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Remain Calm: The fox is still in the Firefox logo
- soheil 6y agoMy question is why is the fox looking at just the earth? What about mars or space in general? I guess I'd be using Chrome.
- eznzt 6y agoNext time you consider donating, think of the cost of creating new logos for the sake of it + keeping someone on staff to write this drivel.
- arusahni 6y agoThis sort of thing is table stakes to be a competitive software product these days.
- deathanatos 6y agoNo, it's really not. As a user, I'd be quite fine with the first icon in the set. The recent changes in the latest Google re-branding, for example, were anything but well-received. Even Chrome's icon is now smaller, and in a white box, with rounded corners — because everything needs rounded corners these days — for no apparent reason other than I guess we want to feel like a phone now. The overwhelming majority of users are not shedding tears that their favorite product hasn't updated its icon in more than 3 months.
- not_knuth 6y ago> The recent changes in the latest Google re-branding, for example, were anything but well-received. 3 techies made disgruntled noises in their apartments behind drawn blinds and the rest of the world moved on. > The overwhelming majority of users are not shedding tears that their favorite product hasn't updated its icon in more than 3 months. And the overwhelming majority of users will not shed a tear if their favorite product changes their icon once a week.
- Karunamon 6y agoSo is the logo a big deal or not? If it’s not a big deal, that raises the question of why this much time and effort is being spent on it.
- Igelau 6y ago> the overwhelming majority of users You might be right about current users, but this kind of thing matters a lot if you're going to convince potential future users. Someone who isn't already using Firefox isn't going to have a lot of faith in trying it out if the logo looks like it was done in SodiPodi in mom's basement.
- foobar33333 6y agoThe old logo looks old and it reminds me of Windows XP software. You might think that's wrong and irrational but it doesn't matter. All the UI studies will show thats the most common feeling and feelings matter a lot for marketing
- eitland 6y agoThe old one was nice and reminded me of back when Firefox was in an entirely different league, far ahead of everything else: it was so extensible you could even run the worst offending pages in an IE tab. Today Firefox is still best, bt they've been shooting themselves in both feet repeatedly IMO.
- Igelau 6y agoDoes Firefox not deserve good and contemporary design? Do designers not deserve to be compensated? This is such a lazy gripe.
- foobar33333 6y agoThis is the same complaint that gets spat out at every non profit org. And even volunteers working for free. "Why are you spending time and money on something I don't care for" People complaining about charities having advertising campaigns and managers. Like they think companies do it just for fun and not that it actually works and is required.
- codeyperson 6y agoDid you actually read it though? The point of the article was that they didn’t change the logo.
- hypertele-Xii 6y agoOnly in defense of all the times they did. That's the whole joke of the meme here. "Don't worry guys, we didn't change the logo for the sixth time (yet)."
- behnamoh 6y agoGoogle does that too.
- encryptluks2 6y agoI wouldn't be surprised that this was in fact just a planned PR campaign and the supposed "misinformation" was all just part of the plan.
- ve55 6y ago>Because we care about combatting misinformation (yet another reason to use Firefox) I'm not sure I understand what they may be referencing here. How does using Firefox relate to combating misinformation?
- SwiftyBug 6y agoI think they meant that it's preferable to use a browser made by a company who cares about combating misinformation than one made by a company (Google implied) that does not. Many inferences in this statement.
- dahdum 6y agoTheir values are summed up in their manifesto here: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/ From that page: "We are committed to an internet that promotes civil discourse, human dignity, and individual expression."
- ve55 6y agoI see that, but I don't think it answers the question. If anything it seems partially contradictory.
- dahdum 6y agoThey're promising they'll only promote speech they've determined is civil, reasoned, fact based, and for the common good. Free speech is not a goal, much less freedom to spread misinformation. To the extent it matters I don't know, but I would assume they'd never enhance Firefox or launch any products that enable unsavory speech.
- disposekinetics 6y ago> To the extent it matters I don't know, but I would assume they'd never enhance Firefox or launch any products that enable unsavory speech. Shame, the internet was built on radical free speech. "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around" used to be the ethos.
