Logo Redesign Gone Bad

In order for companies to look up-to-date and savvy, a logo redesign is usually a great idea. However, I have seen one particular logo redesign that left me wondering “what were they thinking??”. Animal Planet recently redesigned their logo from type with an elephant reaching towards a floating earth to a terrible attempt at typography. I didn’t know whether or not they were trying to ’streamline’ their logo or remove the earth so they could disconnect themselves from their Discovery channel counterpart. Whatever the reason, I can’t begin to understand how such a widely known company can approve such a monstrosity.

I cannot seem to understand why the ‘A’ is so big and the ‘M’ is flipped. Not only that but is that (gasp) stretched type? Every aspect of a logo should have a rhyme or reason. Apparently Animal Planet was attempting to make it look more “wild and feral” but coming up short in my opinion. One of my favorite logos is the Fed Ex logo because in the negative space in between the ‘E’ and the ‘x’ is an arrow. I love the fact that not only is this a simple and clever concept, it is also something you don’t see right away. When you do see it, it’s like finding a nice little Easter Egg.