Last weekend, my wife, daughter and I went to the 2009 Tet Festival in Garden Grove, California. The Tet is a celebration of the new lunar year; a major event for the Vietnamese community. For over 26 years, the event has been hosted by the Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California (UVSA). Big applause to the students for making such a great event:

• 100,000+ patrons
• 300+ vendors and sponsors
• 200+ volunteers

Great and not so great logos from sponsors

I am not a graphic designer but here’s what my gut tells me:

• Well known brands such as Wells Fargo, Time Warner, JCPenney, McDonald’s, etc have strong logo identities. Nothing more to say or to do.
• All Vietnamese newspapers such as Nguoi Viet, Viet Bao, and Vien Dong have well designed logos. No need to change at this point.
• All Vietnamese TV network logos are poorly designed. Your viewers deserve better!

What’s wrong with Vietnamese TV logos?

It would be helpful if the designer of the VHN-TV logo could explain the different elements composing the logo. Some of the things I can identify are the “S’ shape of the country Vietnam, the three red banners and the color yellow as seen in our flag.

The tag line “The Past – The Present – The Future” is general, weak and reminds me of a popular jewelry (The journey).

The Vietnamese American Network Television or VAN-TV logo has too much going on. VAN-TV looks very much like VHN-TV. Even the blue, yellow, and red color scheme is identical.

Here is the third logo with the same color scheme: blue, yellow, red. The yellow element is a mystery.

Saigon Entertainment Television or SET. A fourth logo with the same blue, yellow and red. The dish shape, the “Robocop” type fonts give an “industrial” feeling far from the new age in media.

This logo is my favorite among Vietnamese TV logos. “Little Saigon” shows proximity and locality. We are not in Vietnam anymore. The font is easy to read and the word “TV” says it all.

This is a bonus logo since Saigon TV was not in the list of sponsor. Unfortunately, this design is not a great example to follow neither.

Critic is cheap, especially when chom chom advertising does not even have a logo yet. But I would not put myself under the line of fire if there wasn’t any room for improvements. In the arena of fierce competition, every little detail counts. Like in a horse race, the winner usually wins only by a nose.

What are your thoughts about Vietnamese logos? Which one should be re-designed, if any?

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This post is tagged logo, television