Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed | Roman Mars

5.2M views · 11 years ago · talk · evergreen

Roman Mars of 99% Invisible gives a short TED talk on why many city flags are poorly designed. He uses the principles of good flag design, drawing on vexillology and Ted Kaye's work, to contrast memorable flags such as Chicago's with cluttered seal-on-a-bedsheet designs.

HN people treat it as the must-watch short talk whenever flag, logo or rebrand design comes up.

“one must watch the short talk on state and country flags”

10 comments from Hacker News

m
@misterS2022 · in “[dead]”
> kids in first year of school should know how to draw flag from memory Roman Mars taught me that – well Ted Kaye, but Roman taught me in his seminal TED talk [1]. [1] ▶ this video
Strongly recommendsView on HN
a
@alpb2020 · in “State of Oklahoma's New Brand Identity / Logo”
This is painful to see. It looks like a shopping mall or apartment building logo, compared to other states with proper flags. And it goes without saying, on this topic, one must watch the short talk on state and country flags: ▶ this video
Strongly recommendsView on HN
p
@pentaphobe2026 · in “Why all new flags look the same”
Great TED talk by Roman Mars Even features the same Milwaukee flag if memory serves ▶ this video
RecommendsView on HN
s
@surprisetalk2023 · in “Ask HN: How to protect blog from AI search?”
This is an extremely difficult question that I've been grappling with myself. My first strategy is to create writings that can't be summarized. I try to make essays that are dripping with idiosyncrasy. I can't win in an information war, but I can stay competitive for ~10 years in a creative clash: [1] link [2] link [3] link [4] link [5] link I myself draw lots of my inspiration from my "sages of style", in the same way that AIs will try to replicate my voice. None of these great thinkers can be summarized or replicated in any meaningful way: [6] David Foster Wallace: link [7] George Carlin: link [8] Derek Sivers: link [9] John Green: link [10] Roman Mars: ▶ this video [11] Alan Kay: link [12] Alan Watts: link [13] Richard Feynman: link [14] Raymond Smullyan: link But style only takes you so far. My second strategy is to socialize IRL. This year, I'm starting a tech conference called "Outland" to foster community in an age where community might be all that matters. [15] link
RecommendsView on HN
d
@djsumdog2020 · in “State of Oklahoma's New Brand Identity / Logo”
Their flag is terrible: link 99% Invisible does a great episode on what makes a good flag, and why cities like Chicago, DC and Amsterdam have iconic, memorable flags: ▶ this video link
RecommendsView on HN
b
@bane2016 · in “The Worst-Designed Thing You've Never Noticed – Roman Mars”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
n
@node-bayarea2015 · in “TED Talk (Good V/s Bad Design): The Worst-Designed Thing You've Never Noticed”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
S
@Someone2023 · in “New American City Flags Survey (2022)”
American flag design continues to amaze with its ugliness. I’ve read link and watched ▶ this video years ago, and would think that’s “flag design 101”, but it doesn’t look like few designers know that in the USA.
s
@spaceribs2017 · in “Mozilla launches new brand identity”
Rebranding, when done correctly, can be a great way to regroup and focus on what's important about your business. You really need to stop looking at it as just a new design, and look at what philosophy it exudes. This constant visual reminder of what the company's mission is resonates downward much better than a mission statement, and how clients/customers interact with you. This is of course if your rebrand was a success, and that's a very very difficult task dependent on all sorts of internal factors, that even the largest companies get wrong (see Gap, Uber, Pepsi). Don't listen to me though: link ▶ this video
CitesView on HN
j
@jedimastert2021 · in “51 Star Flag (2011)”
Somewhere Roman Mars just got a cold flash and has no idea why... ▶ this video