[IAEP] Moving forward with logos and corporate identity

[Brian Jordan]

Physical mockup of a logo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28568408@N03/2733979123/

I need a hobby.... oh... right.

B

On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 4:48 PM, Chris Leonard <cjlhomeaddress at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 5:17 PM, Rafael Enrique Ortiz Guerrero
> <dirakx at gmail.com> 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!)
> IAEP at lists.sugarlabs.org
> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>