The Motz from Butz: What a cheese!
A unique phenomenon: the increasingly common desire to "improve" something old and good—only to make it worse.
What this is all about. This cheese logo is an ideal example to write a motz about the drive "everything has to be new" or "modern". Imagine if Rolls Royce redesigned the Emilie by Bottero and put the two "R "s in a different font. The "H" of Hermès, the "LV" of Louis Vuitton, the bird's nest of Nestlé, the "CC" of Coco Chanel, the Fraktur typeface of the NZZ, the Swiss or Christian cross or the bear from the coat of arms of the canton of Bern should urgently be adapted to the present time. Of course, the bear has to go. There are no more bears in Bern. Wrong!
My theory: The insiders' satiatedness with their own identity or the insistence of a designer lead to the fact that what is known on all sides or proven is thrown overboard or, as in the case of the cheese union, is made ugly. Thus, it becomes a two-dimensional three-cheese high. Everything about this re-design is wrong. The cheese is charred, the Swiss cross is superfluous and has been redesigned in incorrect proportions, and the font leaves gaps. All in all, a cramped tinkering and a gross defacement of Herbert Leupin's template. He was one of the great graphic artists of the 19th century (Knie, Eptinger, Coca-Cola). His son Thomy, with whom I went to school, should definitely tackle such messes legally. Amazing that the Cheese Union spent money on such an unserious and unnecessary deterioration retouche. At this point, many thanks to Mr. Jürg Zysset (a loyal reader) for his pertinent advice. Maybe we should introduce a design monument protection for such cases. No, not seriously. Such protector commissions mostly consist of apparatchiks and paragraph riders. I can sing a song about such protectors about my 1000-year-old house in Tuscany. Since its existence the form and function have changed x times. Today, however, any change is strictly forbidden, no matter if it would be sensible.
I will write a special column about this topic some day. In contrast to this cheese, I find Amag's appearance refreshing. Fortunately, it was not possible to adapt something clever from the old signet. I have previously described and praised the re-design from Federal Express to Fedex as an excellent change. As you can see, there is no formula for this problem. Common sense is what is needed here. Not a standout of the week was the obituary for Gebi Schregenberger by Doris Gisler, blaming Gebi for the disappearance of Gisler & Gisler. She was the owner after all. Gebi did not deserve that!
Theophil Butz, graphic designer, Advertising agency owner, Inspirator and for over a year and a half also nor moths for the advertising week-Readers. Please send any relevant information to to [email protected]
