Remind you of anything?

Labour is playing the image game again - this time it is showing off a new logo (above, centre). To some though, it might look eerily familiar.

It could be someone erecting a McDonald's sign, a mathematical equation turned on its side or the handiwork of a toddler armed with a set of poster paints.

It could be any of these, but is in fact Labour's new logo.

"So when can you start with our design team"

The sombre red rose that has been the party's calling card for many years will stay, but in future it will have to compete alongside this new design.

Christened the "squiggle" by one newspaper, the symbol will be used for merchandising purposes, appearing on T-shirts, coffee cups and cufflinks.

As with most new logo launches, initial reaction has not been all positive, especially among Labour traditionalists.

'Just awful'

Mark Seddon, editor of the left-wing magazine Tribune said: "Nye Bevan must be turning in his grave. This is just awful."

But party strategists are keen to impress that this is not just some doodle dashed out by Gordon Brown at a tedious Cabinet meeting.

It's not exactly a leap of imagination from here to Labour's logo

It is supposed to represent the individual voting Labour with their head and their heart.

The image, which was designed by an in-house team, is said to have been inspired by the famous Aids fundraising ribbons.

In political terms it is certainly radical, says Tony Allen, managing director of corporate identity designers Interbrand London. And all the better for it, he thinks.

"It seems they've decided to go against the highly crafted, highly professional standards that we were used to in the 1980s with the Conservative's torch and the red rose," says Mr Allen.

Trend setting

"In an age where people feel that image and spin have been put above policy, they've bucked the trend with something that's so stripped of craft it says 'you can see right into us'."

Hand on yer heart

But while it may get the professional's vote, there is no guarantee it will stand out in the public's mind. And as the collection of images above shows, it does share some striking similarities with other logos.

In logo land, the idea of a figure with arms and legs outstretched is well established. Relief agency Medecins Sans Frontieres combines this with the sort of child-like approach used by Labour's designers.

And then there is the canopy that Labour's stick figure stands under. It's not all that different from Sydney Olympics logo or that of Oxfam, or indeed that of the New Millennium Experience, which ran the government-backed Millennium Dome.

Heart of the matter

The idea of a heart to denote sincerity is also well established - for example, the British Standards Institute and the Children's Promise campaign for the Millennium (again note the deliberate use of child-like amateurism). ITV too uses this device.

The British Standards "kitemark"

But Mr Allen thinks Labour's new emblem may confuse in a different way.

"There are a lot of metaphors combined in one image and it might be too complex with all these things jangling together," he says.

However, he sees nothing wrong with using one logo alongside another, citing how the example of Coca-Cola and Coke as two names for one product.

"The idea of having flexibility in an identity is a good one but you then need to manage it well."

Now, if only the Tony Blair had a media savvy, image-minded colleague to cover that base.