One small step for man…
When the “meatball” (as NASA’s logo is known) was designed in 1959, printing was a completely photographic process. Photocopiers were just beginning to be available, and their quality was too poor for printing; no one was even dreaming of digital printing.
“It’s a design nightmare. It doesn’t print well on laser printers because of the gradations on the airfoil, and it can’t be used at less than 5/8 inch because the stars disappear and the type becomes illegible.”
— GREG PATT, GRAPHICS MANAGER, CORTEZ III
Base created an un-official redesign of the NASA logo that I thought you’d like.
“We wanted to de-emphasize the name in the logo to create more of a symbol that would be universally understood. So we eclipsed the name with a giant sphere, which could be Earth or any other planet.”
— BASE
Cropped logos are nothing new, but if there’s a company that suits one, NASA’s a good shout.
If you asked me before I published this post what NASA stands for, I couldn’t have said for sure. It’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
You’ll find a few contextual shots of the cropped logo on the Base blog.
Via Armin Rosu. Earth photo courtesy of Thinkstock.
Hosted by the excellent 
39 appreciated comments, click here to add one
Nonnu
I quite like it… a lot. Although I guess it would never be accepted because it’s not very “american”. No red, white and blue? No stars?
Jun 8th, 2010
James
One important lesson: logo designers also have to consider the practically and effectiveness of the design, rather than solely on aesthetics.
Jun 8th, 2010
Rob
I think it’s a nice and clever logo…
But kind of a blunt strike to the classic weight NASA’s logo has gained through it’s existence. This is an exaggerated analogy, but it’s almost like having an interior designer from New York proposing the Pantheon needs to look avant-garde.
I believe NASA would do way better with a revamp of it’s logo within it’s current line… If there is any real need for a change…
Additionally, the current NASA logo is meant to be a seal emblem, an insignia, which complies to a traditional structure, and there is a classical weight in that, which sets it aside from the ephimerality of trends logos on the other hand strife with.
Nevertheless I still think and admit it’s a clever and nice approach.
Jun 8th, 2010
Designer Monk
NASA’s logo desperately needed this ReDesign. Good work by BASE, a great find and a good redesign. It’s high time for the NASA guys to sit and start re-branding with their new logo. I would have been very disappointed to see only the original NASA logo, thank God that BASE had a redesigned version too.
Jun 8th, 2010
Giulietta Nardone
Love it! Simple, contemporary and clean.
Giulietta
Jun 8th, 2010
Ryan
It seems to me like something you might find during the sketch stage. It’s a clever exploration, but it doesn’t look resolved. It lacks the stability and authority of the current logo and the majestic, dreamy qualities of the original logo, but an interesting exercise nonetheless.
Jun 8th, 2010
Tony Miller
There’s a detailed description of the logo over at the Wiki. Many of your are forgetting about the “worm logo” which was in use from 1975 to 1992. That one was part of the idea of “looking modern” that so many companies embraced in the 70s to get rid of their previous long standing logos. I was really happy when NASA re-embraced the old “meatball” over the worm, because it has a style and class that the soulless spaghetti letters don’t. As for the unofficial redesign, I’ll call my opinion “neutral”.
Jun 8th, 2010
Cliff L
I thing this would look good on a letterhead, business cards, and a website, but as fas as the usage examples go I’m not too sold on it. It looks a bit unfinished because of it’s simplicity in my opinion. And one small detail that is annoying me is the off center underline under “there”.
Jun 8th, 2010
Victor Zuniga
@Cliff L what are you talking about? I don’t see any “there”.
I think its a clever design. It’s practical and modern. Just one thing, the crop reminds me of the mouse logo by Johnson Banks. But other than that, I think the crop works well for NASA.
Jun 8th, 2010
Me
@Victor Zuniga:
Cliff L was talking about the slogan “Taking Us There” which is seen in the samples on this page (which is linked to in this article).
The off-center underline is intentional and it underlines the “here” in “There” which I agree, looks weird and is kinda confusing.
The logo itself I rather like but I agree with Cliff L that it’s good on paper but not so much on actual products… It needs a little color or some definition IMO.
Jun 8th, 2010
Clayton
Overall I like the logo because it’s clean, simple, memorable, and communicative.
Jun 8th, 2010
Victor Zuniga
@Me
Thanks. I agree with the line now that I know what you are talking about, it looks kinda weird. But I do like the logo in context. It doesn’t need color. It’s awesome! looks very 21st century. :)
Jun 8th, 2010
Angus
Clever and refreshing.
Jun 9th, 2010
Cliff L
@ Victor Zuniga
I dont even think it would need color either. My comment about the logo in context was based on my observation that it just looks like it should be on a flat surface. This logo I believe looks wonderful, don’t make that mistake, I just think that it looks unfinished or unintentional in those context shots.
I dont know, maybe its just my taste. Anyone see what I’m saying?
Jun 9th, 2010
Jonny
I like it aesthetically – but whether it’s right for NASA is another matter, I think at the very least a little too much has been cropped of for it to remain as universally known as it is now.
Jun 10th, 2010
lee newham
It’s great. I didn’t realize the mess of a planet illustration was the nasa branding. I thought it was still this:
http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/OMU/OMU129/old-nasa-logo_~09P0138.jpg
Whoever did that ‘meatball mess’ should be ashamed of themselves.
