Remember The Controversial ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ Logo? Now We Know Who Designed It

Earlier this year, a firestorm erupted on the internet and it wasn’t just any normal firestorm; it was one that featured the pride and joy of our country – the ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ logo.

The logo received strong backlash from Malaysians due to its amateurish design. A lot of people thought the logo was a joke at first (including us) but apparently, it’s not. It really is our formal and official tourism logo.

Back then, not much was known regarding the person behind the logo but Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz had admitted that the logo was done internally by one of their staff members.

But now, we might have a slight idea on who this mysterious designer is.

According to the Malay Mail Online, the logo was made by an award-winning senior in-house designer who had previously worked on logos for government and private corporations.

Nazri wrote a parliamentary reply that the unnamed designer had won the National Registration Department logo competition...in 1979!

The unnamed designer also reportedly won the Homestay and Kampung Stay logo competition organised by the ministry in 2014, and the Pacific Asia Travel Association Gold Awards poster competition in 2012.

Considering the timeline of these awards, we’d dare say that the designer is probably in his late 50s or early 60s.

The minister added that “The VMY2020 logo was designed to portray important elements to woo tourists to our country, such as eco-tourism, which is represented by the orangutan, proboscis monkey, and turtle, to attract foreign tourist to visit Malaysia.”

Nazri also addressed why didn’t the ministry run a logo designing contest – the ministry couldn’t afford it.

“Due to financial constraint to organise a logo competition, the ministry had taken the initiative in utilising our experienced in-house designers, who are also experts in promoting national tourism.”

Well, considering this is something that will be seen by the rest of the world for many years to come, perhaps the ministry should allocate some budget to either commission an external party or run a competition in order to present the best logo to the eyes of the world.