Our minds never went there in the first place, but now they can't go back.
We've seen plenty of plenty of logo design blunders over the year, but few that have ended in a police complaint. That's exactly what has happened to Indian fashion website Myntra, whose "offensive" logo has now been replaced with a subtly tweaked (but not altogether different) design.
A complaint was filed against the logo with Mumbai Police’s cyber crime department, claiming that the original 'M' logo (below) "resembled a naked woman". We're not sure we'd have spotted it before, but now, erm, well, um, yes. Many of the best logos of all time feature secret messages, we're assuming (hoping) that Myntra's wasn't intentional.
The original logo (left) vs. the new version (right) (Image credit: Myntra/Future Owns)
According to Indian Express, the logo was described as "insulting and offensive towards women" in the complaint, filed last month. Responding to the complaint, Myrtna agreed to change its logo within a month, and has now replaced it across its website and social media.
Myrtna's logo tweaks are subtle. The orange and purple elements no longer overlap to create a red centre, and the colours are no longer symmetrical. The new design manages to dial down the supposedly "offensive" imagery of the original while maintaining its essence. However, the logo is still so similar we still can't unsee the initial blunder.
Twitter has, of course, made light of the incident, with many suggesting other logos based on the letter 'M' ought to be worried (more bad news for Google's ill-received new Gmail logo?). Others, meanwhile, have likened the original design to other famous logo fails.
After #MyntraLogo controversy I’m also filing petition against @Google for it's #gmail logo pic.twitter.com/0jARlV9pddFebruary 1, 2021
After #MyntraLogo controversy I’m also filing petition against Orange👍🏼 pic.twitter.com/K2DJ3b6ND5January 30, 2021
After #MyntraLogo incidentMasterCard and Gmail: pic.twitter.com/2cNaIrpBw1January 30, 2021
after Myntra's logo controversy"other companies with perfectly innocent logos - pic.twitter.com/SwtLl0uME7January 30, 2021
#McDonalds after seeing backlash against #MyntraLogo 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/Cl80ufLOKEJanuary 30, 2021
The funniest thing about this whole Myntra thing is that, even though I highly doubt that many minds went there in the first place, you can't really unsee it anymore. And the new logo isn't enough of a redesign to ever change that association now. pic.twitter.com/hCNvaNf5eCJanuary 30, 2021
Raise your hands if you are seeing the #MyntraLogo and similarly Popular logos for the first time after this issue! 🙋🤳#Myntra pic.twitter.com/DR8yfJyNNGJanuary 30, 2021
Brands having 'M' in their logo:#MyntraLogo pic.twitter.com/8oJQJeHO47January 30, 2021
Still, Myntra can at least take some comfort from the fact that even the biggest companies are prone to the odd design faux pas – just last week, Amazon's new app icon drew some unfortunate comparisons online. And hey, we'll always have room in our lives for a good old design blunder – check out these 12 design fails that were so bad they were actually good for our hall of shame.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles. He has interviewed leaders and designers at brands including Apple, Microsoft and Adobe. Daniel's debut book of short stories and poems was published in 2018, and his comedy newsletter is a Substack Bestseller.