Jun 10th, 2010
Dean J
That “meatball mess” was the original flight patch. They weren’t worried about printing logos in the 50s, but giving test pilots something to stick on a jacket and be proud of.
I’m wondering if the author of this article was born in the 80s/90s, honestly.
Jun 11th, 2010
Eoin White
It’s a good idea. I feel the ‘S’ needs to show a little bit of the bottom lip/terminal of the. There is a legibility issue which will hinder any potential ‘iconic status’. Good effort though!
Jun 14th, 2010
Owen
Clever idea, but I really don’t think it holds up once you see it on the advertising or on the shuttle wing or space suits. Who wants to fly in a shuttle labelled “Naca” in dull gray?
Jun 14th, 2010
Chris
Isn’t it “One small step for a man”, small thing but a big difference!
Jun 15th, 2010
Robyn Durst
I absolutely love it. It can be used in so many contexts, like Base has shown on their blog. I believe the logo does an outstanding job of portraying what NASA does and what they stand for. It’s a strong, legible logo that could withstand time.
Jun 18th, 2010
Daho
Nice idea, but it misses the mark for me. For one, the letters aren’t legible.
NASA had updated their logo since the meatball one, which held for several years. But complaints from the employees and sci-fi geeks (i mean that lovingly) prompted them to bring the meatball back. I do like it in a vintage way, when space travel excited people. I could see it on the Enterprise.
Jun 18th, 2010
J
I am really sorry, but no, I do not like this “re-design” at all. First of all, it is not a re-design (of what?), but a completely new approach, second, it is worse than the meatball (which is a hard to accomplish task) and of course not even close to the great spaghetti (or “worm”) logo from the 70s. I never understood why this iconic and beautiful logo was dropped in ´92. But what do you expect from a government institution. They don´t give a sh…t about design. Well, in other countries they do…
Jun 19th, 2010
Jenn
I don’t like the revision. I feel that this looks too similar to the previous “worm” version of the logo with a crop added to it. I feel the crop almost makes it unreadable. I looked at the various applications the new logo was placed and found that it didn’t relay the idea of NASA to me at all when taken out of context (i.e. on the side of a space shuttle).
I definitely like the idea of re-branding NASA but, as someone stated above, I think this is a progressive step and not a finished product. I like where it’s going but it’s not there yet.
Jun 22nd, 2010
matthew
Ughh, that is a terrible redesign. Completely uninspired and derivative; the new logo is a FAIL.
A better approach would have been an evolution of the existing mark.
Jun 23rd, 2010
Ian Houghton
Chris, Armstrong goofed when he delivered his line. It was supposed to be ‘one small step for a man’, but he actually said ‘one small step for man’, which altered the meaning of the sentence. I’m pretty sure everyone still got it though.
Jun 24th, 2010
Johnny
I understand the redesign and the limitations of the current logo, but I MUCH prefer the current. The current logo has tradition and character. The redesign is an upgraded/cropped version of the 80′s NASA logo that had zero personality. Pass on that redesign.
Jun 25th, 2010
Gunnar Andreassen
Fail? This design is more modern and “easy”, quite clever actually.
Jun 26th, 2010
Seth F
Too much of the letters missing…
Jun 28th, 2010
Drew Beamer
I think the redesign is great. I read a bit on the Base Blog and it said that they project was for a conference with the theme of “The New Normal”. This new identity fits the bill perfectly. Its simple, a monkey could reproduce it, and it conveys the idea of celestial bodies with a simple curved cropping. All in all, amazing.
Jun 28th, 2010
Paul Batey
On the wing of the shuttle it looks like someone has wiped away half of the logo while giving it a clean!
Jun 30th, 2010
Susan Newman
Very clever and current! Love it!
Jun 30th, 2010
justin
Pff, had this idea for a web and application developer about a year ago. Nothing new for me.
Jul 1st, 2010
Mairlyn
Not loving it… I like the classic one better.
Jul 1st, 2010
Damaris Alfonso
I really like the concept and execution, but it seems entirely too modern for NASA to take up.
I’m a sucker for really simplistic, clean design, but for some reason, the futuristic theme of NASA calls for juxtaposition, rather than the obvious… if that makes any sense.
Jul 2nd, 2010
Billy Holm
This is great. It’s so clear even though half of the word is “hidden behind the moon”. I absolutely love the clean black, no stars, no stripes, no red, white or blue. Awesome job.
Jul 21st, 2010
Khalil
Well, like many commentators said, it sure is a great logo, but it may never be accepted by NASA. I’d love to see its practical applications like on astronauts’ space suits, on the space shuttle, and other places where NASA uses its logo.
Jul 25th, 2010
Khalil
I stand corrected.
I saw the contextual shots of the cropped logo on Base blog. But as we can see, the cropped part of it doesn’t look like part of the design but as if it’s lost in reflection during snapshots or is obstructed by some object.
We can see the NASA thought process by looking at the worm logo used between 1975-1992. After that, the old ‘meatball’ logo was readopted and is in use to date.
Jul 25th, 2010
Reply to “One small step for man…”
All comments are subject to the Logo Design Love comment policy.