Yup, this belongs to a museum.

The L.A. Times is reporting that the Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A. is in the process of working on a new logo. (You can find the old one here.) In his item, Christopher Knight describes the new design as a “post-Bauhaus/neo-Minimalist affair.” But, I gotta confess. The only thing that comes to mind when I see this is “toy company.” In fact, all of a sudden, I’m experiencing an unrequited yearning for a King Kong Barbie and a Snowtrooper Battle Pack. Perhaps the museum is considering revenue streams I hadn’t considered?

[Update, because I'm a crackhead: This isn't a new logo. It's a logo that was designed for the museum 30 years ago that they appear to have dusted off and used on a press release. Boy, did I just majorly blow it, or what?]

After the jump, a few comparisons to the logo I thought was new, but isn’t really. Sheesh.

My favorite, not only because of the uncanny resemblance, but because it belongs to the company that makes supermarket gumball machines — which is where I do all my gift shopping.

This one’s got a little more motion, but it shares the MOCA color scheme, along with the shapes.

I think the MOCA designers might want to take a cue from this one. The three-dimensionality of the objects makes this a more complex and interesting logo to admire. Overall: clean and elegant.