Design Crit: "Rebranding" from Parks & Recreation
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- Chris gives Tom and Jerry the job of redesigning the logo for the Parks and Recreation department. What does this episode get right and wrong about how a brand design really works? In this video, I break it down in more detail than anybody needed. Because I am the unstoppable nerd of design, please, let me be your guide.
Not that anyone reads the video dooblie-doo but I actually edited this on holiday, on old 2014 Macbook Pro, so if the production is a little less polished than usual, that's why!
00:00 Introduction
00:43 The Creative Brief
02:59 Jerry's Concepts
05:39 Tom's Concepts
07:09 Jerry's old ID card
08:58 The Final Proposal
12:00 Final Reality Checks
13:18 Outro
#parksandrec #parksandrecreation #rebranding
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sadly, Chris asking just two random available people to work on a rebrand instead of a professional team feels very realistic to me. Loved the video!
I work for a nonprofit, so, same!
Same. I've worked for City government and both picking someone random to do a job they're only slightly qualified for, and the lack of cohesive "branding" on documents and flyers rings very true. The only thing we used to do to make sure documents looked official was to add the seal as a watermark, and stick them in the official, branded envelopes. People used stupid fonts all the time.
I'm the designer of this VERY EPISODE. In reality it was one person.....meeeeeeeee! All had to be done same day. In addition to 10 other designs used in close-ups. That's why the designs aren't too special. But by some miracle it all got done in time. It was like that for months. Yet they fired me anyway for unknown reasons.
As a graphic Designer myself, I cannot tell you how many times my clients tell me to make their emails, or brochures "Look like Apple." A request they fundamentally do not understand, because they will immediately slap on paragraphs of text and disclaimers and just clutter every square inch of the page with busy business crap. I HATE IT DUDE!
The 'ol, "I want my brochure to say everything about my company on the first panel, but make it look professional, oh, and also make every sentence look unique." Sorry client, I can't do that.
@@mindbomb2000
I'm gonna have to refer you to my friend Harry, because you need an actual wizard.
It’s so true 😂😭💀
Jerry's picking of system fonts makes sense in a government department with limited budget. Anyone can make material that's on brand without needing an extra font licence, downloading a font (which would be restricted on gov office machines), getting graphic design software or needing to run out to the designers every time. Tom just regurgitates whatever is popular.
Pointing out, 11:02 written in Papyrus is the phrase "The days will seem endless." They're telling you that you will be bored, in Papyrus, on a flier which pretends to be fun and goofy but ultimately sums to be a symphony of brown. It's almost art.
Late finding this, but I did the graphics for this episode. Not unusual to do 10 designs a day by myself, plus comps. Wish I had the "two person team". Ha! Obvious why these designs are not so spectacular. But it's interesting reading the comments, and seeing this review exists.
That’s awesome! I _loved_ Parks & Rec, and as a design nerd this episode was one of my favorites. Your job sounds neat, we’re you were working as a freelancer? I’m sure it gets plenty tedious/stressful/etc. at times, but I admire anyone who’s made a meaningful career from their creative skills. I hope you’re getting paid fairly, and that your work is appreciated for the contributions it’s made to shows like this!
I was obsessed with graphic design when I was growing up in the 1990s, my parents got me CorelDraw for Christmas in 1996, and I began doing web designs as a teenager, but as an adult I really struggled to pursue design work as a career. I studied film/TV production in college, and like many of my peers, have been an IT consultant ever since 🫤. Would you mind sharing how you got started?
My biggest challenge when I was trying to establish myself as a professional designer was landing clients who understood the value and importance of good design, and how critical it is to their projects/endeavors. I’ve since learned that I was actually too scared of turning down the wrong people, so had little time left for finding the right people. I spent inordinate amounts of time working for a pittance with people who did not understand or appreciate good design. I rather should have been focusing on making more/better connections with the people who already understood why they needed a designer, and who would value my services.
