Top designers dismiss new $9 million promotional image as cocky, hackneyed and poorly executed

The SAR's new $9 million dragon logo has failed to impress top designers who said it was boring, uninspired and easily mistaken for other animals.

They also criticised the Government for ignoring local designers and the public. While praising the project's intentions, the designers said the logo would not breathe fire into the SAR's image overseas.

The dragon symbol and the slogan 'Asia's world city' were unveiled on Thursday at the end of the Fortune Global Forum.

Incorporating the initials 'HK' and Hong Kong's Chinese characters, the logo will be used to promote the SAR globally as an investment and tourism destination. The logo came from a study by PR firm Burson-Marsteller with Landor Associate Designers and Consultants and Wirthlin Worldwide Asia Research.

Charles Ng, honorary treasurer of Hong Kong Designers Association, said: 'It is uninspiring and boring. The designer tries to incorporate Chinese characters into the image of a dragon, but the result is quite unnatural.'

He said the dragon motif had been overused and failed to capture the cosmopolitan nature of Hong Kong. 'The dragon is the symbol for Chinese. The logo is more suitable to Beijing than to Hong Kong. Every city in China can claim to be a dragon city.

'We should use some more creative symbols to represent us. A phoenix reborn from fire is much more meaningful.'