Hi everyone! I wanted to add my grain of salt to the debate that's been going on about the new 3.0 Lightstick. In my opinion, it's not a bad design at all. I would like to explain my point of view by focusing on three main aspects: small scale, large scale, and symbolic weight.
Small scale:
It's clear that the design has been significantly simplified. It went from a detailed castle featuring the old logo we all miss to a much simpler symbol that was introduced recently, a symbol that still feels unfamiliar.
Large scale:
Here's something I think many of us aren't really considering. A lightstick isn't just a decorative item we keep on our shelves as a collectible, it's an identity symbol that shows our support for idle. Because of that, it needs to be easily recognizable and stand out in a crowd (that's my take on how a good lightstick design should work).
The old 2.0 Lightstick is beautiful up close, but when you see it in action at a concert, in the hands of thousands of fans, it ends up looking like a generic bubble lightstick, similar to many others out there. You can only truly appreciate the castle and its details if you're close enough. On the other hand, the 3.0 LS is more easy to recognize. Not only that, but when many of them come together at a show, the big picture looks like a field of flowers (or stars, depending on how you interpret the shape of the symbol that part is subjective), that's a pro for me.
Think about this: at a multi-fandom event, it can be hard to spot the old lightstick in the crowd, but the new one could be recognized almost instantly by the members themselves. It's a simple design, but morphologically distinctive.
Symbolic weight:
I won't spend too much words on the old lightstick. It just feels familiar, iconic, and nostalgic. It representd the group for years. That said, in an effort to give the new logo a fair chance, I came up with the following (subjective) interpretation: the logo clearly represents the five members (five lines converging into a single point, symbolizing unity). In computer science, the asterisk (*) functions as a "wildcard," meaning "everything" or "anything." I believe this card was intentionally used to push back against the idea of a strictly defined conventional girl group image.
Lastly, the asymmetric layout of the logo (which seems to bother a lot of people) is something I personally like. Idle is a disruptive group that challenges people and breaks conventions. It's a group that says, "If you don't like what we do, you'll have to live with it, because we're not going to change just to please you." I think the tilted asterisk represents that attitude really well. The fact that such a simple design can carry this much meaning feels more like a strength than a weakness to me.
As I mentioned before, this is just my personal interpretation. Honestly, it's hard for me to let go of the group's old identity I'm emotionally attached to it. Most of my negative feelings toward the new lightstick come purely from nostalgia, I don't actually think it's a bad design.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
note (the croud pictures are ai, i just wanted to show my point)
by santiiiviz
6 Comments
I think the new one is a *major* upgrade. It’s more modern and way less juvenile. It matches the vibe of the group. Let’s be honest, the castle was always a weird choice (as was the fandom name, to a lesser extent ) for them. And it did look like a generic snow globe. I’d argue it looked snow globe-y up close, too. This is unmistakably I-dle.
Your ai photo actually proves your point. AI couldn’t properly recreate the light stick because it breaks design rules which is literally what Idle does, refuse to conform and break all the rules. It’s perfect.
Personally, I like both, but the old one is my favorite.
I like them both, but agree with your points. I also don’t see how this is even remotely a surprise to anyone, no one anywhere has ever done a rebrand this significant and just kept a couple things with the old logo around just because.
I still have my old one, now I’ll have this one too. I like it.
I just like that the asterisk is missing a line, a nice way to remember Soojin
I really like the new design. I can’t fully judge it yet, as we haven’t seen the rest of the stick. I love unique designs, and I find a lot of lightsticks have the globe design and it can sometimes become boring.(I love and own the Ver.2)