The new UB logo has taken away UB history

From a novice like myself, when it comes to graphic design and all that has to do with visual representation I am a total disappointment but I am still appreciative when I see what the gifted can do and call it art.

Have you ever attended an art exhibition? You will see all types there, the wannabe art critics, the wannabe artists and the wannabe wannabe's who try hard to make it seem LIKE they appreciate abstract art. Judging by what people usually say after they stare at those things for few minutes, they must have a hallucinatory effect on people and I am sure it does help the artist, besides, he/she does not have to bother coming up with anything remotely recognizable.

The University of Botswana, obviously with the help of some ultraspiffy artists in their respective field of branding and graphic design has recently unveiled an ultrabuenotastic abstract masterpiece, all in the name of re-branding the institution.

Do not get me wrong, it was surely time to re-brand the institution and bring it up to speed with the ultra modern institutions across the world but that did not mean eroding its history at the same time.

The UB re-branding exercise should have been more concerned with repositioning the institution so as to make it more competitive and raise client expectations and inject a fresh look. When it comes to the logo, a great number of years seem to have been shaved off and flushed with the old logo; but how surprising is it in the age of laser hair removal, botox injections, push up's, Viagra ... age is a shame, no one seems to want to be associated with such a burdening thing.

I guess the new logo is wearing a push up or something, it looks like that of an institution created yesterday and has no visual link whatsoever with the history behind the UB ... maybe it would make sense to an ultra modernist or one of those Japanese robots. I am told that all the elements of the old logo have been re-interpreted in the new logo ... ? But then again who am I? I said earlier that I was a complete novice when it comes to design; I cannot even draw to save my life, now what more with exercises that require the expertise of so called "Branding Guru's?"

The transparency of the logo just bothers me; couldn't you at least just modernize the old logo a bit so that it still makes a lot of sense to us earthlings? I am not even going to go into that discussion about how great institutions do things in this world, at least one thing that I have noticed about them is that their visual representations of themselves seem to have some sort of connection with what they do, you don't even have to have it explained to you but with the UB logo I am told there are horns somewhere ... "ahh you mean those wild animal horns?" but then again Botswana is wild animal territory right and maybe one can learn about it at the UB right? What with the introduction of such courses as tourism? A book somewhere ... ? "Yes I see the paper thin laptop like thing; sometimes you call it a notebook right? Real books do not exist anymore" A sorghum head somewhere ... ? "Ok, sorry now I am really lost, but then again with all this genetically modified stuff that we get fed there might be a sorghum head somewhere there".

Let's keep on hallucinating while looking at the logo one day we might be able to figure it all out. The great and famous Spanish abstract artist, Picasso, once drew a portrait of a woman who was posing for him and after the portrait was done the lady said that it looked nothing like her and this is what Picasso said, "in time it will." You figure it out ...


Source

The university of Botswana(UB) change their logo, the old logo interpet them into new logo.