I really love the minimalist Golden Gate Transit logo you see on the buses and bus stop signs around here. It’s the simplest possible way to evoke the region: blue sea, green hills (at least in the winter and spring), and orange bridge. I wonder if the logo has a name, perhaps something like the tri-color swoosh or the Golden Gate figure-8?

Judging from their website, it seems that the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District has been phasing the logo out in favor of one that leaves much less to the imagination. That’s too bad. All it really needs is the Web 2.0 treatment (think: gradients, reflections, drop shadows) for a new lease on life.

Oh what the heck, I couldn’t help myself. I even managed to add a fourth element: the fog.

I discovered the other day that the color of the bridge is known as international orange, which was chosen because:

it blends well with the span’s natural setting as it is a warm color consistent with the warm colors of the land masses in the setting as distinct from the cool colors of the sky and sea. It also provides enhanced visibility for passing ships.

The HTML hex notation for international orange is #FF4F00. Neat.