5 ms·

New symbol in the logo is OK, but the text is a disaster. Just stare at it for a second, especially the Re-d coupling. It's unkerned. The 'e' is about to toppl

New symbol in the logo is OK, but the text is a disaster. Just stare at it for a second, especially the Re-d coupling. It's unkerned. The 'e' is about to topple over to the right, 'd' looks pregnant, 'a' is too top heavy. There's no visual balance, rhythm or consistency to how "Red Hat" looks. It basically looks as an amateur job. http://videos.cdn.redhat.com/NEXT/new-brand/Logo-RedHat-A-Color-RGB.svg http://videos.cdn.redhat.com/NEXT/new-brand/Logo-RedHat-A-Co...

stronglikedan 8y ago
I think the redesign would make more sense if you were to draw a diagonal line from the bottom of the "e" through the top of the "a", and write the words "DNA" at the left end of the line and "FUTURE" at the right end.
undecisive 8y ago
I'm not sure I'd go that far. It's clearly been tuned for the thumbnail version. I agree though, in that it doesn't scale up perfectly.
lelf 8y ago
Amateur job or not, but… ok yes it’s a disaster.
ken 8y ago
It's writing. It's two short words. You can still read it clearly. I think fonts are pretty neat in a "hey we can make things that look fairly different but are still perfectly recognizable as the same concept" way, like the different styles of house icons which all meant "go home" in HyperCard stacks. I confess don't understand the extreme nit-picking about one line being slightly too far over. Or trying to explain alleged issues through strained metaphors. Yes, this lower-case "d" looks like it has a belly -- that is the shape of that letter! They all do. They've got an entire operating system, and it's full of bugs -- as they all are -- and it has obvious and measurable problems that hurt usability. I'm not sure why a minor branding change justifies a blog post on their part, and I really don't see why unkerned text is "a disaster". I'm typing this in a <textarea> which (like everyone's 1960's-emulating terminals and 1970's-styled editors) uses monospaced fonts, which by definition cannot be kerned.
- currysausage 8y ago
  I find this way of dismissing things that other people care about as irrelevant quite arrogant. Yes, there are always "worse" issues. I could just as well write: We live on a planet full of environmental pollution, human rights abuse, and poverty. I'm not sure why minor usability issues in a relatively obscure operating system justify a comment on your part. Typography is a venerable craft, and the new wordmark has technical flaws that one simply wouldn't expect from a high-profile project. This won't have disastrous consequences of any kind, but within the context of discussing a post on the new logo, calling a part of the result disastrous is, IMHO, appropriate. Some people are genuinely interested in branding and typography, some are simply irritated by change, therefore it's common practice to introduce new branding with a blog post. You can see from the amount of comments that there are quite a few people who care about this. Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1015/ https://xkcd.com/1015/
  - davidivadavid 8y ago
    The terrible kerning is literally the first thing I saw when I opened the article. It's truly appalling.
NullPrefix 8y ago
To me it just looks like you're making stuff up.
- NullPrefix 8y ago
  Not a designer, so emphasis is on "To me".

stronglikedan 8y ago

I think the redesign would make more sense if you were to draw a diagonal line from the bottom of the "e" through the top of the "a", and write the words "DNA" at the left end of the line and "FUTURE" at the right end.

undecisive 8y ago

I'm not sure I'd go that far. It's clearly been tuned for the thumbnail version. I agree though, in that it doesn't scale up perfectly.

lelf 8y ago

Amateur job or not, but… ok yes it’s a disaster.

ken 8y ago

It's writing. It's two short words. You can still read it clearly. I think fonts are pretty neat in a "hey we can make things that look fairly different but are still perfectly recognizable as the same concept" way, like the different styles of house icons which all meant "go home" in HyperCard stacks. I confess don't understand the extreme nit-picking about one line being slightly too far over. Or trying to explain alleged issues through strained metaphors. Yes, this lower-case "d" looks like it has a belly -- that is the shape of that letter! They all do. They've got an entire operating system, and it's full of bugs -- as they all are -- and it has obvious and measurable problems that hurt usability. I'm not sure why a minor branding change justifies a blog post on their part, and I really don't see why unkerned text is "a disaster". I'm typing this in a <textarea> which (like everyone's 1960's-emulating terminals and 1970's-styled editors) uses monospaced fonts, which by definition cannot be kerned.

currysausage 8y ago
I find this way of dismissing things that other people care about as irrelevant quite arrogant. Yes, there are always "worse" issues. I could just as well write: We live on a planet full of environmental pollution, human rights abuse, and poverty. I'm not sure why minor usability issues in a relatively obscure operating system justify a comment on your part. Typography is a venerable craft, and the new wordmark has technical flaws that one simply wouldn't expect from a high-profile project. This won't have disastrous consequences of any kind, but within the context of discussing a post on the new logo, calling a part of the result disastrous is, IMHO, appropriate. Some people are genuinely interested in branding and typography, some are simply irritated by change, therefore it's common practice to introduce new branding with a blog post. You can see from the amount of comments that there are quite a few people who care about this. Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1015/ https://xkcd.com/1015/
- davidivadavid 8y ago
  The terrible kerning is literally the first thing I saw when I opened the article. It's truly appalling.

NullPrefix 8y ago

To me it just looks like you're making stuff up.

NullPrefix 8y ago
Not a designer, so emphasis is on "To me".