MapQuest: From Here to Groovy

Before Google Maps became the de facto on-line mapping destination, MapQuest was the biggest player in town, or at least the most commonly referenced in the late 1990s and early 2000s — Yahoo! Maps was a contender, but in terms of a cool Web 1.0 name and functionality, MapQuest was it. This past August 26, MapQuest launched a Beta version of a redesign of the service, including the de-bevelization of its logo — here is a quick overlay and comparison of the logos. This is as close as it gets to a miracle in twenty-first-century identity design. What’s great is that, underneath a decade of bevels was a pretty decent, fun logo with a hint of both Jetsons and Bowl-a-Rama, which is more than can be said for many logos. The new logo may not be the epitome of logo design, but it