USA Today Destroys its Brand

Meh. Click to embiggen. Image from LA Times.

Redesigns of familiar brands are often very dicey. We're not just judging new versus old, we have an emotional attachment to the established design, whether we are conscious of it or not. Sometimes it goes smoothly, as when Burger King updated its image subtly, or when rival Jack in the Box changed theirs significantly. Neither was decried as a step too far.

But often, if the change isn't seen as an improvement, it can be derided, maybe even damage the brand. When Pepsi changed its familiar red and blue yin/yang globe to one that looks more abstract, designers and fans almost universally panned it. The jury is still out on Microsoft's and eBay's new, minimalist logos, but many find them quite boring. And the most disastrous redo was by GAP, which met such hostility with its logo change, that it decided to throw it out, and keep the old one.

The "before" here wasn't a winner either. But the
red and blue globe was a mainstay. Image from LogoTalk.

USAToday should do the same. I realize that in a changing media world, a newspaper must change with the times. And USAToday has been derided for a long time as "McPaper." But tell me, how did their long-time, established design differ from how a typical web page is set up? It already was laid out with news nuggets and charts, and brightly colored eye-grabbers. USAToday was a web page before we knew what they were!

The logo that never was. Image from LogoTalk.

Now? It just doesn't hold together. As a designer, I'd have a hard time ever liking the new design. The logo is NOT an improvement, and its juxtaposition with a Futura Bold decimalized, six-digit date does not read well. It looks like an unfinished pie chart, a placeholder, or part of an ad. Besides just floating there, looking incomplete, the date does not work in this format. First, the decimals are a cutesy, trendy way to write phone numbers these days, I do not know why, but it's true. Also, in the USA, we put the month first, and in other parts of the world they put the day first, so the date will be unclear to many who read it.

Looks like a web page to me. 

On the whole, I declare it a disaster. They've taken away the brand identity, and produced an ugly product that looks like it was rushed out before it was finished. I can't imagine that this tests particularly well, or how they decided it was "better." Different sure, not better. There was room for improvement, and for streamlining, but they took it too far.

[Excerpt]

USA Today launches redesign

The newspaper that introduced the world to the infographic is getting a makeover. Thirty years after the launch of the new national newspaper, USA Today unveiled a new logo, a more colorful look and bulked-up coverage of technology and travel. It also unveiled a digital redesign that gives the news operation a consistent look on its relaunched website and on mobile devices. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times

Bible Museum Planned for Washington, DC

This is what happens when you combine "religion"
with "museum." Image from Skeptical Raptor's Blog.

As an atheist, it's difficult to express exasperation without resorting to phrases like, "Oh, God!" or even the substitute phrases, like "Gee whiz!" It's so ingrained in our language, it just comes out. So, when I told The Other Half that they were building a Bible Museum in Washington, DC, I wasn't surprised to hear him exclaim, "Jesus Christ! Well won't that be exciting!"

I'm already very offended by the level of religiosity in our government, in our laws. I manage to shrug my shoulders at "In God We Trust" on the money--even though it is obviously un-Constitutional. I wasn't happy, even as a kid, when I had to say "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. I cringe when I hear a president (any president) go overboard on religion, though I roll with the "God bless the United States of America." 

So, in our nation's capital, a city that is itself practically a museum, with its many monuments and historic buildings, the Capitol, the White House. . .The Smithsonian, for God's goodness crying out loud! . . .do we really need a Bible Museum? How does that work anyway? The entire book is unprovable and unproven. There are no exhibits of actual biblical events, because there are no genuine biblical artifacts! I just hate a collection of religious superstitious folklore being put in the same category with actual museums.


[Excerpt]


Bible museum planned for Washington, D.C.

A large-scale Bible museum will open in Washington, D.C., within four years, say planners who have been touring the world with portions of their collection. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Herman Cain's Offensive 9/11 "Tribute" Video

I am not religious (at all) and am not particularly emotional or sentimental. So, I'm not offended that Hermain Cain is singing "God Bless America" over images of the 9/11 attacks. I'm confused by it, as it would seem that "God" was sleeping that day.  I'd say that this video dims Mr. Cain's chances in the 2012 GOP primary elections. . .except that he never had a chance anyway. So. . .

WARNING: The video contains explicit videos from September 11, 2001. Most of us have seen them, but this is brutal stuff.

[Excerpt]


Herman Cain produces incredibly tasteless 9/11 video




So, Joe Scarborough only produced the second-grossest 9/11 "tribute" video I've seen this week. Herman Cain's presidential campaign produced this monstrosity, in which Cain croons "God Bless America" over footage of the 2001 attacks and their aftermath. . .

Read more at: Salon

Thanks to Stupid Monkey Planet for the link.

Rick Perry's Big Idea: A Moratorium on ALL Regulations

Why oh why couldn't it be a corn dog?
Image from source, ThinkProgress

Brilliant! Stop government regulation of everything! Does our national politics really need to be this stupid? Really?

[Excerpt]

Perry Reveals Plan For Total U.S. Anarchy: ‘Put A Moratorium On All Regulations’ 
 
Today, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) issued the first policy position of his presidential campaign by asking the White House to issue a “moratorium on regulations across this country”. . .

Under such a moratorium, the Food and Drug Administration would stop approving new drugs and preventing human experimentation. . .

Read more at: ThinkProgress

UPDATED TO ADD: Oh. Dear. GOD. 

I was only joking before! Image from Queerty

Maddow: Media Love Affair with Paul Ryan Obscures His Radical Budget Plan

One thing good about The Rachel Maddow Show is that no matter how depressing and jaw-dropping the news is, she manages to at least put some gallows humor into telling you about it. And occasionally, she manages to take a wrong-headed media meme and help change its direction. Yes, Paul Ryan is kind of cute, and possibly buff. But his budget plan is not just extreme, but based on faulty numbers. Let me check out his ass, beltway media! You do your jobs!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Fashion Turns Scary: Extreme Hoodies

First photo from source, AFP
Second photo from source, Los Angeles Times

Kids these days. If they're not displaying their muffin-tops overspilling their hip-huggers, or wearing their pants somewhere barely north of their thighs, they're dressing like terrorists! And I thought Crocs were a hideous fashion statement!

[Excerpt 1]

Britons eye 'burkhas for boys' for Christmas

A jacket with sunglasses sewn into the hood, dubbed a "burkha for boys," is shaping up as a big Christmas hit within weeks of its release in Britain.

The garment has raised eyebrows in a country wary of so-called "hoodies," or young men wearing hooded coats, but police admit they can do nothing in the face of the anonymity it bestows on the wearer. . .

Read more at: AFP

[Excerpt 2]

Danger under the hood?

They're fashion statements to some, but to administrators in Orange County's Capistrano Unified School District, there's danger lurking under the hood. All six high schools last week banned hoodies from campus. . .

Read more at: Los Angeles Times