Yesterday, Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine unveiled the DNC's new website, logo, and slogan ("Change that matters"). I looked at the site and the logo, and my first reaction was, "This kind of sucks." See for yourself:
I'm all for getting past the donkey, but that "D" in a circle almost looks like a placeholder for when they get a real logo later on. That serif font, furthermore, is used for titles throughout the site, and it just doesn't work here. It's not nearly as strong and confident as Gotham, the font that became so identified with Barack Obama (and which you can still see all over sites like this one).
Since I wasn't sure if my own instincts were correct on this, I got in touch with a friend who's a graphic designer, and this is what he had to say about the logo:
It looks like they are trying to both embrace and distance themselves from the Obama O. The defining outline evokes the weight of Obama's mark, but the emptiness inside, and the hard D leaves me cold. For a political party that is supposed to embrace the everyman, the hard ring is a hard border -- perhaps this is a subtle comment on the inability to address immigration reform? Any why no color? Blue on blue? Has the party really been shamed into only existing as the media defines it? Blue or red? Why not use, gasp, yellow? Or green? Or orange?
I'm not holding my breath for that -- I think they're sticking with blue, just like the Republicans are sticking with red.
-- Paul Waldman
