Hey friends…today I have another big and high-budget logo redesign to share with you all. However, this time it is not any soft drink or Software company logos which is redesigned. The city of Melbourne, Australia revealed their new corporate identity last week. The identity design was developed by the Sydney office of Landor, who were paid $A91, 000 (US$74,000) in “preliminary research for the new brand” and $A148, 000 (US$120,000) for the design itself.

Last week when Melbourne’s new logo was announced, the fat block of “M” costing for $240,000 was highly criticized.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle unveiled the new logo for the city, saying:

“Old logo was "a bit daggy" and Melbourne needed a new design to reflect its cool sophistication on the world stage.”

To defend the claim of extra cost, he explains that the new logo would save the council money in the long run by gradually replacing about 50 different logos the city now uses for its various services. Furthermore, on the Melbourne’s website, Dr Kathy Alexander lists the benefits the City will be earning from this redesign.

• Consolidation of multiple logos into a single, strong, cutting-edge design
• Better identification of services City of Melbourne is delivering
• Greater brand impact and flexibility
• More cost and time-effective in-house design and brand management

Where, majority people find the new logo to be a disaster, some design experts find it quiet sensible, saying:

"It’s certainly not a disaster and considering the amounts some companies spend on rebranding, it might even turn out to be a bargain,”

says the managing director of  Brand Behavior, Karl Treacher.

Further, Mr Treacher quotes:

"Of course, when you’re a government or public body people will say the money could have been spent elsewhere or possibly better. But in the scale of logos $240,000 isn’t over the odds.”

The main grounds, government is using to avoid facing criticism is that of “London Olympic Logo 2012” They think it is less of a disaster than London’s logo for the 2012 Olympic Games as within hours of its launch in 2007,  30,000 Britons signed a petition calling for it to be scrapped.

Here, I will drop my opinion and would like to know yours…don’t you think, it is utterly unethical of government to support their wrong decision by referring to any old blunder. If they have ended up with something foolish, at least they should have the guts to accept it.

So guys, how do you see this redesigned logo of Melbourne city…. a waste of money or a step towards progress?