3 ms·

Honestly, what makes a brand identity work is at least 50% longevity. One good logo is better than 3 great ones over the course of a decade. If there's no conti

Honestly, what makes a brand identity work is at least 50% longevity. One good logo is better than 3 great ones over the course of a decade. If there's no continuity, not only do consumers have to become reacquainted with the brand (losing some established good will), you don't have any brand recognizablity until it becomes well known again. The Firefox globe is a good logo. Not only is it instantly recognizable, there's a clear connection between the symbolism in the image and "Firefox". I think the globe logo is also suggestive of international connectedness and cooperation - Firefox is something that brings people together. IMO all the suggested icons represent a change for the worse. Even the one from System 1 most similar to the existing logo reduces the amount of detail and makes it harder to quickly recognize the logo at a glance.

sjwright 8y ago
Completely agree. And it's worth adding that both of these proposed design options are great work in isolation; separate from any existing market concerns, these would make for great logo systems. But the biggest problem for any redesign is that the current Firefox globe is just so damn good. It has been refined numerous times over the past decade but iconographically—when viewed at a small size for short bursts of time—it has barely changed since the original in 2003. Each refinement has simplified the design to a point where further simplification is simply not justifiable for reasons of aesthetics or utility. Look at the progressive simplification of the QANTAS flying kangaroo logo over the years. [0] The third-most recent logo is utterly iconic and timeless. The second-most recent iteration teetered on the edge of a cliff of oversimplification and gave the kangaroo clown feet. The current logo? The only reason that it isn't an obvious trainwreck, the only reason isn't immediately obvious that they've fallen off the cliff is because it evokes memories of the older logos when the kangaroo actually looked like a kangaroo. They've doubled down on the clown feet and given it a gradient that makes zero sense. The overall shape is so abstract that it might as well be a boomerang-like throwing or slicing implement. But it does look super modern. [0] http://mascola.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/line-up-1200x841-1024x718.png http://mascola.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/line-up-1200x8...
- jazoom 8y ago
  Is this for real? I haven't noticed the newest 2 on planes yet. The third newest is definitely where they should have stayed.
  - sjwright 8y ago
    It’s for real, and there aren’t many planes left with the older livery painted on them. Most are either the newest or second-newest. (I’m an infrequent observer though, I’m sure a planespotter can chime in with more precise info.)

sjwright 8y ago

Completely agree. And it's worth adding that both of these proposed design options are great work in isolation; separate from any existing market concerns, these would make for great logo systems. But the biggest problem for any redesign is that the current Firefox globe is just so damn good. It has been refined numerous times over the past decade but iconographically—when viewed at a small size for short bursts of time—it has barely changed since the original in 2003. Each refinement has simplified the design to a point where further simplification is simply not justifiable for reasons of aesthetics or utility. Look at the progressive simplification of the QANTAS flying kangaroo logo over the years. [0] The third-most recent logo is utterly iconic and timeless. The second-most recent iteration teetered on the edge of a cliff of oversimplification and gave the kangaroo clown feet. The current logo? The only reason that it isn't an obvious trainwreck, the only reason isn't immediately obvious that they've fallen off the cliff is because it evokes memories of the older logos when the kangaroo actually looked like a kangaroo. They've doubled down on the clown feet and given it a gradient that makes zero sense. The overall shape is so abstract that it might as well be a boomerang-like throwing or slicing implement. But it does look super modern. [0] http://mascola.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/line-up-1200x841-1024x718.png http://mascola.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/line-up-1200x8...

jazoom 8y ago
Is this for real? I haven't noticed the newest 2 on planes yet. The third newest is definitely where they should have stayed.
- sjwright 8y ago
  It’s for real, and there aren’t many planes left with the older livery painted on them. Most are either the newest or second-newest. (I’m an infrequent observer though, I’m sure a planespotter can chime in with more precise info.)