The New York Times is soliciting designers critique the new NYC Taxi logo, and have posted the first responses:
Below is Michael Bierut’s (of Pentagram and Design Observer fame) review:
“I think the content is all very sound and I agree with virtually every decision made in the editing and organization of the fare panel, from the elimination of the headline TAXI FARE (it is on a taxi, after all) to the simplification of the fare structure.
“I have to admit, the form is more of a problem for me. I am a little confused by the overall aesthetic of the new graphic, which seems to be intentionally crude and lumpy, more Checker than Crown Vic, I guess. There is also a blunted trailing off of the other checker pattern which seems particularly halfhearted to me. And that attempt to combine the NYC logo which is being used elsewhere with T in a circle (why?) and that (again) bluntly rounded off and oddly-spaced A-X-I just seems a little ham handed. Maybe it looked good on paper, but I don’t find it convincing on the side of a cab.
Since the New York Times hasn’t called yet for my review (I’m waiting), like all blogs in the world, here is my opinion:
Gone is the utilitarian stencil “N.Y.C. Taxi” and cab plate number, a solid block of text on a field of yellow. In its place is a NYC Taxi logo many magnitudes larger than it needs to be and miniscule chamfered-corner fare box which, located on the passenger rear doors where they should be. The relative sizes of both elements give prominence and importance to useless information: we already know it is a NYC Taxi; it is yellow, has a cab light and drives erratically. The old fare box, while utilitarian, was quick and easy to read and was given proper prominence (if not the correct location) on the cab doors. This is a failure of information design, letting logos obscure actual information.
The new design looks instantly dated, thanks to the use of chamfered corners and the vaguely rounded “A” reminiscent of every Web 2.0 logo. This is not a timeless design. This logo redesign is just like the Garden in Transit program which put purple flower decals on the hoods destroy the simplicity of the yellow cab.
Let cabs be cabs and bring the stencil back.