
State of Oklahoma's New Brand Identity / Logo - vlucas
https://branding.ok.gov/visual-identity/
======
munificent
I think all of this is a terrible visual design _for a US state_.

But, wow, I do think the logotype is beautiful. The slightly dropped leg on
the "K" to make "OK" stand out is very clever. The way the base of the "L"
aligns with the "A" is nice. I like the slight informality on the leaning-in
stems on the "M". Someone put a lot of love into this.

It's too bad it looks like a gas station chain and not the gravitas and sense
of place one wants for a US state, but it's pretty.

~~~
Bedon292
While I agree someone certainly put a lot into the thought on the logotype,
and it is interesting, I like none of it. It all feels inconsistent with
itself and very wrong to me. Feels like three different parts, OK, LAHO, MA.
The K splits the word for me. The M just feels too wide, and then the massive
space between the M and the A is jarring to me.

I do like the colors and options on the design though, its fun and interesting
to me.

Definitely doesn't feel like a state though, maybe a bank.

~~~
munificent
_> It all feels inconsistent with itself_

This is one of the fundamental challenges with typography and one of the
things I find most fascinating about it as an art. There is an eternal tension
between making the characters similar to each other so that the typeface
matches as a whole, while making them distinct enough to be easily read and to
give the typeface its character.

People have different preferences here, but I personally like the balance they
struck with this logotype.

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Spooky23
This field is so vague and lame now. Everyone basically copies the branding
language from cable companies and telecom.

Government in particular should have a aura of authority and stability. Making
stuff look like a letter from Comcast is pretty meh.

~~~
LyndsySimon
I feel like the National Park Service in particular has nailed this. Their
branding is unique, instantly recognizable, and long-lived. Here’s their brand
guidelines page: [https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/nps-graphic-identity-and-
st...](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/hfc/nps-graphic-identity-and-style-
guides.htm)

They even recently went through a minor redesign, where they kept the “feel”
but updated a bit: [https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/new-logo-
reintroduces...](https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/new-logo-reintroduces-
national-park-service-156475/)

~~~
jasonjei
I’m also a fan of the Canadian federal government website
([http://canada.ca](http://canada.ca)) and the UK government
([http://gov.uk](http://gov.uk))

~~~
ficklepickle
I knew a dev that did Canadian government web dev contracts. They have a very
particular style. They sound like a nightmare, frankly. Very well specified
though, not much ambiguity there.

~~~
moltar
It’s probably because of bilingualism and fanatical focus on accessibility.

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alpb
This is painful to see. It looks like a shopping mall or apartment building
logo, compared to other states with proper flags.

And it goes without saying, on this topic, one must watch the short talk on
state and country flags:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnv5iKB2hl4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnv5iKB2hl4)

~~~
beardicus
this has nothing to do with the state flag though, as far as i can tell. it
seems like a decent branding system... not exactly titillating but better than
i've seen in most other states.

~~~
djsumdog
It's better than their flag for sure, but it's still not all that great and
they really should fix their flag.

Tennessee and Texas are good examples of State Flags. When you drive through
TN, the iconic three-star pattern is found on a lot of bridges and signs now
(similar to the Chicago flag being seen everywhere around the city).

Washington, by contrast, is a terrible terrible flag (flags shouldn't have
words or state seals on them; you need to be able to identify them from a
distance).

This is an okay start, but it should have included a flag redesign with it
that matches the new state branding.

~~~
Aloha
Redesigning the flag is a politically fraught process.

~~~
djsumdog
I wish NZ had switched out their flag. They shouldn't have had the current
flag in the vote at all. The fern leaf would have been amazing.

That being said, NZ has a recognizable flag (although it's too close to
Australia's for sure) and it's not a bad one. By contrast Oklahoma's is really
bad and I doubt there are many would would feel compelled to hang onto it if a
new one was on the ballot in their next election.

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aquova
I'm of two minds of this. On the one hand, I think it's a visually appealing
logo. I like the look of it and I think their designers have done well.

On the other hand, it is pretty generic, and as a former Oklahoma resident,
nothing about it really reminds me of the state. It's also very minimalist and
modern, which is trendy now, but I wonder if it will still be appealing in the
future, or just look dated.

