Physical mockup of a logo. http://www.flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/2733979123/
I need a hobby.... oh... right. B On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 4:48 PM, Chris Leonard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 5:17 PM, Rafael Enrique Ortiz Guerrero > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>> My favorites are these >>> >>> http://sugarlabs.org/go/UITeam/Logo-ideas#Simplified_versions >>> >>> http://sugarlabs.org/go/UITeam/Logo-ideas#Introduce_.22Lab.22_visual_element.3F >>> >>> The first one it's by far the proposal with more work put on it. >>> The second one needs more work but it's a nice idea. >>> >>> >>> Maybe this topic is also something to be discussed at the next Sugar >>> Labs IRC meeting? > > > > I like elements of these two as well and agree that either needs work. > > First, let me say that I posted the "lab visual element" version. What I was > trying to achieve was to evoke "laboratory" with an iconic visual element > rendered in Sugar's distinctive palette (simple line drawing, strong > border, color palette from the small box of crayons). I think the > Erlenmeyer flask is a reasonably universal icon for "lab", and after a bit > of fussing with Inkscape, I was pleased with that element. > > "Sugar" was a bit of a challenge to represent in iconic form, I just didn't > get a "sugary" feel from the cube representations in other examples. Once > color is added, it becomes a cube, a child's play block perhaps, but not a > sugar cube. The "sugar" spoon (to a limited extent) visually echoes the > flask and invokes a certain sugariness (maybe) but I still don't think it is > an entirely satisfactory symbol for "sugar". That said, I do not want to > miss the opportunity to thank and credit Eduardo > http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:HoboPrimate for his spoon image which I > appropriated. I also like Martin's idea about using a mortarboard as an > iconic image to invoke the concept of "learning". > > The sugarlabs wiki didn't allow svg uploads at the time, so I uploaded png, > but I would be more than happy to see anyone who wanted to use this as the > start of their own tinkering. The svg can be found here: > http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Image:Spoon-flask2.svg > > I think this succeeds to the extent that it uses the visual style of the > sugar icons with which we are all so familiar and also evokes simple symbols > that are generally recognizable, but as the "artist", I'm entitled to be my > own harshest critic and point out it's failings. I'd love to see someone > improve on the elements that I think are right and fix the bits that are > just not there yet, like a better symbolic representation of "sugar" and a > more pleasing balancing of the two elements, the exisiting image has poor > symmettry and feels imbalanced to me.. > > I actually like the "simplified version" design ideas a great deal, you can > easily see that they are the work of professional graphic artists, their > symmettry and balance is very pleasing to the eye. I would critique them > in two ways. One very simple improvement would be to try the addition of a > strong border element that would more closely mirror sugar's current visual > syle. The second critique is that they use fluid strokes and rounded forms > somewhat more than one expects from familiarity with existing sugar > iconography along with a richer color palette than the 20 or so crayon box > colors one associates with XO. In an odd way the production values are a > little too good. maybe making the lines a little less elegantly smoothed and > a little more child-like would make it feel more fitting. I believe that if > a talented artist (not me) worked with their theme (hands cupping sphere) > and rendered it in a more "sugary" visual palette that the results would be > more evocative. > > Another important set of criteria to apply in judging a logo concept is to > imagine the logo in all of it's possible future uses: printed in > monochrome and/or full-color on a t-shirt, on a coffee cup, in full color > and/or black/white on letterhead, stitched with single/multi color > thread(s) onto a monogrammed cap/shirt/backpack, etc. There is truly both > art and science to good logo design and since Sugar Labs will hopefully be > living with this choice for a long time, I would urge going to a graphics > arts professional with specific logo design work experience, for a final > polish and sanity check at the very least. I know one or two that I could > try to approach about some pro bono tinkering once there is some agreement > on the theme, but I can't make any promises. I think the guys that did the > simplified version designs would probably do well if given some feedback on > the visual vocabulary of sugar icons. > > Sorry for the long digression, but the topic seemed to be legitimately along > the lines of "what color are we going to paint the bikeshed", so I felt it > wasn't too far off base to post these ramblings on logo aesthetics. > > cjl > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > [email protected] > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) [email protected] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
