Sigh, when will they ever learn.
After the horrendous Kuala Lumpur tourism logo was torn apart mercilessly online last year, you'd thought the powers-that-be have learnt a valuable lesson.You thought wrong, young Padawan.
The Tourism Ministry unveiled the 'Visit Malaysia 2020' logo at the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2018 at Chiang Mai, Thailand on Friday and boy, were people not happy about it.
The moment the logo was revealed, Malaysians took to social media to ridicule it - and the comments were not kind at all.
We mean, just look at it:
Most of the criticisms centered around the boring colour scheme, poor tagline and overall bad design.
On Sunday, Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz might have revaled the real reason behind the amateur-ish-looking logo.
According to a report by Free Malaysia Today, the Ministry did not pay any external graphic designers to design the logo as it was done internally by one of the its staff members.
In other words, the logo was free.
While we can appreciate the Ministry's decision to save money, but we feel that when it comes to international branding and image, there needs to be some sort of standard.
A lot of countries around the world hire top branding and creative agencies to design and launch their tourism campaigns. For comparison's sake, here are some of them:
#1 Australia
This logo was designed back in 2012 by Australian brand consultants Interbrand. It features Australia's pride and joy, the kangaroo, in a vibrant colour palette. Ugh, makes us wanna go to Australia!
#2 Singapore
Our neighbour recently unveiled their new brand logo and tagline to market Singapore as the go-to country for tourism and business. The logo was the brainchild of branding company TSLA Design and the tagline, 'Passion Made Possible', was created to "to communicate Singapore’s value proposition in addressing the needs of travellers and companies."
#3 Egypt
The hand-crafted Visit Egypt logo, which features the word 'Egypt' in a classy blue caligraphy font, was designed by brand consultants J. Walter Thompson Cairo. According to the Egyptian Tourist Authority, the logo was meant to establish Egypt as a place with tonnes of other interesting things to do aside from checking out really big tombs. Hey, works for us!
#4 Indonesia
Indonesia's tourism logo was first unveiled in 2008 as part of their 'Visit Indonesia' campaign, but they've decided to keep it for the long run, probably because it's so visually pleasing. The logo features the Garuda, a mythical bird-like creature which is also Indonesia's national symbol and the tagline 'Wonderful Indonesia'. Definitely beats 'Travel. Enjoy. Respect', if you ask us.
#5 Finland
Even if you have access to all the colours in the universe, it doesn't mean you should use it. The little country of Finland gets it, as their tourism logo features a simple abstract and gorgeous, pleasing colours. Okay fine, we will visit you, Finland.
#6 The Bahamas
The logo for the Bahamas was designed by creative agency Duffy & Partners. The logo uses very striking colours that blend in really well with each other to symbolise the fun you will have when you're relaxing at one of its 700 islands.
#7 Hong Kong
Speaking of using striking colours, the Hong Kong Tourism Board knows how to use them and use them well. The logo features the head of a dragon -- something that speaks of Hong Kong's oriental culture -- with a splendidly brilliant colour palette that blends really well. This has to be one of our favourite tourism logos.
#8 Mexico
Is this not one of the most beautiful tourism logo designs out there? The expert use of bright, striking colours perfectly captures Mexico's, umm, colourful culture. There's a meaning behind each colour used in the logo, so click here if you want to find out what they mean.
#9 Thailand
We have to say, Thailand's tourism logo instantly stands out because of the striking blend of pink and yellow, which we absolutely love. And if you look closely, you could actually see a smile on the logo. We would be smiling, too, if we have Chatuchak Market and cheap Thai massages.
#10 France
The France Tourism Board keeps it minimalistic with their logo - a silhouette of a French lady with the tagline 'Rendez-vous en France' ('Let's meet in France' according to their official campaign brief) in the country's iconic colours of blue, red and yellow. The logo was part of France's effort to rebrand the country as a tourist destination spot.