The best comment I’ve heard so far is: Why do they have the line pattern of the old mark on the 3D globe when the lines themselves were originally used to denote three-dimensionality? That was from a man named Doug.

It’s more awful the more I look at it. And I know this heresy, but I never much cared for the original logo. It always seemed to much of a one-liner to me. Phoned in. And I’m not sure that the lines indicated 3-D in the way we think. It always seemed to read like either an indention or an upside down shadow. It just seemed like they spent much time with it. As for the Cingular logo, I think that brand will stay around. SBC and BellSouth created that brand separately to be a national brand and when they absorbed AT&T Wireless they kept the Cingular name. In fact, SBC and BellSouth may have spun it off. Whichever, it’s not a fully owned part of AT&T.

I would be highly surprised to see the Cingular brand go away so soon after absorbing AT&T Wireless. Too much confusion for customers and the marketplace. And with all the hubbub surrounding AT&Ts divestiture of the wireless business, I don’t think the brand could properly support it.

Bennet, May wanna check that spelling… its not Sual

I am pretty unimpressed by this logo. I don’t mind seeing the inside of the globe through the cutout shapes in front. That has the potential to bring visual interest to the globe cliche. But the thick to thin shapes don’t work for me. They need to be geometric and perfect, but instead they look “clumpy.” The “globbyness” serves no purpose. If the shapes were refined, I don’t think I would mind it. Except for the type,

which is bad. I disagree with the choice of making it lowercase. There is equity in having all caps. Look at it in this paragraph. You instantly recognize AT&T. The shape of the word is a strong mark in itself. Why throw that away with the confusing at&t in lowercase? “Friendly” my butt. It looks like change for the sake of change, rationalized by the agency’s bs. Unfortunate.

Sorry if I am repeating what others have already been saying, I haven’t been following any of the other discussions.

Hey…my omnicom stock just went down because of this logo.

at&t press release announcing the new logo

I love the way they describe the new logo as though it inherently represents everything they say it does:

“The new globe is three-dimensional, representing the expanding breadth and depth of services that the new AT&T family of companies provides to customers, as well as its global presence.”

“Transparency was added to the globe to represent clarity and vision. Lowercase type is now used for the “AT&T” characters because it projects a more welcoming and accessible image. The core of the new logo remains blue because both the SBC and AT&T brands are strongly associated with that color. The overall design more accurately represents the company that is leading the industry in delivering best-in-class services to consumers and business professionals.”

Why is it that people in business and some designers think that they can determine what their logo designs are supposed to mean to the public? Isn’t this the equivalent of an artist telling you how THEIR painting is supposed to make YOU feel? And, if an artist DID tell you that, wouldn’t you (the viewer) then feel a little insulted? Like, the artist doesn’t think you’re capable of determining your feelings on your own? More importantly, isn’t the experience of determining your own impressions of a particular piece of art the most rewarding part of the whole experience? Why shouldn’t the same be true of brands?

A three-dimensional/semi-transparent globe does not inherently mean any of the things the designers of this new at&t logo intended. Moreover, their press release is really talking to themselves because no consumer is even going to notice (or care) about a new logo for at&t unless it’s a radical departure from what they currently have, such as replacing the “world” icon completely for a strategic reason that can be communicated with an icon.

Lastly, I love how they spent half of their press release talking about how many things will be “rebranded” with the new logo. Congratulations at&t, you have a lot of stuff with flat, printable surfaces. Go make some print vendors happy!

My .02

jon - the “a” gave it away for me…i’m fairly sure it is avenir. I’m not sure if there are other versions, though. I would imagine they customized it a little bit, i don’t know if they’d have the nerve to just use plain old avenir…but it was spawned from avenir.

nate - in response to above…i’m going to go with the latter. ;)

AGREED.

I figured I would finally weigh in on this. I have to admit that I was a big fan of Saul’s AT&T mark, and that probably clouds my judgment to a degree. Some people have talked about the old logo being dated and in need of an update, but I really can’t see why. I lamented when the UPS logo was redesigned but I can see more reasons for that update than AT&T’s. In my mind if it were a battle of the design gods I would pick Bass over Rand almost every time.

If you had any doubt of the versatility of the old logo just look back to some great TV spots back in 2000 or 2001. The commercials were pure visual candy, focusing on the Bass AT&T logo. The mark would be animated in some interesting sort of way to show the different aspects of the corporation. Wether it was spinning yarn or building it out of Legos (excuse me Lego blocks), they were all beautiful and compelling. The mark was so versatile that there was no need to change it. Just update the use of it and you automatically have a fresh look.

I think many of the technical problems have been very thoroughly pointed out and I would just be redundant in doing so again. Making it 3D and transparent is just lazy and will not last very long.

Bill, Design IS in the details. The attention to detail is what has made Bass and Rand marks age so well. If we just want to use programs and tricks to make new logos then we really don’t need educated, thoughtful designers anymore, just someone that knows the programs.

Well I guess I was completely wrong about that Cingular/AT&T Wireless comment…

Saul Bass designed both of the original logos. The similarities between Minolta and AT&T were there before the redesign. Check out the originals on wikipedia.

I personally cannot stand it! It should be a blue marble with a white inside, sort of like a 3D AT&T Globe! And bring back the old font! It would be recognisable instantly! It looks so generic!