Microsoft explains bland new Windows logo Microsoft has detailed the thinking behind the latest change in its logo for Windows, saying the new design brings the software back to its roots. “If you look back to the origins of the logo you see that it really was meant to be a window,” blogged Sam Moreau, principal director of user experience for Windows. "Windows really …
Actually, it's getting worse. I think the original logo was just one colour, but people have now started shading the areas differently and this merely strengthens the perception. Check out the logo as used on http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/activekids/.
I thought there was a law against the depiction of minors performing sex acts?
Is the purpose of these logos to be liked?
Or is being recognised more important? Being talked about?
Is the aim to evoke a positive response for the product (rather than the logo itself) - in the case of the Olympics, who doesn't like at least one of Lisa Simpson and blow jobs?
Design / marketing's not my area so I'd hesitate to suggest that the people who do do this for a living are doing it wrong.
The 1996 original design of the Ford Ka still looks like a heap of hideous fugly junk! Even about 2-3 years after it's been replaced with a better looking design, there are still way to many of the grotesquely awful original Ford Ka's on UK roads.
Every one of them needs to be taken away and violently destroyed.
Anyway ... that's off-topic. The new logo for Windows 8? Meh!
Bad example. The original Ka is still a mess. They took an a previous generation Fiesta platform, then stuck plastic to it in all areas.
Another example: The Olympics 2012 logo. Still looks like Lisa Simpson performing a sexual act. Still looks awful. I can't believe they stuck with it.
The original Ka wasn't that big a gamble as it was a complementary model to existing models. They already had the Fiesta for sale that it was based on, it was almost a styling exercise to dip their toe in the water with "New Edge Styling" such that they didn't repeat the same mistake in launching the Ford Sierra in 1982 to a market that wasn't ready for it.
I'd say the Focus was more of a gamble, as it was going after the conservative mid rangers. They even kept the Escort alive just in case it backfired.
I actually think that the old Windows 1.0/2.0 logo looks more Metro-ey, with different sized panes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_1.0_logo.svg
That logo looks suspiciously like my usual workspace on the laptop I am posting from right now, in negative: TWM with a light blue-green background, with 4 xterm widows, one at each corner.
I originally posted that arrangement* on 4chan some years ago and I still have the screenshot, so I might even have proof of prior art. Should I sue?
*very efficient, since you ask. You can arrange the reduced windows between the xterms, plenty of space.
>> "One of Pentagram's designers asked, “Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”"
Dear editor: This quote was from Paula Scher, the Principal of the design firm (Pentagram), highly celebrated as one of the top Graphic Designers in the world, not "one of Pentagram's designers." She runs the company, I'm sure she didn't actually do the design (I'm not sure how I feel about the actual design yet). Still, look her up on wikipedia, and please give her credit like you gave Sam Moreau a name and title next to his quote.
Sam Moreau is the writer of the blog from which the information in this article was taken, so he has been given 'credit', as he ought to be according to established standards.
If you look carefully at the article, the word 'blogged' is in a mid-blue font. You may have thought that this was a crude attempt at the use of graphic design aspects by the author. It is not, it is an indication of technical functionality. If you click the blue word, you will be taken to the blog which is the source of the article.
In Sam Moreau's blog, Paula Scher is given full credit for the design. So, unlike you, I am sure that she actually did the design. Also, a link is provided to Pentagram (using the magic blue word technique) in case anybody wants to read more about Pentagram.
Personally, I'd be more interested in the team that designed the cardboard box that the computer ships in, because they really are interesting and very useful.
While it's a simple design it lacks finesse.
The typeface is horrible and the windows are out of proportion as a simple visual device.
However, to have corrected those to create the real subliminal messaging that excellent graphic design brings to "marketing" would have made it Apple'ish.
So, to reflect the true value of Windows the designers were left with no option than to create something second rate, visually.
One of Steve Jobs' strengths was a strong understanding of visual impact.
Can someone please find out how much Pentagram were paid for this? Actually, on second thoughts don't. It's probably about ten times what I earn in a year and I'm already feeling grumpy enough, this morning.
Surprised no-one has picked up on the "Redmond, start your photocopiers!" aspect of this; namely Microsoft abandoning garish rainbow-coloured logo in favour of a more understated monochrome one... only a decade or so after Apple did similar.
[Oh noes. I has dun a fanboi!]
Dunno, but a company I worked for had a new logo designed by graphic arts consultants and it cost about £50,000 we understood. We did not just get the logo for that though, we also got several pages of unparalleled bullshit about the inspiration behind it.
The logo was simply the company's initials (two letters), one in red and one in white, on a blue circular background.
Everyone immediately discovered that when you photocopied it (on a B&W copier) the red letter came out exactly the same shade of grey as the background, so only the white letter remained visible!
In response to this cock-up the company announced that, although the logo was "perfectly satisfactory for most purposes" they would commission an alternative logo (from the same graphics company!) "for any material that would need to be photocopied". Since practically everything was photocopied at some point, and no doubt would be at the recipient's end too, this was piling BS on top of BS.
I lost my respect for the company, and felt ashamed to send letters with this logo and my name on the same piece of paper. That is how important a logo is.
I've seen worse. The logo might have been sat on its fat butt as if doing nothing while failing to make eye contact with the viewer, possibly in the form of some animal that goes to the end of the Earth to avoid competition, one that fails to implement basic functionality (I don't know, say - a flightless bird) and poos itself when challenged.
"Windows really is a beautiful metaphor for computing"
'S true. Windows really is a beautiful metaphor for *Windows computing*:
Breaks easily
Needs constant cleaning and maintenance
Not the most secure part of any home or enterprise
Easy to see through (especially when you're selling double glazing) but hard to avoid
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