You can try this at home, using various iterations of the University of California seal and logo.
1. Classic version, UC system official seal:
Do you like it? Yes / No
2. Now, to show variations in the UC approach, let's try some for the flagship Berkeley campus. Here's the Script version:
Do you like it? Yes / No.
3. Combo version:
Do you like it? Yes / No.
4. Retro Version:
Do you like it? Yes / No.
5. Stylized version:
Do you like it? Yes / No.
6. Campy/corny version:
Do you like it? Yes / No.
Subtotal: Give yourself 2 points for each Yes answer on questions 1-6. Add them up. Now go to the final test item:
7. New logo version for the UC system as a whole:
Do you hate it? Yes / No. For Yes, give yourself 500 points. For No, subtract 1000 points.
Give yourself an extra 10,000 points if your spontaneous reaction was, "Gee, I heard things were tough for the UCs, but I had no idea."
Now add up your score. Any result in the positive range means: Yes, you have visual taste! A negative score means, congrats on your design commission from UC. Let's hope they put this out for bid again sometime soon.
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Why do I care? I didn't go to any UC branch, but: my brother went to Berkeley, my sister taught at Irvine, for a year I taught at Berkeley, and the Atlantic is a partner with UCSD. I could go on: many of my high school friends went to Riverside, Santa Cruz, UCSB, or UCLA; I've had friends at Davis; and the only serious medical procedure I've ever had done was at UCSF. Also I love the city of Berkeley and the greater East Bay, so overall I've always thought of myself as an honorary Cal guy, specifically a Golden Bear. I have T-shirts and hoodies with variants on designs #1-6. I am never getting anything that looks like #7.
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James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States and once worked as President Carter's chief speechwriter. He and his wife, Deborah Fallows, are the authors of the new book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America, which has been a New York Times best-seller and is the basis of a forthcoming HBO documentary.