March 31, 2011

Would you join the Government's crusade against Najis Rasuah after seeing this?


Lo & Behold



~Constructive criticism appreciated~
 [Guest post by bunian siber Dill]




A glance from afar, i thought it was a Kindergarten(Tadika) Ad..upon close up i realize it's designed Mike Miere from O32C. Labelled as the 'New Ugly' by Jeremy Lesley of Magculture.com.
These type of design was made to be thought provoking, anti design esthetic with odd spacing and stretched fonts.

Perangi Rasuah while listening to Buck Fizz & The Bangles, Mike simply takes it to the next level, and that level is Sungai Wang level 6.  
 
-- from a commenter by the name of ArtOf.
Thank you for the very sharp insight into the New Ugly! 
 
Note from UGLYMALAYSIANA to ArtOf: 032C has badly proportioned or squished Arials in front of immaculate photographs by the likes of Inez Van Lamsweerde wor... ironic or not, high and low?

March 30, 2011

R U FED UP WITH TAK ORI PUNYA DESIGN?

 

FedEx (US) — Logo designed by Lindon Leader, 1994
(look closely for the hidden arrow pointing to the right)


GDEX (GD Express Carrier Bhd), a Malaysian express delivery company, formed in 1997.

QUESTION: What does GD stand for? (UGLY MALAYSIANA cannot find the concept or reasoning behind the name GDEX under the history section of their official website...)

Why is the logo looking dubiously like the FedEx one in terms of the abbreviated logotype, the duo-colour scheme, and (sort of) how the letters are closely joined together?

The kerning for the GDEX logo, especially between the 'G' and 'D' is quite miscalculated lor.... looks like they just assembled some generic font, and mashed it together, superscripted the "EX" and chose a FedEx-ish colour scheme to boot...



****MORE COMPARISONS****

 
FedEx freight vehicles... expensive looking corporate identity...




The Malaysian GDEX team... 
 (which is of course very endearing)
But that little symbol on their bikes... look like tribal tattoo instead of the GDEX logo wor.....
Well they have the logo on their teal polo necks I'm sure...

****BONUS****


 FedEx advertisement — again minimal, focused, quite posh.
Even that toy they chose looks nice ah... No complicated Photoshop effects, lots of white space...



The Malaysianised GDEX advertisement. Design aesthetic looks familiar tak? 
"PUT EVERYTHING INSIDE FILL UP EVERY WHITE SPACE BECAUSE EVERY INCH IS PRECIOUS, WE R KIASU ASIANS, AND THROW A 15% TRANSPARENCY IMAGE BEHIND BECAUSE IT WILL LOOK UNFINISHED IF NOT... WHITE SPACE MEANS LAZY DESIGN, USE SOME TIMES NEW ROMAN AND HAVE LOTS OF ROUNDED CORNERS FOR MODERN LOOK, AND UNALIGNED TEXT, SOME UPPER CASE SOME LOWER CASE OSO CAN, JUST MAKE THE VISUAL VERY AUSPICIOUS AND PRETTY FOR OUR DEAR MALAYSIAN CUSTOMERS WHO APPRECIATE THIS SORT OF ROJAK THING...

March 29, 2011

GLAMOUR... IS FABULOUS AND DELICIOUS!

Times New Roman used wrongly. (But can Times New Roman ever be used RIGHT? MAYBE!)

Why on earth does "Avant Garde" Malaysian fashion/styling have to be so hideously AH LIAN syok sendiri wannabe-different-DIY? These local fashion people claim to be inspired by McQueen or Gareth Pugh but this to me is more McCringe or Gareth Puke lor...

NOTE PLEASE REFER TO THE ROMAN COLUMNS AT THE BACK, HOW APPROPRIATELY BAD TASTE OF THEM TO INCLUDE THEM AS A BACKDROP.

  (Photo taken from some hair/fashion magazine —
while waiting for a doctor in a clinic in Damansara Uptown)

------------------------------------------

INTERESTING COMMENT ALERT

"This collection is to enhance the Gothic darkness that exudes from the mind of the designer, bowers of flowers, green leaves seemed to have been plucked from the heart of darkness. An impeccable wardrobe for a modern woman to whom “classic” is anathema and even the most crazy creation can hae that spice of cool. A torch seems to pass down by the likes of McQueen and la Pugh in this strong yet focus collection."


