The City of Cape Town has commissioned a new logo, which has been shot down in flames by locals on Social Media.  The backlash was so severe that Mayor Patricia de Lille had to announce on radio that she will make a statement about it on Monday.

Radio station Kfm showed the old and new logos on its Facebook page, and the vote unanimously was for the existing logo, which depicts Table Mountain as the icon for the city.  The new logo has a vaguely recognisable Table Mountain too, but the meaning of the various colours in it is unclear, looking like a police badge, or a cog, reminding me of the uncomfortable table tops at Truth on Buitenkant Street.  A large part of the criticism is the money that the design would cost, and to what better use it could have been put!

The City of Cape Town also announced via a Kfm news broadcast that the logo that had gone viral was not the final choice, and had merely been presented for comment!

The City of Cape Town’s Tourism, Events and Marketing Directorate will have been responsible for this logo disaster, which has left it with egg on its face!  It is a shock, in that the City has Rory Viljoen, former Marketing Director of Coca Cola, at its marketing helm!  It will be interesting to see how the City back peddles out of this PR disaster!  In the year that Cape Town is the host of World Design Capital 2014, the new logo is an insult to the design industry of Cape Town!

POSTCRIPT 22/2:   The Weekend Argus has reported today that the logo was designed by King James, a highly respect ad agency.  The colours in the logo are incorrect, and should be those of the South African flag!  One wonders why this incorrect version of the logo was released at all!

POSTSCRIPT 1/3:   The City of Cape Town prepared a seven page justification for its logo design, and its new strategy of being an Opportunity City, after it was attacked in the press and on Social Media!

POSTSCRIPT  1/3:  Yellowwood has tried to justify its logo design for the City of Cape Town!

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage