i gotta say it: i hate the badge.

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:44 am

could genuine please please pretty please re-design the buddy badge to make it look even remotely attractive?

i don't want to debadge my scooter (that i don't quite own yet) because i'm proud of the machine, even the slightly awful name doesn't bother me much at this point (it's better than BuBu!), but the little emblem on the front is just so...ugly.

are there any graphic designers among us who can design something better, that someone else can then make something we can stick onto the front of the scoot?

is anyone else with me or do ya'll not mind the badge? i don't like the material they're made from, even. it reminds of those stick-on earrings my cousins and i used to play with when we were like 7 years old. ladies, ya'll know what i'm talking about...

rsrider · Post by **rsrider** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:50 am

srsly? winner of white people problem of the week.....

You do realize how much time and money it takes to re-badge anything? Then having to sell the new badge/logo to the public?

Y U No Like?

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:33 am

rsrider wrote:srsly? winner of white people problem of the week.....

if what you meant to say was more along the lines of "problems of small importance"...then yeah, as far as scooter fashion, scooter tires, not being able to decide which scooter to buy, etc etc...I suppose this forum doesn't lack for issues you might deem inconsequential.

now, seeing as how I've clearly got nothing better to worry about, cuz to hell with the economy and the endangered polar bears and the high fructose corn syrup in the world....all that other more worrisome stuff...I don't like the badge because in my own personal, petty, and very humble opinion, they're ugly. boom.

and just so you know, I'm not white.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:49 am

I'm not really a fan of the Buddy logo, either, though not enough to remove it. (OK, I removed one of them to make room for my own graphic on the front.)

I assume that the clumsily-interlocked letters were intended to pay homage to this:

Throwback7R · Post by **Throwback7R** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 1:47 pm

I'm sure it is that way to make it cheaper to make.. just one pour of the mold = one buddy logo. I kinda like it. I even like that it is called a buddy.

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 4:51 pm

http://www.gobadges.com/
Hit the interwebs, google custom car badges.
Badges, not badgers. We don't need no stinking badgers.

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 5:44 pm

I don't know about rebadging, but it is certainly easy enough to debadge the Buddy. The badge on the legshield is simply a piece of soft plastic with a bit of adhesive on the back. A little heat, and it comes off cleanly. There, no more problem

.

jprestonian · Post by **jprestonian** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 5:46 pm

Replace it with a Star Trek communicator badge/emblem. Problem solved!
.

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:23 pm

Or a BuBu badge! Much cooler than our "Buddy" badge.

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 6:47 pm

Stitch: thanks for the link!

Check this out, custom club badges: http://www.gobadges.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=307

I think it'd be RAD and a half to send them the SPAZ logo and turn that into a badge! Thoughts??

ScooterMASS · Post by **ScooterMASS** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:48 pm

sc00ter wrote:Or a BuBu badge! Much cooler than our "Buddy" badge.

JP: Now that's FUNNY as hell! Thanks for the laugh! I'm grinning ear-to-ear right now!

laxer · Post by **laxer** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 8:06 pm

rsrider wrote:srsly? winner of white people problem of the week.....

Winner of dumbest saying of the week?

amy · Post by **amy** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 10:45 pm

laxer wrote:
rsrider wrote:srsly? winner of white people problem of the week.....
Winner of dumbest saying of the week?

I agree with rsrider.

laxer · Post by **laxer** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:49 pm

amy wrote:
laxer wrote:
rsrider wrote:srsly? winner of white people problem of the week.....
Winner of dumbest saying of the week?
I agree with rsrider.

I'm confused; you agree that race defines what kinds of problems you have? That keeping racism alive through stupid sayings is a good thing? That race determines your socioeconomic status?

Post by **ericalm** » Sun Mar 10, 2013 11:59 pm

Let's not make this about race. Or… uh… whatever.

I've no problem with the Buddy badge. Rather, I'm not sure of how else you could make something a "Buddy" and make the badge much better.

You can occasionally find the Taiwanese BuBu badges on eBay;' I've a seen a Buddy with them. But if you don't like the Buddy badges, these are MUCH worse!

I have my own plans for a custom rebadging of my Stella.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:45 am

I can remember the days when nobody knew anything about them and people were complaining about the NAME Buddy. Now Buddy scooters are pretty well respected!

At least it's not a Grand Dink!

skipper20 · Post by **skipper20** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 12:59 am

madtolive wrote:could genuine please please pretty please re-design the buddy badge to make it look even remotely attractive?

i don't want to debadge my scooter (that i don't quite own yet) because i'm proud of the machine, even the slightly awful name doesn't bother me much at this point (it's better than BuBu!), but the little emblem on the front is just so...ugly.

is anyone else with me or do ya'll not mind the badge? i don't like the material they're made from, even. it reminds of those stick-on earrings my cousins and i used to play with when we were like 7 years old. ladies, ya'll know what i'm talking about...

If you don't like the look of the badge or the name of a scooter which you don't even own yet, I'm wondering what you will do should you have a REAL problem with the scooter after its yours. In the grand scheme of things, is how the badge looks really that important? BTW, my '12 170i Italia came new from the dealer without a badge. What do they look like anyway? I almost feel cheated by not having a badge! Re. the Buddy name, I'm OK with it. It implies a close, friendly relationship and that's actually the way I feel about my 170i. I've owned quite a few scooters since I started riding 6 years ago and in its engine size class, the 170 Buddy is by far my favorite. So, it's definitely a Buddy!!

Bill in Seattle but wintering in AZ
'12 170i Italia "the Olive Pit"

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:17 am

BuddyRaton wrote:At least it's not a Grand Dink!

Or a Bet&Win!

jprestonian · Post by **jprestonian** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:28 am

ScooterMASS wrote:
sc00ter wrote:Or a BuBu badge! Much cooler than our "Buddy" badge.
JP: Now that's FUNNY as hell! Thanks for the laugh! I'm grinning ear-to-ear right now!

LLAP.

.

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:42 am

skipper20 wrote:
madtolive wrote:could genuine please please pretty please re-design the buddy badge to make it look even remotely attractive?

i don't want to debadge my scooter (that i don't quite own yet) because i'm proud of the machine, even the slightly awful name doesn't bother me much at this point (it's better than BuBu!), but the little emblem on the front is just so...ugly.

is anyone else with me or do ya'll not mind the badge? i don't like the material they're made from, even. it reminds of those stick-on earrings my cousins and i used to play with when we were like 7 years old. ladies, ya'll know what i'm talking about...
If you don't like the look of the badge or the name of a scooter which you don't even own yet, I'm wondering what you will do should you have a REAL problem with the scooter after its yours. In the grand scheme of things, is how the badge looks really that important? BTW, my '12 170i Italia came new from the dealer without a badge. What do they look like anyway? I almost feel cheated by not having a badge! Re. the Buddy name, I'm OK with it. It implies a close, friendly relationship and that's actually the way I feel about my 170i. I've owned quite a few scooters since I started riding 6 years ago and in its engine size class, the 170 Buddy is by far my favorite. So, it's definitely a Buddy!!

Bill in Seattle but wintering in AZ
'12 170i Italia "the Olive Pit"

Hi there. Maybe you didnt actually read my post before you decided you knew what i was complaining about. I dont want to de-badge my scooter because, like i said, im proud its a buddy. Theyre great machines, so i dont want to just take to name off. The design of the badge itself is something i feel is lacking. I dont like how it looks or how its done. Personally.

People here personalize any aspect of their scooters they feel merits modification, whether its the turn signals, the horn, the seat, the color panels. In the grand scheme of things, how big of a deal are any of these things? Making your scooter unique is part of what makes this forum special, wouldnt you agree?

And i have owned a buddy before, i only sold it because i moved to a much larger city that isnt two wheel friendly in the least. And i took very good care of it because it was something i loved, despite my issues with the badge.

Goodness gracious, yall sure are a feisty bunch around here these days, arent yall?

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:30 am

It's your scooter. Do what u want.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 2:49 am

Stitch wrote:It's your scooter. Do what u want.

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 3:32 am

Im building a rat scooter (Zuma 2t) right now and its kinda ugly. Since I live in a 'hood that friends are scarred to come over to at night, I found the perfect name for the Zuma-Ghetto Blaster. Just have to get some stick-on letters from a hobby store and make it happen.

Post by **jmazza** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 4:52 am

madtolive, I'm not a big fan of the badge either. I haven't found anything spectacular to replace it with (to answer the actual question in your post that just about everyone giving you crap is ignoring). I do kind of lke the puffy sticker material though, in a weird way.

I'm with Eric that you can't really do a whole lot better with a name like Buddy! You're pretty much stuck living with it or going a total different de-badged route.

