Reeves launched an updated Breyer logo a couple of days ago on its Facebook page and in its e-mail communications, and I appear to be the only person who’s happy about it. Well, not so much happy, but glad to see the old logo gone.
Man, I hated that thing. It had overstayed its welcome, as far as I’m concerned; most of the other logos and identity programs the Breyer line has had over the years rarely stuck around for long, but that darn "coffee can" logo lingered for decades.
I called it the "coffee can" logo because it wouldn’t have been out of place on a coffee can. Or anything else. And that was my biggest pet peeve about it: it was just so depressingly generic. All the typefaces in the world they could have based their identity program on, and they went with an off the shelf version of Helvetica Black?
I have nothing against Helvetica family of typefaces in general (so much better than it’s red-headed stepchild, Arial), but Helvetica has a reputation for being almost invisible. That’s sort of the point - and the popularity - of Helvetica: it’s designed to not get in the way of readability.
But it also doesn’t convey much of anything, emotionally. It’s just …there.
Then there’s the issue of the typography itself: namely, that "dropped" letter R in the logo, which was allegedly done intentionally to "catch your eye." You know the saying that "if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck"? If it looks like a mistake, and feels like a mistake, it’s probably a mistake. Whether it was intentional or not.
(I remain convinced that the design firm that created this identity program had to have been blowing smoke in their faces. No, no, it’s meant to be that way, really!)
I had/have no problems with the color scheme: blue and yellow/gold have been a part of Breyer's design history since the 1960s - first with the Decorators, and then as a part of the Blue Ribbon Sticker program. I wasn’t too keen on the use of yellow as the dominant color on the packaging, though: while it’s true that it’s very eyecatching (definitely a plus, in a retail environment), yellow is one of the most difficult colors to work with from a design perspective. The right shade can look luxurious - but the wrong shade can look cheap.
It also has some uncomfortable associations with that all too common Breyer problem of, y’know, yellowing plastic. (Unless the intent was camouflage?)
While I’m not too keen on the three-dimensional "bubble" effect on the new logo (a tad too trendy, if you ask me), and it still seems a bit generic, it does feel like a step in the right direction. A little more refined, and up-to-date. I’ll have to see what the web site - and the rest of the new identity program - looks like before I make my final judgment.
(For the record: yes, the redesign of the web site really is happening, and no, I’m not at liberty to reveal anything about it.)
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Opinion. Show all posts
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Being a Tiger
You probably heard about the not-quite-a-perfect game controversy this week, right? That didn’t help alleviate my funky (not the dance floor kind) mood. Detroit - the city, the team, the region - just can’t catch a break sometimes.
It’s been that way for a while. Not for the past few decades, but centuries. The City’s official motto is Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus. In English: "We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes." It’s not something new or recent: it was adopted in response to a fire that completely leveled the city - in 1805.
A couple days later, Mom wanted to do a little local garage sale hopping. Pickings were a little slim - it was late in the day, and the pickers had already finished picking - but look at what I found in spite of it all:
A Lomonosov Tiger Cub! I really shouldn’t keep him, but I will. I have to: it feels like a gift from my late grandfather, Louie. He stood by his team, and his city, in good times and bad.
So can I.
Yeah, we know things are desperate and messed up, but it’s not hopeless. The city I know is not the city the rest of the country knows. But I’m at least glad that the rest of the country got to see a little of what I’ve seen all along, reflected in the way everyone here acquitted themselves in the matter.
Following up on the discussion of the volunteering subject, here are a few more words on the matter. I was going to just add them to the comments in the previous post, but it was starting to run a bit long, and I didn't want them to get lost in the shuffle.
I have no problem with show-specific specials, the kind anyone who happens to be attending can simply purchase by standing in line and paying the money - like the BreyerWest or QuarterFest Specials. If there's any problem there, it's in the distribution and selection of the events that get them. The specials involved haven't been so rare or desirable that it's become a problem, yet. (The LSE/VRE events are definitely on the edge, though.)
I also have no problem with raffle items: as long as the opportunity to purchase tickets is available to all participants. Most raffles work towards the benefit of both parties financially: the raffle holder gets money for their cause, and the raffle winner gets a treasured prize in return.
Live show and volunteer models are problematic because they are now seen by many as entitlements, the benefits of which flow almost entirely to the receiver. The problem with entitlements is that, for better or worse, once it's been established, the potential receivers are loath to give it up.
That's what the brouhaha about the Youth show prizes was about, and why I included them, in passing, in the original discussion. Reeves is trying to scale back to prizes more appropriate to the nature of the show, but many aren't having it. They’re now seen as entitlements - an entitlement that’s now also disincentivizing some showers from moving beyond what is essentially a teaching show. (Useful baseball analogy: what’s the point of moving up to the Majors, if there’s better money to be made in the Minors?)
A similar dynamic is going on with the volunteer specials.
Because of inertia, expediency, or old-fashioned politics, some people will be volunteers for as long, or for as often, as they want to be. I think that the volunteer model encourages some of those folks to continue, at the expense of others who are equally capable, or have a different or fresher approach. If you have skill or expertise in an area that’s already being covered by someone else, the only option that’s left to you is to toss your application into the highly competitive general applicant pool.
Reeves tries to emphasize that the models are a gift, and could stop the practice at any time. But the entitlement has been established, so going back to a standard volunteer package is unlikely at this point. Creating a second tier of volunteers that will work for food? That bird won't fly (and might not survive a legal challenge, either.)
Time for me to be a Tiger and move on. And hope for better things: I was watching TCM the other day, and I came up with what, I think, is a brilliant idea for the Celebrity Look-a-like Contest. (No telling, no clues - y’all will have to wait and see!)
