4 ms·

An unpopular opinion: there are too many other logos that look like the original logo. Some amalgamation of Latin words and a coat of arms. It's also pretty una

An unpopular opinion: there are too many other logos that look like the original logo. Some amalgamation of Latin words and a coat of arms. It's also pretty unattractive visually (weird thickness exterior curves, all caps words with hyphens). First impression of the new logo: boring. Second impression: nice play on an open book and capital O, very clean lines, will look good in print (perhaps with some light gradient/shading). The new typeface reads very well.

mikkergp 4y ago
I imagine the new logo looks more appropriate on a book about computer science or theoretical physics.
kybernetikos 4y ago
I like the stairs feel to the new logo, which I think fits with a University Press's mission rather nicely.
Godel_unicode 4y ago
The new logo is borderline painfully boring, this trend is going to end in there being one logo for everything, and that logo will be a single circle. Clean, minimal, elegant, and capable of instantly putting anyone who sees it to sleep. It’s pretty amusing that this is on the front page at the same time as the below. https://medium.com/knowable/why-everything-looks-the-same-bad80133dd6e https://medium.com/knowable/why-everything-looks-the-same-ba...
- systemicdanna 4y ago
  That's were we started: all logos were coats of arms. And then all logos were something else. These are design trends.
  - Godel_unicode 4y ago
    That’s not true. While there have been fads in the past that some logos adhered to, the history of insignia is overflowing with what we would today call logos that were not coats of arms.
    - systemicdanna 4y ago
      Every epoch in the insignia design had a distinct style, right? Roman military insignia looked like Roman military insignia, there wasn't a vast range of styles within that use case / time period. Outside of military use and maybe some rare other state uses, there wasn't much insignia, and especially not much insignia that you would call a logo by today's application.
      - Godel_unicode 4y ago
        Of course there was, especially in Roman times when most couldn’t read. The gods all had their symbols, as did the many vendors. Many cities had emblems they added to things like gates, walls, and money, and prominent families had seals they would use for official documents as well as decoration. These came in many styles and had a lovely variety which sprang from the message the person wanted to send and what they thought looked cool.
WastingMyTime89 4y ago
> An unpopular opinion: there are too many other logos that look like the original logo. Some amalgamation of Latin words and a coat of arms. The issue is not that it’s unpopular. That’s the actual University of Oxford coat of arms. The thing is 600 years old. Should it be changed because every institution which wants to look somewhat respectable is copying Oxford?
- systemicdanna 4y ago
  I love old books (first pressings, especially signed). There is a lot of character to them. Holding a century old book is a very satisfying experience, you get to own something very authentic, a piece of a bygone era. However, I don't see a problem with people, artists, businesses, places updating their individual branding. To me it's a sign of a refreshed outlook, a new way to both see oneself and to present oneself to others. Clinging to the past because it's (a priori) old is not the right motivation.
onetimeusename 4y ago
a coat of arms is meant to identify someone or something. The new logo does not identify anything to me and reminds me of the James Bond intro gun barrel sequence.
jamessb 4y ago
> An unpopular opinion: there are too many other logos that look like the original logo There are also too many logos that look like the new logo. The first blue circle logos that spring to mind are Blue Circle Cement/Tarmac/Lafarge [1] and Oxford Nanopore [2]. (The generic sans-serif font is also visually similar to many logos) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac_(company) [2]: https://nanoporetech.com/ https://nanoporetech.com/
- systemicdanna 4y ago
  I am not saying the new logo is amazingly unique. I am saying that the cries about the individuality and character of the old logo are overblown. It's a pretty generic coat of arms.
deleted 4y ago
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gauravjain13 4y ago
Raytheon is another example. I think the open book metaphor gets lost in the aggressive roundness of the O. When I first looked at it, I thought why would they make it look like a turbo fan…? Now in the case of Raytheon, a turbofan makes complete sense. Hindered by this bias, it took me a bit to arrive at the open book representation, and was only able to do that because it’s OUP. https://www.rtx.com/ https://www.rtx.com/
deleted 4y ago
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mikkergp 4y ago

I imagine the new logo looks more appropriate on a book about computer science or theoretical physics.

kybernetikos 4y ago

I like the stairs feel to the new logo, which I think fits with a University Press's mission rather nicely.

Godel_unicode 4y ago

The new logo is borderline painfully boring, this trend is going to end in there being one logo for everything, and that logo will be a single circle. Clean, minimal, elegant, and capable of instantly putting anyone who sees it to sleep. It’s pretty amusing that this is on the front page at the same time as the below. https://medium.com/knowable/why-everything-looks-the-same-bad80133dd6e https://medium.com/knowable/why-everything-looks-the-same-ba...

systemicdanna 4y ago
That's were we started: all logos were coats of arms. And then all logos were something else. These are design trends.
- Godel_unicode 4y ago
  That’s not true. While there have been fads in the past that some logos adhered to, the history of insignia is overflowing with what we would today call logos that were not coats of arms.
  - systemicdanna 4y ago
    Every epoch in the insignia design had a distinct style, right? Roman military insignia looked like Roman military insignia, there wasn't a vast range of styles within that use case / time period. Outside of military use and maybe some rare other state uses, there wasn't much insignia, and especially not much insignia that you would call a logo by today's application.
    - Godel_unicode 4y ago
      Of course there was, especially in Roman times when most couldn’t read. The gods all had their symbols, as did the many vendors. Many cities had emblems they added to things like gates, walls, and money, and prominent families had seals they would use for official documents as well as decoration. These came in many styles and had a lovely variety which sprang from the message the person wanted to send and what they thought looked cool.

WastingMyTime89 4y ago

> An unpopular opinion: there are too many other logos that look like the original logo. Some amalgamation of Latin words and a coat of arms. The issue is not that it’s unpopular. That’s the actual University of Oxford coat of arms. The thing is 600 years old. Should it be changed because every institution which wants to look somewhat respectable is copying Oxford?

systemicdanna 4y ago
I love old books (first pressings, especially signed). There is a lot of character to them. Holding a century old book is a very satisfying experience, you get to own something very authentic, a piece of a bygone era. However, I don't see a problem with people, artists, businesses, places updating their individual branding. To me it's a sign of a refreshed outlook, a new way to both see oneself and to present oneself to others. Clinging to the past because it's (a priori) old is not the right motivation.

onetimeusename 4y ago

a coat of arms is meant to identify someone or something. The new logo does not identify anything to me and reminds me of the James Bond intro gun barrel sequence.

jamessb 4y ago

> An unpopular opinion: there are too many other logos that look like the original logo There are also too many logos that look like the new logo. The first blue circle logos that spring to mind are Blue Circle Cement/Tarmac/Lafarge [1] and Oxford Nanopore [2]. (The generic sans-serif font is also visually similar to many logos) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarmac_(company) [2]: https://nanoporetech.com/ https://nanoporetech.com/

systemicdanna 4y ago
I am not saying the new logo is amazingly unique. I am saying that the cries about the individuality and character of the old logo are overblown. It's a pretty generic coat of arms.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

gauravjain13 4y ago

Raytheon is another example. I think the open book metaphor gets lost in the aggressive roundness of the O. When I first looked at it, I thought why would they make it look like a turbo fan…? Now in the case of Raytheon, a turbofan makes complete sense. Hindered by this bias, it took me a bit to arrive at the open book representation, and was only able to do that because it’s OUP. https://www.rtx.com/ https://www.rtx.com/

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]