idea blog

Marketing commentary for better. Or worse.

Much has been written about Airbnb’s logo redesign — some of it positive, some of it negative, a lot of it hilarious — and while the undeniable consensus is that it looks like a certain, erm, human genitalia (wait, which one?), it’s still unclear how Airbnb as a company plans to strategically move forward. Toss it or keep it? Defend it or make light of it? Backtrack or move confidently forward and ignore the fuss?

Since the logo has some similar elements to ours, we thought it was time to weigh in.

aribnb4 LogoHead-Name

Here at The Idea Blog, we surveyed our Art Director, Junior Designer, Interactive Director, Account Coordinator, and CMO, asking each team member three questions. Now, for the highly scientific study results.

What does it look like?

“I see a pair of testicles crossed with a paper clip.”

“A woman’s breasts or an alien in a head lock.”

“A ball sack or some boobs”

“Butt and anus”

“An upside down heart. A pool rack gone awry.”

Keep it or toss it?

“TOSS IT”

“Toss it”

“toss it”

“Keep it & change the color?”

“Toss it.”

Any other thoughts?

“Paper clip testicles.”

“I don’t know what they do and this doesn’t give me any clues as to what that is. If it’s to be mysterious, they win. Needs something to support it, such as tagline or positioning line. And the all lower case type makes it even more difficult to decipher. ”

“What the heck does that have to do with airbnb?”

“That shade of pink/corral brings the anatomy connotations. I think they would have been safe with a different color within that palette — lime green, sky blue, etc. But hey, I’d still keep it.”

“I don’t get it. I have no idea what it is – the symbol or airbnb”

Conclusions

The first thing we realized was: apparently not everyone knows what Airbnb is. In this respect, hey — at least they are getting some press!

On the flip side, most of us thought it looked like some form of human genitalia and would just toss it.

Their move. Just please don’t tell us our own beautiful, line-drawn logo is compromised by “the bélo.” We were here first. With it right side up. And inside a freaking head.

LogoHead-Name