Do “We ❤️” This New Logo?

What appeared to be a redesign for the iconic “I ❤️ NY” logo has made quite a splash, not only in the design community, but also among the public– and not a positive one at that. While the WeLoveNYC TikTok account is frantically reassuring angry users that this new logo is not replacing the original 1977 design, outcries on social media show that many have taken offense on behalf of the late Milton Glaser, who designed the classic identity of New York.

The “I ❤️ NY” logo was part of a 1977 city campaign to promote tourism, and Glaser was recruited by the Department for Economic Development to create a logo to fit the slogan “I love New York.” This campaign came in response to a city in turmoil, with crime at a high and a withering economy. Glaser sketched the initial logo on a crumpled envelope in the back of a cab, and the concept later developed into the cultural relic that can be seen on apparel, mugs, and other souvenirs (Bernabi).

Just three years before in 1974, Joel Kaden and Tony Stan released American Typewriter under the International Typeface Corporation, a typeface intended to celebrate a century since the invention of the office typewriter (Xing). ITC American Typewriter is a slab serif typeface that took inspiration from the appearance of a typewriter’s characters while increasing legibility and readability (“ITC American Typewriter”). Glaser and his colleague slightly adapted the serifs in the typeface to better fit the shape of the heart (Xing), creating the iconic arrangement we know today.

So, what prompted the release of this new logo nearly half a century later? Just like before, the city of New York is leading this campaign in an effort to bring the community back together, this time in response to the collective strength of the city during the pandemic (Enking). This is reflected in the “WE” replacing “I,” which is meant to express inclusivity. But arguably the biggest change in this new logo is the typeface choice. When you see American Typewriter, you think of New York. The unique letterforms and serifs carved an identity for the city, which has seemingly been replaced with a basic sans serif that is reminiscent of the Helvetica metro signage scattered across the city. Perhaps this new logo is just another example of sans-serif world domination.

“I can’t imagine any person with a background in graphic design made that thing without a committee of bland politicians sanding away its edges until they felt safe enough to unveil that to the public.”
– Tag Hartman-Simkins, Brooklyn-based director of design at Futurism.com

However, not everyone is upset at the switch to sans-serif. American journalist Michael Musto, who is also a native New Yorker, publicly expressed support for the new design, mostly because the sans-serif typeface evokes the New York subway (Stewart, “These New Yorkers”). My personal critique of this campaign is that the use of Helvetica stops after the logo, and the other promotional graphics adopt a mystery typeface that WhatTheFont identified as a variant of New York Line by Coert De Decker of Belgium-based type foundry Kustomtype. Why not stick with the New York subway theme and use Helvetica for headlines throughout the campaign?

But people are not only expressing their strong opinions towards the change in type. The iconic, solid red heart also got a 3D makeover much to the dismay of the public. Based on the city of New York’s advertising, this heart seems to be intentionally “emojified” to fit with other cartoon-style New York icons (Foley). While I dislike the idea of emojis infiltrating text-based communication, I realize that I am not immune to these emojis, either, as I have repeatedly expressed the original logo as reading “I ❤️ NY” rather than simply “I love NY.” Have emojis already taken over?

In response to the public uproar, artist Ryan McGinness presented an alternative redesign that pays homage to Glaser’s original work (Stewart, “Ryan McGinness Reimagines”). Using American Typewriter and returning the flat heart icon successfully honors the classic style, not to mention the layout in the final design is more aligned and fits nicely into a rectangle.

As a side note, this entire situation also speaks to the power of misinformation on social media. There are already hundreds of videos on TikTok and opinion articles online of individuals with little credibility ranting about how this logo is so tragically replacing the original. A simple online search will reveal that this new design is only inspired by the original, but ultimately part of a separate civic engagement campaign. So as of now, there is no rush to go out and buy an “I ❤️ NY” mug or graphic tee before they are out of production.

Even though this new logo is not meant to replace the original, what do you think of it?

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References

Bernabi, Aaron. “A Brief History of the ‘I Love New York’ Logo.” Logoworks, 2014, https://logoworks.com/a-brief-history-of-the-i-love-new-york-logo/.

Enking, Molly. “The Love-Hate Relationship With New York City’s New Logo.” Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Mar. 2023, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-york-citys-new-we-heart-nyc-campaign-has-people-riled-up-180981865/.

Foley, Joseph. “These I Love NY Logo Memes Are the Best Yet.” Creative Bloq, Creative Bloq, 25 Mar. 2023, https://www.creativebloq.com/news/i-love-ny-logo-memes.

“ITC American Typewriter™.” Fonts.com, Monotype, https://www.fonts.com/font/itc/itc-american-typewriter/story.

Stewart, Dodai. “Ryan McGinness Reimagines The ‘We ❤️ NYC’ Logo.” The New York Times, 20 Mar. 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/20/nyregion/ryan-mc-ginness-we-heart-nyc.html.

Stewart, Dodai. “These New Yorkers Don’t ❤️ the ‘We ❤️NYC’ Logo.” The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/21/nyregion/we-love-nyc-logo.html.

Xing, Micheal. “I Love NY? It’s Way More than That.” UX Collective, Medium, 7 Sept. 2022, https://uxdesign.cc/i-love-ny-its-way-more-than-that-e474c6de0de1.