Following up on the ‘Downtown Phoenix’ re-branding, I can’t let the logo go without comment. Apart from the fact that it looks like it was put together with clipart by an intern, ‘X’ marking the spot is firmly and anachronistically rooted in pirate-treasure lore; this symbol is now more commonly used as the standard signifier for ‘Prohibition’, such as ‘No Smoking’ or ‘No Entry’. So, ‘No Downtown Phoenix’.
On another level, the cross in a circle is so totally and utterly wrong it beggars belief that the City have approved it.
Name one positive non-religious connotation that a cross in a circle brings to mind?
Now how about these for negative ones…
1. The Church of Process, a Scientology offshoot with links to the Manson Family that possibly influenced the ‘X’’s they carved into their foreheads
2. The Zodiac Killer’s symbol
3. The symbol used by White Supremacists and Neo-Nazis
4. And perhaps the worst of all because it’s so close, the American Front logo
Not to mention its uses in Occultism and its close parallel to the Celtic Cross (how about that for the separation of church and state). Hey City Hall, in future please use design consultants that pay a little more attention to the associative psychological implications of their work. Shame on you.
October 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 am
And why the fuck does everything in this city need to be branded? Jesusfuckingchrist, STOP! Let the place grow more organically!
I’ve got an idea for you, Phoenix-planning-people. How ’bout you pick up the bill for the expensive shit, and then provide incentives for small businesses to build out the rest while keeping the major chains out of the area (don’t those fuckers control enough of our city already?). Then just sit back and watch the growth. Do you not think the small businesses/entrepreneurs of this city can build something interesting without you fuck-wits having to brand it, define it, and pre-packacge it for easy consumption for those looking for the next Desert Ridge or Tempe Marketplace??
This is a city, you morons. Let it breathe!
October 22nd, 2008 at 10:51 am
Get your facts straight.
While I agree it is an awful logo, it has nothing to do with the City Hall but rather the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, funded by downtown businesses and property owners. So this IS what small businesses/entrepreneurs have built with their own money. Goes to prove that business organizations can be just as addled brained as government ones.
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:23 am
Mmmm.
While not exclusively a City Hall-run thing, there are a boatload of City managers sitting on the Board. And while DPP may be funded in part by small downtown businesses, by no stretch of the imagination do Ernst & Young, APS, Phoenix Suns, ASU, TGen, Diamondbacks, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Arizona Republic fit into that category. But they do sit on the Board.
Full list here: http://www.coppersquare.com/partnership/