Just in case there’s an aspiring freelancer reading this, here’s my advice for making this happen: raise your rates. You’ll of course need the requisite skills and ability to deliver good work, otherwise your first job will likely be the last, but resist the common mistake that freelancers of all trades tend to make, and assume that working for lower wages is somehow a good strategy for competing with the established players. It’s not, it’s a terrible strategy for a number of reasons, but the one I’m focusing on here is this: the people who you want to work for _already know how much good design work costs_ and are prepared to spend the money on it. Low-balling will usually lead them to assume that you aren’t offering the level of service they want, and you’ll be left with a bunch of cheapskates who think “professional design” just involves knowing how to use Photoshop. They don’t pay enough, they constantly micromanage every detail, they’ll insist you break every convention and work against best-practices, and you’ll be left bitter, broke, and you won’t even have a piece for your portfolio since they insisted on making all the worst decisions for every aspect of the project, rather than empowering you to make the right ones.
That’s one of several reasons I failed as a freelance designer, but learning those lessons absolutely helped me succeed as a freelance IT professional. That same routine tends to happen in almost every field. Find out what the going rate is for the level of work you’re equipped to provide, and don’t accept anything less. Also, f$@# “gig economy” platforms.
this whole channel, talking about fonts and logos so extensively, it's all so beautiful. I'm really shocked at the amount of views/subs, i believe there are lots of people in here who'd love this content. i just hope one of your videos gets picked up by the algorithm and more people discover this channel!
Oh wow thank you for the likes!
@@henriquejambu I think he did. I got it recommended randomly.
@@kanishknisharI'm here two years later after he made a guest appearance for a Matt Parker video about a Las Vegas building and Pi! I can only assume that the algorithm must have worked to make Matt aware of him, so in a roundabout sort of way, maybe the algorithm brought me here, too?
As someone who was there, I can tell you that orange and brown were everywhere in the 70s. It was not all bold curves and "modern" designs, often the more traditional designs were up dated by using orange and brown. A 20something would have the bold look, but their grandparents might have brown and orange curtains with a leaf design, or brown and orange in the kitchen accessories. Hardly a house would not have had at least one item, and when you went shopping for clothes, you often had two choices, granddad clothes or brown and orange. I remember my brown and orange shoes, ties, and even socks.
And what wasn’t orange and brown was red, white, and blue for the bicentennial. My boyfriend’s parents’ house in 1992 still had their Colonial redecoration from 1976.
Can confirm. We had a brown and orange checkerboard carpet in the kitchen. Went with the goldenrod appliances.
I can't believe I instantly recognised Cooper Black as the Pet Sounds font.
I always took chris's ask as a font refresh. I just figured as someone never working in the creative field at all he didn't know what he wanted and Tom, like a designer cut through the fluff and asked exactly what Chris was thinking...Enjoyed the video nonetheless!
As a designer in a communications firm that works closely with government divisions and public agencies, this episode always makes me smile. Tom clearly has a good internal compass for establishing mood and the "vibe" within a brand, but lacks the trained eye to execute good design that only years of experience can give you. With some more work and guidance, I bet they could've ended up with a fantastic, cohesive campaign :)
there is a Japanese drama(based on a manga) that actually partially take place in an advertising agency, and one of the main character is a designer, where they actually show some of the process.
the show is called "Hidarikiki no Eren" (Eren the Southpaw)
I don't think there is an official release, but there are complete fan subs
yo good lookin out lol i'm actually gonna look into this
Sometimes full works are presented, like with a game called "the great ace attorney" there are unused versions of music tracks that the composer completed in full before they were rejected and he started making a new one
Let's face it, the brief is vague because incompetence is funny.
Until the one dealing with incompetence is you, then you're just pissed off
@@agustinvenegas5238 Yes it's funny in fiction. In real life it's a pain in the neck, like most things that are funny in TV.
Amazing video! Its not often you find a UA-cam creator with such high quality and non-clickbait content. I found your channel from your American Psycho analysis video, and I've been watching every video you made since. Great Work!
Brilliant! Next critique/redesign some podcast logos!
