The National Day Preparation Committee on Tuesday unveiled the official logo for this year’s Double Ten National Day. The logo designs are getting worse with each passing year, and “ugly” is the only word that comes to mind.
Let us begin with the colors. Deputy Minister of the Interior Wu Tang-an (吳堂安), secretary-general of the committee, said the subdued “Morandi color palette” was chosen for its calm tone to convey “steadiness and maturity.” In reality, it is more of a pale, grayish blue. Not only is it miles away from the colors of the national flag, it is also depressing. Regarding the shade of red chosen, it is darker than brick red and devoid of any sense of joy. The overlapping blue and red on the logo’s right side clash, while the blue strokes on the left meet without any contrast. It is clearly a sloppy and unprofessional design.
Wu said that the logo features two Chinese characters for 10 (十), rendered with a brush-stroke texture to display creativity and resemble a flag fluttering in the wind, full of vibrant energy like Taiwanese and highlighting Taiwan’s “diversity, freedom and confidence.”
However, the design is reminiscent of the children’s tale The Emperor’s New Clothes — self-congratulatory, when it is actually chaotic and unstructured, like a halfhearted scribble.
Throughout my work in international trade, which includes selling products such as suitcases and golf bags, I have observed and learned from the various tastes of foreign designers, and the flare they put into color and form. The committee, by contrast, seems to believe that simply deviating from traditional rigid and square-shaped characters qualifies as creative design. Misguided imitations are doomed to backfire — not only does the design fail to impress, but it also erases the symbolic imagery of the blue sky, white sun and red earth depicted on the national flag as well as the significance of “Double Ten.”
This year’s Double Ten National Day logo is akin to putting the concept of “pedestrian hell” on full display. It resembles the skid marks left at intersections when scooters weave between cars — not fresh ones, but dried-up traces of tires completely lacking any artistic beauty.
Fang Fu-chuan is an international trader.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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