Worst Logos Ever: Cazz’s

Disclaimer: The following is a nightmare.  And while my critique is forthright and painfully honest, I’ve gotta hand it to all struggling graphic designers out there for giving it a shot and failing miserably.  But now that they’re work is out in public, I simply can’t pass up the opportunity to make a few observations.

These periodic posts are my plea to paying clients everywhere to not use your cousin “on the cheap”.  You get what you pay for.  You even get what you don’t pay for.  And away we go . . .

Okay, let’s unpack this puppy.  Wow, okay, okay.  Give me a moment.  Whew.

COLOR

Does this blue actually exist?  If Home Depot were to name a paint swatch after this color it would be called ”stripper neon blue”. Okay, I’ll admit that purple and yellow are considered complimentary colors.  However, that bright of yellow against white is a big mistake.  You can see,  and even feel, the clash between them along the edge, which isn’t pleasant to the eye.  The color choices are an obvious attempt to get noticed, but I think this is a case of unintended consequences.  It is quite possible that the designer avoided all team colors so as not to create prejudice and unintentionally distance themselves from certain sports fans.

Design

Is that a turtle?  Maybe.  I’m thinking it’s Cazz.  Cazz looks a little sinister.  I don’t know if I want to eat wings with Cazz.  Not the most inviting impression.  And the flag doesn’t seem to be that of a sports team.  It’s a checkered flag.  And, it’s purple and yellow.  How long would this guy last at a Nascar race waving his purple and yellow flag?  But so as not to leave anyone out, clipart of a baseball and a football have been arbitrarily thrown in.

conclusion

There’s much more to be said of the Cazz’s logo, but let’s move on.  If I were meeting with this client, I would have to point out that there’s a lot of identity confusion in this logo.  Also, it’s not pleasant to look at, which I think should be near the top of the list when designing a logo.  Between the colors, the sinister turtle guy and the arbitrary elements, there’s not much to salvage here.  It would be best to start all over and determine what they want to communicate.

I would also encourage the client to change the name of the sports bar.  ”Cazzezz” isn’t a pleasant word to say in it’s possessive form.  I’m assuming it’s the owner’s name.  So, if he insisted on his name, I would have to work with it.  Not to be cute, but I would suggest The Cazz Bar.  As in “casbah” and “rock the casbah”?  There are many meanings behind this word, both historically and culturally.  Maybe a bad idea, but it would at least get the creative juices flowing.