Even though I love all things Google (and, more and more, Google is all things), I have always hated their logo. Ugly font, garish colors, outdated-five-years-ago Photoshop 101 effects (Bevel & Emboss… Drop Shadow… how original!).

I’ve always just assumed that it was a hastily-concocted logo done by someone with little or no design experience in the company’s startup days, but that regrettably endured as the company ballooned into the Microsoft of the online age. But apparently the logo went through several iterations — none of which are great, but some of which are much more aesthetically pleasing to me than what they finally settled on.

I’ve only set foot in a Brooks Brothers store once. A $150 dress shirt was all I needed to see. I wouldn’t pay 150 bucks for a dress shirt even if it came with a lifetime guarantee, was 100% stain-repellent, and could magically tailor itself if it ever went out of style.

So, in short, I don’t pay much attention to Brooks Brothers. But as it happens, there’s a new store coming into a building near where I work, and as I was walking by the storefront’s concealed façade today at lunchtime, I noticed something I’d never paid attention to before: the logo. Previously glancing at it only in passing, I assumed it was an anchor or some kind of abstract design or something. But no. It’s a sheep. Suspended in a sling. Read more »