Real improvement over the old logo. I particularly like that we are now referring to ourselves as U.S. Masters Swimming rather than USMS. If we are trying to attract new members and we are all on occasion walking billboards with meet t-shirts, who knows what USMS means besides those who are already members. I have any number of meet t-shirts in which neither the graphics or text give any indication that it is actually from a swimming event. Kudos to the group who picked the name change and the design.
Former Member
The new logos are great. Question? Can the US Masters have a line of Masters apperal of their own? Sold by the US Masters? :):applaud::chug:
i thought i should post this critique of the new logo from one of our adms swimmers .... i couldn't agree more.
Your minutes of the December 15th Executive Meeting mentioned that there were no negative reactions to the logo. That is probably because it reached so few people and such a short time ago.
I believe that if it had been circulated to the many professional designers among the membership there might have been serious question. I tried to raise this issue with Rob at the Atlanta meeting but it failed to register on him as he was heading "urgently" to a board meeting ( and indeed he had much on his plate).
The problem I find is threefold:
1. The lettering outweighs the figure and is gravely static beside the dynamic movement of the figure. Thus the composition is poor by any accepted design standards.
2. The lettering is basic 19th century British Railroad Block lettering and seems out of keeping with the 20th century. ( after all we now have bullet trains in other parts of the world where masters swimmers exist)
3. The figure is generic and could equally apply to a recreational resort ad., a high school meet or and Olympic event. There is no symbolic gesture toward any definition of Masters swimming (except perhaps a nod toward increased emphasis on Open Water swimming).
( I suppose that the latter is why the lettering has to be so blaring and dumb.)
Please take this as a constructive rather than a carping critique and pass it urgently on the the Executive committee.
I couldn't put my finger on why I was not immediately enchanted by it (nor would it make any difference), but I agree, the lettering is weirdly incompatible with the figure. I associate it with army recruitment posters.
If the logo is redesigned every year, or frequently, would it be helpful if the designers offered suggestions by next fall?
:)
i thought i should post this critique of the new logo from one of our adms swimmers .... i couldn't agree more.
Your minutes of the December 15th Executive Meeting mentioned that there were no negative reactions to the logo. That is probably because it reached so few people and such a short time ago.
I believe that if it had been circulated to the many professional designers among the membership there might have been serious question. I tried to raise this issue with Rob at the Atlanta meeting but it failed to register on him as he was heading "urgently" to a board meeting ( and indeed he had much on his plate).
The problem I find is threefold:
1. The lettering outweighs the figure and is gravely static beside the dynamic movement of the figure. Thus the composition is poor by any accepted design standards.
2. The lettering is basic 19th century British Railroad Block lettering and seems out of keeping with the 20th century. ( after all we now have bullet trains in other parts of the world where masters swimmers exist)
3. The figure is generic and could equally apply to a recreational resort ad., a high school meet or and Olympic event. There is no symbolic gesture toward any definition of Masters swimming (except perhaps a nod toward increased emphasis on Open Water swimming).
( I suppose that the latter is why the lettering has to be so blaring and dumb.)
Please take this as a constructive rather than a carping critique and pass it urgently on the the Executive committee.
Very nice, an absolution from yourself for someone else's critique.
There were no negative reactions to the logo from the board of directors. This is after a presentation several months earlier of several treatments for comment. It would be silly to expect everyone to love the logo immediately (or ever), and only the Board can make the decision to change it.
1. The lettering is static? In Italics? Poor composition by any design standards. No, that is not carping. The icon and lettering are meant to be used separately as well as together.
2.Time to get a new type guide. The lettering is Helvetica Neue, stylized. Only about 100% (+ or- 1%) of all companies worldwide have used this type since it was developed in the 1960s. Sheesh.
3.The figure is generic. You say it as if that is bad. It is exactly what is necessary for a group as diverse as is represented in our membership. What would be the reaction to a photograph of a swimmer in the arctic? Doesn't really say masters, does it? But we have members that do that kind of stuff. Generic is just as much a lightning rod as something that is too specific. We are not trying to make members out of one focus group, but all of adult America. Generic is what is called for. A swimmer swimming. Specific enough.
Oh, yeah, dumb lettering. That is not carping either, I suppose?
Three problems:
1. The swimmer looks like the hand is cut off. It doesn't look like swimming feels. And it is not abstract enough to be just a symbol.
2. It looks like a minor variant on Obama's campaign design.
3. The restrictions on its use restrict its use. A whole line of nice but not official looking apparel could be developed with it, but artists would need to be free to play with, well, the color at least. Plus, think about all those t-shirts for athletic events with multiple sponsors where they spread all the sponsor logos out on the back to have them all look bad, like a case of acne. Flexibility with logos is a key to fixing that.
THey need to get this out on to new window decals. I would love to change mine over to the new logo soon.
I'm with you on that...my old one is so faded from the sun I can barely make out the swimmer anymore!
One more thing - why the periods in U.S.?
When I read the style guidelines on this, I was surprised to see a reference to the AP Stylebook, which is used mostly by journalists. According to that, any correct abbreviation of United States with just the first letters must be U.S. Not being a journalist, when I took a class in college, I questioned a lot of the crap in that book, but it is just the way it is. Apparently, as writers, you get used to it.
Forgot one more thought to consider. If the red and the blue were switched in the logo, then we would be more representational and recognizable as something from the United States - the waves would be red and white stripes relating to our flag. The blue swimmer (cold water?) would be on top of the logo where one would expect the flag's blue field. You will find these red and white stripes in some form on a lot of logos that represent something from the US. (Pardon me A.P., . . .I mean U.S.)
