9 February 2006

Logos go the way of the dodo

| Kerces
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It would appear that after years of encouraging government departments to form their own identities, governments are now deciding it is better to appear as one uniform organisation.

A couple of years ago the Federal Government caused bother when it decided to rebrand, or possibly unbrand, its departments, saying that by the end of 2003 all departments had to use only the Australian coat of arms as their logo.

Now the ACT Government has announced much the same thing — all ACT departments must use this new logo in all their branding.

ACT Government logo

UPDATED: Brendan’s whinge in reply is now online. He does raise the question we all want the answer to:

“Whither boc-boc?”

A spokesperson for Jon Stanhope said there would be no extra costs in implementing this change as departments have been directed to start using the new logo as stock of letterheads and so on run out and are replaced. However the logo is also to be used on government vehicles and uniforms, so I expect there will be some costs involved.

Opposition leader Brendan Smyth has called the move “ludicrous”.

“Why, when the Government is broke, are they now going to badge the entire ACT public service, its stationery, its vehicles, and its uniforms with a new emblem?” he asked.

As for me, well I am not sure this is a “new” logo as I have vague recollections of it from years past. But then, I have been wrong on logos before.

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I reckon it’ll look pretty good printed on envelopes, and hurray for monochrome!

it said in the CT that they can still use the departmental logo they just have to put the new ACT Government one next to it.

still its a horrible logo, you’d think they could do better

That is one shit logo. Hopefully Chief Minister’s dept fires the public servant who dreamed it up, or refuses to pay the invoice for the designer if they hired one. Hard to believe that a professional was involved, as it looks like there would have been about 5 minutes effort put in. Did Jon doodle it on a piece of paper during a boring cabinet meeting and like it so much he’s forcing everyone else to use it.

I agree with smackbang – the circle is just overpowering.

Yes – used to be that everything was branded with the ACT crest and bocboc together. Now instead of those two, it’s just the single new brand. Bocboc may still be used for some major projects.

DT, so is it just replacing the “boc-boc” logo?

I’m all for a unified logo for the ACT government, but this one is a bit rubbish. It’s not as bad as fed’s but still a bit weak. It’ll be interesting to see it in practice.

I am, however, sad to see the Enviroment ACT Gang Gangs go, they were a classic ACT symbol.

CT has it wrong. One agency logo can still be used alongside the new one.

ssanta, according the the CT report this logo will also replace the boc-boc one (as you name it) as well as the plain coat of arms used by some at the moment.

I’m not changing the logo on my SES uniform, they can go and get stuffed.

Dock my wages, see if I care.

Absent Diane10:07 am 09 Feb 06

it looks like something someone has designed in word…

I have had some direct experience with this when the Qld Gov did the same thing a while ago. Johnboy, if you think that it is going to cull the number of “ponytails” getting paid you are very wrong. Sure there may be some small reduction in costs as each new department isn’t creating a logo for themselves, but this is only a one off activity anyway, and would only apply to new departments.

What really happens is that each department realises, after a while, that their departments communication piece looks a lot like the next departments communication piece. So in an effort to differentiate their department from the next they start making sub-logos for activities and programs. Get the ponytails back in.

Besides keeping the logo the same across all government documents doesn’t reduce the number of documents that are produced. It just changes what is printed in the corner.

Absent Diane10:06 am 09 Feb 06

the logo’s I don’t really care about to be honest… i just think that it is outwardly reflective of a stale workplace

this logo is awful! did they even consult a graphic designer?! the blue circle is far too bold and just overpowers the crest – and i don’t know if it is just me, but the whole circle thing reminds me of london undergound signs…

the public service motto is not “destroy individuality, crush personality”, its “things need to be changed to show we’re doing things”

what are those… buzzards ?

ere we go again
the ponytails will be able to consult with all the Departments on how to improve their ‘image’ and visibility, and in a few years recommend that they get paid lots of dollars to draw a squiggle for a new ‘logo’ this seems as perenial as the tides.

You can be creative and individual on your own dime AD.

Absent Diane9:26 am 09 Feb 06

Its pretty reflective of what seems to be the public service motto… destroy individuality, crush personality….

Kerces,

The new logo is an amalgym of a couple before it. There will also be the need for time to time placing of the ‘boc-boc'(building our city, building our community) underneath it.

I think the long term savings of not having every agency and department keeping a team of graphic designers on retainer will be well worth the transitional cost now.

Take that ponytails! You’ll have to work for that next line of coke instead of taking dim public servants out for a nice lunch.

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