[Qgis-developer] Logo redesign - was: Re: Webpage

Wed Nov 14 02:29:53 PST 2012

Andreas,

Thanks for pointing out the SVG. It's however, and strangely : ), not the
vector version of the most wildly used iteration of the QGIS logo (that is
http://qgis.org/templates/qgis/images/blue/logo.png). The latter is used
for the application shortcut / launcher, the website header's logo, etc.

Allow me to try and answer - based on the concrete proposal referred to in
this thread - some of the questions you've raised, while recognizing that
ultimately, art is fundamentally subjective.

** What exactly is not professionally looking about the current logo?
please be precise about it - no general complaints without concrete
proposals and criticism.*
First, I think that the complaints surrounding lack of professionally
looking logo / brand for QGIS is due to two main factors:
i) the presence, in all aspects of the QGIS project, of several logos that
are all slightly different from each other (look at qgis.org's homepage,
two different logos within 10 cm of one another); and more importantly
ii) the absence of high resolution raster logos used throughout the QGIS
project (from user manual, to application shortcuts / launchers on OS X and
Linux, and to a lesser extend windows)

I believe fixing the above points, with whatever logo being used, would
already greatly help improve the situation. As for the currently most used
logo (http://qgis.org/templates/qgis/images/blue/logo.png) and the SVG
you've pointed out, I believe the main technical issue is the lack of
subtlety in its use of basic filters (namely outer glow and emboss), which
IMO leads to the "not professionally looking" argument. I did a quick
comparison based on the SVG you've referred to to illustrate this point,
see http://licadho-cambodia.org/qgis_proposal/point.png

* * Who decides what professionally looking means and what are the criteria?
*
Indeed, many aspects of art / design is in subjective, and I guess that's
at the essence of the passions surrounding discussing the logo :)

* * How important is the brand recognition from the old logo?*
I think your raising a good objective point here. Then again, if a majority
feels like a change would be a net benefit to the project, might be good to
look at it sooner than later. A major 2.0 milestone is a good excuse for
this too.

Hope that was a respectful reply.

On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 4:40 PM, Andreas Neumann <a.neumann at carto.net>wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> There is a vector version of the current logo in our github repository:
> https://raw.github.com/qgis/Quantum-GIS/master/images/icons/qgis_icon.svg
>
> It is just not very well-known. And probably not widely used.
>
> Btw: it sucks that github does not know about the SVG mime-type. How
> long is SVG now around (since 2000 or so) - and they still don't know
> the SVG mime-type?
>
> So you have to download it and open it in any browser, Inkscape or other
> graphic software.
>
> --------------
>
> In the whole discussion around the logo - people complain that the
> current logo is not professionally looking. The question is:
>
> * What exactly is not professionally looking about the current logo?
> please be precise about it - no general complaints without concrete
> proposals and criticism.
>
> * Are other logos professionally looking? The ESRI logo as an example
> looks like a 5 year old kid did it ..
>
> * Who decides what professionally looking means and what are the criteria?
>
> * How important is the brand recognition from the old logo?
>
> Opinions?
>
> Andreas
>
> Am 14.11.2012 09:43, schrieb Mathieu Pellerin:
> > Vincent,
> >
> > Re modern-looking and professional, the above proposal tries to improve
> the
> > situation there. I believe it does so successfully, but then again it's
> my
> > subjective opinion :)
> >
> > I think the "not professional" might be in big part due to the absence of
> > high resolution versions of the logo to be used for launcher icons and
> > documentation (see
> > http://download.osgeo.org/qgis/doc/manual/qgis-1.7.0_user_guide_en.pdf).
> > The fact that the proposal is vector-based allows ppl to blow up the logo
> > to very large scales for training session posters, be used on t-shirts,
> > etc. I think that should help improve QGIS' branding / image.
> >
> > Also, the proposal isn't one that pushes for a revolution, just an
> > incremental refinement so that there can be a easily reachable agreement
> on
> > using it to improve situation quickly (especially needed for better linux
> > integration, see screenshots attached to the issue). A completely new
> logo
> > might still be desirable down the road, that ain't for me to decide :)
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 3:34 PM, Vincent Picavet <
> vincent.ml at oslandia.com>wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >>> Speaking of website improvement, I've just dropped in a proposal for a
> >>> refined - and more importantly _vector-based_ - QGIS logo here:
> >>> http://hub.qgis.org/issues/6688
> >>>
> >>> I've tried to stick to the original logo as much as possible as clearly
> >>> many people are emotionally attached to the current logo. Hopefully,
> the
> >>> proposal also refines the logo with more subtle lightning.
> >>>
> >>> Having QGIS' website use _one_ standard logo throughout (i.e. header
> >> logo,
> >>> download button logo, etc.) would already be a nice improvement.
> >>>
> >>> Hope this can be of use to the project.
> >>
> >> Concerning the logo, could we have a definitive and community-based
> poll or
> >> contest on the 2.0 version logo ?
> >>
> >> I know the current one has supporters, and it has been there for a long
> >> time,
> >> charged with emotion and all. I like it for that reason too, but it is
> >> definitly not professional neither modern-looking.
> >> I get this remark quite often during training session, and it is quite
> sad
> >> for
> >> the QGIS «branding» as a professionnal and serious tool.
> >>
> >> Vincent
> >>
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>>
> >>> Math
> >>>
> >>> On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 5:48 AM, Tim Sutton <lists at linfiniti.com>
> wrote:
> >>>> Hi
> >>>>
> >>>> Yes I have seen it. With no disrespect to the GRASS folks I think it
> >> has
> >>>> enough problems that I would not like to copy it on our site. My
> >>>> (hopefully) constructive criticisms:
> >>>>
> >>>> * its very busy
> >>>> * it doesnt have good whitespace balance e.g. module of the day box
> >> with
> >>>> screenshots box floating to the right
> >>>> * I love jquery but jquery css is looking old already
> >>>> * there are too many underlines [ ] >> > and other characters that
> >>>> distract attention and make it look not so friendly
> >>>> * the panels on the left (search, latest news, map) should have been
> >> put
> >>>> to the right
> >>>> * there is too much white space in the heading area
> >>>> * the logo really needs a refresh
> >>>> * the heavy green bars distract your eye away from the content
> >>>> * there are too many different font sizes and font styles
> >>>> * the drop down menus feel visually disconnected from the tabs the
> >> spring
> >>>> from and menus from tabs just feels kinda wierd
> >>>>
> >>>> In short it could really use a designer to introduce balance, correct
> >>>> emphasis and remove distractions
> >>>>
> >>>> As such I would not be supportive of using it for our site I suggest
> to
> >>>> wait for the sphinx theme based on bootstrap to come out and then
> start
> >>>> moving our web content into that. We will do some customisations for
> >> the
> >>>> QGIS front page and Richard has been making awesome progress in
> >> getting a
> >>>> well put together bootstrap based sphinx theme in place for us when we
> >>>> can then skin using any bootstrap theme (e.g. checkout some of the
> >>>> themes at http://bootswatch.com/).
> >>>>
> >>>> So -1 from me
> >>>>
> >>>> Regards
> >>>>
> >>>> Tim
> >>>>
> >>>> On Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 12:14 AM, Werner Macho
> >> <werner.macho at gmail.com>wrote:
> >>>>> Hi there!
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Anyone seen the new GRASS Webpage?
> >>>>> I really like the clean and intuitive style with lots of information
> >>>>> presented clearly on the top page ..
> >>>>> Probably we can adapt it to "our" new webpage?
> >>>>> It even looks good on mobile phones ..
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Opinions on that?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> kind regards
> >>>>> Werner
> >>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>> Qgis-developer mailing list
> >>>>> Qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org
> >>>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release  Manager)
> >>>> ==============================================
> >>>> Please do not email me off-list with technical
> >>>> support questions. Using the lists will gain
> >>>> more exposure for your issues and the knowledge
> >>>> surrounding your issue will be shared with all.
> >>>>
> >>>> Visit http://linfiniti.com to find out about:
> >>>>  * QGIS programming and support services
> >>>>  * Mapserver and PostGIS based hosting plans
> >>>>  * FOSS Consulting Services
> >>>>
> >>>> Skype: timlinux
> >>>> Irc: timlinux on #qgis at freenode.net
> >>>> ==============================================
> >>>>
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