The logo for this agency gutted by DOGE is like a warning sign
Plus: Suits and the formalities of fashion as a form of power
Hello, in this issue we’ll look at the clever logo for the CFPB, which was designed to communicate transparency, and what uproar over Zelenskyy’s sweatshirt can tell us about style and selective outrage.
Scroll to the end to see: how far along the Trump administration is in implementing Project 2025 so far 📊
The logo for this agency gutted by DOGE is like a warning sign
It’s lights out for the signage at the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB.
Footage shows lettering spelling out the consumer watchdog agency’s name and window decals of its seal have been stripped from the building earlier this month after mass firings gutted the bureau and remaining staff was ordered to stop their work. Though some fired CFPB attorneys are suing to keep their jobs and President Donald Trump’s administration says it intends to keep the agency open in a new, diminished form, from the outside looking in, things don’t look good for the bureau, literally.
The federal government founded CFPB in 2011 in response to the financial crisis that preceded the Great Recession, with the objective to offer consumers financial protections from fraud and scams. It’s provided more than $21 billion in monetary compensation, canceled debt, and consumer relief as of last year. And as one of the nation’s youngest federal agencies, it has a surprisingly modern and communicative logomark, courtesy the design and consulting firm IDEO. Amid the agency’s attempted takedown, it’s also a deft reminder of its purpose.
The all lowercase CFPB mark, by designers Annessa Braymer, Elle Luna, and Gaston Yagmourian, uses the opening of the letter c to evoke a flashlight, with a soft beam of light emanating to light up the rest of the logo. According to the CFPB, the logo, which is still on the agency’s website, “was designed to symbolize vigilance, transparency, and a consumer focus.” This mark is in addition to the agency’s more traditionally designed seal.
“Consumers are the foundation and focus of our mission and our logo reflects that,” the agency’s brand guide states. “A soft beam of light symbolizes our efforts to illuminate the financial landscape and foster transparency in the marketplace.”
The CFPB’s visual identity uses a green primary color palette to indicate at-a-glance that it deals with monetary issues. In its guides for photography and illustrations, the agency emphasizes the importance of imagery that’s clear, relatable, and politically and socially neutral.
Though White House budget director Russ Vought said in a motion the CFPB will continue on as a “more streamlined and efficient bureau,” Senate Democrats say thousands of consumer complaints have gone unanswered this month, citing a slowdown in complaints uploaded to its database.
The extent to which the CFPB’s work continues is an open question, but for an agency whose brand was designed to communicate transparency, the empty facade speaks volumes.
Previously in YELLO:
Suits and the formalities of fashion as a form of power
The question came from Brian Glenn, a White House correspondent from the obscure right-wing network Real America’s Voice. Speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his Oval Office visit last week, Glenn asked, “Why don’t you wear a suit?”
“You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit,” Glenn said. “Just want to see if, do you own a suit?”
Glenn’s question has been criticized as condescending, and he claimed since asking it he’s received thousands of death threats, something Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people have also received since Russia’s invasion, which has killed at least 12,456 civilians in Ukraine, according to the United Nations. But the question also reveals the way noncompliance to sartorial norms can be selectively used to shift blame.
Just as conservative anger over a photo of then-President Barack Obama putting his feet on the Resolute Desk 2013 sent liberals scouring recent history for examples of Republicans like Gerald Ford and former President George W. Bush doing the exact same thing, Zelenskyy defenders didn’t have to look far to find a glaring instance of lax Oval Office dress.
Wearing a graphic t-shirt too small for his belly and a “Make America Great Again” hat too big for his head, Elon Musk’s attire just last month suggests the right’s outrage is selective and concerns over Zelenskyy’s clothes have more to do with partisan politics and adherence to Trump’s pro-Putin worldview than respect for the office.
Zelenskyy, who like Trump, got his start in television before entering politics, played a high school history teacher who was elected president of Ukraine in “Servant of the People,” and he’s aware of the nonverbal communication that clothes afford. While he wore a suit and tie during an address to his country in 2022 the week before Russia invaded, ever since then, Zelenskyy has worn military fatigues, combat boots, and sweatshirts bearing the Ukrainian trident as symbols of Ukraine’s new reality.
Zelenskyy’s wartime wardrobe, like that of Winston Churchill before him, reflects the threat his country faces and his oneness with Ukraine’s service members and citizens. And his response to Glenn in the Oval Office, that he will “wear a costume after this war will finish,” was something of a bilingual pun. In Ukrainian, the word “kostyum” translates to “suit,” while in English it suggests clothes as artifice.
Like blaming a woman’s assault on her clothes instead of her aggressor or justifying the shooting of a young Black man because he wore a hoodie, conservative outrage over Zelenskyy’s sweatshirt uses fashion as a distraction and completely misses the point. Pretending Zelenskyy’s now-familiar style is part of some larger sign of disrespect to the U.S. might make it easier for some on the right to cope with the nation abandoning its Western allies and place in the world. Make that argument while wearing a suit and tie, and some might even think it’s actually convincing.
Have you seen this?
These Redditors made a super simple website to track Trump’s Project 2025 progress. This online tracker takes a visual approach to understanding how closely Trump’s second term is mapping onto the far-right blueprint, and it currently says it’s 36% finished. [Fast Company]
Trump to deliver prime-time address before Congress as policy shake-ups test key alliances. In the first speech before Congress of his second term, Trump is likely to focus on immigration, tariffs, DOGE, and DEI, according to a senior administration official. [NBC News]
Takashi Murakami’s new collab with Major League Baseball is a home run. The artist's designs will be released ahead of the MLB series in Tokyo between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. [Artnet News]
FLOTUS breaks her silence: First lady Melania Trump spoke at a roundtable on Capitol Hill in favor of the Take It Down Act, a bipartisan bill that would criminalize non-consensual, sexually exploitative images, including deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence. [Whig]
History of political design
John McCain shamrock button (2008). McCain’s presidential campaign logo used a naval star as a nod to his military service, but for St. Patrick’s Day, his campaign released a special edition green button with a version of his logo that used a four-leaf clover. It's ultra rare and I could only find a low-res image of it. Double tap for good luck.
A portion of this newsletter was first published in Fast Company.
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