What's in a name?

Sometimes the name is the most important design decision a business can make.

Pr*tty

Yes, the design is... not so good. But I can’t think of a more perfect name for a thrift store.

Sh*tty

Rub our wall? Rub her wall? Rub are wall? Who thought this was a good idea?

Item Three: Help a brother out

This third installment has more to do with the future of this blog than its origins. As I mentioned in Item Two, one of the obvious limitations I deal with is my own personal taste. But there’s another limitation that threatens to stilt the growth of Pr*tty Sh*tty (no, not cigarettes!). The reality is, I only encounter so many things in my day to day life that I can pair together on a daily basis.

So this, dear reader, is where you come in. Armed with your camera of choice, I entreat you to head to the front lines in the war of Pr*tty vs. Sh*tty and shoot. Shoot to blog.

I’ve used a couple guiding principles when making my choices, and to have your contributions considered you’ll have to do the same:

1) Don’t tread over old ground. If it’s been blogged extensively already, then there’s no need to give it coverage here. Similarly, if it’s a well-known, universally appreciated/derided design, then we only succeed in preaching to the choir.

2) Don’t pick on the little guys. Calling out the awning from the local nail salon for looking like sh*t is like shooting fish in a barrel, and really, their only sin is not knowing any better. Instead, focus on targets that should have known better. We’ll leave the easy targets to Your Logo Makes Me Barf.

The only other thing you need to know is that you need not send me a full pairing. Send me your Pr*tty, send me your Sh*tty, and I’ll find the matches (believe me, that’s often the hard part).

You’ll of course get full credit for anything I show.

Now go. Make me proud.

Email me at prttyshtty@gmail.com

Sterling National Bank: Now less sh*tty

If you haven’t seen what was in this window before, you can’t appreciate what an incredible improvement this is. It still starts with hello, but at least now it only ends in me being bored by their motion graphics.

I, of course, will be taking full credit for prompting the change. Sure, the evidence is purely circumstantial, but with a good legal team on my side it’d be enough to convince a jury.

Item Two: Go ahead. Disagree.

Continuing my examination of the origin and mechanics of this blog, let’s point out the most obvious thing: Everything you see is subject to my personal taste and opinions. That said, I don’t expect everyone to agree with my choices—well, to be more specific, my choices for the Pr*tty category. (If you don't agree with my Sh*tty examples, then you’re wrong.)

Which brings me to a misconception I may have caused by naming this blog the way I did. The Pr*tty things are not always going to be what might be traditionally thought of as pretty. It’s simply a word that acts as a label for designs that I think are good. And hopefully I explain my reasons for thinking so in the context of each post.

My tastes, as any regular readers know by now, lean toward the minimal. I like modern design, but occasionally have a soft spot for retro and vintage. I love type. I admire elegant, evocative logos. I respect brazenness. And I hold good ideas in the highest regard.

My own approach as a designer is very much guided by these principles. But here’s the thing: I have an open mind, and I appreciate and respect a lot of design that doesn’t necessarily conform to these guidelines (it’s just not stuff I would/could do myself). So while you may see some choices with which you disagree, I hope you’ll give me the benefit of the doubt and have faith in the basic premise under which I’m working.

And of course, please, if you disagree, leave a comment. I enjoy a good debate. Indeed, my hope for this blog is that it prompts some discussion beyond my snarky observations.

Tune in tomorrow for Item Three (of three): Help a brother out.

Weeds and The Vampire Diaries

Pr*tty

At the risk of hopping on the Mary Louise Parker bandwagon (hey, let’s face it, she’s hot), these ads communicate exactly what they’re intended to. And they do it consistently well from season to season.

Sh*tty

The vampire bandwagon is much easier not to hop on, all the more so for this ad. The photo is meh. But it’s that horrendous logo that seals the deal. Its typographic sins are many, but if I see one more logo that drops the i-dots I'm going to... well, I don't know... I guess I’ll blog about it. Seriously, that trend needs to die, like yesterday.

Item One: What's the point?

At three weeks into this little experiment I thought maybe it was time to give the readers a more thorough explanation about what this blog is and how it came to be. Item One is a glimpse into my motivations and reasons for initiating Pr*tty Sh*tty. Conveniently, I’ve recently come across three quotes that pretty much sum it up.

The first two are from Paula Scher’s article “The Devaluation of Design by the Design Community: I Have Seen the Enemy and He Is Us,” originally published in a 1993 AIGA Journal of Graphic Design and republished in her book Make it Bigger:

Everyday I find myself in supermarkets, discount drugstores, video shops, and other environments that are obviously untouched by our community. No “bad Brody” or “Emigre garbage,” or for that matter no “saintly” Vignelli, Rand or Glaser. Just plain, old-fashioned, uncontroversial bad design, the kind of anonymous bad we’ve come to ignore because we’re too busy fighting over the aesthetics of the latest AIGA poster. We don’t talk or write about it, it heads no one’s agenda, but it’s still most of America.

And from an earlier part of that same article:

If one factors in all the world wars, diseases, poverty, illiteracy, and natural disasters, a well-designed hangtag is silly. But I don’t think the responsibility for the visual environment of our society is silly or trivial, and collectively, that is our charge.

And this last one I found via Michael Surtees’ blog Design Notes, which he found on another blog here. The quote is from a designer named Ernesto Aparicio:

Designers who win awards for edgy design they did for a friend’s business, with a print run of one hundred or something like that? They’ve got no art director, no creative director, no client’s representative, no agency person. Where’s the obstacle to good design there? But take something like a cheese. When I see a really good package for a cheese, I know what that designer went through to get there. It makes me want to fall on my knees and kiss that designer’s feet, that cheese.