Ooh, could be a interesting group!
I would truly love to watch a video by you on the various Jack Box Games logos
Fantastic channel, only recommendation I have is that it's not called Linus Text Tips
I worked in a small US government overseas training facility where the top leadership would change every 3-4 years with a new person who had no experience with education or training (it was seen as cushy reward job after a hard combatant command position). Invariably, they would want to update our training materials to put their stamp on it. They would make their 'new' slide color template by themselves on their desktop monitor. As the only person in the entire organization with real knowledge of training (Ms.Ed), rather than rant or rave about how wrong it was I would simply bring it up on a large projector screen in a classroom with big windows and open the blinds. Then I would quietly invite the new top dog into the classroom and show them how it looked when training in less than optimal facilities in Africa, etc. They would usually then just let us carry on with our dark background/light font templates that were easy to read. Whew!! ;-)
I love how you explain things. Even when things might be obvious to the majority, you still take the time to explain it so that everyone is on the same page. Love it.
* shudders * I'm a marketer and we're told repeatedly 'don't change the brand logo and style unless you have to'! You just lose brand awareness and loyalty, which is critical to success. So often, managers confuse graphic designers for marketers and vice versa, we're not the same! In marketing we're told to rebrand by changing the brands identity, e.g. a soft drink manufacturer wants to sell energy drinks, so you rebrand to make the brand more appealing to the energy drink market (maybe tradies, students, 15 to 35 y.olds, 'manly' men). You could physically change the logo and colouring but it'd have to be minor, any change usually irritates people and drives down loyalty and recognition.
The production quality on these videos is so amazing, I was incredibly surprised to see how few subscribers you have
This is fast becoming one of my fav channels
Thanks James!
The first episode of the Australian sitcom Utopia has a similar storyline, might also be worth checking out?
Yessssss - utopia and Linus would be amazing!
Is it a good show?
What you said at the end made me appreciate how Mad Men shows the process in more detail. A big campaign they’ve been slowly developing all season gets axed at the last hurdle by a new exec. The actual winning idea is scrawled on a napkin or a chalkboard before being developed fully. The creative process of working through dead-ends to find the actual nugget of an idea tying all the failures together. Etc. Of course it’s still overly dramatised, often simplified, with many intermediary meetings not shown on-screen. But dialogue at least shows those processes were happening between visible scenes.
This channel is lit. Total hidden gem
I really enjoyed this! I love when people with experience on a topic does a breakdown and we get to learn new things. Informative and entertaining! :)
I've been binging your videos over the last few days! I hope you blow up soon and the rest of the world gets to discover how brilliant you and your content are
loving your videos, they just started popping up in my recommendations, and I would expect I am not alone/won't remain so!
Just found this channel and I am so glad I did! Really enjoyed the reaction and the information, well presented and entertaining!
It's local Midwest Government. Chris is the City Planner. City planners can do whatever they want as long as he doesn't go over budget. He in theory answers to the City Council, but since that is a part time position there isn't a lot of oversight. If it is within government and it doesn't involve a contract he can do anything he wants. It's kind of terrifying that most local governments in the Midwest are run this way, but the red tape comes out whenever they leave the City hall. That's why Chris did it the way he did it.
love the channel mate, perhaps a design critique on sports brands? (Nike, Trek, Santa Cruz, Adidas... etc)
Windsor typeface these days immediately says “I am a brand that costs more than the basic one, but is trying to invoke hipster luxury without a perceived increase in actual quality”… went into a Target yesterday and saw probably 15 items that typographically nailed this, ESPECIALLY with an unnecessary period at the end of a word or to divide the three random words that inevitably make up the product slogan.
Quibble 1, Gripe 2, Nitpick 3??!? you are killing me
So interesting to see this. Thank you! Did you notice on the mood board Jerry presents, talks about Comic Sans, but there isn't one in Comic Sans?
This was actually really interesting to learn how/why designs for movie props differ from their real-life counterparts.
