I’m lookin’ at you National Gallery of Australia. Okay, so I don’t profess to know much about design, but I have to say I was pretty gobsmacked when this popped up on their website the other day:
Yep. That bit on the left is meant to read NGA. But as my co-worker said in all seriousness: ‘what does the O stand for?’
This was the previous logo. Granted it’s nothing amazing, but it’s nice clean branding and you can read what it says:
In the way that a recently single woman drastically changes her hair to usher in a new era it’s apparent that the NGA wants to start afresh when they open their new galleries later this month. I get that. But it is worrying that this is supposedly the best a national institution could find.
Inside word has it that those responsible for the commission are already beginning to regret the move. Maybe they can just do what Vegemite did after they’re unfortunate ‘iSnack 2.0’ incident by reverting back to the old logo and pretending nothing ever happened? Please? Otherwise let’s just hope the building extension is so darn amazing that no one has time to consider the logo at all.
UPDATE: Industry folk, and others, might like to read about this straight from the horse’s mouths. Check this post on Campaign Brief. My favourite part? Naked Communications Founding Partner Adam Ferrier says “The National Gallery of Australia is our only real national gallery”. Indeed Adam. Full points.
Yolande Norris 
Do they do banks, by any chance? Always thought the Commmonwealth logo looked very retro. But that was years ago!
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Bow wow. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who does like this logo. I have tried to understand it. Perhaps they were trying to emulate the current GIO logo in order to generate more corporate sponsorship, or maybe it is simply a tactile response to art; boiling it down to a circle, square and triangle. It certainly works for dogs. Personally I think the logo indicates a level of illiteracy, which of course, us puppies in the know understand, this infliction starts at the top.
But, who are we to criticise? The mere public wouldn’t know better. And it is best not to think how much the design consultation cost…. ouch! That’s a question perhaps the Senate can ask…
But in general it would seem the NGA has trouble with typography overall. Certainly the exhibition signage lessens the grandeur of the new galleries. For example, one wonders what they were thinking when they erected the clumsy lettering of the Gandel Hall. A last minute rush job perhaps? Crazy when you think the Director personally chose each and every one of the floor boards. Surely they should have gone with something a little more elegant in line with the gold leaf doors.
At least in the galleries you know where you are. The Gallery shop could sell a line of pre-packaged wall signage for the visitor to take home; ‘Kitchen’, ‘Bathroom,’ ‘Toilet’, ‘Dog House’; just so we can locate ourselves domestically.
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Wall signage for sale in the shop? Brilliant. It is, after all, the most often heard complaint when wandering around the place.
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