Elevating an icon
It strikes me that we already have a symbol that is globally recognised as being London. The London Underground roundel. Could it be that the solution to the apparent problem is staring us in the face?
Could we simply elevate The London Underground roundel to become The London roundel?
Image from Brand New
Back in 2007, Saatchi and Saatchi were asked to elevate the meaning of the I ♥ NY to represent the state of NY rather than solely the city of NY. Their solution didn’t really work for me – but the idea that it is possible to elevate an icon and to change it’s meaning is an interesting thought… don’t you think?
Comment on this post:
Not too keen on that solution either but I did think Milton Glaser’s updated version of the logo with the black stain on the heart and I love New York More Than Ever after Sept 11th was really powerful.
It’s a really simple and elegant solution, but, as I wrote here I think its downfall is that it will confuse people. The difference between the LU roundel and the I ♥ NY logo is that the LU roundel is a functional piece of wayfinding for the city. It stands out as a totem all around town, directing people to tube entrances. If the new London logo was derived from the LU roudel, we’d have to be really careful about where it’s used to minimise confusion.