Wow very informative and enjoyable
Glad I came across this channel this is great
Just what everyone wants-a rational analysis of a comedy show.
If working for a real Parks & Rec department is anything like this. I WANT IN!
I mean, isn't Chris the _City Manager_ after all? I do not know or claim to know the bureaucratic structure of American city administration, I'm an Chemist who lives in Germany, but is that not somebody who would either have that authority or who could have realistically been given that authority for this task by higher ups?
Yeah, Pawnee has a Council-Manager government, so the elected City Council hires the City Manager, who is then head of the City Government (the elected mayor is a figurehead). Chris was probably asked by one or some of the Council members informally to have the Parks Department logo redesigned, Chris then has his employees do it, then if he likes it he’ll submit it to the City council for a vote (and it’s implied they’ll approve what he approves).
Equal spacing for all letters! Long Live Courier!
Yellow and brown was in fact just as popular as we think. Everything was yellow and brown. The more adventurous might add some cream, red or green, but yellow and brown were the go to colours.
these videos are addictive, even tho i know nothing about design i cant stop watching lol
Brilliant channel. Very interesting videos, nicely explained!
Thank you very much!
Enjoyed this video a lot, great take :)
The resolution reminds me of NASA reviving its 70s Worm logo.
Designer: We shall think about how client interacts with our identity
Me, an IT actually making design ideas into reality: I really doubt the space between this two elements being static so it's exactly 28,5px like in your vision is more important than it working on all screens by being dynamic length.
i'm defs tom in this scenario
also love windsor! never had chance to use it but modern takes on retro fonts is so fun
Amazing video. It has been a while since I watched this show
Nice. Very impressive. Now, let's see Paul Allen's ID badge.
I watched a video about the Hollywood sign and now I've watched 4 more and I don't know where I am or why I got here but I keep clicking "like".
Great channel. Godspeed buddy.
What the heck how do you make fonts interesting???
Cool video
I'm rebranding our student government association as their creative director. This was helpful thank you.
What a fun explanation of rebranding, for noobs like me!
I once had a client (a very famous Hollywood producer), ask us, after our first submission, to make his logo look "roundier" (his spelling, not mine).
I asked for more details, but he was of course, too busy to provide those details. Needless to say, our second round comps were a failure, and we lost the job.
That's Hollywood! I should know I graphic designed this VERY EPISODE. Despite completing 10 or so designs a day used in close-ups solo (not exaggerating), I got the boot from the show anyway, despite that they asked me back 3 times, and was doing more quantity each following call without a mistake. Probably would have been best to have never accepted the call back.
@@jamesburke4358 The Parks & Rec episode!?
That is so cool and funny. Here they were mocking people that think that they are designers, while putting the actual Graphic Designer through the ringer.
The funny thing about my story is that I met the producer while I was working on a film that he produced. And the actual film project went super smoothly. Why? Because the Director, and Art Director, were clear with their needs and concepts, and trusted us to execute. I honestly don't remember having any changes. We would present a few comps, then they would pick one. That was it. The film was Pulp Fiction and to this day ranks as one of my favourite projects.
Cheers.
@@mindbomb2000 Wow. “Pulp”. For set pieces or publicity? I did the other 1994 best movie of all time released 2 weeks earlier “Shawshank”. Getting grilled in a fun way by Roger Deakins doing Stand-in work for Tim.
You are close. The Irony is disturbingly thick. The experience on that show still bothers me sometimes. It’s not necessarily the Producer’s fault. And my time on “Parks” was not art. It was the Wild World of Sports racing, except one of your pit crew secretly slashed your tire.
Nobody will probably see this so will explain this as short as possible. Strangely overnight, I got to work with Mike Schur on the “Pawnee” retail tie-in book off season, which later would have it’s own meta episode (another long story). Lot of work, but fun to collaborate with him. He was impressed, so I was brought on that season for episodic work. 1 Art staff was not so comfortable with Mike’s sudden enthusiasm and clearly saw me as an impostor. This person kept me out of every production meeting. Even this “Branding” episode. How can the Graphic Designer be left out of any meeting, and specifically THAT meeting? How??? Some might say this staffer who does very little was more interested in control than work output. I would get these long list of designs-in-a-minute sent to my lonely dungeon near set with no collaboration whatsoever. No people contact. Just occasional joyless person talking “at” you. Somehow all were done in time, and on MY time. Yet 60% of this work had extreme ‘hero’ close-ups. Very high ratio.