I'm also not entirely sure of what the role of a state's brand identify/logo
is. Just for their tourism website? They aren't changing the seal or flag, or
anything that actually looks related to the state government.

~~~
ghaff
>It's also very minimalist and modern, which is trendy now, but I wonder if it
will still be appealing in the future, or just look dated.

Some of it is because of mobile. A lot of branding that looked good in print
in 1970 doesn't work well when it's shrunk and displayed on a 5" screen.

But the current style is towards minimalist and abstract which, as you say,
can very easily come across as generic. The designers probably had various
symbolism, etc. in mind but, absent context, the average viewer probably has
no idea.

~~~
jessaustin
I realize it doesn't come across this way to most people here, but to me the
colors and arrangement of the "graphic elements" evoke Native American
textiles. This seems appropriate for Oklahoma, although I must admit that I
don't know that the textiles I'm thinking of are related to the particular
tribes who inhabit Oklahoma.

~~~
ghaff
I can see that. Although I admit I don't especially associate Oklahoma with
Navajo and other Native American art to the degree I do New Mexico and Arizona
in particular.

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crmrc114
I like it more than what we had in the past. I honestly expected a stereotype
of an Indian on a horse or some crap like that. I am happy they actually
picked something I can easily render in a vector format.

~~~
thedance
If it's so easy to render, why do these assets looks terrible?

[https://branding.ok.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/02/graphic-e...](https://branding.ok.gov/wp-
content/uploads/2020/02/graphic-elem-files2.png)

~~~
crmrc114
Dude its a government site hosted on a wordpress engine. What are you
expecting? I am just happy its not all bitmaps asking for IE6. (My exceptions
for my old home state are low)

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walrus01
I find it impossible to look at one of these expensive, third party design
firm created rebrandings and not think of the famous "Pepsi Gravitational
Field" document. It shall forever remain a seminal satirical work in this
genre.

[https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-
arnell...](https://www.goldennumber.net/wp-content/uploads/pepsi-
arnell-021109.pdf)

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simonsarris
Oklahoma rebrands as a gas station that's going to the Olympics.

If you haven't read Eli Schiff's great post on logo design, "You Could Almost
Do Anything", you should: [http://www.elischiff.com/blog/2016/4/12/do-almost-
anything](http://www.elischiff.com/blog/2016/4/12/do-almost-anything)

~~~
80386
Do none of these designers travel?

If you go to Amsterdam, you notice motifs from the flag of Amsterdam
everywhere. They're everywhere because they're the sort of thing you can put
everywhere.

If you go to Bremen, you notice the Stadtmusikanten everywhere. The flag looks
like the logo of an oil company, so nobody uses it. The Stadtmusikanten are a
little complex, but they're there and they're at least not lame.

You don't even have to go to Europe! What's Maryland's visual identity? The
flag and a crab. You can't draw the flag from memory, but you know it when you
see it, and it's not lame. It doesn't look like a gas station.

You could throw a dart at a book of coats of arms and land on something better
than this Oklahoma design. It may not make sense for Oklahoma, but people
would read sense into it over time, like they did with the flag of Amsterdam.
Or they wouldn't. The Maryland flag has a complicated history, but there's no
meaning that can be read off it without knowing that history.

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Whut
I kind of looks like a logo for a hotel chain. I like minimal look, but it in
no way makes me think of Oklahoma.

~~~
thedance
What is a thing that instantly reminds you of Oklahoma, but isn't something
negative like race riots, manmade earthquakes, teenage pregnancy, and domestic
terrorism? Come to think of it the honest history of Oklahoma makes a hell of
a flag.

~~~
dmurray
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

~~~
thedance
Sure I guess that would be the perfect conclusion of the state's evolution, if
you completely erased even the few remaining symbols of the native people and
replaced them with that classic of white culture, the Farmer vs the Cowman.

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djsumdog
Their flag is terrible:

[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=oklahoma+flag&ia=images&iax=images](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=oklahoma+flag&ia=images&iax=images)

99% Invisible does a great episode on what makes a good flag, and why cities
like Chicago, DC and Amsterdam have iconic, memorable flags:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnv5iKB2hl4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnv5iKB2hl4)

[https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/vexillonaire/](https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/vexillonaire/)

~~~
davidw
The New Mexico flag is cited as being one of the better ones.

