We've got your back, brother!

Hold up. Why is a branding blog focusing on Singaporean designs commenting on our neighbour's new tourism logo?





The Logo in question.

Here's an insider secret: The Singapore Tourism Bureau, aka STB, has just decided to partner with the Visit Malaysia campaign. Fresh from throwing serious

at TimeOut London, STB is back to steal the limelight (no matter how negative the limelight may be) from Malaysia when it announced its Visit Singapore 2020 campaign to an exclusive group of media outlets.





It's an honour to review the Visit Malaysia-Singapore 2020 campaign before anyone else ;)





But Why?

Like it or not, Malaysia and Singapore are close partners when it comes to doing business. Think an EU-ish alliance - cutting ties would be devastating for both countries. In the tourism industry, tour agencies would organise day-long trips to Singapore while travelling the Malaysia.





Get yourself a friend who can do both.

Our leaders are on great terms; they eat durian and go on retreats together, so it only makes sense that we join forces for some serious tourism marketing magic. Good things cannot bojio right.





Sadly, things did not go as planned for Malaysia when it first released its logo. From the angry comments in forums and social media posts to the savagely beautiful memes and logo suggestions, Malaysia was bound to change it's logo. They just had to.





Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz: I’d rather trust my staff than the netizens. Anyway it was never meant for the locals, it was meant for tourists (Source)

Psyche! Nobody's going to tell them what good and what's not, not even Singaporeans (aka tourists).





Visit Singapore also leh

This is where we come in, rather spontaneously, to show our support for great Malaysian design. STB got its in-house design team to design this gem for both countries to use till 2020.









Forget Uniquely Singapore and even our current Passion Made Possible logo of yesteryear - this is the iconic one that will stand the test of time.





By copying taking inspiration from Malaysia's own tourism logo, we are paying homage to our roots as a Malaysia state in the 1960s. Oh how far we've come...









I had the opportunity to get STB spokesperson Lai Wan Wan to comment on the new 2020 logo, which features our modern national icons such as the otters and Marina Bay Sands.









"We have animal celebrities of our own - Ah Meng, the Merlion, but recently our otters have become the face of local wildlife. Even newspapers report on their sightings! With so many people crowding around the otters, the only way to escape the paparazzi is to wear sunglasses."





"There's a reason why MBS has 3 towers: the underlying reason behind the fluff is that the tower is 1 more than the Petronas Twin Towers. We knew this building would come in handy someday, and I'm happy to say that 8 years after the completion of this, we finally get to show it off!"





"The second zero is quite symbolic - it represents our food culture and smaller islands (the most famous islet of Sentosa). Palm trees at Palawan beach and chilli crabs at seafood restaurants will offer tourists a real Singaporean experience."





Taking the collaboration to the next level, Ms Lai is confident that Visit Malaysia-Singapore 2020 merchandise will sell like hotcakes. Unsurprisingly, they are starting with selling stamps featuring the logo.





Clipart Crazy

No tourism campaign is complete a mascot. What better way to complete the identity than to include Mr Screen Beans of Microsoft Office's clipart?





Remember me?

Nostalgia marketing ftw.





Visit Singapore 2020 posters

Visit Malaysia-Singapore 2020 press conference

Ball's now in your court, Malaysia.

Is this even a branding/design review?

Based on what I've written so far, nope. And you should know by now that this story is not true at all; I'm reviewing an identity from another reality.





If you are looking for design criticism, there are plenty of sites talking about this, from lifestyle to online news blogs. I hoped this parody of Singapore is a refreshing take on the negative (and rightfully so) coverage on the logo.





Having said that, it is still important to talk about the issues which led to this disaster in the first place.





Real Talk

Graphic design aside, I believe there are more serious, root causes which the creative industry needs to tackle. These problems even plague the best of the best.





Firstly, when the Malaysian Minister said 'we didn’t pay any advertising house any money at all to design (the logo)', I believe he was boasting about this fact. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys; a tourism identity is one of the first impressions a person can have of the country - spend enough to make sure the identity is at least memorable (in a good way).





I don't think it's a bad thing to spend money for quality, yet the Minister seems to be indirectly saying so. W

e need to re-evaluate

how we view and treat the creative sector - its more important than you think. Design is the gift which keeps giving. Good design is oftentimes overlooked, while bad design is scrutinised in headline news.









Secondly, I can't seem to find a high resolution picture of the Visit Malaysia 2020 logo. B

oth official Visit Malaysia sites

(why 2 in the first place?)

make no mention of the logo or the campaign. They have to get their message right - have 1 site only, as push the campaign graphics aggressively. If only they supported the logo as much as they defended it - right now it seems like a half-hearted attempt at promoting the campaign.





Furthermore, to date, we have not seen any supporting graphics for designers to accurately assess the aesthetic of the campaign. Not that Malaysian designers care though, I believe they've already given up hope.





Perhaps the Malaysian Tourism Board is just waiting for someone to upload a good identity on Twitter with the caption "take it, it's free". Free worldwide publicity? Check. Free cost of making the new logo? Check. Happy ending? Sorta.





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The Visit Malaysia 2020 Logo...

looks worse with 20/20 vision should really be released as a stamp set is proof that in-house designers in non-creative firms have no clue at all



Disclaimer: This parody post is not factually true at all; STB stands for Singapore Tourism Board, not Bureau, and no, they aren't partnering with Malaysia's tourism board. Don't sue me for fake news hor.