Tune in tomorrow for Item Two (of three): Go ahead. Disagree.

Gardasil and Latisse

Pr*tty

Say what you will about the zany typeface, in the world of pharmaceutical products this identity is head and shoulders above almost any other drug. (Image from here.)

Sh*tty

Case in point. This drug gives you more eye lashes, which might come in handy after you see their identity. I know I lost a few lashes rubbing my eyes in disbelief.

Kohler Deli and W.B. Mason

Pr*tty

A respectful and well executed shout-out to the old world.

Sh*tty

A fugly and weak attempt at olde-timey.

Icon and Central Parking

It's easy to think that making an identity system flexible means making it complex in some way. Of course, flexibility, like everything else in an identity system should be dictated some inherent, logical need for it.

Pr*tty

On a busy city street, the most important thing you might need to know about a parking garage is where it is. It's so refreshing to see an identity built on such a simple and obvious conceit.

Sh*tty

Apparently the alternative is a meaningless mark paired with bland type, that plays second fiddle to the wayfinding.

VAL Floors and Staples

The Apple logo is an apple. Target has a target. But it's not always so easy to design the most obvious solution.

Pr*tty

Flooring. Boards. It's a no brainer. But it's lovely in its simplicity and intelligent in its not-trying-too-hard execution. (VAL website here.)

Sh*tty

I feel like this is one of those logos I'm supposed to like. But I just can't get past the fact that staples ain't that fat.  It's supposed to be clever, but what they failed to understand was that the name was clever enough.

The T.O. Show and Top Chef

Pr*tty

You can't see them, but this ad has balls.

Sh*tty

I like this show, but wtf is happening in this ad?

Yale and Nissan Enduro forklifts

Pr*tty

Yale forklifts don't look this anymore, sadly. But the interesting lesson here is, if you really want your logo/name to own a machine like this, stencil cut the mofo right into the side of it. 

Sh*tty

And if you want the machine to look like it escaped from a bad 80's cartoon, do something like this.

Brown Bear and Little Mouse

Pr*tty

This whole book is a classic, a real gem. But this title page is simply exquisite.

Sh*tty

A sound concept. But the story and design are so laughably bad it makes me wish my daughter didn't love this book as much as she does. (I'll just keep telling myself it's my masterful puppeteering she really loves.)

See a more thorough look at the sh*tty side of children's books from the Speak Up archive.

Utz and Wise

Pr*tty

Simple, fun, confident.

Sh*tty

Inane, cheap, disjointed.

McDonald's

A lesson in going big.

Pr*tty

Yes! That's a McDonald's!

Sh*tty

Yes. That's a McDonald's.

Ivory and Irish Spring

Pr*tty

And there you go.

Sh*tty

Please, just go... 

away.

Harry Potter 6 and Surrogates posters

Pr*tty

These Harry Potter posters blew me away. The audacity of almost totally obscuring the title is unheard of in the (mostly) tired, formulaic medium of the film poster. There's many other iterations of this, including some that obscure the title even more.

Sh*tty

Ripping off another design is just stupid. What's worse is that there's actually another version of this poster that doesn't show her legs. If anyone has an image of that version, post a link or send it in.

PAR Group and Emcor

Pr*tty

So, so good. One of the best logos I've ever seen. And put to good use on this van. The logo for their mechanical group is less great, but still pretty awesome. 

Sh*tty

This is something akin to the climax of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Looks harmless enough, but close your eyes now before it melts your face off.

(PAR photo courtesy of jschumacher on Flickr.)

Johnson's baby wash and Olay body wash

Pr*tty

Everything about this bottle says “own me.” I recommend keeping one in each room of your home for calming inspiration.

Sh*tty

Want to wash yourself with liquid Creme Savers? Here’s your chance.

Guggenheim and AMNH

Pr*tty

The Guggenheim gets it.

Sh*tty

The AMNH does not. The sad part is, for the AMNH, these ads aren't actually that bad.

(I wish I had images of their ads for the Water exhibit from awhile back - now those were sh*tty!)

Party Rental Ltd. and Iron Mountain

Delivery trucks and their graphics are ubiquitous in the city.

Pr*tty

Do I love the way that hippo is drawn? No. But do I appreciate the the sense of scale, and the playful change of perspective on the back door? Absolutely.

Sh*tty

What does a giant, scary-ass circular saw have to do with identity theft, and paper shredding? Looks like someone opted for "cool" when they should have gone for trustworthy.

(And don't get me started on their lame-ass logo.)

Millennium Bank and Sterling National Bank

Pr*tty

Ok, maybe I'm not convinced this is so great, but I give them kudos for an unexpected use of color, and that zany M.

Sh*tty

I'm not sure this bank handles money. Looks more like the currency they specialize in is expired grocery store coupons.

Bonus Sh*tty

It starts with hello. And ends with me washing my eyes out with bleach.

Monroe College and CUNY

Pr*tty

Sure their logo is bad. But I have to give props to Monroe's ads for consistently using clean, bold typography, and (mostly) clever writing.

Sh*tty

CUNY on the other hand... You can't help but feel embarrassed for them.

Cardella Waste

Pr*tty

Here's another case of a company with a split personality. Before: bold, simple, appropriate. After...

Sh*tty

Where do I even begin. I've never seen such a blatant use of stupid ligatures before. Not to mention the green pandering.