There has be an over-whelming amount of negative reviews and responses on the new bing logo. Giving a solid critique is important, but even more so the ability to respond to these remarks. From what I have experienced bing is a new service from Microsoft, it aims to be a Decision Engine, to help you make decisions no less. The current logo is brutal, it’s flimsy, doesn’t command any authority nor is it inviting or reliable. It is a highly amateur looking result and a week after it’s release it already looks dated. If Microsoft don’t do something about how they approaching this whole endeavor I guarantee that this will be the usual Microsoft situation, a year from now it will be failing and wont live up to the expectations. It is essential that they rethink their strategy and listen to what the public are saying. Here is the current logo, beside it my proposal, or at least a step in the right direction.
The bing logo really oozes of basic lack of type optics. Look at how the n gets so narrow and thin at the apex. The g sits off the baseline with a half loop that doesn’t link up, not that it must, but in this case it looks too awkward. The counters are ludicrously huge and the descenders don’t rise near high enough to forgive such a huge x-height. Large x-heights are good for reading, but with a low cap you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
It will need more work but what I have done, I have done well when compared to the current state of affiars. I have paid attention to the letterforms and the space around them, the weight, contrast and the flow, something that wasn’t done the first time around. I’d advise the folks at Microsoft to get a typographer/foundry to design a custom face; or at least the four letters, or even use a typeface that already exists? Microsoft’s reluctance to pay for typeface licenses in the past render that unlikely. e.g. The Helvetica/Arial Story.
