First off, the logo is a circle, evoking unity, Mother Earth, peace symbols and the folk music LPs that go so well with a little libtard reefer. Even the internal pie pieces have rounded corners, so as not to cut anyone's feelings, accidentally.

Heck, you even have, like, a little weed thing down there in the lower left corner, symbolizing how we'll grow our way out of this recession by, uh, preserving forests? Or maybe via genetic talking plant experiments or something.

And you have to love how the little industrial gears in the lower right corner are softened with the medical red cross for some reason. Abortion factories for everyone! At least that's what Rush Limbaugh will say tomorrow. More likely it's a biotech shout-out.

But the Obama logo isn't the absolute softest brand of its kind. It's got "RECOVERY.GOV" stamped in masculine ALL CAPS on top, and some proud flag stars. And as the last two images in our gallery below illustrate, the Franklin Roosevelt administration's art deco posters and artwork could be pretty frilly. There were all sorts of WPA-funded posters as homoerotic as that last one.

(Pics, from Top: Obama logo via; National Recovery Administration logo via; WPA USA Work program logo via; WPA poster via; Paul Mays mural via)

The network’s branding retains the signature colour purple, which was established at its inception, but includes a complete refresh of the agency’s brandmark and visual identity. The new brandmark consists of a bespoke wordmark and Mindshare’s new partner symbol. The symbol has been created to reflect the structure and form of Mindshare’s business. It shows two forms coming together to create a new, strong form reflecting Mindshare’s partnerships with clients, suppliers and other agencies. The flow of colour symbolises the flow of creativity across the business and the segmentation mirrors the bringing together of specialist expertise within Mindshare’s “open source” approach to client business which enhances a platform neutral approach. The bespoke wordmark shows Mindshare in upper case [as shown above]. When written in prose Mindshare no longer has the upper case “S” previously used – hence the company’s name will now be written Mindshare and not MindShare. In visual form on the printed page, this will represent the agency’s new simplified approach, re-engineering its structure from more than a dozen separate specialist departments to four integrated, collaborative groups: Client Leadership, Business Planning, Invention and The Exchange. The bold new brandmark expresses Mindshare’s progressive attitude to new technology and the connected way in which the network views the media landscape.

Idiots. [via AgencySpy]

• Is being chased by Bubble Boy
• Should be on a package of Japanese soap. Cheap Japanese soap.
• Looks like the nameplate on a friendly child robot.
• Would make a poor tattoo.
• Would be removed, if it was in sticker form.
• Would work better on a line of female-targeted snowblowers.
• Secretly sniffs glue.

We really expect more from your genius branding people, Steve Jobs.

(You all can play, too!)

[Manhattan Offender]

It can be any primary color except red or yellow. It must use a letter from the Google logo, but one that's closely associated with Google's services, which rules out "o," "l," and "e." Anything you want, as long as it's a blue "g"! Mayer's tyrannical design process aside, her business justifications for settling on "g" are intriguing.<./p>

The design constraints were all set around cell phones, not Web browsers. Mayer wants Google's new mini-logo to be distinctive on a wide range of cell-phone screens; blue will always show up reasonably well. The lowercase "g" has relatively thick features, which means it will hold up in low resolution. Google wants to be small — so it can have a big future in wireless.

Christian Group Denounces Starbucks

Over New Logo of Naked Mermaid

(San Diego, CA) Starbucks has recently introduced a new version of their logo which features a topless mermaid with her legs spread, which has caused outrage from a nation wide Christian media watchdog organization. The Resistance, with has over 3000 members nationwide, is boycotting Starbucks across the country saying their new logo is inappropriate.

The Starbucks logo has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute, explains Mark Dice, founder of the group. Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves, Slutbucks.

The all-brown logo is a replica of the one the chain used when it opened its first store in Pike Place in Seattle in 1971. The woman is actually a siren, not a mermaid, which in Greek mythology lures people to them with their beautiful songs, and then kills them, explains Dice.

The Resistance has made international news for rebuking various Hollywood celebrities for their ridiculous behavior, including Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, 50 Cent, Tom Cruise and others. They also demanded that Duke University change the name of their Blue Devils sports team to something not offensive to the Christian community.

# # #

[What about asking them for some lemons while you're at it, Resistance?]

The team conducted an experiment in which 341 university students completed what they believed was a visual acuity task, during which either the Apple or IBM logo was flashed so quickly that they were unaware they had been exposed to the brand logo. The participants then completed a task designed to evaluate how creative they were, listing all of the uses for a brick that they could imagine beyond building a wall.

People who were exposed to the Apple logo generated significantly more unusual uses for the brick compared with those who were primed with the IBM logo, the researchers said. In addition, the unusual uses the Apple-primed participants generated were rated as more creative by independent judges.

"This is the first clear evidence that subliminal brand exposures can cause people to act in very specific ways," said Gráinne Fitzsimons. "We've performed tests where we've offered people $100 to tell us what logo was being flashed on screen, and none of them could do it. But even this imperceptible exposure is enough to spark changes in behavior."

[Science Daily via Neatorama]