-- from a commenter by the name of InsideOut.
Thank you for the rather serious but lovely review!

SAME SAME LOOK


MAYBANK ETIQA TAKAFUL LOGO 2007.
(from their official site, the logo brief)

AMAZON.COM LOGO, 2000-2002 UNTIL PRESENT

- - -
Why ah Maybank so blatantly almost plagiarized the Amazon.com logo??? 

Item 1: The font is almost the same (look at the "a")

Item 2: That yellow curve 
(Maybank claims it's because it's their corporate colour, 
fair enough but why treat it so similarly to the Amazon smile???)

Item 3: Maybank not ashamed meh being so blatant, 'copying' the look of such a famous design identity? Kalau copy macam a Bulgarian fishing trade agency punya logo baru orang tak tau kan??????? Aiyoyoh.

March 24, 2011

Deko Bersama Eric

Seems like the shop assistant is not a fan of Eric Leong?

ERIC LEONG'S:
FACE? (nothing particularly offensive to me)
MOUTH? (tips to make your home look Datin-friendly)
IDEAS? (less is more = IKEA+Fella Design look like a TVB drama set)

But it is still disrespectful to tampal the price tag on the face kan? At least tampal-lah on the extra "R" in the masthead. Is this magazine supposed to be pronounced with a rolling "R"?
RRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrenovationz with Eric................
U ingat ni Riot Grrrl pronounced in Italian accent ah?

March 17, 2011

AN INSULT TO GOOD DESIGN

Taman Tun Dr Ismail denizens and the like, have you ever seen the above banner? It's been there for a long time, hasn't it? You see it when you are stuck in a little traffic jam heading towards Bandar Utama, or going to that Eastin area. What do you think it is? 

MAID HIRING SERVICE? NO. ~*~*~ DISCOUNT WAREHOUSE SALE WITH PRODUCTS 
THAT ARE ONLY INTERESTING TO GOSSIPPY HOUSEWIVES? NO~*~*~ BUT WHY IS THE WOMAN THERE, WE'RE NOT SURE.

My lovely UGLY MALAYSIANA readers, this is an advertisement for "Good Design", a design "evaluation and commendation system" based on the Japanese Good Design Award (グッドデザイン賞) — an association formed in the late 50s (now judged by people as fancy as Naoto Fukasawa). Basically, design submissions that earn place in the awards will gain a badge of honour for being a "Good Design".

The original logo from the Japan association:
Quite cute and minimalist ya?
For some of you, you may have seen the symbol in Muji catalogues or on the Daikin air conditioner brochure.

For the Malaysian version, behold, a butchered version of the Japanese logo, half looking like a 90s Versace motif, half looking like some half-assed Illustrator job from a fresh graduate who does not comprehend graphic design concepts such as balance and proportion:
Just look at the horrible spiral... It is an Illustrator stroke that does not look calculated. And is it supposed to look like a "G"? The Versace-motif at the bottom is supposed to be a "d" izit? Quelle horreur.

PLUS: The typography used reminds me of the Latin characters of a default Chinese font from Microsoft. It's sort of Times New Roman with very strange font   t r a c k i n g.

BEHOLD (#2): 
THE MALAYSIAN VERSION PUNYA LOGO
ETCHED FOR ETERNITY ON A TROPHY BEB:


SO UGLY I COULD SCREAM. 
IS THIS A JOKE? 
HOW CAN ANYONE WHO SUBMITS DESIGNS TO THEM TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY? 
COPYCAT + UGLY. 
I WOULD HIDE IT 
IN THE STORE ROOM 
IF I RECEIVED THIS TACKY ITEM.

Now please look at the following website screenshots.
  1.
 2.
 3.
 4.

Guess which webpage is from the Japanese association (there is one). No free gifts for the correct answer. It is too obvious. The marketing for 'Good Design Malaysia' is really an embarrassment. Often we at UGLY MALAYSIANA would celebrate tacky designs for its innocent amateurist approach, but in this case it's unforgivable.

