It’s kind of amazing to realize that we’ve all been collectively talking about the Tesla Cybertruck for over four years now, and it’s still not in regular production yet. It’s impressive that the sharp-angled truck-like thing still manages to get people’s attention, so it’s a success in that regard if nothing else. It’s been in the news lately because in Tesla’s very recent investor call, Tesla’s rarely-seen or heard CEO Elon Musk admitted that getting the Cybetruck into production is extraordinarily difficult and will take about a year and a half before any money gets made. A few may trickle out in late 2024, but real production likely won’t happen until 2025. Anyway, everyone’s talking about Cybertrucks at the moment, which made me look at more pictures of them, which in turn presented the Cybertruck logo in front of my eyes as well. And that’s what I want to talk about today. Specifically, why does it suck so much?
Also, I can’t help but take a moment to note something Musk said in the investor’s call:
“That is why there have not been new car start-ups that have been successful for 100 years apart from Tesla.”
This is, of course, a ridiculous thing to say, and I think it’s probably best to show how silly and ill-informed this statement is by just listing a few successful car brands that have formed within the past century, in no particular order: Honda, SEAT, Tata, Volvo, Plymouth, Ferrari, Datsun/Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota (they made looms before, but no cars until 1934), Kia, Hyundai, and then there’s a ton of Chinese brands and smaller niche but successful companies, and so much more. Maybe he meant in America, in which case that is closer to the truth, though Chrysler wasn’t founded until 1925 and if we say AMC was successful – and I’d say they were, for a while – they weren’t actually established under that name until 1954, and Jeep started in 1941, and, of course that’s not counting recent companies like Rivian or Lucid which, to be fair, I think it’s too early to say they’re “successful.”
Other than that, though, sure, he’s right. Sorry for the tangent, but it’d be asking a lot to just ignore that.
Okay, back to the logo. Let’s take a look at the Cybertruck logo here:
Let’s just describe what we’re looking at here. I think the most notable thing that first strikes you about this logo has to be how impressively illegible it is. Out of context, not knowing it says “Cybertruck,” how long do you think it would take you to figure out just what the hell it does say? It’s not easy, but if I drink enough washer fluid so I can temporarily forget what this says, maybe I’d see this and read it as “CAERRTVKK?” That’s kind of how it looks.
Now, I get that this is supposed to be a sort of graffiti-inspired logo design, and legibility isn’t exactly a hallmark of the genre, but when it comes to logotypes for a given product, I think it’s generally a plus to know what the logo actually says.
We’ll address the graffiti inspiration itself in a moment, but you’d think if you were going to draw from the vast and rich visual world of graffiti design, you’d pick something that didn’t look like a tag on the back of a Wendy’s dumpster done by a rushed suburban 15-year-old in the dark, while desperately nervous. Is it cool? It doesn’t feel cool. It feels like it’s trying to be cool, in a really ham-fisted way, or cool in the way that your aunt pictures cool, the “urban decay” equivalent of a dog in shades playing a saxophone on a skateboard.
It’s not like a graffiti-inspired logo is breaking any new ground, either, especially for trucks. It seems like in the 1990s almost every carmaker had at least one graffito-inspired badge or decal for some trim level of an SUV or truck.
I’m not saying any of these were particularly great, but they generally were legible, at least.
Then there’s the whole question of why. Why did Tesla pick this design aesthetic to go with the Cybertruck, which doesn’t feel like that at all, being all straight lines and sharp angles and polygonal precision? What about the name “Cybertruck” suggests the rough, rapid, messy look of spray-painted graffiti? I mean, look at these two objects together:
That ugly mass of messy black lines really doesn’t mesh with that ugly mass of precise steel polygons, does it? I mean, I understand an urge for contrast of some kind, but I don’t think that’s what was being gone for here, because it looks like there has been some half-assed attempt to capture the design vocabulary of the truck by limiting the graffiti logo to angled lines and no curves.
In fact, the first Cybertruck logo that was registered in 2019, before the Cybertruck was revealed, was dramatically different. It looked like this:
This does seem to fit the aesthetic of the truck better, I think. It’s not an amazing logo, but it’s not bad, and, interestingly, it looks like the original spelling may have been a much more phone-app-style vowel-less thing: CYBRTRK. I’d probably have complained about that, too.
Is there a way to take the graffiti Cybertruck logo and maybe make it feel more in tune with the Cybertruck’s actual look? I guess you could start with the basic shapes in the graffiti logo, but make them into Cybertruck-style wedge shapes:
That’s more legible, and I think sorta fits the look of the truck better, but it also looks more Cuneiform than anything, really, and I’m not sure ancient Sumerian is the image a tech-focused automaker wants to invoke [Ed note: Well… “Snow Crash,” a cyberpunk book I’m sure Elon Musk loves, actually features a decent amount of Sumerian Cuneiform references in it. – MH]
I do have one theory about why this type logo was picked; I think it’s possible that Elon was influenced by the Cyberpunk 2077 video game. This game was announced, with its logo, long before the Cybertruck was announced, and Elon is definitely aware of the game, as he demonstrated it being played in a Tesla:
Could this be the genesis of it all? That sort of scrawled text in the Cyberpunk 2077 logo is sort of similar, though it really feels more like a ’90s design callback than straightforward, drippy, spray-paint-on-drywall graffiti like the Cybertruck logo. But beyond that, I’m still pretty baffled by why anyone thought those angular, drippy scribbles would be a good logo.
Of course, I’m curious to hear what you think in the comments, but from where I sit, this logo is hard to read, confusing in tone, feels cynical and, worst of all, is just kind of ugly. It feels like all of two hours of thought was put into this, at most. Even if it’s too late to redesign the truck before launch, it’s not too late to take another crack at the logo. Logos are important! Tesla is a huge, rich company. There’s no reason to have such a shit logo.
