By now, I’m sure many of you have seen the new proposed logos for Peoria.  If you’re anything like me (and you’re lucky if you are) you might have had some interesting reactions.  By “interesting” I mean jaw-dropping disbelief that the city spent $30,000 on logos that could have been done in a day or two by a graphic design undergrad or a hobbyist with a few books on Photoshop or Flash.

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Plain and gimmicky.  The exclamation point serves no aesthetic purpose whatsoever.  This is the graphical equivalent of a cheesy pun people politely laugh at, then promptly turn away to roll their eyes.  The design might work for a children’s daycare, but for a city logo this one comes up remarkably short.

Remember when every printer you bought back in the 90’s came with a cheap greeting card printing program and thousands of cheesy clip art images that tried to be cartoony and whimsical?  I’m pretty sure that’s what they used to create this logo.

Dane Cook’s “Super Finger” makes a cameo.  Heck of a way to introduce the city.  “Welcome to Peoria:  Fuck You.”  Next.

Ask yourself:  why would anyone who wants to be taken seriously use this as their logo?  It might look appropriate painted on the side of the Spirit of Peoria, but does this look like something you’d expect to find on a business card?  I think not.

Again with the exclamation point.  What’s sad is this logo wouldn’t be so bad if the lines didn’t overlap and they dropped the gimmick in favor of a more sensible colored element.  Unfortunately, its current form seems more likely to leave people thinking “PEOR?A.”

Congratulations, you have earned the Peoria merit badge!  You are now eligible to make bad logo decisions as a member of the City Council.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the whole purpose of this project to update Peoria’s logo and lo, its image?  This logo looks more at home at the top of an old western wanted poster, not as an image of the city’s future.

Peoria:  host of the 2009 Special Olympics… and the 2010, the 2011, the 2012…  That was my first impression.

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Maybe I’m just cynical.  However, wouldn’t it have been better to have offered the $30,000 as a grant to whoever can come up with the best logo instead of wasting it on this uninspired crap?   My co-worker tells me it was suggested at a city council meeting.  We should have gone that route.

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UPDATE:  Commenter “tapeworm” had this to say:

“So here’s the deal: In 1975, the last time a logo was unveiled for the city of Peoria, the Peoria Advertising and Selling Club held a contest after a controversy involving the Native American logo’s designer - who supposedly had connections with then-Mayor Richard Carver - surfaced. A total of 101 designs were considered. The Peoria Journal Star took part in the contest.

We’re not sure what happened with the Advertising and Selling Club and we don’t anticipate 101 designs this time around. But we’re going to have a friendly contest for anyone who wants to publicly submit a logo design and see how it compares with the final product that Converse Marketing’s professionals will ultimately unveil.

If you are a local artist, graphic designer, art student or someone with mad Photoshop skills, please e-mail your entries to us at jsharp@pjstar.com, or drop them off to John Sharp’s attention at the Journal Star’s main office at 1 News Plaza.”

source: http://www.pjstar.com/news/x625395135/Word-on-the-Street-City-logo-secrecy-must-stop

Have at it, kids!  Perhaps there’s hope after all!

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UPDATE:  Co-worker came up with his own logo idea…

*clap*clap*clap*