPenney logo looks like it should be on the side of the space shuttle.
Oh, and Xerox isn't what I would call downmarket, but their new logo is pretty bad and belongs on a cleaning product or vacuum cleaner or something.
posted by circular at 7:53 PM on March 31, 2010
Anyway, look at downmarket stuff. Mervyn's logo...yikes. The JCPenney logo looks like it should be on the side of the space shuttle.
Oh, and Xerox isn't what I would call downmarket, but their new logo is pretty bad and belongs on a cleaning product or vacuum cleaner or something.
posted by circular at 7:53 PM on March 31, 2010
Lucas Oil Products has a very, very busy logo.
posted by tss at 7:56 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by tss at 7:56 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Duane Reade and Hertz recently refreshed their logos and ended up worse than when they started.
On preview, Xerox didn't help themselves either.
posted by Frank Grimes at 8:04 PM on March 31, 2010
On preview, Xerox didn't help themselves either.
posted by Frank Grimes at 8:04 PM on March 31, 2010
Bad logos:
AT&T
Super 8 Motel
IKEA
I hate logos that are just boring text:
ADT
Dell
facebook
Jack in the Box
(I guess these are more unimaginative than bad, really.)
posted by runningwithscissors at 8:09 PM on March 31, 2010
AT&T
Super 8 Motel
IKEA
I hate logos that are just boring text:
ADT
Dell
Jack in the Box
(I guess these are more unimaginative than bad, really.)
posted by runningwithscissors at 8:09 PM on March 31, 2010
Emera is hideous and can't help but read it as Enema.
posted by oulipian at 8:12 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by oulipian at 8:12 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Cintas is hideous.
Also, http://www.yourlogomakesmebarf.com/ cracks my shit up.
posted by banannafish at 8:16 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, http://www.yourlogomakesmebarf.com/ cracks my shit up.
posted by banannafish at 8:16 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I find a lot of electronics shops have rather bad ones, as do a lot of gas stations and chain stores in malls, a couple off the top of my head:
posted by thebestsophist at 8:22 PM on March 31, 2010
posted by thebestsophist at 8:22 PM on March 31, 2010
Actually, Jack in the Box recently updated their logo and I kind of like it. See here for before and after.
I'm not sure they're mid-sized (though they might be by now), but I loathe Yahoo!s logo even after the refresh (they went from red to purple but kept the cutesy font).
posted by librarylis at 8:28 PM on March 31, 2010
I'm not sure they're mid-sized (though they might be by now), but I loathe Yahoo!s logo even after the refresh (they went from red to purple but kept the cutesy font).
posted by librarylis at 8:28 PM on March 31, 2010
I worked for TXU when the new logo was introduced. We were told it represented the company's global presence, the sun's energy and the company's environmental energy holdings.
But most everyone refers to it as the puckered butt hole.
posted by 26.2 at 8:57 PM on March 31, 2010
But most everyone refers to it as the puckered butt hole.
posted by 26.2 at 8:57 PM on March 31, 2010
I don't know that it's horrible looking, but the Kum and Go chain of gas stations....well, I don't even need to explain that one. So much fail.
Except that, if you grow up in Iowa, you buy a Kum & Go t-shirt the moment you figure out that it's dirty. Eventually such t-shirts find their way into movies. So: quite the opposite.
The question is a little ambiguous to me: are you asking for logos that are aesthetically displeasing, or logos that do a poor job of branding?
posted by invitapriore at 8:59 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
Except that, if you grow up in Iowa, you buy a Kum & Go t-shirt the moment you figure out that it's dirty. Eventually such t-shirts find their way into movies. So: quite the opposite.
The question is a little ambiguous to me: are you asking for logos that are aesthetically displeasing, or logos that do a poor job of branding?
posted by invitapriore at 8:59 PM on March 31, 2010 [1 favorite]
I am not sure what constitutes a mid-sized corporation for you, but I think Radio Shack's logo is both ugly and unhelpful.
