It totally matters if it’s black or white.
Remember how I said:
If the logo does not work in black and white, the logo does not work.
I still believe that. And that is exactly why the new Royal Opera House logo is awesome.
I can already hear you saying, “Whoa, Buchino. Hold your unicorns. Isn’t the new logo awesome because it features several lions and a bondage unicorn? And what about the fact that it’s actually the coat of arms of the United Kingdom and has French written all over it? And all that French is about god and the English are all but godless? And the unicorn!”
I must concede, this is all true. However, inherent in its awesomeness is not the sort of design savvy with which SomeOne approached the blacks and whites. They performed at exactly the call of duty.*
Above, left–right: dark-on-light version, inverted dark-on-light version, actual light-on-dark version.
See what they did here? Instead of just inverting the logo, they created one for dark backgrounds. It varies subtly from the light-on-dark version in many places, but it makes an incredible difference. The care taken to create both versions must have been painstaking.
It’s thoughtful. And it makes me think some client or designer somewhere actually gives a shit about design. #hope
Caution: excessive rambling beyond this point.
* The fact of the matter is that everyone seems to be underachieving or overachieving these days. Can’t we just have expectations met for once? I rather like this piece because it does exactly that.
Its reward, of course, may be disheartening to some. No one will notice it. Rather, no one will notice the design. The logo will stand out and the technique will recede, as should be the goal of any good design. An alternative is everyone commenting on how awful the thing is. And that is a terrible fate.
Regardless, a design that distracts from the message or is a failed design, beautiful or not.
