A few weeks ago I was in a cab with j and finally wanted to know what the deal was with the redesign of the NYC Taxi logo. I insanely asked my cab driver expecting him to go into a design brief about the subject; to no avail. After seeing it for some time, looking out that window it bothered me, it looked haphazard, slapped together, and the letter spacing of AXI unnerving. I got to my destination, got into a conversation about the evening and that was that.

Tonight I just saw a post via quipsologies about the background and some critiques of the logo. Understanding first hand how politics and too many cooks in the kitchen can interfere with a well thought out design concept, I can’t help but appreciate the attempt. However, it makes me sad and nostalgic about the times when good classic design won (I’m only 26, so I don’t recall such a time, but i’ve heard stories). When not everyone was a designer, when graphic design was clean and not ugly. While Carsonesque design has it’s place, NYC Taxi’s are a staple, they are above a trend. Classic design transcends words like futuristic, and edgy. From ugly on purpose to football uniforms, i’m tired of the anti-design, and I’m tired of design that so quickly becomes dated.

By the way NYC already has a logo and I love it.

*Wolff Olins created the NYC logo incorporated into the taxi logo as well as this abomination sometimes referred to as the Lisa Simpson Giving Head logo.