- nneonneo 6y agoOh gosh, they actually used the dogefox (firedoge?) logo for Nightly: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/nightly/firstrun/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/nightly/firstrun/
- silvi9 6y agoFirefox are memeing back. Gotta love it, honestly XD
- behnamoh 6y agoI wish it were possible to be memeing more without being worried about lawsuits and stuff.
- gillytech 6y agoFiredoge is the better name for it imho.
- nosefrog 6y agoThe file name for it calls it "nightdoge" :P
- dan-robertson 6y agoI really liked the old servo logo too: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/Servo_logo.png/220px-Servo_logo.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/Servo_l... In case it isn’t clear, I’m serious.
- fzzzy 6y agoBest logo. wow
- Tijdreiziger 6y agowow much logo many Rust such browser
- 7800 6y agoWhen will Apple allow an actual picture of a real fox on fire? That’s what I want. Preferably a girl fox, but a fox- a real girl fox, with photoshopped real fire. Exactly. Ok, the fox can be ambiguous. But it needs to commit to it.
- DixieDev 6y agoLooking at the comments in the Reddit threads they've linked, you can really see how poorly Mozilla has managed their brands as they've transitioned to making more products under the Firefox umbrella. Most people seem confused about the Firefox browser logo, Firefox the brand logo, and Mozilla the company logo, and I don't blame them.
- brailsafe 6y agoI blame them, it's Reddit; nobody looks into anything. This seems closely paralleled by how quickly people get mad on the internet about whatever someone said and demand their resignation, when they have never interacted with them beyond seeing the image or tweet they put out in that moment.
- duxup 6y agoI'm inclined to not like changes like this .. but this is close enough to the old Logo that it feels new, but fits the identity.
- themacguffinman 6y agoPerhaps too close. Honestly, before this thread I didn't realize that the new logo was for a "parent brand" rather than a replacement for the browser logo, but apparently they made this change more than a year ago [1]. I'm actually inclined to like branding changes like this, but in this case I was totally confused about the brand distinction. [1] https://blog.mozilla.org/opendesign/files/2019/06/FX_Design_Blog_Logos_Family.jpg https://blog.mozilla.org/opendesign/files/2019/06/FX_Design_... (from https://blog.mozilla.org/opendesign/firefox-the-evolution-of-a-brand/ https://blog.mozilla.org/opendesign/firefox-the-evolution-of...)
- smoldesu 6y agoIt completely escapes me how someone could care this much about a logo. This is more representative of a sensationalist culture, one that will be increasingly dangerous for software development going forwards.
- bdndjee 6y agoIt’s an exact one to one example of bike shedding.
- ohdannyboy 6y agoNext thing you know software devs will fight thunderdome style over which console text editor is superior, bracket placement and tabs versus spaces.
- silvi9 6y agoExactly, I can't imagine the pressure on development and design teams, where every possible change has a chance of being ridiculed by not just thousands, but hundreds of thousands of people at once. It must be so incredibly difficult for teams to work under such severe pressure, and yes, could be debilitating for software development in the coming years.
- abdulmuhaimin 6y agoDangerous toward everything, really, not just software development
- stu2b50 6y agoI think it's a little unintuitive for no other reason than, to be honest, there aren't that many "Firefox" products beyond the browser now that send among others have been axed. Additionally, I feel like it would make more sense for the overarching brand to be... Mozilla? It's Mozilla Firefox, right? And there use to be Mozilla Thunderbird, etc. I guess Mozilla is too unattractive a brand to be the parent brand or something? In the end I have no objection or attraction to the rebranding but I do find it somewhat weird in execution.
- steveklabnik 6y agoAs someone who used to work at Mozilla, I think the move to an overarching Firefox brand makes a ton of sense. I’ve had this conversation a number of times, all around the world: me: “oh, I work at Mozilla” them: “who? Should I know who that is?” me: “you know, the Firefox people” them: “oh my gosh, I love Firefox! I use it every day.” People outside of tech know Firefox, not Mozilla.
