99% Invisible-69- The Brief and Tumultuous Life of the New UC Logo

So if you’re not from California, or missed this bit of news, the University of California has a new logo. Or rather, had a new logo. To be more precise they had a new “visual identity system,” which is the kind of entirely accurate, but completely wonky description that gets met with sarcastic eye rolls from anyone who isn’t a designer, but there it is. But they don’t have a new logo. Because of a massive public backlash, the UC system actually suspended the monogram logo while we were reporting this story. In this episode, we talk to the Creative Director of the UC Office of the President, Vanessa Correa, who led the team that created this short-lived brand identity and Christopher Simmons, principal of MINE, who waded into the UC logo fight with a brilliant blog post called “Why the UC Rebrand is Better Than You Think.” This piece was reported by Cyrus Farivar, who also produced the 99% Invisible episodes about Bonn, Germany and Westvleteren beer.