Designer reimagines big brand logos, with hilarious results.
Everyone loves a good ol' swipe at big brands, and that's probably why we love Viktor Hertz's Honest Logos project, which we discovered this week. Since 2011, the Swedish designer has been taking some of the world's biggest brands and redesigning their logos according to what they actually mean for most people.
Most of his descriptions are harsh but fair. Netflix becomes 'Nosleepnosex', for example, the Academy Awards is transformed into the 'Annual Orgy of the white mutual admiration society' and Games of Thrones becomes 'Gore and Titties'. And there are, of course, some others that don't mention sex or body parts.
You could apply this one to a lot of fast food brands
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Is this one fair?
While the honest logos show a new side to these big brands, we also think they demonstrate the power of branding. Compare the honest logos to the real ones, and you'll see that if you create a powerful enough brand, you can create associations with your logo and identity that may be removed from what you are actually selling. The obvious example being that Apple does not sell apples.
Facebook, which Hertz reimagined in 2011 as 'Procrastination', is just that, a way for people to waste time. But how many of us think about wasting time when we see that blue 'f'?
The logos also show that what brands mean to consumers change over time. There have certainly been worse accusations levelled at Facebook lately than it aids procrastination – this year alone it has been accused of promoting self-harm and violence. It's also got us wondering how we'll see these brands in a few years time.
Rosie Hilder is Creative Bloq's Deputy Editor. After beginning her career in journalism in Argentina – where she worked as Deputy Editor of Time Out Buenos Aires – she moved back to the UK and joined Future Plc in 2016. Since then, she's worked as Operations Editor on magazines including Computer Arts, 3D World and Paint & Draw and Mac|Life. In 2018, she joined Creative Bloq, where she now assists with the daily management of the site, including growing the site's reach, getting involved in events, such as judging the Brand Impact Awards, and helping make sure our content serves the reader as best it can.
