5 Reasons Why the New Mauritius Logo and Branding Sucks

I was rather disappointed when I read about the new Mauritius Logo [French Article] and branding that’s supposed to promote tourism in my country. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my comment in today’s newspaper (Thanks Guillaume Gouges). ;)

Although I appreciate the effort my beloved government (that’s a tongue-in-cheek statement, of course)  is doing, I can’t help but feel that this expensive campaign is going to fail. Call me pessimistic, but I do have some valid points; here are 5 reasons why it sucks (in no particular order):

1. It’s too complicated

When I first saw it, I was like: “What the heck is this, an advertisement for the carnival of Rio de Janeiro? What does it symbolize? OK, the M is some kind of Mountain…oh wait…it’s Pieter Both!! I’m *so* smart.”

Seriously, this logo doesn’t mean a thing for people who have never been to Mauritius. The Yellow T is what? A mermaid trying to embrace people? Someone dancing the Séga? We may never know. The only thing vaguely symbolising Mauritius is the blue line under “ius” which seems to be the sea. Moreover, people who have never heard of the island will be wondering what “Mauvitius” is because the letters are so badly syled. :P

2. Pieter Both

What’s better?

This:

…or this:

Do you see my point? For those who don’t know, the first picture is the Pieter Both mountain, the second is the Mauritian sea. Would you know that they are barely 20 kilometres from each other?

First of all, who was Pieter Both?

This guy:

No, that’s not William Shakespeare’s brother. Pieter Both was the first Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He was given 4 ships to come to Mauritius and drowned before even setting foot on the Island in the year 1614. The Dutchmen, who were the owners  of the Island at that time, were probably feeling bored and decided to name a mountain (the one above) after the guy. More on Wikipedia.

Basing your tourism campaign on a mountain named after a rich Dutch dude nobody knows a lot about who died before even visiting the island 4 centuries ago ? How clever.

Come on, Mauritius has always been the Island of the 3 S’s: Sea, Sun and Sand. Why couldn’t they base the campaign on that? If someone wants to visit Mauritius, he’ll probably do it because of the Sea and the amazing beaches. Not because of a mountain nobody really cares about.

3. Not obeying the basic principles of logo design.

As David Airey, a prominent logo designer, says in a very good article:

Five elements that can be seen in every iconic logo:

1. It’s describable
2. It’s memorable
3. It’s effective without colour
4. It’s scalable i.e. works when just an inch in size
5. It’s appropriate

The logo obeys none of these rules, it’s:

1. Not describable.
2. Definitely not memorable.
3. Even the little symbolism in it is lost when it’s used without colour:



4. Not scalable:



5. Not appropriate, as I said in the previous point.

…which brings us to the next point:

4. Unable to challenge competitors even with the high price.

It’s a big, bad world and everybody wants to make money. People are willing to dedicate their time and money to advertise their products, however, I don’t think the people at the Tourism Authority are among those. From the same article I mentioned above, David Airey says: “Lastly, the design must be appropriate for the business it identifies. This is accomplished through in-depth research into the industry involved, and helps to differentiate from closely associated competitors.”

Look at some of the potential competitors’ logos:

From an advertising viewpoint, we stand no chance against these great campaigns. Absolutely no chance.

How much did we pay for that crap? Rs. 31 Millions.

5. Using two different languages.

As the slogan is: Mauritius – c’est un plasir.

Notice something wrong? In my opinion, using two languages is wrong. It should be “Mauritius – It’s a pleasure” or “Ile Maurice – C’est un plaisir”. The people who are in charge are either too stupid to realise the world isn’t trilingual or don’t really give a damn about the campaign. The best choice would be “Mauritius – It’s a pleasure” since the main language of the planet is English. Another interesting option would be to use two different logos for English-speaking and French-speaking countries.

Conclusion

I honestly think that the Government could have done much better. I know Mauritius is not a nation of Picassos and Michelangelos, but there are many excellent graphic designers here. They should have used national talent instead of hiring an English company to do the work. All in all, I — as a geek— would describe the logo and branding as an Epic Fail (i.e. It’s just awful).

Here’s how I would have designed the logo:

I think it’s not that good because I’m not (yet?) a professional designer and I designed it in half an hour. I don’t know if you people will like it or not.

So, what do you people think about the new advertising campaign? Love it or hate it? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. :)