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Noble, wise, genteel: the aging lion was an apt metaphor for the sagacity and permanence of the New York Public Library, especially its grand Carerre and Hastings-designed home in Bryant Park. Even old warhorses need an upgrade in These Modern Times, however, and the lion is now looking a little perkier after a logo upgrade by the library’s in-house art department. Details on the design nitty-gritty, plus an NYPL video outlining the logo evolution, after the cut.
The strong lines on a vector format mean the new logo can be scaled to a range of sizes, especially prescient in the internet age, when as many people are likely to see the logo on a digital screen as they are in print. Marc Blaustein, art director for the library system, confirmed to the New York Times that the old logo, with white lines on a circular black background, “had a hard time maintaining its detail as it shrank.” Update: watch reactions to the new logo from other designers on the New York Public Library’s YouTube channel.
Other potent potables:
1. We’ll also see a new color palette and – get ready for it, fellow font nerds – a new sans-serif typeface, Kievit, created by former Wolff Olins designer Michael Abbink in 2001.
2. The logo is based on one of the lions lounging on the front steps of the main library. His name is Fortitude. The shafted lion’s name? Patience. (Amusing.) Update #2: Blaustein tells us, “Though primarily based on Fortitude, there are elements of Patience in the lion logo as well. It is meant to embody the spirit of both lions.” We’re relieved.
3. No one knows the origins of the old logo or its age; in fact, even the research wizards at the library have turned up little about its provenance.
Simba? No, Fortitude.
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32 Responses
It looks a bit like the MGM logo
http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/film_images/MGM_logo_1968.jpg
Unfortunately there are only so many ways you can draw a lions head without drawing comparisons to other famous lion heads. The old one reminded me of the Netherlands and Chelsea Soccer logos, about midway through the video there is a complete Kansas State ripoff, and the final looks like MGM, but I like it.
I was thinking MGM as well…heh..
Only 8 sketches? Really? I would love to see all of them and the ones the Library rejected!
Its a nice mark, but on its own, it doesnt really say library to you.
square version here:
http://www.harrisbankhelps.com
first i was thinking its for clariden leu: http://www.claridenleu.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=info.homepage&lang=en
leu means lion
I would have preferred they explore moving beyond the lion and instead think about what a library—especially the NY Public Library—will mean in the future. The new logo may address the limitations of today’s technology but that’s only one aspect of what a logo needs to do in order to best represent an organization.
Old MGM Grand casino came to mind
http://www.oldvegaschips.com/mgmgrandthemepark.htm
anyone else feel they were watching ‘beginning graphic design-section 1, animal logos”
1) It’s so sad that they made him smile. It’s like they’ve Disneyfied him. It’s kinda subtle, but still. He’s Fortitude! That’s *strength*, not friendliness.
2) If that Harris-bank logo is ay indication of how this is going to scale, they messed up. It took me a while to figure out it was the bank logo we were directed to. THe lines all melt into each other. Yuck.
colossal waste of money for a public institution perennially crying poverty.
Lions and logos and assholes, oh my. Take notice: the planned NYPL logo has some bizarre similarities with the MGM Grand in Vegas’s lion, too:
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/03bv5NP7qp8L4/610x.jpg
http://www.allfreelogo.com/stock/thumb-mgm-grand.gif
But in reverse, I guess. There was a big to-do about the renovation of their famous entrance, which went from this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/62461901@N00/1163576351/in/set-72157601355916669/
(awesome, to this)
http://www.vegashotelguide.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/mgmgrand567×325.jpg
meh.
Looks a lot like the MGM logo when they decided to get modern, a half century ago.
it has no notion of books or the idea of knowledge digitization
why are they stuck with the lion head icon?
Personally, I’m not liking it. It’s not traditional enough. The font change really isn’t molding to my tastes. It doesn’t have the sophistication of “education, knowledge, and smart” that a serif font does ala The New York Times. If the NYT every went with a new font, people would hate it.
The new logo seems too contemporary and stylistic as in the “new age of the Internet” where vector logos are a must. Not really meshing with the whole “book” thing which is mainly what a library carries.
1/ the lion’s head and its mane are spatially disconnected…
the mane looks like a wave!
2/ it’s tough to be stuck with a lion but I would have to disagree with Andy’s ‘killing the lion’ suggestion
3/ maybe should have play with more of the lion not just the head
Check out my version of the Lion in sketch form, from my last trip to NYC.
http://lineweights.wordpress.com/2009/05/26/gotham-city-library/
Enjoy!
[...] via flavorwire [...]
i like it…except it looks like a logo for a bank instead of a place of learning.
A good choice for change but overcooked in the end. The old lion looks like a monkey in a wig, something out of a fifteenth century mural, but credit to ones past feels more appropriate here.
One of those cases that makes me shake my head when you’re over-burdened and tripped by nonsense descriptors; user-friendly, accessible, and relevant. Rubbish.
I get that they needed a new logo because the old one didn’t translate well with new media…but it seems like they’re trying to make up a whole bunch of other, noble reasons for doing so. Like others said, the lion says nothing about NYPL being a dynamic information resource. Libraries about about far more than books, and I’m sure NYPL is plenty modern, but a new lion doesn’t say that. And the mane is a little off..
Maybe to people in NYC the lion is synonymous with the NYPL so to them it looks like the old library reborn for the 21st century?
[...] The New York Public Library tweaks its logo. [...]
What happened between the sketches and the final graphic? The final looks as though a child drew it – hardly looks professionally done.
I’ve always been a fan of the Patience/Fortitude approach, but this rethink of the brand just doesn’t work for me.
This logo looks nothing like the ones referenced above. Just because there is a lion in the logo doesn’t mean it looks like old logos with lions, quite the reach fellas. A lion is a lion is a lion. I personally think this is a well executed mark that will stand the test of time easily. It’s clean, modern and progressive, like library’s are becoming. Why not update the stale old logo?
I appreciate the desire to modernize but the revision feels pretty dated. It feels pretty similar to nearly every museum/library rebranding project I’ve ever seen. It’s slightly behind the curve and makes no effort to be anything but incredibly basic and generic. The new logo doesn’t even vaguely represent the feeling of being in the library, experiencing the space, absorbing the decor. This could be the logo of a sports team or a software company. I think I prefer the former one, if only because it feels more like what the library is.
[...] can read the article at Flavorwire and watch the brief video [...]
New York, being one of the world’s great cities, has one of the world’s great libraries which warrants one of the world’s great logos. Instead the library ends up with a Pop-Lion King-esque illustration that, at best, could function for signing the library’s pre-school area. After seeing the video of vacuous comments/reactions by NY professional graphic designers, I feel that the project must’ve been hopeless to begin with.
[...] New York Public Library Logo Facelift (tags: design logos) [...]
[...] Flavorwire » Blog Archive » In Like a Lion: New York Public Library Logo Facelift Noble, wise, genteel: the aging lion was an apt metaphor for the sagacity and permanence of the New York Public Library, especially its grand Carerre and Hastings-designed home in Bryant Park. Even old warhorses need an upgrade in These Modern Times, however, and the lion is now looking a little perkier after a logo upgrade by the library’s in-house art department. Details on the design nitty-gritty, plus an NYPL video outlining the logo evolution, after the cut. (tags: branding design logos library public) Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Entrepreneur’s Journal: Putting together a fancy logo for your business Leave a Comment [...]
[...] de détail et un article complet sur le rebranding ici. Catégories : [...]
They should have just clean p the old logo first this looks pretty awful, or hire a good design company like pentagram.