Is it really that hopeless here? Is it really so "more is more" still, as ostentatious as it was in the early-90s when minimalism was only apparent among visual revolutionaries like Rei Kawakubo and Martin Margiela?

Can we not change the perceptions of the rich and powerful so that they can once and for all stop spewing out rubbish visuals, littering our fields of vision with very ill-conceived and ill-considered Photoshop fodder, making KL and PJ even more ROJAK than it is?

Are we to embrace all this instead? Do you even care! Do you want our roads to be lined with perfectly pruned ginkgo trees (ala Tokyo) or raintrees (ala Singapore) instead?

COMMENTS APPRECIATED.

March 16, 2011

MARCH FASHION SPECIAL

DISCLAIMER: Probably the designs below are not Malaysian designs anyway but they are such a part of our urban environment. 

You see them in Pasar Malams, Times Square Bukit Bintang stalls, on housewives and teenagers, in certain dance clubs, or perhaps in bed hanging loosely and comfortably on your loved one's body. 

They are affordable, a bit gaudy, a bit incorrect, and also most importantly —very accessible and fun! The author of UGLY MALAYSIANA proposes to have a Pasar Malam Fashion Theme party soon. 

Irony is the new black!

Welcome! Don't touch me!!!!!!!!!!!!! Features a neurotic Carebear.

My The Star Fashion Girl. For fashion editors at the MCA-owned local daily, The Star?

STO WHAT DO VOU THTNK RYWTE AROUND THE STORYWTEEOK.

(NOTE: The above face closely resembles a certain St Martin's College graduate of immense height and boob-size — for an Asian Gal. So sensually proportioned to the extent that a presumably gay magazine editor called her "DAMN SEXY" lor. But unbeknownst to my friend who heard that piece of information at that time, the aforementioned editor is actually straight — he actually thinks the St Martin's Graduate is "DAMN SEXY". Forgive my friend — her gaydar is still in its infant stages...)

The susceptible pedophilia may find this pink lace-trimmed number rather alluring. Just look at all the unintentional sexual connotations. This is the most ghastly out of the lot. Not for Gothic Lolitas, this is too cheerful. Lolita Fantasy?

"love me"? "red banana"?

March 15, 2011

QUITE UGLY AND IGNORANT

Insensitive remark about the cause of the March 2011 Japanese tsunami from none other than: 
FLOM


Edit: What if the words are being put in her mouth, and is taken out of context? 
Perhaps she is referring to the nuclear plant catastrophes? Does that make it any better?
Hanya TV Selangor-lah yang tau.

WELCOME TO MALAYSIA BY ROSALINDA

“Good taste and frugality are the enemies of creativity” ~ Picasso

Welcome to Malaysia, ladies gentleman, how do you do? I am very glad and happy to c u, wat can I do for u, welcom to Malaysia... (???) 

...can someone please transcribe the rest of this for UGLY MALAYSIANA? I personally think this is humorous (edit: and amazing) but I have a feeling the artiste Rosalinda did not meant it to be a 'fuck you high brow art, this is anti-goodtaste' like what Björk did in the mid-80s, releasing records under the label "Bad Taste".

Actually to many an aspiring hipster, the above video and crazy lyrics may prove to be inspiring. No need to take yourself so srsly plz kan?

March 11, 2011

Malaysian Government Graphics


Taken from PDFs on their website.

Inconsistent logo designs Bank Negara Malaysia. Notice legs on the animal got hooves, some don't; one pair looks like scissors, the other looks like a compass (stationary). What a mess! Suggestion to all graphic designers in the government sectors: Please have a system. Don't just simply taruk or draw the logo out as if you are blindfolded. This is a corporate logo ya, not contemporary art ala Picasso.

March 03, 2011

Text from www.malaysia.info

1Malaysia or One Malaysia (Malay: Satu Malaysia) is a Malaysian idea introduced by the sixth Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak on 5 April 2009. The main motto is People First; Performance Now (Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan).We very proud for it, because this is new idea for the Malaysian to build a new Malaysia for the future, Malaysia not like other country, we have 3 main races and other races in our country, we speak a same language, we have same vision for our future, even each races have own culture and religion but we understand for each others and respect is our main spirit to live in Malaysia. That is our 1 Malaysia - Harmony, Peach and Build.