Was coldly replaced next season by a A-list celebrity’s cousin. That show ran 7 seasons, I did 1, yet my contributions are flooded in the shows history. There is bootleg designs props that sell high, and even designs added to the recent action figures. What the heck did the other designers do for the other 6 years? Not much, or way less apparently. Don’t see much. The Mural designs are fantastic, but that is done by a scenic, not an episodic staffer. Suppose I could have hinted to the producers what that ‘pit-crew’ guy’s actual output was, and turned their ‘book’ enthusiasm back my way. But was too overworked, and had no time to play corporate chess. I moved, and left the business 3 months later.
Not impressed with 90% of my rush-work for the ADG, but suppose they were good for the time allotted. With no social media - I keep my site up anyway - jjscenegraphics. You won’t be impressed, but then again, many of these designs were ordered like pizza over the phone working in my $825 a month South Pasadena apartment. Full disclosure - I have zero training/schooling. No connections to the business, and cringe at networking. Was on Art crews as a PA & Coordinator for years, so I learned about what Producers actually needed during that time, and built a system in the early 2000s. The twist is the Producers were often the creatives, and the 1/2 the art staff became corporate middle managers, on this and most projects. Use to be the other way around.
Thanks for your upload Chris. I added your review/breakdown to my forgotten site I no longer need.
@@jamesburke4358 I'll email you. Great stories, mate.
Holy shit, thank you for reminding me letraset transfers existed! Hitting up ebay as we speak
6:56 reminds me of my old bosses... How glad I am that I quit that job, and joined a company run by competent people.
this is just too real and I am Jerry irl
01:08 No! The main joke in this clip is a reference to "Number 2", Rob Lowe's character from "Austin Powers". But you could be right it might be the secondary joke....
New to your channel. Great take on this episode. If you are doing more reaction content, I would love to hear your take on the "Papyrus" SNL sketch.
the dislikes are from companies that just changed their fonts
The font shown is called Windsor Elongated ;-)
Actually, Chris giving a brief and approving the final product without consulting his upper management is accurate, as I’ve seen way too many middle-management folks give direction and approve without thinking, only to be completely contradicted by their boss.
The bulk of the work to backtrack and recreate the artwork, or course, falls onto the designer (me in this case). Sigh…
Who is Chris' upper management ? I thought he was at the top.
So this is where Burger King got the inspiration for their retro rebrand.
As a designer it drives me nuts when “font” is used. You choose a “typeface” and then determine the font from that typeface. Font referring to the the styling of the typeface: bold, italic, light, etc
I blame word processors for the obfuscation. MS Word in Windows 95 was the first time I ever really got to play around with type and I think it’s a similar case for most people.
Font has become the colloquial term for typeface. Annoying? Yeah.. but I try to look at the silver lining; a massive amount of people now have at least an awareness of “fonts” and how it can change the way things not only look but feel.
They don’t know about keming (😉) or what an x-height is but at least we know what they mean when they want to change the “font”.
As a designer it drives me nuts when people focus on inane details that have little to no impact on the final outcome. When designing a word mark, you really should be considering the typeface and font simultaneously. Being pedantic about the terminology just screams "insecure designer" trying to overcompensate for their lack of abilities.
@@B_27 As a designer I have had my share of inane requests and terms thrown at me over the past 20 years to know that being pedantic with clients makes it absolutely clear what is being asked so i spent the absolute minimal amount of time dealing with their ideas and trying to make something useful out of it.
@@artpereira Clients are really asking you about the difference between a typeface and a font? I can assure you they don't give a shit. I'm talking about acting pretentious amongst your peers for the sake of one-upmanship.
