Logo iteration

[mikeal]

Ok, here's the deal :)

The foundation is considering an iteration on the official logo. This is not a re-design. The community loves hexagons, hexagons aren't going anywhere, but some people wouldn't mind a re-fresh of some of the assets. We'd also like more assets that we can use under certain size restrictions, for example twitter requires squared images while G+ rounds off an image and we have a limited set of assets we can use for that.

Here's some examples of popular logo iterations:

Just post images and ideas in to this thread. The Marketing Committee will look over all of this at some point in the future and potentially select one or take some of the ideas/direction and handoff to a designer. Final logo will have to be approved by the Board of Directors.

Here's the EPS files https://nodejs.org/en/about/resources/ and an SVG https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Node.js_logo.svg to start with.

Have fun :)

[remy]

OBLONGS FTW!!!

[ChALkeR]

Have fun :)

Fun: https://stocklogos.com/topic/past-and-future-famous-logos (note that that article is from 2012 and at least some of the predictions were correct).

[benbrignell]

What's the purpose of iterating on the current logo design? What is it about the current logo which isn't working for you?

[mikeal]

@benbrignell I think the main reason people are considering it is that Node.js as a project has undergone dramatic changes in the last year and it has also been so hugely and widely adopted so a visual refresh seemed appropriate.

The only thing I'd like to see personally are assets that work well when squared, rounded, and presented as a single hexagon. Right now we rely on just the "JS" portion of the logo for this which is not ideal.

[ali-sao]

I'll try to make something

[gnclmorais]

I welcome this initiative, I was never a fan of the current Node.js identity as a whole (although I like the hexagon base). I’ll see if I can come up with something interesting. 🎩

[juanmnl]

Avatars

---

Hope color is on iteration plans too. Here's my first shot!

If it ain't

Light & Dark

[bnb]

@juanmnl Very nice job! Like like how the O looks lick a rachet.

[juanmnl]

@bnb Thanks 😅 Haven't designed anything in a while so i wanted to give it a shot for this iteration. Cheers!

[bwilytsch]

@mikeal I would like to have a take on the weekend. Will it be too late, are you guys in a rush?

[mikeal]

@bwilytsch there's no timeline yet :)

[shri3k]

@mikeal Is it still called Node or Node.js? The new logo appears to have JS but I thought it changed to Node not too long ago? I think this is a great opportunity to clarify that with the new re-design.

[mikeal]

Must be "Node.js" because that's what the Trademark is for :)

[juanmnl]

Well, i made another iteration as i wont have much time later. 😄
First draft was based on current logo proportions (hexagon and letters)
This one is isometric and made with the same shape patterns and proportions for every letter.

Full iso stencil.
Hope you like it!

[blakemattos]

Love node.js! Excited about this logo iteration. Here are a number of different explorations I came up with.

[bwstud]

A simple sketch.
Lots of opportunity for fun negative space plays which could be helpful in addressing the needs of circle/rounded square/hexagon.

[karlbright]

Oh boy, here we go again!

[graypegg]

An hour of playing around in illustrator! Looking forward to seeing what people make!

[karlbright]

A basic cleanup on the original logo using slightly less rounded corners and one with ever so slightly more rounded corners. Dropping the green from the e along with the sharp edge.

[0x64B]

[matthewhirsch]

I'm curious how much of an iteration Node is looking for. Are we looking for a Starbucks 1971 to 1987 Starbucks change or are we looking for a 1987 to 1992 change? That's a large range if it's the first option and I think it'd be useful for everyone to know how far we can push these boundaries.

[ghost]

[karlbright]

@substack You never disappoint. I was thinking about doing a space badge iteration ;)

[karlbright]

Quick experiment with removing text for nodejs. Pushing the identity down into one green cube as a minimal logo. Idea being I/O on the cube. Not 100% on this but it's an idea, throwing it out there.

[ghost]

circles:

all together

[ghost]

alternative minimal design:

[ghost]

alternative minimal light version:

[karlbright]

@substack

[jfhbrook]

Now would be a good time to bring the turtle back

[gtewallace]

@joshmanders sorry about that - I'll have a new link in a sec

[gtewallace]

Here's the right link to the logo: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2SAGsHi4DjIcHB0cTZZcXFZNG8&usp=sharing

[jfathman]

How many people were involved in the logo selection decision?

[stevenvachon]

The new "o" looks like an emerald -- pretty nice. Not a big fan of the "js" on the line below.

