A few weeks ago in Canberra, I spied a small article in the Sydney Morning Herald announcing a change of the Qantas logo by Sydney design and communication firm Hulsbosch, headed by Hans Hulsbosch. The occasion of a major global brand “refresh”, as PR writing often states, is a rare event indeed and of great interest to logo spotters. In this instance the interpretation of the “word” refresh seems to have many definitions.

Now that major brands are assigned with a market value, a humble piece of graphic design has now become a company asset. However it is curious that the asset designers highly regard, investors seem to disregard – the brand’s creative and craft values, or assets, built into a brand’s presentation.

It is ironic that while I construct this article, that Clint Eastwood’s piano blues documentary is airing on the television in the background. Eastwood’s homage is a careful and highly respectful record of of all the major contributors to piano blues. Eastwood allows the musicians and their music tell the stories and the musician’s stories develop the narrative. The viewer is left to construct the story of piano blues and what it is today. Eastwood is a man of history and his curation in this instance is a special experience.

The creative pursuit of graphic design or graphic communication in 2007 is in contrasting times. At one extreme; the arty extreme, (as Hulsbosch states in their colourful website announcement), graphic design is rich in creative innovation and expression. At the other extreme; strategic design extreme, aesthetic lines are drawn, the bottom line adopted and other large design firms are deemed to be pre-occupied.

The brief history of Australian graphic design has witnessed some great thinkers and expression. The Qantas logo is a vital part of this history including the contributions of several revered designers such as Tony Lunn, Ken Cato and Gert Sellheim. Comments across the web regarding the redesign are mixed. Many people question whether the brand required a redesign, while some individuals site technical tail wing changes requiring design modification.

What this redesign brings into question is the lack of debate regarding technical knowledge, design craft merit of graphic design in the community. Many designers would prize that opportunity to leave their design impression in such a far reaching fashion. Few designers would rise to the challenge of this brief and develop a solution that is akin with the proceeding design.

If one ponders past Qantas brand designs their are common threads that link the previous designs, with exception to the design of 1944 ( Which seems to be a facsimile of the Kangaroo engraving on the Australian penny coin). The Kangaroo shape developed by Sellheim, Lunn and maintained by Cato, is elegant, and finely formed, the shape suggest the animal yet it is rendition is iconic. The type mark developed by Lunn and maintained by Cato, is confident, spare in it’s construction, yet rich in detail with confidently constructed shapes and innovative forms.

The overwhelmingly public adoption of the 1984 design brings into question the current redesign. It is without doubt the intent is well intended. However the refreshed kangaroo graphic has diminished its classic iconic status. The feet of the animal and tail area can potentially invite wit. The shapes are overtly disproportionate – giving the graphic clown-like feet and fat cumbersome torso and tail. The strong diagonal line from the clipped tail point to the over extented toe gives the impression the the beast is traveling down, instead of traveling across as stated by the previous graphic rendering.

LC of Sydney on the news.com.au blog states – How is a big bum Kangaroo with goofy clown feet a step forward? This comment is an example of how the new graphic has moved from being identified as aspirational to witty.

The type mark is fashionable with its mix of sharp and mixed corners. The word mark itself maintains the exaggerated italic form as instated in previous designs. However the quirks of the busy letter forms seem to lack the polish as achieved in other like examples of rigorous and considered type design – see samples by type designer J.Porchez for typemarks developed for Air France and Peuguot. The letter “Q” in particular seems smaller that other characters and perches uneasily close to the baseline. The subtle bumps on the tops of the letters “A” and the up stroke of the letter “N” are overly prominent.

Without sighting the design brief, it seems that Qantas in this instance has achieved or possibly required a complex overhaul of their brand, rather than a refresh. The design developed by Lunn remains today as contemporary and finely crafted as it did in 1984. As trends in design shift and change, will the new brand remain as timeless as it’s incumbent? As evidenced in the Qantas logo 1968 redesign, some solutions are more of their era than others.

Take a ticket Australian brands and get in line, your chance to be put through the blob filter is highly probable.

Visit Hulsbosch Design here
Read some commentary on news.com.au blog – The new Qantas logo roo-vealed