The New Downtown Phoenix Logo - Strike 3
When is Phoenix going to get it right? Years ago when Copper Square launched I immediately thought it was a stupid idea. First, because there is no place called Copper Square and second, because the destination Phoenix tried to create was so large in area that no one would get a sense of where it really was. This goes hand in hand with Phoenix's claims that the city is made up of 9 "distinct" villages. Don't ask me to name them because I can't - no one can. Evidently, when I was living downtown in the actual Encanto area I lived in Encanto Village according to the City of Phoenix. Makes sense, but then the people living west of I-17 and Thomas Road were also in Encanto Village and there's nothing "Encanto" about it. (For you gringos, ask someone who speaks Spanish what encanto means and you'll get my point.) So with two strikes against them, Phoenix is at it again. They have done away with Copper Square in favor of a new logo and brand simply called "Downtown Phoenix" with an X that marks the spot. On the surface I have to admit I like the idea behind it. The "X" concept is rather clever yet I know this initiative will fail too. Phoenix needs to learn that this kind of brand needs to occur organically and through a population base that actually lives there. ASU will be a huge help and the catalyst for it. Nonetheless, I do have to give them props to keep trying. Here's my bigger beef, though: The logo is a piece of crap. It's one of the problems we have in marketing. With computers so easy to use the art of typography has gone out the window. To add insult to injury they paid SHR Perceptual Management $160,000 for this new logo and branding effort. Personally, I think they overpaid by about $150,000. Seriously, I like SHR and have seen some pretty darn good work from them in the past but this was a major miss and sadly a very public one.
2 comments so far
Tyler hurst says:
The entire concept of the downtown Phoenix Partnership is and always will be a joke. Started by Colangelo years ago, it's obviously both misguided and completely clueless about what downtown is really about.
None of the employees of the Partnership live downtown. None of them asked for any downtown residents' opinion on what living downtown was like. Wouldn't you at least try that?
The new logo looks straight out of Saved by The Bell. I expect to see Zach Morris on his cell phone any day now.
Dave Brook says:
A complete and utter waste of resources.
In my opinon, the city would be much better served by doing something about the excessive amounts of homeless wondering around downtown.