[mikeal]

@juanmnl

I was pretty clear what the process would be like in the initial description for the thread.

Just post images and ideas in to this thread. The Marketing Committee will look over all of this at some point in the future and potentially select one or take some of the ideas/direction and handoff to a designer. Final logo will have to be approved by the Board of Directors.

That's what happened. All the ideas here were presented to the marketing committee, feedback along with these was handed to the LF design team who came up with several proposals of which the marketing committee asked for a combination of two of the designs.

The reason we did it this way is because the Node.js user community is too large (~3.5M people) to be able to accurately solicit feedback from a representative sample. If we went with something from only the most engaged contributors it would likely be a drastic change in branding as the longest contributors are the most bored with the existing design. But that wouldn't be the best thing for the community, who would have suffer through a large design update to all their work.

Hope that clears things up.

[mikeal]

Not a big fan of the "js" on the line below.

This actually helps us a lot tho when using the logo. The old design being so wide made it difficult to work with under a variety of contraints we deal with.

[karlbright]

Great to see this resolved. Great work to those involved and it's good to hear what the process was, thanks for that @mikeal.

As with all things like this, some people will love it and others will hate it. I hope that everyone can understand that this logo definitely pushes the foundation forward. Community driven design like this can be a great way to get people involved, but ultimately it can leave people feeling exhausted, or used, if their ideas or voices aren't heard. It was great to see people sharing some ideas, but i'm glad this was the path that was chosen.

Looking forward to seeing this around the web, and being able to slap this on my laptop soon. 👍

[stevemao]

Guys, where can i buy the stickers and t-shirts? Thanks.

[stevemao]

Also what's the name of the designer?

[Knighton910]

@stevemao I think it's @gtewallace

[WoodyWoodsta]

Hmm mixture of rounded corners of the letters and sharp corners of the
jewel type O kinda makes the O look like it doesn't fit, as well as the
gradients to give it the jewel feel look a bit cheap. I hoped to see a
fresher, more simple approach. I don't think KISS was the approach with
this design.

Nonetheless, was fun to be a part of it, even if it was just submitting the
odd design! Art is all about perspective really :) Cheers 👍

On Fri, 19 Feb 2016, 7:02 AM kelvin knighton notifications@github.com
wrote:

@stevemao https://github.com/stevemao I think it's @gtewallace
https://github.com/gtewallace

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#179 (comment).

[zeke]

A peek, for those who don't want to fumble with Google Docs or download a 17MB PDF:

[gtewallace]

@stevemao @kelthenoble I wish I had this kind of talent, but no - I merely managed the process ("you literally take the fax from the machine to the designer?" pretty much :)

The Linux Foundation has an internal creative services team with amazing designers - they deserve the credit, along with all of you for the shoulders they stood on.

T-shirts and stickers are coming soon!!

[joshmanders]

If you stare at the e in node long enough it looks like Squidward flexing around a pipe.

[gtewallace]

needed to check before giving out the designer's name - Amanda Cohen did the logo design - https://www.behance.net/amandacohen

[stevemao]

Nice. Good stuff @gtewallace :)

[timoxley]

Note that many of the images, including the one in the pdf and the image posted above by @zeke, appear to have incorrect, subdued greens. This only appears to affect the 'O' hexagon. If you open the original files in a design program, the colours return to what one would expect.

Compare:

Subdued:

[ChALkeR]

Yes, *.ai and *.pdf files are opened up incorrectly (with «subdued» colors) in inkscape and some viewers (wrong color profile processing?).

Could we get an *.svg file with the correct colors that are mentioned in the document, please?

[gtewallace]

I've put the request in to the designer. She's out this week. I'll follow up Monday. Thank you!

[mikeal]

@gtewallace it’s not a design error, it’s an error with Preview and a few other apps that support .ai that aren’t from Adobe.

On Feb 25, 2016, at 4:41PM, Greg Wallace notifications@github.com wrote:

I've put the request in to the designer. She's out this week. I'll follow up Monday. Thank you!

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub #179 (comment).

[gtewallace]

Gotcha. Tnx

[avindra]

Is the decision on this finalized? The new logo that was chosen is not nearly as rad as many of the other designs in this thread...

[avindra]

this one is still my favorite:

#179 (comment)

[bnb]

@mikeal Can this issue be closed? Node.js has a beautiful logo, and has for some time - this totally succeeded! 🎉

[renanbastos93]

I saw many logos that propose a new logo. Some are very beautiful. Congratulations to all who have done.