My Take on the Hillary Clinton Logo Comparison

Hillary Clinton’s logo has been ridiculed as being a copycat of Wikileaks’ logo.

One critic said it looked like a 3rd grader won a contest and designed it. Very often when we see a simple design, we feel it looks as though a child could have done it. Many people say that about Picasso.

I like it. I think many of the most effective logos are simple. Do you see the square shapes in it? Remember alignment and relationships? The “H” is broken into perfect squares; even the space between the two verticals of the letter are squares. The arrow splits two squares on the right into equal triangles. Big deal it has a red arrow! Are you kidding me? Since when is that enough to substantiate that something is a copy? They are different colors, sizes, proportions. They interact with the rest of the design differently. One is solid, one is not. The Wikileaks logo is in muted tones of blue, that red arrow was added as an afterthought.

Arrows suggest forward movement. That’s why you will find it in so many logos. Try googling “logos with arrows” and see the results.

It has also been called a copycat of a standard hospital directional sign.

I really don’t see any similarities except that each one contains a shade of blue, the letter H and an arrow. Graphic designers use similar methods to come up with ideas.

I have created logos that use an arrow or the letter “H” also. Would I be considered copycat too?

I designed the logo below on the left almost 20 years ago. Heidi Klum’s logo probably wasn’t designed until years later. Surely, Heidi Klum is successful enough that she could hire a designer professional enough not to copy me, don’t you think?
Answer: They did not copy me.
Graphic designers use similar methods to come up with ideas.

If I had a red and blue version of  the Herrera logo, would people say Hillary Clinton’s designer copied me?

And then I read what Milton Glaser said and I was ecstatic – he and I completely agreed! 

Here’s what one of the most famous and successful graphic designers in the world had to say (excerpt from money.cnn.com  –  http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/13/technology/hillary-clinton-logo/):

Glaser, creator of the “I ♥ NY” logo and co-founder of New York magazine, said he likes the logo. He conceded that it was “a little bit generic,” but not too much so. In fact, he said it was “effectively simplified.” It gets Clinton’s message across and it’s memorable — two crucial check boxes to tick off for any marketing campaign.

“It’s an effective piece of graphic design, because it encompasses the idea of her name and the idea of movement,” Glaser said. “That’s the stated objective of the logo, and it embraces what the campaign wants to say.”

“Clinton’s logo is particularly well done compared to other candidates for office,” Glaser said.