This is so wrong
Published February 5th, 2008 in Design.As I was buzzing through my feeds this morning, I saw that one of my favorite logo design blogs, Brand New, had a review of Animal Planet’s new logo. Check it out:
Now, it was definitely time for Animal Planet to freshen up and modernize their logo, but whaaaaat the heck is that? Did they leave the choice of logo up to the Meerkats?
What do you think? Do you like it? Am I just missing something?
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That’s a logo? I enjoy their old one much better…I think they should have kept the old text, and updated the logo. But what do I know, right? lol…
That’s a very disappointing change. A new logo should really enliven the brand.
It reminds me of the 2012 Olympics logo! Not particularly clever or attractive…
You’re kidding, aren’t you? For an organization with so many logo possibilities, this
result should have been shelved.
Horrible!
No, it’s because an M turned on its side means…
erm…
The thin N and A are signify…
um…
I don’t know, I give up. Clearly, so did the designer responsible for that.
Can’t believe it, is it a joke? You’re not missing anything..
The old logo was much nicer. Your Meercat comment was hilarious. Emma
OLD WAY BETTER! You are right that new one is whack.
It reads to me “Ani Backwards Epsilon al Planet”.
Old one better, I mean, what other animal defines animal more than an elephant?!?!
The new logo seems pretty obvious. The ‘NI’ and ‘AL’ are trees, the ‘M’ thing is the hidden animals watching. There is a sense that the animals are expecting the viewer to do the honorable thing - which I guess is to preserve habitat, respect the ’sanctity’ of the jungle. Other, non-jungle habitats are present by implication, the immediate imagery is tropical jungle.
The leading ‘A’ and plain-written ‘PLANET’ relate primitive (jungle) habitats to the modern world, implying the ability to coexist. I would have been happier if the stress had been more on interdependence of environments and less on making a showcase of the ‘quaint’ protected habitat.
For fundraising, presenting the primitive habitat as a showcase of achievement (rather than careful nurturing and responsible husbandry) will probably pay off. This logo definitely comes across as a ‘fund me’ organization, rather than an ‘I love the animals and habitats we protect’ organization.
I guess the new logo is OK. It makes more sense than when Kentucky Fried Chicken wanted to become KFC.
Is that an official change? The first one is so distinctive and classic. It’s not even old fashioned either. That would be a shame if they changed it.
Animal planet should have stuck witht the first logo. It looks like a big “3″ in the middle like the company 3M. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.
what a horrendous transformation!
But you know what’s interesting? From all the world-wide branches of Animal Planet, only the USA division has changed to the new logo, all other countries, including UK, Canada, European branch, sticked with the old logo. You can check out the links to all branches on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Planet
oh the first logo was so much better and easier on the eyes! Not all change is good after all
my first comment on your blog although Ive been a lurker here for quite some time! you have a very nice blog here!
the old one was nice, really good idea with the elephant playing with the planet. the green was a little tired, so i understand why they would change it a bit.
the new one isn’t bad from an esthetic point of view (although i still have a bit of an issue with the washed-out greens) BUT what’s that got to do with animals? and our planet? square planet? rectangular animals? duh? it wouldn’t be a bad logo for, say, an environmentally friendly fertilizer company - but animal planet? i don’t get the connection.
i wonder what happened there? who made the decision to use that logo?
I completely agree. I’m not sure what’s going on there but the choice is completely inappropriate. Imaging all the cool things that could be done with the Animal Planet logo. And this is what they come up with? I’m floored.
I actually think it’s a bold, and strong departure from the old logo. Not really.
All they had to do was remove the globe from the old logo and they’d have had an option that was 10 times better than the new idea.
There’s a parody I’ve seen of this one, and it says ‘Anal Planet’. I think it’s quite effective.
I dont think it is ugly. I even think there is something original in it, but it does not look link a finished logo. It looks like one of the starting concepts which is by far not finished yet. And do they want to get rid of the “discovery” channel image from the old logo. I dont understand , but i would not feel proud as a designer.
A very ugly new logo indeed. Just like Rob this reminds me of the Olympics logo.
It’s a matter of the old saying ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’. It might be time to change to a new logo, but if the old one still worked and was aligned with the companies mission - then it should have stayed.
-Dave
I love the backwards SIGMA. Just kidding. Bad logo.
I usually love logos with only type, but the old one was a classic.
It really needs the white elephant silhouette in the new logo somewhere - that’s what I picture when I imagine Animal Planet.
It looks really bad. They should have had an open poll to vote for the best design.
