Bistirna paarore
Axonkhya jonre
Hahakar xuniu
Nixobde nirobe
Burha luit tumi
Burha luit buwa kiyo?
That was what our dear Bhupen da had written long ago to always keep united the feelings of all fellow Assamese people.
After our new government took the initiative to unleash the new logo of Assam Tourism that says Awesome Assam, I felt this lyrics should be repeated and it should make all of us remember that we should speak up and should stop the decision makers from making this blunder in portraying Assam in front of the world stage in the way they are doing it now.
Many of my friends have asked me why I have initiated a petition to take down the new Assam Tourism logo as they see no fault. I am sure many of you will have the same feeling. But I would like to share a different angle all together. I have been staying out of Assam for more than 15 years now. That has actually made me realize how the outside world sees my homeland. Till date, for many, Assam is a land where people stay in tree houses. We also do not have good universities, good roads and also airports. And for some we are not even Indians as Assam is a foreign land. I have spent more than a decade of my life in making these points clear to people around me. Like me, I know many who face these questions day in and day out. Now in this scenario, if we get a gift from the government of Assam in the shape of this new tourism logo that has multiple faults, and is definitely below standard, how can we expect people around me to accept all my testimonials about my homeland ‘Assam’.
Being a graphic designer myself for nearly a decade now, gives me the right to share my opinion as we live in one of the best democracies of the world. I am now pointing out few technical points that definitely work against this logo.
- It looks amateurish from both creativity and execution viewpoint.
- It is a very crude representation of Assam.
- It is full of technical faults e.g.
- The rhino in the logo looks more like a cow or a buffalo.
- The rhino has been made less significant than the leaves.
- The shape of the rhino has no strength nor energy.
- Being the most unique and attractive reason for the tourists to come to Assam, the ‘Rhino’ should have been most prominent in the design. Now it is not.
- The typography is very weak and not legible instantly. The ‘m’ looks like ‘n’ and so it reads like ‘Assan’ and not ‘Assam.’
- ‘Assam’ should have been bigger or ‘Awesome’ typo simpler & smaller…so that ‘Assam’ stands out clearly.
- A good logo is always simple, so that when miniaturized it is still clearly visible. This logo is too complex, busy and weak in terms of visibility.
- Also a logo should be such that it retains its message and clarity when print in reverse colour (say on black and white). This logo will lose all its charm when done so.
- The graphic style is childish, not sophisticated or trendy. It feels like cut-paste job from Google by a 10 year old child.
- There is no uniformity maintained in the logo and what is used for the logo concept video. Initially it had two horn rhino (later rectified when we the people made them realize that we do not stay in Africa) and when the video ends, one blue wave below the rhino gets vanished…
- One single click in Google image search and you will find multiple cliparts with this design elements, shape and even exactly same colour theme. Already many supporters of our petition have shared images which are 95% similar to the logo. This means there is no original thinking involved.
- This lack of originality calls for plagiarism. Is the government ready to face it?
Now having said that, what should we expect?
Our petition is a very small step compared to the scale a government body works at. But does that mean our petition should go unheard? If ever, we the people of Assam get to know from people outside Assam, how bad Assam Tourism logo or the branding is, we should not complain if we do not speak about it now! You may sign the petition here.
The budget is good, the initiative is good, everything is good… then why should we have BAD LOGO (the first face of Assam)… why compromise on its look and feel. Rather drop it and rectify. After all it is not a private property. It is for us, the whole of Assamese community. If you agree, raise the voice and try to see beyond just the colour and shape of the logo. It has a bigger role to play. Sign our petition and let the Government answer.
Editor’s Note: If you too find the logo sub-standard, you may let the authorities know about the same. The link here calls for a better representation of Assam in the national and international stage. The petition will be delivered to Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Assam tourism minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
