36 comments

  • Sam KingSam King, over 7 years ago

    The post sponsor is great… uBar…

    38 points
  • Mitch BartlettMitch Bartlett, over 7 years ago

    CEOs in charge of rebrands. We still haven't learned.

    25 points
    • P GBP GB, over 7 years ago

      they still haven't learned. I'm pretty sure you wont find a designer that thinks it's a good idea. ;)

      8 points
      • Spencer HoltawaySpencer Holtaway, over 7 years ago

        but they still let it happen

        1 point
        • Jeff CouturierJeff Couturier, over 7 years ago

          I am a bit surprised that the entire Uber design team didn't quit or revolt during this process.

          2 points
          • Laurens SpangenbergLaurens Spangenberg, over 7 years ago

            Their head of design left.

            3 points
          • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, over 7 years ago

            Really? I mean, really? You'd leave a job at [industry leader] because someone higher up didn't listen to you?

            Because if so, good on you. Not all of us have that luxury.

            I swear, every post I've made these last few days has had the same theme: I find the lack of empathy this community shows frightening.

            We all judge and "know how things SHOULD have been done".

            And if we disagree with something, the people responsible for it should be sacked, quit on their own accord or just generally move into a different industry.

            Empathy. Learn it. Practice it.

            12 points
            • P GBP GB, over 7 years ago

              Really? I mean, really? You'd leave a job at [industry leader] because someone higher up didn't listen to you?

              As someone who's had that job at [industry leader] you're talking about (not uber, but a giant US tech company), I left because I didn't like the politics, micromanagement and some elements of the culture.

              When you have the job at [industry leader], you don't sit around thinking 'cool, I work for [industry leader]!' everyday, you asses the work and your enjoyment of it in the same way you would do any job, and if it isn't stacking up you leave, like you would do any job.

              If you're consistently over-awed about the fact you work at such a company and let that cloud your subjectivity when assessing the quality of the work, your enjoyment of the role or the future effect on your career, you're probably doing it wrong.

              3 points
            • Thomas Michael SemmlerThomas Michael Semmler, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

              We all judge and "know how things SHOULD have been done".

              I believe that is because we have educated people new to our industry, to blindly follow what celebrity industry insiders have to say. Besides, much of the content that our industry outputs to our own people is not anymore to educate them or to offer them advice, but to monetize their attention. Advertising always works on the deep underlying belief in ourselves that we are in a way inadequate and that the solution that is advertised can fill this gap in ourselves.

              2 points
            • Thomas Michael SemmlerThomas Michael Semmler, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

              Really? I mean, really? You'd leave a job at [industry leader] because someone higher up didn't listen to you?

              With that always comes a sense of desired accomplishment for working at [industry leader]. A lot of people inside our industry see their ultimate goal reached when they work at [industry leader]. Maybe, because we tend to idolize a lot of our industry.

              Because if so, good on you. Not all of us have that luxury.

              For me, it's not "luxury" to leave a job. It is my commitment to the values I live by, that makes leaving a job that wastes my energy and time mandatory. Yes, in order to maintain our lives, we need money, but a person who is determined enough to not endure a destructive circumstance in their life that makes them unhappy, is very likely to find a way to sustain themselves and also make them happy. They might have several attempts while trying to find the right one or even finding out what truly motivates them, but once you make decisions based on your values and not on external values, you might realize, that money or even stability are not things that can make you happy.

              I personally criticize our industry, especially designers and productivity-porn stars a lot and often people tell me, that I do that because I envy their status, their success or their popularity. When they do that, they apply their value system on my situation and the same might be happening in your sentence. The person that left their job over the whole situation might have totally different values in their life. You might base all of your life upon all aspects of that job. Your social and financial situation, maybe you see your career ladder leading to a job like that. But this person might see it very differently. I have very different values in my life and in my work as well, which is the reason why I do things differently and I have left my last job because I was unsatisfied, even though it sustained me.

              And btw, without trying to attack you, but understanding that people do not all operate on the same values is also part of empathy.

              3 points
  • Alex YakirAlex Yakir, over 7 years ago

    "Uber's redesign contained an unprecedented level of micromanagement of the design team by Kalanick".

    It looks & feels very much this way.

    18 points
    • Jonathan ShariatJonathan Shariat, over 7 years ago

      Logo's always seem to go this route. It is such an important part of the company that leadership, especially founders, can't help but be heavily hands on.

      I wonder what the proper level of involvement should be. Micromanagement is definitely a hinderance but if you involve them too late they reject interesting ideas.

      2 points
      • Marc EdwardsMarc Edwards, over 7 years ago

        I think a high level of involvement is great, but it needs an equal level of respect. Respect for the opinion of experts and respect for the process.

        14 points
  • Marco ScannadinariMarco Scannadinari, over 7 years ago (edited over 7 years ago )

    Always love a Schiff post :)

    12 points
  • Edwin de JonghEdwin de Jongh, over 7 years ago

    I don't think I've ever read a positive article written by Eli. Always with the negativity...

    9 points
    • Wil NicholsWil Nichols, over 7 years ago

      Contradiction of authority and negativity aren't the same thing. Whether calling out shit work as shit is "negative" doesn't matter; it's truth and worth discussing.

      1 point
  • Joe Blau, over 7 years ago

    Uber has lost its recognizability as a brand.

    Isn't that the point of a re-brand? Lose one brand and create another?

    6 points
    • Adam Hayman, over 7 years ago

      Not always. At times it's more beneficial to simply adjust your current brand. Case-in-point: Pepsi's logos over the years. Ever since 1950 they've simply been updating their existing identity to appeal to the changing market. All successful rebrandings, but none of them lost sight of where they came from.

      5 points
      • John PJohn P, over 7 years ago

        Never forget

        20 points
      • Joe Blau, over 7 years ago

        none of them lost sight of where they came from

        That's why I would differentiate Pepsi's (Apple, Google, Shell, Twitter) logo update from a re-brand. Twitter is a perfect example: In 2012 they did a logo update, then in 2014 they did a re-brand -- two separate things. If you read the Uber Brand Experience page, it says it started off as a black car service. Many people today still think that Uber is competing with Taxi's but it's a "transportation network" of which the taxi aspect is a small piece. The whole goal of the re-brand is to literally lose the old brand (and nearly everything about it) and re-brand to better represent what we were going to become (as the site says).

        3 points
  • Josh BakerJosh Baker, over 7 years ago

    No more melodramatic posts from Eli, please.

    5 points
  • ポール ウェッブポール ウェッブ, over 7 years ago

    Yeah, reading through this article made me dislike Uber's new brand even more. What a shitshow.

    5 points
  • Vince P.Vince P., over 7 years ago

    Is it really that bad? It has it flaws, but it's not a shitshow.

    3 points
  • Ty Magnin, over 7 years ago

    "The design review took ten minutes. He [Kalanick] was like, 'that's good.'"

    2 points
  • Dan DiGangiDan DiGangi, over 7 years ago

    Fantastic article but still disappointed in Uber's execution with this rebrand.

    2 points