Also, good to see you around here again

Post by **illnoise** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 5:30 am

I'm still not really a fan of the name, though I like that Buddy is a spin on BuBu and Stella is italian for "Star," the LML name for that model.

But the Buddy and Stella badges are about the best modern scooter badges out there, they're a nod at the vintage scooter scripts (not just Vespa, but dozens of other scooters had similar badges) without being comically or cheezily retro.

I mean, I'm a designer, and I'm friends with the designer that made them, ha, so I'm biased, but my question would be what scooter has a better badge? everything I can think of is the same style, not done as well, or just completely blah. The Piaggio Fly and Kymco Swirl-guilty come to mind as two particularly chintzy looking ones.

My biggest problem with Genuine badging is that G in the hexagon is in the Chicago font, which was the default 80s mac screen font, whenever I see it, it just looks to me like the proper font didn't load and the laserwriter II driver just dropped that in. Otherwise, everything they've ever done, graphic design-wise, runs rings around Piaggio, Honda, and Yamaha, let alone Kymco, SYM, TGB, etc.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 7:17 am

One may complain, but at least it's better than Kymco: Excellent machines, HORRIBLE branding

Wolfhound · Post by **Wolfhound** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:49 am

What Eric said.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 3:37 pm

illnoise wrote:My biggest problem with Genuine badging is that G in the hexagon is in the Chicago font, which was the default 80s mac screen font, whenever I see it, it just looks to me like the proper font didn't load and the laserwriter II driver just dropped that in.

I like the fact that (to the typographically savvy) the font identifies the location of the company headquarters.

Hmm... I think I may have to design a font called "Grand Rapids".

Lokky · Post by **Lokky** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:57 pm

The only badge complaint I have is that the Stella ones are stick on and li,e to detach from the curved body on hot days. That reminds me I still have my prima era font badges that need to be applied.

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Mon Mar 11, 2013 6:57 pm

jmazza wrote:

madtolive, I'm not a big fan of the badge either. I haven't found anything spectacular to replace it with (to answer the actual question in your post that just about everyone giving you crap is ignoring). I do kind of lke the puffy sticker material though, in a weird way.

I'm with Eric that you can't really do a whole lot better with a name like Buddy! You're pretty much stuck living with it or going a total different de-badged route.

Also, good to see you around here again

thanks! i've been fiddling around with some designs this weekend. i'm by no means a graphic designer but we'll see what i can come up with.

illnoise wrote:everything I can think of is the same style, not done as well, or just completely blah. The Piaggio Fly and Kymco Swirl-guilty come to mind as two particularly chintzy looking ones.

i'm totally with you on that one. i suppose i ought not complain too much, since the general look of the buddy is much more attractive than the rest as well. badges can be remedied, the entire look of a scooter not so much.

Stormswift · Post by **Stormswift** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:37 am

I am OK with the badge, considering this is my first bike I kind of like most of the things about it. The name though.....it is a bit too cute. If I was not the queen of Cheap I would order another name sticker

skipper20 · Post by **skipper20** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:47 am

madtolive wrote:
skipper20 wrote:
madtolive wrote:could genuine please please pretty please re-design the buddy badge to make it look even remotely attractive?

Hi there. Maybe you didnt actually read my post before you decided you knew what i was complaining about. I dont want to de-badge my scooter because, like i said, im proud its a buddy. Theyre great machines, so i dont want to just take to name off. The design of the badge itself is something i feel is lacking. I dont like how it looks or how its done. Personally.

And i have owned a buddy before, i only sold it because i moved to a much larger city that isnt two wheel friendly in the least. And i took very good care of it because it was something i loved, despite my issues with the badge.

Goodness gracious, yall sure are a feisty bunch around here these days, arent yall?
I read your post and you were saying that you hated the badge (your subject line) and that you disliked the "slightly awful" Buddy name. Now you say you don't want to de-badge your scooter and that you're proud it's a Buddy so I'm thoroughly confused. Not "feisty", just confused.
Since my 170i came new from the dealer without a badge, I'd still like to see what the badge looks like so I can see where we're going with this thread. Could someone please post a picture? Thanks!

Bill in Seattle but wintering in AZ
'12 170i Italia "The Olive Pit"

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 2:23 am

1. That i dislike the badge doesnt mean i want to or will debadge the scooter:
"I don't want to debadge my scooter because i'm proud of the machine."

Thats all.

