168: Pepsi Max Redesign

Sometimes, I can’t help it. Things just get on my nerves. For instance:

Every now and then, I like to enjoy a refreshing beverage, and (while I usually prefer a fancy, micro-brew root beer) when I want caffeine and don’t want to deal with calories, I generally reach for a Pepsi Max. But lately a problem has arisen. I can’t stop staring at the logo.

Specifically the “MAX” part. It’s awful.

Let me break it down for you, so you can hate it as much as I do.

Right here, where the M meets the A, is a big problem. It’s like they couldn’t figure out how to join those letters, so they just set them near each other, and hoped it would work. Well, it doesn’t.

The M dips a little below the baseline, which I guess is fine, but if you’re going to dip below the baseline, you should commit. This is barely even breaking free. Also, the left side of the A is inexplicably raised slightly above the baseline! What the hell is that about? And then there’s that little “bloop” where they touch and dip inward. It distracts from the angles and futuristic feel of the rest of the logo, and it makes this part look like a soft, marshmallow butt.

Not edgy. Not Max. But that’s not even the worst part.

The M is the worst part. The whole M is a travesty. There’s something good buried in the AX — something dynamic. But, that M is doing its own dumb thing. The rounded corners have no rhyme or reason, and the line slants seem to be completely arbitrary. What’s worse is… it didn’t have to be this way. Hidden inside the current design is a seed of a much better one.

Just look at those green lines, and tell me what they have in common with that dumb M over there? Nothing, that’s what.

Those lines are good. They have a purpose and a direction. In fact, when I highlight them like this, they kind of look like another M…

That’s it — a better M! I’ll just move some things around, and…

Boom! New logo! Sharp, futuristic, bold, and in-motion. The main thing I did was flip that AX around to the other side, to make a new M that looks like it belongs. Also the M, A, and X now intersect in a pleasing triangle in the center.

And, check this out:

All those lines converge into a single point along the center axis. Not bad, eh? But wait, there’s more!

Every other line converges at another point. This whole logo is made out of radiating line segments from just two points!

So, there you go, Pepsi, I fixed it for you. Now, please update the can, so I don’t have to switch to Coke Zero to avoid graphics-induced migraines.
See you guys next week!