BEING a glass-half-full sort of a chiel, I’m eager to look at the positives in Scottish Labour’s re-branding effort revealed yesterday. Admittedly, you have to look very hard but if you stick with it there are one or two.

Let me say straight off: I’m all in favour of sans serif faces on my logos and it’s pleasing that Scottish Labour have adopted this no-nonsense approach to their typography. It conveys a sense of purpose and solidarity that’s often lacking in your fey and flibbertigibbet Times Roman serif kind of a font.

Your sans letterforms always look like they’re here to do business and get their sleeves rolled up. Serif faces are all fine and dandy for wedding invitations and gender-reveal parties but I’m not sure there’s a place for them in the pitiless world of Scottish politics.  

And might there be a wee all-inclusive, non-binary aesthetic going on with Scottish Labour’s new badge? We can only hope.  

And then there’s the inclusion of a thistle on the new logo. Here, I must commend the party’s bravery. For the last 15 years, Scottish Labour have wrapped themselves so tightly in the Union Jack that exposure to anything remotely Scottish can bring them out in a dose of the hives.

The party’s Scottish leader, Anas Sarwar plans to unveil the new logo to the faithful this Friday at the start of their national conference. I’d advise caution and taking it slowly. Maybe just divulge it in stages: the top part on day one and the middle and bottom sections gradually in darkened rooms over subsequent days.

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