It’s pretty funny; you can definitely tell that’s it been done by a 69 year old retired commercial artist. Straight out of 60s or 70s New Zealand visual culture. Still, even though I’m sure the council don’t want their “supercity” to look like a retro relic from 50 years ago, it tickles me. In a good way.

Still can’t decide if I like it or not, but I do think the Auckland public will warm to this logo. Just look at how popular the Commonwealth games logo of the 70’s is. Mr Vintage & Little Brother used it. It is a style liked by popular culture.
Lets hope that lasts or this logo will be short lived…

… ok so I could have liked it, it feels like its a first draft, not a finished logo.

Classic charm. Super cool they chose something by an old fulla (no offense) and it doesn’t reply on any seductive software whizz-bangery, and doesn’t have any swooshes! I even like the super-prosaic upper case Helvetica.

In black, it’s a little like multiple nodes of transport coming together near the water, flanked in transit by a pair of coffee beans.

Design is a process. This is exactly the outcome we should expect from this process. Perfect.

I can not stop seeing the angry man face. I wonder if international tourists can see the flower?

I like it. I’m not a design professional by any stretch, but I can see this embossed on manhole covers (if Auckland City has the guts to go that far with branding).

Also: beer coasters at Party Central.

Seriously. Go all the way with it.

I quite like it. I agree the typography needs a bit of work, and not the greatest colour palette but I’m really interested to see how it’s developed further.

I respect that some people are gonna like this and so if it appeals to lots of aucklanders then great, but to be honest I think it’s verging on awful in a twee kind of way.
Don’t know about using a pohutukawa as a motif – I’ve always associated that with the Coromandel, their coastline being nicknamed the Pohutukawa Coast.
Agree with Louise re the colours.

The colours are the best part. This thing has life and personality. Have you ever really looked at the architecture in Auckland? I see a lot of it in this solution.

It’s far removed from the Melbourne and Manchester identities, but the culture and aesthetic of Auckland is far removed from those cities. It reminds me of Japanese Municipality flags in the New Zealand visual vocabulary.

Keep in mind that the Melbourne and Manchester identities are city brands not council logos. (if you don’t know the difference I’m surprised you’ve managed to track down this blog ; )

Plus this is really like a first concept presentation so there’s still room to evolve. I gotta say I like it and feel its a solid start. But then I wasn’t clouded by resentment of the notion of a public competition in the first place. There’s as much, if not more, that can be picked apart on a plethora of professionally designed logos on our fair shores. (The DINZ logo is a case in point). I’m excited to see how things proceed and feel that Jim deserves his day in the sun (though Auckland City could surely do with some rain!)

Stand corrected that the Melbourne example is the council logo as well as the city brand. (thanks for keeping me on my toes, Kris Lane ; )

From a Waikato perspective currently sitting in Diest, Belgium, it’s a retro look that is calm and beautiful. (Imagine the skill that would take with a rapidograph pen and a french-curve!!!) The colours are a bit lackluster, but the version in the circle motif in black would suit a myriad of uses. The typography does look added on, perhaps a combination treatment of the circle motif and type would pull it all together.

This is, from an execution standpoint, what we hoped for. It’s not a childish scrawl or cut and paste naivety. Instead it is linear, retro-modern, and vectoresque; we can imagine it as being the result of a real design process. Congratulations Jim.

My first thoughts were that it’s quite pretty and obviously well executed – clearly done by a professional artist. Having said that, for me it hints at the difference between art and design. It lacks the utility of a well thought brand mark it because it’s just a little complicated. It just feels a little bit intricate. I didn’t have as much concern over the retro nature of it than my co-workers though after sleeping on it that’s probably not ideal. The other nagging doubt I have is that it evokes the pohutukawa sculpture at the end of the southern motorway – I expect this to be similarly polarising (I happen to like it).

“But it must be noted that Mr Dean will now work with professional designers to develop finished artwork”
- perfect, that could resolve any of my doubts. A great start, well done Jim.

