Comments on: Ilfracombe sperm sells for £5,000

By: chris trueman

chris trueman — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 13:58:59 +0000

OOh! Wait. I think I can see a glint of sunlight bouncing off the stippled surface of the gently lapping sea!
Er, nope. Its awful. (almost as abrasive as the 2012 logo!?)
Please take it back to the drawing board!

– Seriously though, if you’ve ever worked for local authorities you will know how many cooks it takes to really spoil an ice cream. And this, I suspect is one of those jobs. “Can you just put this bit with that bit and make it look a bit more like this one too?”
And no matter how you may struggle to convince them…

Other negative comments: Letterspacing! Weight of strapline. Are there any other colour variations or is it just mono?

Good luck winning over any tourism with this, Ilfracombe!

By: Mark Astle

Mark Astle — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:07:23 +0000

“The branding was a lengthy process, which involved lots of people from the public sector and commercial business”

…and that’s why the logo isn’t good. You’ve got a really obvious case of groupthink – nobody in all those committees has had the balls to stand up and go “But it looks like a sperm!”

I also agree with S Watson – giving the brief to the local design college would have been good for everyone, cost less, and generated some excellent PR. Which is not what this logo’s done for you.

By: s watson

s watson — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:58:35 +0000

I just think it’s a shame that the council didn’t give the remit to design a logo to Ilfracombe Arts College and give the future population of ilfracombe a chance to be proud of themselves.
I’m sure they would have come up with a fantastic proposal for less money keeping most people quiet.

By: Amanda Vlahakis

Amanda Vlahakis — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:45:39 +0000

Lol …. hmmm.

Not keen on it …aside from the obvious issues of sexual connotations, I feel the graphic would benefit from a bit more swirl to it, a bit more flow. It seems a bit stiff to me (ha ha! that was an accident I swear)

If there was just a tad more swirl to it, without making it look too much like an icecream, it would probably not be being criticised right now.

“At the risk of this not being posted: ‘ilfracum’?” – Ha ha! Classic Martin!

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:41:22 +0000

There’s a new Facebook group called ‘Ilfracombe logo’ to air locals’ views of the logo.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:42:08 +0000

Tessa, I thought you'd want to know that the North Devon Journal has today reported the project as costing £30,000. Seems like you've got your work cut out chasing the press.

By: Si

Si — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 09:21:41 +0000

I see a tadpole, half a candle flame, a reversed-out nose and, yes a sperm. I have to be told to see fish, landscape, the harbour and ice cream and even them I’m: ‘I guess it could be…’ However it in no way makes me intrigued enough to want to visit Ilfracombe, but then again I’ve been there and it was dreadful. I’d maybe go back for £5,000, but more likely would hold out for £40,000.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:10:09 +0000

You’re right, Pete. The headline was over the top. I’m still experimenting with finding balance between piquing interest and being too literal, and I can say with certainty that copywriting is not my forté.

By: Pete Shaw

Pete Shaw — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:45:48 +0000

Monica – Now you’re just being plain weird. In your World Tessa is to blame for everything heh? She did a logo you didn’t like, She commented on a blog post in a way you didn’t like… ooh she must be pure evil. Whatever.

Of course – you’re the one who gets to speak for everyone – eh? “Now everybody is pissed and silent”. Gimme a break – no ones stopping you or anyone else from writing a comment. It might just be that maybe people have moved on realising that the original sensationalist headline doesn’t really hold water. Who knows… I can only speak for me.

By: Monica

Monica — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:15:05 +0000

I start having a problem with this… It’s true, the comments weren’t all nice, not even close to nice and I understand David’s reply to Tessa Martin’s post (the 40k mistake was made), but in the end, let’s be honest, the logo it’s not what we would call a good one. Why do we have to feel sorry and to apologies for our believes. I just don’t get it. We all get our kicks in the back at some point for a design we make. I don’t see any fish and any harbor. I see just an ugly logo and I’m sorry that maybe, with this I offend Tessa Martin, but you don’t stand up unless you have something to say and if that something isn’t good enough, that’s it, we’re not perfect all the time. All this drama it’s disappointing. Reading LogoDesignLove it’s always rewarding and commenting to posts it used to be fun and creative, even if a little dirty. It’s the first time that something like this happens. Now everybody is pissed and silent. What I hate the most, it’s Tessa Martin passive-aggressiveness that just killed something nice.