I guess they view themselves as a technology retailer, and while they're stuck with an awful name (neither "Radio" nor "Shack" conveys the leading edge of technology), I'd expect they could overcome this burden with better branding. But no, their logo is just an off-axis letter R in a red circle followed by boring sans serif type.
posted by tomwheeler at 9:24 PM on March 31, 2010
I guess they view themselves as a technology retailer, and while they're stuck with an awful name (neither "Radio" nor "Shack" conveys the leading edge of technology), I'd expect they could overcome this burden with better branding. But no, their logo is just an off-axis letter R in a red circle followed by boring sans serif type.
posted by tomwheeler at 9:24 PM on March 31, 2010
GoDaddy looks like it was made by a teenager in MS Paint
Microsoft looks about 20 years out of date
Nothing says 'boring oligopolist' like Verizon
Wikipedia's logo reminds me of browsing the Web in Netscape 1.1 in 1995
posted by lsemel at 9:48 PM on March 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
Microsoft looks about 20 years out of date
Nothing says 'boring oligopolist' like Verizon
Wikipedia's logo reminds me of browsing the Web in Netscape 1.1 in 1995
posted by lsemel at 9:48 PM on March 31, 2010 [2 favorites]
HA! From the time I posted the link until now, TXU has changed the logo. It's less of a puckered butt now.
posted by 26.2 at 12:14 AM on April 1, 2010
posted by 26.2 at 12:14 AM on April 1, 2010
Cheaper chain stores tend to have ugly logos more often:
Family Dollar
Dollar General (before redesign, which is a modest improvement)
Value City
Roses (and none of the other logos are much better)
As long as we're talking about Iowa, I've never liked Maid-Rite or Hy-Vee's logos, or their names for that matter.
Probably every region of the US has at least one grocery store chain with a terrible logo, like Hy-Vee above. Jewel-Osco is pretty bad. Harris Teeter is a pretty good store with a pretty lame logo - the old logo from the 80s is much worse. My current local store is Market Basket, where you always get more for your dollar, probably because they don't spend money on frivolous things like graphic designers.
Dairy Queen's old logo always irritated me, and the redesign is not better.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:48 AM on April 1, 2010
Family Dollar
Dollar General (before redesign, which is a modest improvement)
Value City
Roses (and none of the other logos are much better)
As long as we're talking about Iowa, I've never liked Maid-Rite or Hy-Vee's logos, or their names for that matter.
Probably every region of the US has at least one grocery store chain with a terrible logo, like Hy-Vee above. Jewel-Osco is pretty bad. Harris Teeter is a pretty good store with a pretty lame logo - the old logo from the 80s is much worse. My current local store is Market Basket, where you always get more for your dollar, probably because they don't spend money on frivolous things like graphic designers.
Dairy Queen's old logo always irritated me, and the redesign is not better.
posted by Metroid Baby at 4:48 AM on April 1, 2010
J. B. Hunt, the trucking company. Hideous logo; it looks like it was drawn by the founder's nephew armed with a ruler and not much design sense.
posted by DrGail at 4:52 AM on April 1, 2010
posted by DrGail at 4:52 AM on April 1, 2010
New York City's newish logo is beyond hideous. It started out on taxis but has spread throughout city agencies. It makes me mad just looking at it.
posted by Mavri at 7:41 AM on April 1, 2010
posted by Mavri at 7:41 AM on April 1, 2010
Pepsi's current logo is pretty lame.
posted by 6550
Truth, and you're not the first to notice.
posted by workerant at 8:01 AM on April 1, 2010
posted by 6550
Truth, and you're not the first to notice.
posted by workerant at 8:01 AM on April 1, 2010
Toyota's logo looks like a close-up view of an asshole. I wouldn't call them mid-sized, though.
posted by rfs at 11:07 AM on April 1, 2010
posted by rfs at 11:07 AM on April 1, 2010
Electronic Express
Not "bad," per se, just very unimaginative and forgettable.
posted by joshrholloway at 8:41 AM on April 2, 2010
Not "bad," per se, just very unimaginative and forgettable.
posted by joshrholloway at 8:41 AM on April 2, 2010
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