It’s been that way for a while. Not for the past few decades, but centuries. The City’s official motto is Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus. In English: "We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes." It’s not something new or recent: it was adopted in response to a fire that completely leveled the city - in 1805.
A couple days later, Mom wanted to do a little local garage sale hopping. Pickings were a little slim - it was late in the day, and the pickers had already finished picking - but look at what I found in spite of it all:
A Lomonosov Tiger Cub! I really shouldn’t keep him, but I will. I have to: it feels like a gift from my late grandfather, Louie. He stood by his team, and his city, in good times and bad.
So can I.
Yeah, we know things are desperate and messed up, but it’s not hopeless. The city I know is not the city the rest of the country knows. But I’m at least glad that the rest of the country got to see a little of what I’ve seen all along, reflected in the way everyone here acquitted themselves in the matter.
Following up on the discussion of the volunteering subject, here are a few more words on the matter. I was going to just add them to the comments in the previous post, but it was starting to run a bit long, and I didn't want them to get lost in the shuffle.
I have no problem with show-specific specials, the kind anyone who happens to be attending can simply purchase by standing in line and paying the money - like the BreyerWest or QuarterFest Specials. If there's any problem there, it's in the distribution and selection of the events that get them. The specials involved haven't been so rare or desirable that it's become a problem, yet. (The LSE/VRE events are definitely on the edge, though.)
I also have no problem with raffle items: as long as the opportunity to purchase tickets is available to all participants. Most raffles work towards the benefit of both parties financially: the raffle holder gets money for their cause, and the raffle winner gets a treasured prize in return.
Live show and volunteer models are problematic because they are now seen by many as entitlements, the benefits of which flow almost entirely to the receiver. The problem with entitlements is that, for better or worse, once it's been established, the potential receivers are loath to give it up.
That's what the brouhaha about the Youth show prizes was about, and why I included them, in passing, in the original discussion. Reeves is trying to scale back to prizes more appropriate to the nature of the show, but many aren't having it. They’re now seen as entitlements - an entitlement that’s now also disincentivizing some showers from moving beyond what is essentially a teaching show. (Useful baseball analogy: what’s the point of moving up to the Majors, if there’s better money to be made in the Minors?)
A similar dynamic is going on with the volunteer specials.
Because of inertia, expediency, or old-fashioned politics, some people will be volunteers for as long, or for as often, as they want to be. I think that the volunteer model encourages some of those folks to continue, at the expense of others who are equally capable, or have a different or fresher approach. If you have skill or expertise in an area that’s already being covered by someone else, the only option that’s left to you is to toss your application into the highly competitive general applicant pool.
Reeves tries to emphasize that the models are a gift, and could stop the practice at any time. But the entitlement has been established, so going back to a standard volunteer package is unlikely at this point. Creating a second tier of volunteers that will work for food? That bird won't fly (and might not survive a legal challenge, either.)
Time for me to be a Tiger and move on. And hope for better things: I was watching TCM the other day, and I came up with what, I think, is a brilliant idea for the Celebrity Look-a-like Contest. (No telling, no clues - y’all will have to wait and see!)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Web Specials Commentary
As proof of my Breyer History uber-nerdiness, I was going to post a lengthy, heavily footnoted article about the first Breyer mold mark - not the famous "copyright horseshoe," but what came before. It's fascinating - really! - but it's going to take me another day or two to whip it into readable shape. (Mostly editing for length - I tend to overwrite a bit on my first drafts.)In the meantime, I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts about the recent Web Special release Ballyduff.
I really like him; Reeves has been doing a bang-up job on their solid colors lately, especially their chestnuts. (I adore that gorgeous shade of red chestnut on the Australian SR Phar Lap!) It's nice to see them move away a bit from all the crazy psychedelic colors and patterns they've been high on lately. Don't get me wrong - my first choice this year at BreyerFest is going to be that awesome, over-the-top Lady Phase "Confetti" - but there's nothing prettier in the world than a simple, nicely done chestnut. (Wouldn't Ballylee's color look smashing on the Bouncer, or even the Stretch Morgan?)
Unfortunately, I'm on a budget so tight I can't even pass up the grotty pennies one finds in supermarket parking lots. Since I also had the happy misfortune of being picked for the Connoisseur Auld Lang Syne, and I rather prefer the Kennebec to the Flash, my budget priorities were pretty clear on the matter. Even though I think he's actually a pretty good deal for the money, I had to take a pass on him.
(Oh, I can almost hear you wincing at the thought of someone actually preferring the Kennebec Count mold over - well, anything. I'll deal with you conformation freakazoids another day...)
I think Reeves is finally getting closer to the winning formula for the Web Specials on price, quantity and availability. The 350 piece run - identical to the Connoisseur releases, and the recent regular run gloss variations - seems about right. Not so few to create a ninja-pit-style feeding frenzy, and not so many that they won't retain most of their value. Kudos to Reeves for managing to create a nice buzz - and likely, a tidy little profit - in one heck of a rotten economy. Sure wish I could have contributed!
I'm hoping that they don't go monthly on these particular specials; that kind of overkill is what spoiled Stone Horses for a lot of collectors. And the three month wait certainly added to the anticipation and the drama: the Web Special thread on Blab was interesting, to say the least. (And also, a little scary!)
And yet, in spite of all the fussing, cussing and drinking that went on, the Ballylee still isn't quite sold out. There's lots of reasons why: the Auld Lang Syne drawing was last week, the economy is still sinking, and it's that time of year when a lot of hobbyists are taking a hard look at their live show and BreyerFest budgets for the year. I'm sure he'll be gone by the end of the week though, if not sooner.
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