The really great thing about this discussion is that I can get up on the morning after the big reveal, idly think “I wonder what Design Assembly are saying about the new logo” and find a dozen posts there already. Its nice to see DA working so clearly as a design community!
I agree with the general sentiment here. It is a start. And in some ways the way to make a logo that has longevity is to get rid of the issue of dating from the start. If it looks retro now, it will remain retro for a while, and may thus outlive the more contemporary ‘A’.
I hope, tho, that they show us the other entries at some point, so that we can see what the other options were.

hmmmmm.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/super-city-logo-not-so-original-3490904

[...] can check out some of the design community’s mainly positive responses to the logo here. Wilford School (wandaharland via [...]

The text under the design that reads Auckland City is excellent,it evokes in me a strong sense of something Aucklandish maybe even a SUPER CITY Council logo(oh and that cute little Kiwi Krismas twee I bet absolutely positively Wellington don’t have them)nice work Ranger Bob

How does the feijoa tree represent Auckland CITY. Oh it’s a Pohutukawa… Then why is that so Auckland? It looks too old school… in bad way. Can I say that without qualifying my statement? I say lets go back to the old logo with the boats and island, redraw it in a more upto date way. That represented Aucks better IMHO.

and Auckland city takes yet another step backwards…. we can’t have vision enough to complete a waterfront stadium and we now design concepts from the elderly. Please, won’t someone within council have a modern vision for a change!

Is there a place on the www where people who joined this competition can post their design? I submitted an entry and am now curious about the other designs.

great question the dutchess(see my comments at andrea’s first logo blog)sorry I meant to submit them here.

the AD Show last night featured a debate around the logo:
http://tvnz.co.nz/the-ad-show/ad-show-s1-e11-video-3501268

thanks @endemicworld

The logo is old and dusty and doesn’t say anything about Auckland and its new venture. It says you have pohutukawas and some ocean… big woopy.

It certainly doesn’t say anything about a super city, the significance of it and the excitement that should be felt about a historic development. There is no sense of progress, passion or enthusiasm. It would look good on a fondue set, set in stained glass, or perhaps on the back of a gee in the karate kid movie.

The logo competition raises a bigger question about why in the first place professionals were ignored. After a range of publicly critcised examples (Telecom, Auckland City Council etc) why is it that ATA thought a competition would be suffice instead of employing an agency?

The old responses of “it looks like a kid done that” or “I could have made that in the toilet” has been aimed at the art world for years. Now it seems common ammunition against the design fraternity. Why is it organisations that have usually profited from utilising agencies started to listen to those sentiments?

The big conversation here is about the perceived value of graphic design in the eye of the public and the inability so far of designers to respond adequately as to why they are worth the investment.

Lastly the debate on the ad show was a missed opportuniy, the loudest mouth took over and what do you know – he was the one least qualified talk about it. Sheeze, Frizzell even managed to plug his posters were for sale! Talk about creating opportunities.

Well, at least it’s not a swoosh or a scribble.
Or a triangle…

Totally agree with Chrystle! it’s so dull! This is 2010 not the 70’s mate

really really crap – embarrassed and disappointed – the whole thing was doomed from the start – if that’s the best nz’ers can come up with i would rather have the aussies or other internationals do it for us

That logo popped up on the telly the other night it deeply disturbed me I literally wanted to vomit also embarrassed and disppointed it will be displayed as a symbol of my beloved Auckland.

http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz FAIL.

The Pohutukawa motif is an excellent metaphor for many regions coming together to form a whole. The quality of the artwork appears excellent. It doesn’t feel resolved for me yet tho..

The enclosed version (top right) has real compositional merit, scrap the other 2 and go on from there.

Ditch the helveticesque Auckland City that has been tacked on the bottom without due typographical consideration.

Completely rethink the colour scheme. It’s not contemporary or representative of Auckland. Looks someone picked the pallete council would be most likely to approve and retroed it up a notch. Shouldn’t the dominant colour for this region be a rich blue? That goes back to pre-european days doesn’t it?

It’s good work but, congrats on winning the comp old timer!

Shaun’s right about the angry zulu face! I can’t stop seeing it now!

@Shaun, Thanks haha that is all I see now..A zulu mask haha

Its not bad, but its not great either, congrats to the old timer!

I am surprised DINZ and BRR are not on this blog bashing the council and the logo. Like they have been in the media.

DINZ is a joke.

Good on the guy, i looks pretty simple.

It’s starting to grow on me ,I’m turning in to a xmas tree,and come november I shall Be decorated by the sea.