Well, now that I think about it, maybe it does kinda make sense?
May he amongst us without a questionable tattoo cast the first stone?
Go fuck yourselves.
Username checks out
CABRHTZFKK? A new Tesla language Elon is pushing out?
> Now, I get that this is supposed to be a sort of graffiti-inspired logo design, and legibility isn’t exactly a hallmark of the genre, but when it comes to logotypes for a given product, I think it’s generally a plus to know what the logo actually says.
I take it Jason doesn’t listen to black or death metal.
> I’m not saying any of these were particularly great, but they generally were legible, at least.
This borders on a “kids these days” old-Boomer gripe.
I was gonna say, as a lifelong metalhead this logo ain’t that bad compared to some of the more extreme album covers
https://www.reddit.com/r/MetalMemes/comments/nc10lr/illegible_band_logos_iceberg/
Ha – those are ridiculous.
Clever alternative approach:
https://www.creativebloq.com/news/heavy-metal-logo
That’s fantastic. As is the album cover.
Party Cannon genuinely shreds, too
Snow Crash is a phenomenal book
Pretty bold to name your hero/protagonist Hiro Protagonist.
What I really want to see is how the position this logo with the Tesla logo (the badge “T” logo not the word mark). Are they ever used together? The Tesla mark is super clean and modern and I can’t see how the Cybertruck logo works in juxtaposition with the T badge at all and if they’re at all close, such as on the tailgate, it will be awkward. Maybe positioning each on opposite sides of the gate and never together would work well.
Overall Jason I agree with your points on legibility and easy recognition. Stylistically I don’t have as much of a dislike due to your point on contrast.
The logo can also position the vehicle with the intended audience/consumer. I can see the EV-equivalent of guys that drive bro-dozers going for this. If that is the intent I could see this working if they just tweaked it a bit to read better.
I’m curious on this too, are they actually going to put it on the truck somewhere? Maybe top of the window banner?
“In fact, the first Cybertruck logo that was registered in 2019, before the Cybertruck was revealed, was dramatically different. It looked like this…”
That one is perfect because it’s unfinished, just like its namesake.
Between the broken window and the grafitti, maybe he’s going for a “bad neighborhood” theme.
The whole thing – both the logo and the prototype car thing – are just slapped together fast for presentation and media purposes.
So he who shall not be mentioned can pad himself on the back that people have been talking about it for four years now.. Quick and dirty media stunt, which obviously worked.
It’s a bit like people trying to find meaning in the works of the KLF or Max Headroom. They were also just (fun and great) media experiments.
It is only bad if you look at it.
If you consider the four primary motivating factors for graffiti: fame, rebellion, self-expression, and power, then I guess it kinda makes sense.
Fame: we’re talking about Musk here.
Rebellion: …
Self-expression: again, Musk.
Power: do I have to say it again?
All of the adjectives you use to describe your opinion of the logo could easily apply to the truck, too, so it’s kinda perfect in how shit it is.
It is the epitome of edgelord in truck form, both literal and otherwise. Everything from the look to the stupid logo, all of it screams LOOK AT ME! while none of it conveys “respect me”.
lol
I don’t see this logo as having a graffiti-style font. This is closer to being the logo of some black metal band.
First thing I thought of as well.
31 illegible black metal band logos (nme.com)
I don’t know why Musk didn’t take a page from his fictional counterpart and just hire Banksy to design the logo, assuming he didn’t insist on signing it, of course
If he had done that, the truck would have to partially shred itself as soon as it’s sold.
That might happen anyway.
Banksy would undoubtedly tell Musk to take a hike.
So Cybertruck will be sold through Hot Topic stores?
I think you hit the nail on the head. This is the first time I’ve paid attention to it myself, and I am also confused and turned off. And, this probably took a whole man year or two’s worth of work to get signed off, which is really the sad part.
My other reaction is something along the lines of “Ugh, this thing is ugly, then you put that on it?” And then I realized I’m going to be seeing these until the day I die. I need to go look at pictures of a 1996 Dark Cherry Metallic Impala SS to make myself feel better.
I read it as CLUSTRFUK
I’ll be the contrarian here. It doesn’t bother me. The logo is all angular like the truck. It’s also very different like the truck is.
It’s also good advertising since it got a whole bunch of us talking about the product.
I dunno…seems like Ford did the graffiti-style logo best. I admire both the Lightning and Splash logos, as well as the vehicles that wore them.
I read CybbertRikk
You did better than me. I read CyleRRTkk.
I might have missed it, but I think The Autopian failed to give its thoughts about the very recent Hyper Punk concept from Nissan.
My guess is it is what a rich man bun wearing tech Boi who thinks he is with it, but isn’t, but who would buy the Cybertruck to show he is with it. Really, who else is this monstrosity for but someone with no taste, no class but has millions to spend to prove it?
two major issues with it.
1. CYbERTRUCK
2. The second R is very clearly built off the stem of the “T”, and if it isn’t, then there’s a random “I” in there, or it’s CYbERRTUCK or CYbERTRIUCK
I’m going to argue that E is also lower case, the top line continues around and back, it’s a very poorly shaped e, but it’s definitely one continuous loop.
It reads as CYbeRRTUCK to me.
oh god, I think you’re right. it’s even worse now. BURN IT WITH FIRE.
“or it’s CYbERRTUCK”
Given Grandmaster E’s musings on the rights and cultural place of trans people, this is definitely not what it is.
this so should have been a COTD. holy shit I’m crying
Counterpoint: it’s perfect