No, Jim wasn't the designer
We may have found the laziest logo ever, and it comes from right here in New Zealand. It's a new smiley face logo for the Porirua City Council - and it cost ratepayers $98,000, the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union has confirmed.
The logo, which the Taxpayers' Union describe as a "limp and childlike smiley face", was unveiled in April. Check it out in all it's glory below.
Understandably, the union is quite pissed about the price tag and questioning the value of the makeover. In a statement, the union said: "When Porirua ratepayers gaze long enough into the face, the council's five percent annual rate hikes gaze back".
Apparently the 'smiley face logo' is from a series of social media avatar files, which were designed and supplied to the council for $875.
But a spokeswoman said the council thinks the brand is "fantastic".
"Our previous brand was not cohesive and was applied in an ad hoc and inconsistent way across council services," she told Newshub. The rationale for the logo design was to reflect with the city's "youthful population". Yeah, whatever.
So how the hell did this Microsoft Paint drawing cost so much? Here's the spend breakdown:
Strategy and brand development, and brand guidelines - $30,000
Design of collateral, print and electronic templates, animation stationery, advertising, banners, certificates, rates latter and assessments - $28,775
Brand architecture - $8,850
Photo library based on the new brand "look and feel" - $24,991
Update to brand guidelines - $5,260.
