Don't be SAD, get MAD!
THE KEY CONCEPT : The deeper the arc of the frown and the more angled the clip of the eye white, the more menacing the facial expression. |
Figure 1: (left) NYC protesters display upside-down Amazon logo "smiles" with added dot "eyes" to express their disapproval of the company's plan to expand their operations to Queens; Figure 2 (right) the author has modified the protesters' signs to create angrier, more threatening, Amazon frowns and eyes.
FROWNING "OUTSIDE THE BOX"
The protesters and politicians who ganged up to force Amazon to abandon its plans to set up shop in New York were ultimately successful, and their use of the flipped-over Amazon logo to express corporate evil was certainly clever but, from an expression expert’s viewpoint, left room for improvement.
Anger is one of the most misunderstood basic expressions, and more often than not (see my take down of the Trump balloon here) a few simple adjustments can make a spectacular improvement in the effect.
 Figure 3. Here’s the familiar Amazon logo with a smiling arrow. (It's version #2; the first logo was a rather ugly “A” with a river running through it.) | The Amazon logo itself is also quite clever – an arrow suggesting speed & motion (i.e. fast delivery); a very subtle suggestion that it sells everything from “A to Z”; and, of course, the famous smile, complete with an anatomically-correct corner dimple. For the anti-Amazon NYC demonstration, the protesters flattened and flipped empty boxes printed with the familiar Amazon smile and added dots for eyes, clipped obliquely from above, to suggest their disapproving anger. Brilliant, but... |
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Figures 4 & 5: Everyone knows that the smile flipped becomes a frown, as demonstrated in this equally familiar "Have a Nice Day" smile depicted with a much deeper arc. By flipping its smile, the resulting frown is more expressive of Anger than the Amazon example.
YOU WANT IT DARKER? (Sure, Leonard)
What's underwhelming about the angry facial expression on the demonstrators' cardboard boxes? Well...
- The eyes are too small, and the oblique cut above is far too slight and not angled enough to read as a scowling brow (see my post on the "Imperial Frown" here);
- The Amazon smile itself is not curved enough (see Figure 3) to make a very effective frown when flipped, unlike the “Have a Nice Day” smile in Figure 4.
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Figure 6 (left) Protester sign incorporating upside-down Amazon logo on shipping box compared to Figure 7 (right) author-modified sign mimicking upside-down Amazon logo and modifying the eyes.
By pushing the stylized expression of Anger to the extreme, the modified protesters' signs look much more menacing and threatening. And, that is the point, right?
REMEMBER - EXPRESSIONS COUNT!
And while we’re at it, how about a "new & improved" version of the Amazon smile? Perhaps if they had been using my redesign in Figure 9, Amazon would have charmed their way into the hearts of even the most hardened New Yorker!
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Figures 8 (left) The original Amazon logo with smile not open enough and not curved enough; Figure 9 (right) Author-modified Amazon logo with smile more arched, more open and more friendly.
CREDITS: Figures 1 & 6: Photo of Amazon protesters by Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times; Figures 2 & 7: Author-manipulated images from Figure 1; Figures 3 & 8: Trademarked Amazon logo. designed by Anthony Biles of Turner Duckworth, in 2000; Figures 4: Simplified version of the "smiley" face, designed by Harvey Ross Ball, American commercial artist, in 1963; Figure 5: Author-manipulated image from Figure 4; Figure 9: Author-manipulated image of Amazon logo.
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