The Extra Bold ‘Laver’ knee-caps the whole thing before we’ve even started. Look at it. It’s like a big ol’ beached whale, too bloated and heavy to haul itself back into the water.
I find the negative spaces around the three ‘A’s and after the ‘V’ to be awkward and jarring, disrupting the rhythm of the letterforms. And like bark peeling off a tree, the ‘Arena’ looks ready to come adrift and just fall apart.
You could possibly improve things by increasing the space between all the letters, but mostly I think they should have just chosen another font. And name. I liked Melbourne Park. I thought it was fine for both the complex and centre court. Nothing against Our Rod - he could hit a ball really well apparently - I just prefer another name over his.
Anyway, we didn’t stop at the Rod Laver Arena on the Tour, but we did pass it as we drove through “Melbourne’s Sporting Precinct” on our way to Richmond. As we passed the MCG off in the distance, someone commented on its lack of visible signage. There was nothing to see at all. In fact, the MCG itself was actually quite hard to see (above). I guess that during the day the structure is so large it’s hard to miss, and when there’s a game at night, well, you can see the glow from the moon, but given the extent to which the Rod Laver Arena and the Vodafone Arena are lit up, even when they’re not in use, it struck us as odd that the MCG didn’t have so much as a single bit of visible branding.
I didn’t think anyone missed an opportunity for self-promotion these days. Maybe the MCG’s reputation and stature is such that it doesn’t need something as low and crass as artificially illuminated signage? Maybe to name “it” would be to diminish “it”? Whatever “it” is? It’s certainly one of Melbourne’s most well-known icons. Whatever the reason, I kind of like it. It seems kind of dignified, or something. It doesn’t scream at you; just gives a quick nod of the head as you pass in the hallway. Almost like it’s one of those inner-city bars, tucked away down an alley with nothing but a small name plate over its door to indicate where it is. Except the MCG covers several city blocks and attracts tens of thousands of people… but apart from that it’s the same. Sort of. You’ll find it if you want to go. Nice.
