As I read about the buzz around the Missile Defense Agency’s new logo (“…very much like a fusion of the Muslim crescent moon and star and the Obama campaign logo” according to this Washington Post story; more at the Huffington Post), I started thinking about how to best visually represent the Open Government movement.
I was working on some presentations around the OpenGov Directive and wanted to include a graphic or logo to visually represent the move toward transparency, collaboration and participation.
Sunlight’s Jake Brewer recently unveiled “An Emblem for Open Governement” that frankly I don’t like. Maybe it’s the stark black and white, or maybe as Hillary Hartley tweeted, it’s the “most over-used G symbol ever…” as a key design element. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’m not a huge fan (below is the logo and a video overview of the logo design from Sunlight’s Noah Kunin).
The other option I came across was the stylized “OpenGov” graphic used by the White House and a number of agency sites. Though I can’t seem to find a good clean, large copy (so it’s a bit blurry below), I tend to lean more toward its design, especially the “little flap” which to me visually represents movement, action, the “opening” part of OpenGov.
What do you think? Vote for your favorite or point out other good options below…
White House OpenGov Logo
Sunlight's OpenGov logo
(polls)
9 comments
Steve Radick February 28th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I like the first one because it implies that it’s still in progress, that it’s about “opening” government, not just “open” government.
Wayne Moses Burke February 28th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
I don’t know Steve, isn’t there a ‘none of the above’ option?
I agree with you on the circle G logo, but when I look at the WH one, I just see the American Express Open Forum logo being unveiled – check it at http://openforum.com/ (you’ll understand why I’m familiar with that site
.
I do have to stay that Mr. Radick’s point is well made however.
Steve Lunceford March 1st, 2010 at 12:51 am
Ha! Yep, there certainly is a strong similarity to the Amex logo in the WH example. And I should have added a third option for “none.”
Perhaps the White House or GSA should put it up as a contest similar to http://logo.designcrowd.com or other logo competition sites. Isn’t contests/prizes part of the directive?
Nikki Diamantes March 1st, 2010 at 10:37 am
I love the idea of a contest. Participation and collaboration is at the heart of Open Gov so why not!
I am not crazy about either logo, however, the text heavy White House logo doesn’t intrigue me from a graphics/branding perspective. It appears very dated in design, not illustrative of the future of government….
Adriel Hampton March 1st, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Have to (sadly) agree that the Sunlight logo is hideous.
Debbie Weil March 1st, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Steve,
I like the WhiteHouse.gov version better, but I’d like to see more options. Why don’t you crowdsource a new logo on http://www.geniusrocket.com – ?
Steve Lunceford March 1st, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Thanks Debbie. Yeah, GeniousRocket or DesignCrowd (mentioned abover) could be good options – just have that nagging little detail of actually *paying* the designers
Really would like to see gov crowdsource something.
Alec Lynch (DesignCrowd) June 30th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Hi Steve / everyone,
Great discussion! This would be the ideal project to crowdsource.
We ran a ‘renegade / unsanctioned’ logo contest for a state government in Australia see http://www.designcrowd.com/nsw-logo-contest. We got 311 logos for $1000.
Thought it might be of interest! Would expect the actual government to offer a larger prize too!
Alec Lynch
http://www.designcrowd.com
Steve Lunceford July 8th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Pretty cool, thanks Alec…hopefully with new rules on contests and such here in the U.S., we’ll see more of this type of crowdsourcing.
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