Comments on: The Philadelphia History Museum

By: miss ann elk

miss ann elk — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:15:43 +0000

The colors were the colors of the defunct Arena Football League team. The grid is clean and modern, but confusing to me, and might be enticing, but does not speak immediately to “history” to me.

By: Luke Luke Luke | Philadelphia History Museum Logo

Luke Luke Luke | Philadelphia History Museum Logo — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:37:36 +0000

[...] pleased to read about their redesign for the Philadelphia History Museum. An article, featured on Logo Design Love, really shed some light on the research and development stages of the project. Inspired by William [...]

By: ChrisVentura

ChrisVentura — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:15:55 +0000

I like it. Colors, if needed, could be rechosen. I like the grid being imperfect. Sure, its been done before but as Paul Rand said “Don’t try to be original. Just try to be good. I don’t know I think it’s good

By: Alan Vitej

Alan Vitej — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:17:44 +0000

I have to say, at first I did think the teal/grey thing was a bit trendy, but then again, isn’t it principal that most logos have a lifespan of 10-15 years anyway? I mean okay, we have the giants like Coca-Cola who haven’t changed their logo in over a century, but this museum isn’t necessarily a world-wide tourist attraction, like the Louvre is.

For what it is, I think it fits very nicely with not only the business, but as a stand out as well.

Just my two cents.

By: Patrick King

Patrick King — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:46:00 +0000

On the curve of design for public institutions in Philadelphia this is in the top 5%. To live here and be a designer is to be nauseated daily by some of the worst design in the country.

Great people are here doing great work, 160/90, FluxLabs, Frank Baseman, Heads of State, us, but the majority of publicly visible work is pathetic. 30+ years of Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin and Red White and Blue has taken its toll on these eyes.

When it comes to public signage this logo’s a great contribution to making this town look just a bit more modern.

By: Stephen Webb

Stephen Webb — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:40:08 +0000

This is a different concept for a logo design, but one that is very original and actually relates to the service being offered. U like the way they have not gone for a standard logo concept, but something a bit more unusual and therefore unique.

Incorporating the map grid layout is a nice touch, with the imperfections preventing the design from being too rigid and monotonous. The font with its similar hand written imperfections works well combined with this grid, and the colour choice of grey and light blue allows ‘History’ to clearly stand off the page.

I would be interested to see how the concept for this was developed, and what other ideas were played with before settling on this concep

By: Jon Gifford

Jon Gifford — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:05:14 +0000

As a Philly resident, I’ve kind of been turning this one over in my head. After some thought, I’d have to say the pros outweigh the cons. The fact that it warrants this much discussion surely says something. I guess the bottom line is that it’s an ambitious and relatively novel solution. In all fairness:

1. It’s far better than the median average for the genre.

2. Submitting any work for critique by your peers isn’t easy. It takes real guts and is certainly praiseworthy.

3. 160over90 is a successful shop in a tough business climate. As such their work is going to meet with some knee-jerk reactions whenever they put their it out there.

Nice job keeping folks thinking / talking.

By: nido

nido — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:58:18 +0000

more and more I find myself wanting to be in the room when these “major” branding companies finally present their idea(s)… even just for the look on the clients face “we don’t know any better, but just keep smiling and nodding”

wish all my clients did that…. and paid as much…

By: Youssef Sarhan

Youssef Sarhan — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:22:43 +0000

Simple put. This does not make me want to visit that museum.

By: Jon Gifford

Jon Gifford — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:48:34 +0000

I like it in principle. But when we have to offer too long of a creative rationale for work it usually means something.

As hideous as the old logo was, it was actually far more legible, particularly as signage. I really do like the basic nature of this solution, though. Maybe it would benefit from a little extra refinement. I think the gray is very light and not helping. Obviously, making certain characters jump out doesn’t need to mean throwing others away.

I do appreciate what 160over90 is trying to accomplish overall, though.