Friday, January 18, 2008

More Obnoxious Logos on the TV Screen

I suppose it's partly the fault of the news channels, which fill their screens with every manner of electronic busyness. Television channel logos have become increasingly obtrusive. I don't mind an occasional brief appearance of a logo. It may contribute to making copyright infringement harder? However, when logos are there all the time, and even change to make sure one doesn't tune them out, we have the makings of an abomination.

The worse example is Voom. At various points, a rainbow loco flashes in the corner of the screen. The last time this happened, I was watching a program on Italian art. Suddenly, the Voom logo appeared over a Carravaggio painting:


This hardly adds to one's appreciation.

Or take BBC America, which sometimes insists
not only on advertising coming shows on the bottom left, but thinks I need to be reminded what program I am watching on the lower left:




The Documentary Channel is a particular offender, with at least four different logos, among them:






The Learning Channel has its own vivid addition to my viewing pleasure:



Then there is the Discovery Channel:


Over time, one tunes these obnoxious logos out, at which point some channels change the logo, or add vivid color to make sure viewers don't forget what channel they are watching.

Am I the only one annoyed by these things?

Monday, January 7, 2008

Is anyone else annoyed by obtrusive product logos?

In a world filled with advertising, I dislike adding to the clutter by prominently displaying the manufacturers of the products I buy. I don't mind discreet product logos, but the more vivid the logo, the less likely I am to buy the product.
A few months back, I bought a Columbia jacket. Its logo was a little bigger than I like, but what was even more annoying was that there were six zipper tags, each with a prominent Columbia logo.

On the other hand, discreet logos like those of Apple, Nike, or Mercedes are appropriately unobtrusive. I can tolerate them, though I still prefer not to become an unpaid advertising agent for products I buy.

In this blog, which may take a while to get going, I plan to include photographs of what I think to be obnoxious and obtrusive logos. I welcome digital photographs of your "favorites" as well.