branding
Multifaceted Melbourne
My favorite from this round-up of identity redesigns in 2009, by a pretty astronomical margin, is the city of Melbourne’s:
(Some of the images on that page are broken, weirdly, but there’s still plenty to look at.)
I’m a fan of the “generative identity” idea, which also informs AOL’s redesign (also featured in the round-up)—but I think the Melbourne logo does it better. It seems to achieve both consistency and diversity. And you can imagine writing a computer program to just pump out attractive little M’s! What if every parking ticket in Melbourne looked ever-so-slightly different?
I also really like the use of the M’s geometry as a design element for reports and brochures, too—about halfway down the page.
The mantra
Publishers need to act like… record labels.
Say it again.
If there were a Tony Wilson of publishing, you bet I would buy every book printed, (disposable income permitting.)
Think about how true that feels. And think about how few institutions or mechanisms there are that create a sense of trust or of identity in book publishing — especially in the wide-open, nobody-knows anything world of mainstream fiction and nonfiction.