Visit Malaysia 2020 logo is finally reworked

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently launched the new Visit Malaysia (VM) 2020 campaign logo and its definitely a departure from the previous abomination.

The logo features various recognizable icons of Malaysia such as the hornbill, hibiscus (bunga raya), the wild fern and colours of the Malaysian flag.

Created by Alfred Phua Hong Fook, a 23-year-old graphic designer from Melaka, the logo represents the diversity of Malaysia’s culture, heritage, flora and fauna as well as experiences offered as a holiday destination.

His logo was chosen from hundreds of submissions nationwide during the competition period earlier this year.

The new logo is to replace the previous one launched in Chiang Mai, Thailand by former Tourism and Culture minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz in conjunction with the ASEAN Tourism Forum last year.

The previous logo, largely criticised for being poorly designed and unprofessional, was modelled after a postage stamp, featuring the Petronas Twin Towers and an orang utan hugging a proboscis monkey and turtle on a beach donning sunglasses, with the tagline “Travel. Enjoy. Respect”.

Next year has been designated as Visit Malaysia 2020 with targets of achieving 30 million international tourist arrivals and RM100 billion tourist receipts, with focus on ecotourism, arts and culture.

Marketing Magazine reached out to a few personalities regarding their opinion on the new logo.

I think the logo design and colors does bring about the representation of MALAYSIA, both East and West,” said Etika Holdings SVP of Marketing & Alternate Business, Mr Santharuban Thurai Sundaram.

“There’s a naive charm and innocence to the logo…the beauty of just coming together and enjoying each other’s company…I like the elements and the colours…that said, these days you don’t just design a logo- you develop a logo system and a brand identity…but ok, we’re getting there…slowly but surely,” said Edward Ong, an award-wining writer and creative director.

“Looks a lot better than the earlier visual assault…It’s now time to get out there and lure those millions of bored Chinese and Japanese and Europeans…the economy really needs it…and yesterday,” said Prashant Kumar, Senior Partner at Entropia.

Datuk Jake Abdullah, MD of Fave Malaysia, said ” if it’s a comparison to the last one, its definitely better but we definitely need better creatives…it seems like we are trying way too hard..to actually say ‘Truly Asia’ and add a hornbill and a hibiscus isn’t truly Asia.”

The man does have a point, and even the tagline is a bit off too. There are some interesting opinions out there in cyberspace. This is just a sampling of what is out there.

Anyway, at least the new logo is a massive improvement over the previous one.

So here’s to a great Visit Malaysia campaign in 2020!

Sources: Twitter and The Edge