If a client provided feedback stating they didn't like the font you chose, is correcting their terminology really going to achieve a better outcome? No, it's just going to make you sound like a prick.
@@B_27 be specific about everything. That is my approach. with quoting, steps, elements, process. CI guides. I have had multiple clients actually utilising correct terms and got emails back asking specifics. it was a few times but it was pleasurable. They are still clients of mine. Even at the office I work at they get specific with "can you adjust the font to be more eye catching in this copy"and "we need to look at a new typeface for this".
If you think being specific isn't a benefit then I can't help you
I live in a small town in France. The new mayor "rebranded" and changed the logo and typeface of our town. It's awful. I hates it.
When I try and imagine Google with out its rainbow pallet I imagine a 3 mile wide, 8 yard deep crater centered on its headquarters and am filled sublime joy.
How do u figure out which typefaces are appropriate to use and which are inappropriate to consider
ur mic is freaken awsome
I know this is an older video, but if you haven't seen it already, the Australian show Utopia had a similar plot that is absolutely hilarious!
Please judge my Scribblebytes logo live. I modeled it on the Netflix logo with the underarch. The 8 lines refer to 8 bits in a byte.
11:50 CHAMPIOOON YOU'RE LOST
SOON YOU'LL BE FOUND
I RESCUED YOU FROM A POUND
Commenting to boost the algorithm
Really awesome video! One point though; he says "The sopranos _option_" not "the sopranos _font_" :)
Thanks Thomas - sorry I should have been clearer. In the scene previous where Jerry is showing a mood board of fonts, Tom says "the only good font is the Sopranos one, where the R is a pistol."
@@LinusBoman That makes sense :) Looking forward to your next video!
My job is really complex and undervalued too Linus. No one understands our genius.
The text in the thumbnail sort of reminds me of the Canon logo.
Why the intrusive background 'music'?
You should react to the Papyrus skit by snl
wait its a sitcom
thought it was a mockumentary tbh
Nice mic
feeding the Algorithm
If you ever do get around to sporting logos, please include the GAA. It's distinctive. And they're the largest amateur sporting organisation in the world.
Imagine being a graphic designer and not knowing how to spell "Color" /s
Love the video and all your work I've seen so far!
Good story - too close to real life!!
lol
I personally let the reality checks slide when I watched it because then and even now, I believe that it was kinda the point. Pawnee fails to be a consistent, well governed department, and they can never quite get there. Their citizens are stupid, and on the flipside the management is as well. For example, There's a little joke in one episode where a character mentions drinking water and getting poisoned, even though there was a sign saying not to. I always believed that the actual water getting dirty could've been prevented had it not been for poor management, though it was still on the woman for disregarding the sign.
There's also the entire pit arc, where leslie tries to turn a pit into a park, it goes on for **four years**, and the park doesn't complete construction until There are a variety of reasons why it failed, but i'm fairly certain that, had management been better and more efforts were made, it could've been made sooner. Etc. etc.
Who downvotes this?
designers are always so unbearably smug.
Another nit pick could be the fact Rob Lowe just asked Aziz Ansari to redesign the typeface for a government department of a completely fictional city in the state of Indiana.
70s colors, that nasty 70s green, orange, brown, wood grain, beige and so on are all too prevalent. Ever been inside of a 70s model RV?
Your last bit is completely wrong for small towns.
Most people don't know their own town's logo, but they will know the park and rec logo from their town and probably the county and the next county over.
All your gripes about "how a professionally run government department would actually do it" are kind of blind to the reality of the show. Of _course_ they do it wrong, they're P&R!
google's pallet isn't rainbow. Considering the fact that graphic design is your passion I would figure the colors of the Google logo and their meaning would be something you could list off the top of your head.
Hey mate, rainbow wasn't meant literally (as in ROYGBIV) - it was meant more figuratively, as in multicoloured across the colour spectrum.
@@LinusBoman I was just makin a goof, a little gaf.