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> Is this just pure fashion churn? Has to be. I stopped believe long ago in visual changes in software being anything else than marketing done in "we do improv
by pndy 3y ago
> Is this just pure fashion churn?
Has to be. I stopped believe long ago in visual changes in software being anything else than marketing done in "we do improve things" fashion.
I mean, just look at this video of Office icons: https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=VvOaGTtY6Y8 https://vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=VvOaGTtY6Y8 It's a new icons set and they're trying to portray it as a technological breakthrough.
Of course changes to the UI and UX are important and always interesting, don't get me wrong - I just despise the all that mindless fluff that always comes with it. Each time I'm having flashbacks of document by Arnell Group who introduced new Pepsi logo: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=pepsi+logo+redesign&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
- gurjeet 3y agoOh I loved this gem on the last page of the Pepsi logo PDF [1]. > 1 light year = 671 million miles per hour x Distance = y Speed [1]: https://jimedwardsnrx.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/pepsi_gravitational_field.pdf https://jimedwardsnrx.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/pepsi_grav...
- _boffin_ 3y agoOh my… the amount of BS that was written in that document was something truly enlightening. To think that BS cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars…
- riffraff 3y agoThere's a pretty convincing theory that the BS is intentional. This document has been circulating for many years and keep being reshared and the Pepsi brand is reinforced everytime.
- hotpotamus 3y agoI think this comment helps me to finally understand the concept of memetic evolution - you are seeing intelligent design, but it's possible that this document just organically was chosen through its version of "natural selection" to be one that has propagated.
- mistercheph 3y agoWhat do you think sells pepsi cans? Why are there only two brands in the United States that have meaningful market share in the dark syrup + water industry? Do you think it's because of something done by engineers in a basement with papers stacked up to the ceiling, or do you think it is possible that these two companies are global experts in capturing the attention and imagination of billions of people and have done so better than anyone else in human history using the shape of a can, a logo, and a font. If you don't buy the rationale provided in that document, fine, but rationality doesn't sell trillions of cans of syrup water, Vitruvian Man, Golden Ratio, Feng Shui, earth Geodynamo 'woowoo' does.
- cratermoon 3y agox = 671 million miles per hour
- pgeorgi 3y agoDesigners need promotions, too...
- troupo 3y agoCompare that icon introduction to the insane amount of work and research that actually went into the original ribbon 20 years ago: https://web.archive.org/web/20080316101025/http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/tags/Why+the+New+UI_3F00_/default.aspx https://web.archive.org/web/20080316101025/http://blogs.msdn...
- sam_lowry_ 3y agoAnd the miserable failure of it.
- troupo 3y agoThe failure is mostly because there's no one left at Microsoft (or anywhere) to do the same research: gather and evaluate data over decades, make informed decisions, iterate on designs etc.
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- Analemma_ 3y agoFashion churn is probably part of it, but high-DPI screens are commonplace now and were more-or-less nonexistent when Calibri (which was designed to look good on screens of its era) was introduced. That alone seems like reason enough to have a different default.