Core77

"World's Capital" cursed with world's worst logo

By Rain Noe - November 1, 2007

in Object Culture

Well folks, the New York City taxi logo is now officially the ugliest thing in the world and a perfect example of what's wrong with design in America. What knucklehead came up with this poorly-spaced bi-font disaster? For chrissakes this is New York--the city that's home to Pentagram, arguably one of the best graphic design firms in the world, and hundreds of other firms trying to knock them off their perch, and this is the best we could do? Who did we farm this out to, a kindergarten class?

In actuality the logo was done by brand consultancy Wolff Olins (after NYC officials passed on Smart Design). The hacks over at Wolff Olins also designed the London 2012 Olympic Games logo, which a staggering 85% of surveyed people disapproved of.

The Times Online invited readers to submit their own designs, and most of what they came up with--the general public--is soaringly better than the execrable work of Wolff Olins. Below is the one we would have chosen, by Times reader Scott Schwabel, as it looks like even Lady Liberty is hailing a cab. Click here to see more submissions.

via the new york times

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Enrique

16 years ago

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I think the T in the circle is supposed to conjure ideas of mass transit (subway) as in The N R 6 4 2 all in circles with different colors. That is a good idea. With the yellow color as in Taxi however the N and the R have yellow already. All in all the idea has not been fully executed in it's best way. They need to keep working on it. The statue of liberty is very good.
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Malky (Old School)

16 years ago

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Simply put.....It's a No Go Logo. Nuff said.
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offie

16 years ago

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surely many were called but few were chosen. what design college did the W Olinsgo to?
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Caroline

17 years ago

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I can't agree more--it's hideous and we've missed a wonderful opportunity to wow tourists and others with the NYC graphic design muscle that exists!
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craig elimeliah

17 years ago

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Its a subject that has been secretly haunting all of us "design eyes" who the hell approved this? And why didnt anyone ask us??

They broke every rule in the book, and failed to innovate anything... scrape em off and start again!

Hurts my eyes every time i see this... sux to live in NYC now.
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Cas

17 years ago

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NY, Im sorry for the pain your going through these days...
London, be glad it's not your taxi's than you would be doubble f'd :-)

I dont really care who made it. but IT SUCKS ! I just don't untherstand that someone can deliver such a logo. both NYC and Taxi are just not to hard to spell nicely in a good typo. but this.... poor..poor.. new york...
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Fred Oliveira

17 years ago

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You nailed it. Here's what I think we're observing: London gets a shitty logo that causes a lot of stir. Someone in NY says something to the effect of "lets get some of that mojo too" and they hire Wolff to do something "hip and futuristic" (where in fact it means "shitty and clueless"). In one word: FAIL.
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bart

17 years ago

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look at all the logos they made as a graphic device that can be used and incorperatd in all the communication & media.
brand & identity design is not just designing a funky little logo,
its finding a grid system, a platform in which the brand is applied to. In this way they are more groundbreaking than a lot of us.
i'm getting tired than 90 percent of the design community is so superficial when it comes to this and is to arrogant to look forward...
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Bob

17 years ago

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Yeah, Wolff Olins didn't design the 'taxi' logo, only the NYC part. tut tut core77, get it right in the future.
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NYC#1fan

17 years ago

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That sure is a crappy lookin' logo, but it sure is distinctive. When I think of NYC cabs, that logo will be burned in my brain. Sometimes ugly beats tasteful
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Thomas

17 years ago

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This has been echoed all over the blogosphere by people who seem to have had no real experience getting design done in a corporate setting. Good visual design ideas are almost never enough to win a project, get approval from all the stakeholders, and jump through the hoops to get the work out in the world. "Good design" is literally the easiest part of that process. It's so freakin easy to have a hundred great, *great* ideas, it's much harder to get even one of them to market. It's superhuman to get a great idea to market.

That said, the Statue of Liberty idea is really nice (though I can hear the arguments: will non-native speakers still be able to recognize the word "Taxi"? Does the Statue of Liberty have branding requirements that wouldn't allow us to use part of the image? )
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shenk

17 years ago

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wolff olins didn't design the taxi logo they only did the big bold NYC which is part of a larger identity for the whole city
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Peter Ragonetti

17 years ago

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I am so happy to see this. I have been discussing this with designer peers since I first saw it. It may be the worst logo ever.
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jak

17 years ago

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Franz Schnaas's checkered T is pretty hot. best option.
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