Well, U cant change their minds.. The admin decides it, cant blame the designers much.. The deciding committe gets so stubborn they just dont want any designer’s advice..
I agree. It’s not pleasing to the eye and the sideways M is very distracting from the overall logo itself.
it’s horrible! i think they should have thought about really designing a logo, not a 5-year-old photoshop work :)).
i think you heard it before, but the bluebird theme is perfect. it has anything a blogger wants to have in his frontpage. keep it up.
Oh my God! Where is the reflection towards animals or wildlife. just green text. Horrible. The old one was old, but this is ridicolous.
I can’t say it was an inspiring logo to begin with but this is way worse. The sideways M and differing size width letters give it a schizo feel. If ths was a channel about psycho animals attacking people it’d be a great logo! Actually even then it wouldn’t be to good.
That is one of the worst logos I have ever seen. Really bad stuff. I wonder how much they paid for that?
It’d hve to say it is pretty jolting on the eyes…. not to my taste.
I preferred the original logo, Discovery are changing all their channel names and logos it seems,.
Wow…that is a shame. What are they thinking!?
I feel the same right now looking at that as I did when i saw the national logo design for Italy.
http://dottourism.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/italy-tourism-logo.png
Old logo, imho, more interesting. But new logo, more creative.
I really like it, better than the old logo. I liked the London 2012 logo as well.
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The new logo is actually quite disappointing.
Although the old needs some re-vamping, at least you know
what Animal Planet is about. It has something you can relate to.
One thing I don’t understand is why spend that much money to change your logo? I mean, all the business cards, print heads etc, not to mention the money they paid to the designer(s). For what?
I don’t beliave it’s serious. I just stay very confused. The new logo is simply horrible. A mix of nonsense letters. Gasp.
This is definitely so wrong. Actually, I like the original logo way much better. People behind Animal Planet should just have left the logo as it is. Very disappointing indeed.
I don’t know why everyone wants to go change something that doesn’t look so bad. They should have just slightly redesigned the original. You have to admit that the sideways M is amazing…..not.
It goes to show you that you can pay a lot of money to come up with something sub par. I liked the old Animal Planet logo much better. I’m wondering why they felt the need to change.
I liked the “before” logo.. its more (animal planet) not the new one..
That I and L its so fat! and it doesnt have any “animal feeling” on the logo..
Horrible! In the old one, the colours of the globe don’t really match with the rest, but otherwise it is perfectly fine and iconic (if a little dated due to the type).
The new one is uninspired both in type, colour, and general execution. It looks like the rejected logo for a kids cartoon channel. I can see why they rotated it a bit and tucked it into an obscure corner on their website.
i watch a lot of the discovery network channels and i have to say, every time i see an animal planet commercial now, i cringe at the end when it comes time to show the network logo because i know what’s coming.
and for what it’s worth, i can see tiger/zebra stripes in the negative space around the m, but i have to force it.
Wow, that’s a pretty bad logo. Looks like a logo I would make. lol
What… Was it a trainee at the design company who made the new logo? Not good
When I first saw it my immediate thoughts were: 1.) Where’s the animal? 2.) Where’s the planet?
Really a sad solution to their identity re-design project.
Wow, that’s a pretty bad logo. Looks like a logo I would make. lol
Can’t believe it, is it a joke? You’re not missing anything..
The old logo is much better than the new one…. Ive seen this alot lately, companies that want to get a new fresh logo, wich says less about them than the old one. (the norwegian company Telenor for example)
I don’t like it. AT ALL. It looks really really corny. Not only that, but it looks like whoever designed it thought they were being reeeaally clever (’oh yeah. I’ll just flip that M sideways, change the colour to puke-green, cross my legs and wait for the design awards to start rolling in’).
It just looks so basic - not basic in a ’simple and artistic way’, but in a ‘duh and zzzzzzz’ way.
The animal kingdom’s probably cowering in embarrassment.
(am I being too harsh?)
WHAT the Hell is wrong with them?!! Are they flat-out stupid? Someone PLEASE email them this post so they can see how 100% of the people in the real world thing their new “logo” is the ugliest thing to grace TV screens and a slap in the face to loyal viewers.
Oh my god. That was a ugly logo
The old logo at animal planet was much cooler and that new one was shooking me. The guys over there should really learn some design.
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No way, that’s so ugly….please go back to the old Logo
My first impression of the M on its side is as though an animal is on its side, as in dead, or ‘poached’. I think its a big mistake!
I wonder how much they paid the logo designer. I think they should revert back to their old logo. Bad move.
i think fist logo is more beatiful than the second logo.. beucase second logo is too simply like amator logo….