And I officially dont want to say or type the words badge, debadge, or badger ever again.

jprestonian · Post by **jprestonian** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:40 am

madtolive wrote:1. That i dislike the badge doesnt mean i want to or will debadge the scooter:
"I don't want to debadge my scooter because i'm proud of the machine."

Thats all.

All good and well, sure. But considering that the thread started out with

are there any graphic designers among us who can design something better, that someone else can then make something we can stick onto the front of the scoot?

... it's not unreasonable to expect that people might have thought otherwise. ;)

The answer, of course, is yes, there exist people who can design something more to your liking, and/or something that YOU design can be fabricated (by people who also exist) to replace the, um, thingie. Simple Answers to Simple Questions.
.

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 3:53 am

"are there any graphic designers among us who can design something better, that someone else can then make something we can stick onto the front of the scoot?"

I meant that last bit as tongue-in-cheek, since this forum is all about doin tha damn thang ya damn self: ie DIY. pinche sarcasm doesnt translate well onto the interwebs. my bad.

ive scoped out a few options in terms of the fabrication of new "thing". i'll keep...no one...posted on the status of those efforts so as to avoid another unintentionally contentious thread that will not die.

headlines are what people remember. youd think after 5 years of j-school id have remembered that.

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 7:05 am

BuddyRaton wrote:I can remember the days when nobody knew anything about them and people were complaining about the NAME Buddy. Now Buddy scooters are pretty well respected!

At least it's not a Grand Dink!

Bring on the Dong Fang!

BuddyBliss · Post by **BuddyBliss** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:52 pm

Lol across the board. "white people problem of the week" sorry that's funny... "pinche sarcasm" that's freaking hilarious, Star Trek insignia in place of Buddy badge, uproarious, and I'm totally down with that.

MB is a diverse group of smart funny folks. Let's all go for a ride.

ScooterMASS · Post by **ScooterMASS** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 6:38 pm

neotrotsky wrote:One may complain, but at least it's better than Kymco: Excellent machines, HORRIBLE branding

I'm a Kymco fanboy & I must admit...Neotrotsky....you're so correct! I do like the name "People" series which was my last two scooters. How is gods name do they think up these names? I own a "Super 8" Don't they know that's a low-rent budget motel in the USA?

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:55 pm

madtolive wrote:could genuine please please pretty please re-design the buddy badge to make it look even remotely attractive?

OOOOHHHHHHH....that would make my Vintage 06 Cream (retired color) Buddy even more valuable!!!!!!

Stitch · Post by **Stitch** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:00 pm

Does anyone have a dong fang badge?
I'd love one for my Stella.

pugbuddy · Post by **pugbuddy** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:57 am

MADTOLIVE IS BACK! Welcome! GREAT to see you again!

Hey, I like to see old forum-members return....

madtolive · Post by **madtolive** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:19 am

PUG! Good to see ya!!!! So many of the oldies arent around much (makes me feel...old), its awesome to know youre around these parts!! How the hell ya been?

Christophers · Post by **Christophers** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:28 pm

madtolive wrote:could genuine please please pretty please re-design the buddy badge to make it look even remotely attractive? ... the little emblem on the front is just so...ugly ... i don't like the material they're made from, even.

I like the badge. I think it looks good. I even like the material that it is made of. It has sort of low-profile effect to it that I appreciate. A metalized-plastic cast badge would be completely out of place on a Buddy, in my opinion.

I have found that one has to be careful when cleaning the scooter in order to prevent the badge from starting to come off.

I also like the Genuine logo/badge. The G is so unassuming and straightforward that it actually "says" genuine to me.

jprestonian · Post by **jprestonian** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:42 pm

madtolive wrote:I meant that last bit as tongue-in-cheek, since this forum is all about doin tha damn thang ya damn self: ie DIY. pinche sarcasm doesnt translate well onto the interwebs. my bad.

ive scoped out a few options in terms of the fabrication of new "thing". i'll keep...no one...posted on the status of those efforts so as to avoid another unintentionally contentious thread that will not die.

Please don't misunderstand my tone -- I'm one of those who doesn't see any big deal in either leaving the logo or changing it to something one would prefer to see. I know if it bothered me (and btw, I don't own a Buddy), I would remove/replace it, but that's how I roll. :) I took the hideous plastic grille out of the front of my Kymco People 250, as I thought it made the scooter look like a rolling 1950s electric space heater. ;)
.

Modern Buddy

i gotta say it: i hate the badge.

i gotta say it: i hate the badge.

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