Amateur Design Critique

New York City released a new marketing campaign mark, an obvious nod to the iconic I ♥ New York design by Milton Glaser.

And Twitter, going to great lengths to live up to its reputation, reacted:

• “Graphic designer be like: 8k” — a TV Host/Sports reporter
• “Beyond the questionable design, the wording also doesn’t make sense. Who is ‘we’?” — A technology writer.
• “It looks like a senior school project from Pratt. There’s nothing aesthetically correct about it.” — a screenplay writer.
• “Hopefully we didn’t pay more than $100 for this” — a literary agent and occasional poet.
• “Beyond stupid?” — a Writer, Skewerer, Digital Therapist.
• “If my 12-year old slapped this together for a school assignment, I would take away her phone for a week so it’s a no for me.” — a rural-mothers podcast host.
• “Is this a joke” — the founder of a calendar start-up
• “Hmm. A third grader could do better 🥴” — the founder of an obscure social-media startup.
• “Is this mess real? It looks like it was done by someone who opened Photoshop for the first time.” — someone who hosts a show on Youtube.

As you can see, none of the comments I picked is from people working in a field adjacent to graphic design; I bet few have the knowledge to assess whether the designer selected an appropriate font, whether the balance is right, or whether the design delivers what the pitch promised. It’s a marketing design, for god’s sake; marketing is always 80% bullshit. I won’t affect anyone’s life. Yet people comment like some politician said they would introduce SUV-free roads when elected.

I love how everyone on the Internet has an opinion about everything all the time.