- toast0 6y agoSo the solution to that problem is to dilute the brand that resonates with people, by using it for only tangentally related products, like email relays and vpns and what not? That way, in a couple years you say you know, the Firefox peole and they say "who?"
- moreira 6y agoYou see that with Google and Alphabet. “Alphabet who?” “the google people”. It’s Google Maps, not Alphabet Maps. Isn’t that a similar situation? And it doesn’t dilute the Google brand, if anything I’d argue it strengthens it and makes it even more well known.
- oarsinsync 6y agoGoogle was born Google and created Alphabet as a holding entity for subsequent acquisitions. Mozilla created Firefox. It’s like if Google decided to rebrand Google Maps to Chrome Maps if Chrome ended up having better brand recognition.
- loa_in_ 6y agoThe older logos were much better. I don't understand this drive towards minimalism. Google makes all it's logos a blob of their trademark colors. I first find the colors then squint to tell the maps from photos. For reference I use Lens Launcher for Android. There's no categories, just one screen and frecency sorted icons. I feel like brands just hate me and my visual cortex.
- pacificmint 6y agoOn the other hand, I have problems finding google maps on my iPad ever since the latest icon redesign. It’s so different that my brain just filters it out when I am looking for maps. I’ve used Apple Maps way more often just because I can’t see the google maps logo.
- postalrat 6y agoGitlab ruined their logo when they went to the triangles.
- Twixes 6y agoI really like GitLab's
- foobar33333 6y agoI like the last 2 logos. The radiant colors are really nice. Its actually a lot less minimal than most of the other icons on my desktop by having gradients but it still fits in unlike thunderbird.
- pie420 6y agoThat's intentional. Google wants you to recognize google, and google colors, and they want you to THINK about which google product you are about to use instead of doing it subconsciously. What are you gonna go, stop using Gmail?
- Shared404 6y ago> What are you gonna go, stop using Gmail? Yes.
- elmo2you 6y agoI get why they put out a post like this. They also appear to be correct in calling out the misinformation, regardless whether it was caused by a misinterpreted fun meme or intention to fool/misinform. However, with some of the decisions I've seen the company (or particularly its management) make before, this post still rubs me the wrong way. Rather pedantically sounding like a lecture on what all these people "up in arms" did wrong. Those people were indeed wrong, at least this time. But their emotional response may very well have been primed and driven by past experiences (with more merit). Which to me makes this blog post sound rather smug and maybe even a bit arrogant. Even when it was likely sincerely written to calm people down.
- cdrini 6y agoI'm not getting that tone at all. For me it's coming off as "Here's a funny little viral moment we were a surprise part of. Also, it's kind of an interesting case study in misinformation spread online."
- lovelyviking 6y ago>Today we’re introducing the Firefox parent brand — an icon representing the entire family of products. I don't know, it's a bit funny but it really looks like only tail fo the fox has been left ) which makes you worry about the life of the fox. Perhaps it's only my perception.
- ProAm 6y agoFirefox continually makes it hard to stay a Firefox fan. I just can't go to Chrome, but seriously it gets harder every release.
- dralley 6y agoCould you articulate why? Because for me, Firefox keeps getting faster, more secure, and better at preserving privacy every release.
- foobar33333 6y agoPeople buy too much in to online drama. Mozilla makes some random or stupid blog posts which have nothing to do with firefox really and people lose their minds and spam "Thats it, I'm using chrome now"
- ProAm 6y agoI'm talking about years of slow weird changes, just a blog post. Is the straw on the camel. Im still a FF user, I dislike chrome but like I mentioned FF/Mozilla makes it hard to stay that way.
- ProAm 6y agoI don't like how they make sigificant changes to the UI and deploy the changes with security updates. The toolbar was the last major change where it looks drastically different and functions different (and the fact that for one release you could undo it, the next release you could undo it but in a different manner and much more difficult, and finally I dont think you can undo it at all). The new password manager is another example of significant functionality changes. A browser is a tool, I dont want to relearn how to use my screwdriver because a new version came out. Don't get me wrong, Im a huge firefox fan, I want them to win more market share, I've used it exclusively for 10+ years. But some of the changes are unnecessary and I should have to pin my security of being forced to use it.
