Netizens Claim KL's New Tourism Logo Looks Like It Was Designed Using PowerPoint
"Please hire a real branding agency to do it."
By Tang Ruxyn — 28 Apr 2016, 01:15 PM — Updated about 8 years ago
DBKL paid RM15,000 for KL's new tourism logo and design
Kuala Lumpur Tourism Bureau general manager Noraza Yusof has revealed that the new KL logo and tagline, which was unveiled on Monday, 25 April, cost RM15,000.
The RM15,000 was used for the creation of the logo, tagline, description, rationale and strategy.
According to Noraza, as reported by Malay Mail Online, the whole branding exercise, which will include various promotional activities, was budgeted at RM2.6 million.
Netizens have been questioning the cost of the work ever since it was highlighted by lifestyle portal, Time Out KL, as they claimed that the initiative appears to be an amateur work.
Despite the public ridicule, KL Tourism Bureau general manager Noraza Yusof said that there are no plans to change the logo for now although the KL mayor said the product can still be fine tuned
“We need to educate people and make them understand the brand first, the logo was only launched a few days ago,” Noraza was quoted as saying by Malay Mail Online.
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Mhd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz also defended the rebranding efforts and urged city folk not to jump to conclusions. He also welcomes any suggestions for improvement.
"We are open to improvement, the colour can be changed, anyone who has ideas to improve the logo please do pass the proposal to me so I can table it to the bureau," he was quoted as saying by The Star.
28 APRIL: On Monday, 25 April, KL Mayor Datuk Seri Mhd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz unveiled a new logo and tagline for Kuala Lumpur, in a bid to boost tourism and travel to the country's capital
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city, has been rebranded as 'A City of Contrasts & Diversity'.
Kuala Lumpur Tourism Bureau and Kuala Lumpur City Hall's (DBKL) rebranding efforts include a new logo featuring the words "Kuala Lumpur" in grey lettering with a drop shadow and the words "exciting, surprising, and enticing" for its tagline.
However, local netizens have been expressing their utmost dislike to the initiative, mocking the design and the words used to describe the city
A Twitter user has apparently came up with a similar design using Microsoft PowerPoint in just five, short minutes
DBKL, i hope u didnt pay lots for ur new #kualalumpur branding as i did this is in PPT with WordArt in 5 mins. pic.twitter.com/GTBU0PFqLZ
— Iced Nyior (@IcedNyior) April 26, 2016
ServisHero, a company that provides local services on-demand via a mobile app, also decided to poke fun at the newly-launched logo
Have you seen KL city’s new logo and tagline? One look made us realise our Heroes can do better! #totherescue pic.twitter.com/1Q6952qgnx
— ServisHero (@ServisHero) April 27, 2016
The KL Mayor said that this new brand identity can help position the capital city as a destination of choice
The Star in its article this week quoted Datuk Seri Mohd Amin Nordin as saying that Kuala Lumpur needed its own branding in the same way Paris is associated with romance and Rio de Janeiro is associated with a carnival atmosphere.
“We need to create a brand for Kuala Lumpur, something that differentiates us from other cities,” he was quoted saying.
The logo signs will be installed in three locations in Kuala Lumpur — at Dataran Merdeka, Bulatan Semantan and Jalan Sungai Besi.
themalaymailonline.com