Cover image via Tourism Malaysia
It hasn't been a good week for the newly-unveiled Visit Malaysia 2020 logo. With apes in shades and wacky fonts plastered over a stamp, the new logo has been widely criticised for its amateurish, cartoon-like design.
Image via Twitter @TourismMalaysia
In addition to being the butt of a joke on social media, some Malaysians also pointed out how "ugly" the new logo looks especially when compared to the better designs from previous tourism campaigns
So, is the Visit Malaysia 2020 logo really that bad when compared to its predecessors? Let's take a look:
The Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) campaign was first launched in 1990 with a logo featuring the Sultan Abdul Samad building in Kuala Lumpur with the tagline "You'll be fascinated"
Image via Tourism Malaysia
Following the campaign's huge success, with Malaysia charting 7.4 million tourist arrivals in 1990 compared to 4.8 million in 1989, Visit Malaysia Year was brought back in 1994 with a similar logo and theme ("Fascinating Malaysia. Naturally More.").
At the tail end of the '90s, Tourism Malaysia launched the massively successful "Malaysia, truly Asia" worldwide marketing campaign in 1999. Until today, the iconic jingle is still the first thing that comes to mind whenever tourism in Malaysia is mentioned.
Visit Malaysia Year returned for its third iteration in 2007 in conjunction with the nation's 50th Independence Day, with a logo revolving around a hibiscus motif
Image via Twitter @aniqaimyr
To reflect the celebration of five whole decades of independence, the theme of VMY 2007 was "Celebrating 50 years of nationhood".
The logo for Visit Malaysia 2014 sported a cleaner and more modern look, this time featuring the timeless "Malaysia, Truly Asia" tagline
Image via Places and Foods
Fun Fact: Tourism Malaysia held a logo design and slogan competition in 2012 to aid selection for VMY 2014.
Some elements of the 2014 logo were later incorporated into the Year of Festivals campaign in 2015.
Image via PATA
Remember the 'Cuti-Cuti Malaysia' jingle sung by local songbird Siti Nurhaliza? First launched in 2009, the domestic travel campaign has been revamped several times since then, though the logo has largely remained the same.
Image via Tourism Malaysia
The latest iteration of the campaign, branded as 'Cuti-Cuti 1Malaysia Dekat Je', was launched in June 2015 to encourage Malaysians to prioritise local holiday destinations and to travel during off-peak seasons.
Now for a little bonus content – we also came across some pretty interesting designs for state-focused tourism campaigns. Terengganu actually had a cute penyu-inspired one in 2013:
Image via Pinterest /
Image via New Straits Times
The state brought back the turtle motif (sunglasses not included) and the 'Pesona Terengganu' theme for this year's logo.
The Sarawak Tourism Board also went with a logo inspired by the state emblem, the burung kenyalang (hornbill)
Image via Vectorise
Visit Sabah for this cool swingin' orangutan!
Image via GraphicsBuzz
You guys, the Visit Kelantan 2016 logo is so nice. Check out that little wau and swirly waves!
Image via blog.malaysia-asia.my
The theme for the 2016 state tourism campaign was "Menyusuri Warisan".
In tandem with the tagline "World of Wonders", the Visit Perak 2017 campaign utilises shades of blue, green, and orange in overlapping silhouettes of the state's popular landmarks
True to its nickname 'Negeri Jelapang Padi', Visit Kedah 2008 and 2012 featured the same paddy motif
Image via KL Tower International Jump 2008
Image via Aku Suka Kedah Blogspot
The Visit Pahang 2017 logo incorporates an elephant design and the word "hogoh", a colloquial term used by the people of Pahang to mean "go for it"
Image via Vectorise
According to Vectorise, the word is believed to have been used by Pahang fans during football matches to spur on their team. It can also be used as a term to motivate and encourage.
Meanwhile, the elephant in the logo design symbolises the Asian Elephant, an indigenous species to Pahang, which is critically endangered with less than 1,200 roaming wild in Peninsula Malaysia.
We thought this Visit Selangor logo from 2015 was a joke. Turns out it's not…?
Image via Whohaa.com