Our flag in Oregon has two different sides, neither one of which is great.

~~~
dreamcompiler
I love the New Mexico flag. We use it everywhere here. It's beautiful and
carries great symbolism, yet it's so simple every toddler can draw it from
memory.

~~~
Zancarius
It's also the only US state flag to contain neither the colors blue nor white.

I've always had a tremendous fondness for the flag, in part because of the
cultural homage included by the Zia sun symbol, and as you mentioned: It's
instantly recognizable, easy to replicate by hand, and has a stark beauty not
unlike the deserts in this state.

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nik736
This looks completely terrible. Why are those "Graphic Elements" so pixelated?

~~~
downerending
I don't dislike the concept, but I also notice the weird jaggies and bumps on
the "graphic elements". Conceptually that should be six straight lines, but
that's not how it's rendered.

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notatoad
>To make sure it is visible and legible, the Oklahoma logo should never be
used where the symbol is smaller than 1/4-inch tall in print materials. On
digital applications, the Oklahoma logo should never be smaller than 36 px
tall.

ok, i wonder what alternative version they might suggest for smaller sizes.
(checks the favicon) oh, i see...

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leoh
Logo is ok. State seal is what really got me. It looks like something whipped
up in illustrator in a couple hours.

~~~
Aloha
The state seal predates this redesign.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_Oklahoma](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_Oklahoma)

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vsviridov
Ok

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Gollapalli
As an Okie, I'm not a huge fan of it. I think they ought to just use the
emblem on their flag.

As for the motto, it sounds like an apple knock off, or the motto for a design
firm. Oklahoma isn't a design firm, it's a state.

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dvtrn
Reminds me of the submitted (but ultimately rejected) Chicago 2016 Olympics
logo with the use of negative space surrounded by colors to reveal a shape
inside.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_bid_for_the_2016_Summe...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_bid_for_the_2016_Summer_Olympics)

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JSeymourATL
Similar vibe to the ATL Logo > [https://www.ajc.com/blog/commuting/atlanta-
new-transit-logo-...](https://www.ajc.com/blog/commuting/atlanta-new-transit-
logo-590-000-worth-optimism-momentum-guidance/Cd392huDbPJ0nMPdXcbjAO/)

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holdenc
The logo and typesetting is quite ok. But the "Our Photostyle" idea is just
plain bad/confusing.

~~~
tubbs
This is what stuck out to me too. Given that there was next to no emphasis on
this, I don't expect it to stick.

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awb
Why do states need branding / logos / taglines? Why not just use the shape of
the state and the name?

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Hitton
Compared to most government commissioned new brands I have seen recently it's
definitely above average.

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sp332
Why did they change the shape of the star? The new logo uses a pentagram but
the state seal doesn't.

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snapetom
I like it. It's pretty, it's clean, and it's just the right amount of subtle
recognition of its Native American history.

Who cares if it's trendy? Whatever you design, thirty-forty years from now,
people will be yammering about it's "dated look" anyway.

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sremani
Oklahoma - The CLONE STAR STATE

~~~
DHPersonal
I wondered if I was the only one to notice that the logo’s use of a lone star
and Oklahoma’s proximity to Texas.

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blunte
It's ok, but I wonder what they spent on that... and how important it was to
spend tax money on it. (And I wonder if someone got a sweetheart deal to do
the work...)

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vmchale
?? US government stuff at least has a sort of camp appeal, why tf does a state
need a "brand identity"??

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DanCarvajal
I'm from Oklahoma, and a graphic designer, I almost did a spit take laughing
at how bad this is.

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antidaily
Looks like a bid for the 2034 Winter Olympics.

~~~
pacman128
Sorta doubt this. OK would be one of the worst possible locations for a Winter
Olympics. The Omnibus just did a podcast on the time someone tried to create a
ski resort there:
[https://www.omnibusproject.com/231](https://www.omnibusproject.com/231)
(Spoiler, it closed after 3 days.)

