More than €65,000 has already been spent on the rebranding of the government’s employment agency, which is now called Jobsplus, according to information given in Parliament.

But the new logo's striking similarity to that of its UK counterpart has raised questions about the money spent. 

Executive chairman Clyde Caruana would not comment on apparent similarities between the new agency’s logo and that of its UK counterpart, which is named Jobcentre Plus.

Insisting that the logo of the new agency replacing the Employment and Training Corporation was practically identical to the British one, graphic artists told the Times of Malta they expected something more original, even considering the money spent on the project.

“It is clear that whoever came up with the new corporate identity did not produce anything fresh. Even the basic colours used in the new corporate ID are identical to the UK agency’s. It’s almost a cut-and-paste job,” an experienced graphic designer said.

It’s almost a cut-and-paste job

When contacted for a reaction, Mr Caruana would not comment and instead drew comparisons between the logo of this newspaper’s mobile app and that of The Times of London.

“By profession I am an economist and prefer to focus my energy on delivering results in the jobs sector,” he said. “With respect to the logo, allow me to note that it is certainly not as similar as that of The Times of London and the Times of Malta mobile logo app,” he said.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo told PN MP Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici that, so far, the government agency spent €65,390 on its new corporate identity.

Most of the work given by the agency was through direct orders approved by Mr Caruana and Jonathan Brimmer, the agency’s marketing executive, who also serves as training coordinator of Labour’s Fondazzjoni Ideat.

Mr Bartolo said Pure Concepts, a private marketing company based in Żabbar, got the biggest number of direct orders in this exercise. Other direct orders were given to Keen Advertising, Velprint and Idea Communications.

Mr Brimmer replies

In a reply sent to Times of Malta, Mr Brimmer said that, as a marketing executive, his job was to implement rebranding decisions, not to make them. "I was not involved in the decision-making process, approval and commissioning of the new name and logo," he said. 

He also said that he had "no role whatsoever" in the Labour Party's Fondazzjoni Ideat, "contrary to the malicious insinuation in the Times of Malta."

ivan.camilleri@timesofmalta.com