- Bakary 6y agoLet's examine the proposition. Firefox pros: the browser works, has good support for add-ons and some features not found in Chrome such as containers. Can generally be assumed to be privacy-friendly to some degree Cons: some cringe-worthy decisions such as that Mr. Robot thing, the sort of waste of donations in the OP link, and occasional minor performance issues compared to Chrome. The biggest problem seems to be the continued survival of the project over time Chrome pros: I don't use Chrome but as far as I can tell it benefits from being the default browser that devs optimize for and reportedly has good developer tools. cons: essentially a monopolistic data-gathering tool for one of the shadiest ad companies on Earth. Slowly introducing user-unfriendly features, even in Chromium As far as I can tell the rational choice would be Firefox (or some derivative browser) barring some specific technical need for Chrome. The downsides of Chrome just seem so much more egregious than the occasional Mozilla silliness.
- newscracker 6y ago> This experience also gave us our own mini-case study on how misinformation spreads online. Word! People love to hate on Firefox (and Mozilla), but it’s good to see misinformation tackled in a concise way without insulting or attacking anyone (which is how I perceived the article). Stay strong, Firefox browser logo! :) Stray strong, Firefox Nightly browser logo! ;)
- danielscrubs 6y ago“So here are the facts. Logos are personal. “ Feels condescending because it’s obvious. Tempest in a teapot if you ask me.
- solarkraft 6y agoIt's weird to see something like this pop up with such intensity years after the rebranding actually happened. I remember the "Mother, I joined the oversimplification trend" meme from back then, but the rest looks new to me. About the Firefox brand: Moving an application to a brand is not new for Mozilla, which itself used to be the name of an application. After a while it feels alright to me for Firefox to be some kind of service provider, company or team ("Message from Firefox" sounds okay now). It just devalues the brand for the browser a little. I wonder whether they'll have to come up with a new sub-brand for that ... (but who am I kidding, they'll probably discontinue it before that happens because they finally fully cannibalized it).
- renewiltord 6y agoI think I'd feel like a complete idiot if I donated money to the Mozilla Foundation and they used it on dumb stuff like this. Fortunately, I only did so to Bram Moolenaar and he gives it away to some random place so it's just as useless.
- yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago> Remain Calm: The fix is still in the Firefox logo "...well, the Firefox browser logo, but not the other 'Firefox' logos, because we reused that brand elsewhere with other products. We can't imagine why people can't distinguish between the assortment of things that are all 'Firefox' now."
- asperous 6y agoA little bit off topic but it is interesting that companies are shifting whole brands to fit in with other logos on home screens. The uniformity strikes me as very globalization, but I wonder if we will ever trend over to each company really standing out. Similar trend to how car colours were very vibrant and different in 60s to today's grey, black, and white.
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- okonomiyaki3000 6y agoWas there ever a fox? I thought it was a lesser panda.
- pseudalopex 6y agoThe story is fire fox is a Chinese name for a red panda. But the logo always had a red fox.
- dataflow 6y agoEdit: Silly me, thanks for clarifying.
- pseudalopex 6y agoThe animal is called a red fox.
- wodenokoto 6y agoI think the current logo looks great and having the fox in profile rather than looking away makes for a surprisingly large improvement in how the logo feels. I know most pundits hate changes to logos, but for once I am quite pleased.
- _Microft 6y agoPresumably in support, the cold spell in the USA drew a giant Firefox logo on the weather map. "Seriously!" ;) https://mashable.com/article/climate-change-cold-weather-extremes/ https://mashable.com/article/climate-change-cold-weather-ext...
- cute_boi 6y agoi had an impression that firefox was about red panda. From where did the fox came? fox in firefox?
- zomg 6y agoi remember when the logo looked more like a phoenix than a fox... ;)