The authenticity of 9/11
I just read Landor’s press release about the identity they created for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. This is one of the more somber identity assignments imaginable, and I think they’ve done a nice job.
And, for the most part, the press release does a good job of explaining the rationale behind the design (although I was surprised it didn’t mention the blue 11’s similarity to a ‘pause’ icon, which is a potentially interesting message). But one word in the press release rubbed me the wrong way. Here’s the line:
The simplistic use of the date, 9/11, with the ‘11’ standing alone in a subdued blue against the black ‘9’ and ‘Memorial’, the icon allows the gravity and authenticity of the events that occurred on 9/11 to speak for themselves.
See it?
9/11 = gravity. Agreed.
9/11 = authenticity. Huh?
‘Authenticity’ as in it wasn’t fake? It’s one of those words that’s so obnoxiously overused in our world that I’m not even sure people know what it means anymore. I looked around a little for examples, and guess where I found it again? Landor’s blog.
You know what would be an authentic thing to do? Stop using catchwords and bullshit to describe design work and just explain what motivated it, why you like it, and how you think it’ll get the job done.
And yes, I’ve already searched through this blog for my own use of the word. I’ll stand by each instance, but also admit that I’m just as susceptible to the infectious catchword as the next guy…
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Nice catch with the blog reference!
Good thing it’s buried in a press release. What the hell is the point of those things anyway?
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Thank you. Yes, design bullshit so thick the streets are paved brown, on top of design so thin it’s not there.
The more likely explanation for this over-simple effort: in our post-modernist weary budgetless sinkhole, the logo is uber-accessible for numbed mass consumption, is cheap and simple to reproduce, and it looks like nothing because we strain to feel anything.
Design-speak at the top levels has lately been taking on blah-blah reminscent of bizarro abstract art dealers, pushing untalented efforts by the unprincipled sold to the bewidered.
I wasn’t impressed with this one, though as you said, the assignment was surely wrought and boxed in with political nails.