A few months ago some new Federal Government propaganda started appearing on my television screen, featuring a new brand called ‘Jobactive’. But for me, déjà vu was my reaction to their new logo.
Note the resemblance to the Neighbourhood Watch logo?
Neighbourhood Watch was established in Victoria in 1983, along with their “four heads” logo.
We designed the “four heads” logo which is seen throughout Australia today, and which has become a highly recognisable symbol of the programme. I asked the Logo Committee to design a logo with the police member represented as a person rather than as a badge
We needed to be consistent with our objective to facilitate a friendly and accessible rapport between police and community in the fight against residential crime, and the representation of police as a member of the community was preferable.
The Logo Committee comprised Kay Nichol (school teacher), Don Stevens (graphics designer), and residents Rod Lane and Mike Davey. The Committee, chaired by Kay Nichol, designed the “four heads” logo, as we see it today. My only contribution was the addition of an eye in the leading face! The checked hatband was later added to the police officer’s hat, when the logo was subsequently copyrighted.
The original suggestion was that the yellow colour of the PCIP Working Together logo be adopted as the colour for the NHW logo. After deliberation, the Committee unanimously agreed that the colour was to be the then official “Garden State Victoria” green.
Footnote
The Department of Employment webpage on jobactive had this to say on the new brand:
jobactive is the Australian Government’s way to get more Australians into work. It connects job seekers with employers and is delivered by a network of jobactive providers in over 1700 locations across Australia. jobactive replaced Job Services Australia on 1 July 2015.
Given the Liberal Party’s current attitudes to the unemployed are similar to their attitudes towards actual criminals, perhaps the resemblance between the two logos was intentional?
The plot thickens: another logo
I found this logo for the Girl Scouts of America – designed by Saul Bass in 1978.
I wonder if the designers of the Neighbourhood Watch logo knew of this one, or whether it was their own creation?
When I saw the ‘Jobactive’ name, I mis-read it as ‘Jacobite’.
But that would make sense too – after all was that not a Catholic putsch?
Just goes to show that you can reverse engineer just about anything into a conspiracy theory.