MEATBALL:
Posted on 09/02/2015 7:27:54 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The manual is definitely something for hard-core space buffs and lovers of graphic design, rather than a casual read for anyone interested in space exploration generally. It consists of lots of drawings and instructions on how to place type on things like planes, cars, arm patches and stationery.
What makes it a particularly interesting piece of history is that -- according to an article about the reissue in Wired -- in May 1992, NASA's new administrator, Dan Goldin, switched the agency back to using the previous logo, which was nicknamed "the meatball." (It's the logo NASA is still using today, with the blue circle with a red swoop through it.) According to Wired, Goldin made the change in an effort to boost morale, as there were plenty of company employees who never quite took to the worm.
So after 17 years in use, Danne and Blackburn's Graphics Standards Manual was tossed out, despite the fact that many, like design critic Alice Rawsthorn, felt the worm was a more elegant encapsulation of all that NASA stood for, as opposed to the more clunky meatball logo.
"If the meatball shows us what made NASA so thrilling -- rockets, planets and sexy-sounding hypersonic stuff -- the worm simply suggests it, and does so with such skill that it's become the design purists' favorite," Rawsthorn says in a New York Times article. "Everything about the worm is seductively new, optimistic and futuristic, declaring that NASA is leading us toward a brighter, bolder future," she adds. "The message is so clear that it doesn't need to be explained by words or pictures."
...
"Where the meatball feels cartoon-like and old fashioned; the worm feels sleek, futuristic, forward-thinking. All good things for a space agency at the bleeding-edge of science and exploration."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnet.com ...
MEATBALL:
At least the “meatball” actually shows space and an orbiting satellite
“worm” looks kinda generic, could be used by any company
I never figured out the red turkey wishbone in the meatball, though.
"...the red chevron, in the alternate shape of the constellation Andromeda, is a wing representing aeronautics (the latest design in hypersonic wings at the time the logo was developed)..."
+1
Nah, it’s a red turkey wishbone. Or maybe a Muslim magic flying carpet.
For the record, it was none other than Vice President Quayle who insisted on the return to the original logo. Most people do not remember that the Vice President was top banana of the National Space Council. This passes from the days when Lyndon Johnson, during the Kennedy administration, was particularly employed to shepherd the Apollo-Saturn program through Congress.
Thw worm reads VSVN when seen upside down.
LOL! Now that’s funny.no matter who u r. :-P
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