Crappylicious

Not the best ID for an alarm clock. Part of me can’t decide if it is good design or not. The thing that drives me crazy about this piece of plastic, is that if you want to turn off the alarm, good luck doing it in the dark. Especially when your eyes are not fully focused. The snooze button is fine on top. But the row of buttons are so hard to read in the dark. I have accidentally pushed the wrong button and changed the time. Don’t get me wrong, the device looks cool and the time projected to the ceiling is slick. But if I don’t have my glasses on, I cannot make out the tiny projection. The projection should be bigger. Buttons should be illuminated text. I give this product a slam against the wall grade.

Ok everyone, Futura should be banished. Many designers think this font is timeless. It’s not. It was very popular in the 80’s and only reminds me of the 80’s. Give it up, it’s not a cool type face anymore. Every time I see it, it takes me back to the day I put a gun to my head. If you really want a timeless font, go with Helvetica. Futura was a fad. Like the ever popular Girbaud stone washed jeans.

Xerox is definitely an icon. Not only is their product one the greatest inventions of our time, the name Xerox dominates when used in reference to a photocopier. “Just Xerox it”. “Xerox it for me”. Even if you are to use a different brand of a photocopier, most people just say “Xerox”. The new logo really disappoints me. Well, mostly the beach ball. I will admit that the new logo type is nice, but adding the beach ball ruins it. The problem I have is the two different marks to represent the company. A logo type and a mark. Make up your mind. A logo shouldn’t have two competing marks. They should compliment each other. Besides the ball looks like an after thought. And not that interesting. It looks to me like the designer created a nice logo type but the client(Xerox) didn’t think it was enough. If that’s not the case, the design firm is just following a trend and not thinking of longevity for the corporate identity. When a company re-brands themselves it tells me they are in trouble. Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to stay with the market trends, but the world already knows who you are. They haven’t forgotten who Xerox is. I think all Xerox needed to do is advertise more. Let people know they are still around. Brand should represent the quality of their business, not all the bells and whistles.