The Cynic Gazette

Logo design is an art form, having to come up with a brand-leading image, while managing not to kill anyone demanding you make the company name “just a bit bigger.” Note: if you can read it, it’s big enough.

Sometimes this art form is embraced and great things happen, like Apple, Nike, IBM, and countless others who have created memorable, eye catching, brand perpetuating logos. You could see a rat trying to gnaw through drywall, and if there was a swoosh, you’d know it was Nike.

But I digress. I’m writing to call attention to some of the worst logos ever created. Here’s a hint: have a teenaged-minded 30-year-old who drinks too much scotch look at your ideas before you put them on a banner.

The first entry is the logo for the Arlington Pediatric Center, which has since changed, but eluded to the possibility of employing Priests as doctors:

Next is the logo that spawned this post when a friend sent it: the logo for the UK’s Office of Government Commerce (OGC). They’ve actually come up with a good looking logo–until you look at it rotated 90 degrees clockwise:

Good stuff. Lets keep rolling on to the logo for the Instituto de Estudos Orientais (Institute for Oriental Studies). This little guy, well, took me a second to see it as anything other than a backdoor entry (it’s a Japanese-looking building with a sun behind it (they claim)):

And finally, my favorite cultural faux pas, assuming that everyone speaks your language in signage:

Note to self: don’t swap a heart for the letter “O” without running it past some international pals first.

I’m so glad that I have a PS3 for all of my Blu-ray playing needs, because in addition to both of the great PS3 games that have been released, you can download shopping bags full of kickass like Pain, the most amusing game ever made by anyone ever.

Until now. And by now I mean sometime this spring.

Coming out soon for download on XBOX Live and the Playstation 3 Network is “Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball.” But oh no, it doesn’t stop there. There’s a robot team and a zombie team too. JOY!

Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball trailer, care of kotaku.com:

I’m not a man who’s easily impressed. Well, I am a man who is easily impressed, but not “Wow! A blue car!” easily impressed. But today, the secondteenth day of the fourth month of the 1,208th year since the Europeans decided to start a calendar 800 years in the past (makes sense; think about it), the British have impressed me.

Flip on any video on YouTube. Turn up the volume. Note that YouTube’s volume slider isn’t numeric.

The BBC’s is. And their amps go to eleven. Check out Robin Williams taking over a BBC America chat show when they were having technical difficulties, and turn the volume up. To eleven. Sweet sweet eleven.

So many of us that look at the goddamned fucking stupid megalodons of the suburban throughway and think of the frustration we’ve learned was the price of admissions at the Best Buy, the Circuit City and the so on.

Well, they’ve gone ahead and done something that’s shockingly good for the consumer. Remember way back a few weeks ago when HD-DVD had a chance? Once Blu-ray became the clear winner and Toshiba backed off HD-DVD development once and for all, Best Buy and Circuit City made their move:

• Best Buy is giving $50 gift cards to people who bought HD-DVD players before 2/28
• Circuit City is accepting returns of HD-DVD players 90 days after the date of purchase

Granted Blu-ray players are still in the $400-500 range, so just go buy a PS3 that has one and play me online get more for your money. Or wait 6 months and buy ‘em cheaper. If I were Sony (and surprisingly, I’m not) I’d keep the prices up just a little bit longer, partially to gloat, but mostly because of the bath they took on PS3 sales.