Magic Hat Bullying West Sixth

West sixth may not have hired the most creative designers for their logo, and if they did, their lawyers did a not so great job in assessing its marketability and potential conflict. Unless they were deliberately trying to ride coat tails, it seems west sixth had basically the entire world of design possibilities to explore and seemingly settled on a design that is not completely unique and is arguably referential to #9 even if it is not an intentional copy. Brand is everything, it's worth investing in something you can completely own for yourself with no dispute. It distinguishes you from others and it shields you from misidentification.

Like many in this thread, at first glance I assumed "6" was another magic hat product and didn't explore any deeper than that.

That's a problem for west sixth and their brand marketing, not necessarily a problem for magic hat, although I have no qualms about brands defending their visual representations.

My point is, this is something that should have been obvious to west sixth in the beginning and either they didn't notice or didn't care or decided knowingly to do it anyway... This is not happenstance or coincidence. At least not from a designers pov.

I don't have a problem with their name or using a #6 in the word mark, just explore other options....

 

Magic Hat was bought by a big beer conglomerate.

pretty bogus of west sixth to put another Magic Hat logo on that page, the logo in question is clearly their No. 9 logo. and i have to say they look alike.

btw, i'm from Vermont but don't like Magic Hat beer


and yes, that clearly looks like a mountain dew ripoff

 

Love the Mountain Dew example. Like someone said earlier us your beer dollars to speak for yourself if need be. A design is a design and I cannot day a can or bottle. I only care about the contents inside. I totally understand protecting your IP because many do infring on it. Change the lankest and your content in the bottle will speak for itself.

 

Like most people here have said, it's not so much bullying as it is protecting your product. If West Sixth is good enough, there product will survive a change in logo/design. Could you all imagine if Pearl Jam was still called Mookie Blaylock?

 

This wouldn't be an issue if Jimi were running things Magic Hat.

 

how about a collaboration ale..."69"