October 7, 2002
NEW YORK— On the heels of rival agency BBDO’s newly revised logo treatment, executives at New York-based D’Arcy have announced they too will soon adopt a “revitalized” logo design they hope will “pump some life into this walking cadaver of an agency.” According to sources, the new logo is the result of over two year’s labor and to date, over $3,400,000 in design, research and development costs. Said D’Arcy vp, director of public relations, Clive Nollingwood, “We figured if we were going to do this, we were going to do it right. After all, it’s not often you’re presented with the challenge of re-packaging yourself for the 21st century. And as the creatives say, we feel we really hit this one right out of the ol’ ball park.” The new logo, claims Nollingwood, “will achieve a perfect balance of the traditional, no-nonsense aesthetics that lie at the cornerstone of D’Arcy’s grand history, with the cutting-edge, breakthrough creative sensibilities that tell the world, ‘we get it.’” Added Nollingwood, “It will also use purple.”

While at first glance, the still-in-development logo appears to vary little from the existing D’Arcy logotype, D’Arcy “brand steward” Karen Lee explains, “It’s genius is in its subtlety. What we’ve done is condense the existing typeface almost 3%, giving it a revitalized sense of energy and purpose. Then we went completely outside the box, and reinterpreted the apostrophe as a deep violet slash. It’s almost sensual, but in a true left brain sort of way. It’s really got it all.”

Nollingwood concurred. “When we’ve focus grouped this logo along with the several hundred other permeations we’ve developed over the past couple years, the term that came to mind first and foremost was ‘easy to read.’ The second thought was ‘purple.’ Which is to say, it communicates clearly and concisely, but with a sense of style. Which is what we’re all about.”

Despite the development team’s enthusiasm, however, members of the D’Arcy rank and file appear to be less impressed by the impending new logo. Said art director Melissa Fischer, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Jesus fucking Christ. It’s the same goddamn logo with a purple thing instead of a red thing. They paid $3 million bucks for this? Holy fuckcicle.” Her partner appeared to agree. “I really thought it was a joke when they first started showering it around internally,” said copywriter Greg Mair. “I mean, I know we’re D’Arcy and all, but still, this is embarrassing. And to think we cancelled this year’s summer picnic due to ‘the economy.’”

Brand steward Lee believes such criticism is misplaced. “When you look at what BBDO did with their new logo, and some of the others out there now, I think our team has really outdone themselves. Old stodgy D’arcy? Not any more. Wieden better watch out. This logo just speaks for itself.”