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Wow, as of this writing the vast majority of comments are just so negative! Do we have to hate on everything? I like it! It looks way less tacky than their old

Wow, as of this writing the vast majority of comments are just so negative! Do we have to hate on everything? I like it! It looks way less tacky than their old watermark. In fact, it actually makes the photos look better compared to the old watermark and others' watermarks. They did a great job and they're not dummies. I'm sure a lot of thought went into how this would look or change when it was laid over light, dark, or patterned photos. Kudos to them. Getty Images preview photos now look way more attractive.

StavrosK 14y ago
I don't know what all the negativity is about, I think it's a brilliant move that both serves its purpose for Getty, gets them more eyes to the actual images and is less of an eyesore and more informative to the viewer than just a logo.
- billpatrianakos 14y ago
  I hate start meta discussions about HN but I think the negativity has a lot to do with the community changing a bit around here. The thread about DuckDuckGo a few days back exemplifies this and there was a discussion of it just yesterday. Basically, people want to be heard and the best way to do it is to be a contrarian. A few years back I joined HN and was so intimidated by all the smart people here that it took a long time before I started commenting. Now, if you're not paying attention it's easy to mistakenly assume that the smart people "know better" and will comment with their opinions on how they'd do XYZ better. A lot of the threads I saw back then had people giving contrarian opinions and getting lots of attention for it. So for the newbie it's most likely easy to assume that's how things are done around here and that's how you prove your intelligence/expertise. But the thing is, what often looks like a contrarian view is often a question or an alternative way to do XYZ that isn't really saying XYZ is bad or wrong at all. So I think it's a case of monkey see monkey do mixed with a misunderstanding of popular comments, who their authors are, and missing context. Everyone wants to be the smartest person in the room. HN can be an intimidating place because of how seriously exceptional a lot of people around here are. Hell, I still feel like a moron half the time when I comment. Egos get in the way of accepting that instead of being the smartest you should learn from the smartest and seeing that you don't have to say anything at all. In fact, saying nothing is often the smartest thing to do. How does that saying go? Something like "Shut up and let people assume you're stupid instead of opening your mouth and confirming it"?
  - petercooper 14y ago
    Everyone wants to be the smartest person in the room. It's a shame, because it never used to be that way. And if ever it was, it was in a positive "look, I made this!" way. To me, the fact that a story like this would even get to #1 on HN says more about how HN has morphed. Would we have seen this 4 or 5 years ago? Unlikely IMHO.
    - sad_panda 14y ago
      The paranoid SEO articles really put me off.
      - billpatrianakos 14y ago
        I'm not understanding what you're referring to. Can you give a link or other example? You piqued my curiosity.
    - DanBC 14y ago
      Today is Saturday, so maybe that has some effect on placement.
  - _delirium 14y ago
    Earlier discussion on the negativity meta-question: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3755228 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3755228
  - K2h 14y ago
    There is a biblical reference [1] and also some quote attributed to Mark Twain [2] on keeping silent. I don't consider myself a fool, or ignorant, but choose to remain silent most of the time because of the exceptional insight many have, and I love HN for it. i just skip over the negative stuff and look for those nuggets of insight so prevelent here. [1] http://bible.cc/proverbs/17-28.htm http://bible.cc/proverbs/17-28.htm [2] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain122650.html http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain122650.h...
  - waterlesscloud 14y ago
gjulianm 14y ago
The only problem I see with this new watermark is that it takes too much space. It's too tall for me, it could be shorter. But it's just a tiny detail, I love the concept and the design.
- freditup 14y ago
  It's actually a square interestingly. Just glancing at it, I felt it was taller than it was wide. Had to measure twice to believe it was a square :D
  - Drbble 14y ago
    I think the rectangle illusion is created by the text that is vertically justified but not horizontally justified.
    - thenonsequitur 14y ago
      I think the illusion is reinforced by virtue of the square itself being flush with the right-hand edge of the image, but offset from the bottom edge.
- vacri 14y ago
  The text also needs to be outlined - you can see how it becomes hard to read when in low-contrast/light areas of the photo.
- mambodog 14y ago
  You know what the purpose of a watermark is, right? The old one covered the whole image.
Devilboy 14y ago
Ripping everything apart is what HN is all about. Look at any random article on the front page and tell me I'm wrong.
- billpatrianakos 14y ago
  I'm telling you you're wrong. It's more about intelligent discussion and learning a thing or two than ripping everything apart. Going into anything with that mentality automatically stops you from learning anything. The front page you see may give you that impression but it's definitely not the intention.
- pg 14y ago
  Analysis is what HN is about. Meanness is not. The former can easily degrade into the latter, but we're fighting a constant battle against that tendency.

StavrosK 14y ago

I don't know what all the negativity is about, I think it's a brilliant move that both serves its purpose for Getty, gets them more eyes to the actual images and is less of an eyesore and more informative to the viewer than just a logo.

billpatrianakos 14y ago
I hate start meta discussions about HN but I think the negativity has a lot to do with the community changing a bit around here. The thread about DuckDuckGo a few days back exemplifies this and there was a discussion of it just yesterday. Basically, people want to be heard and the best way to do it is to be a contrarian. A few years back I joined HN and was so intimidated by all the smart people here that it took a long time before I started commenting. Now, if you're not paying attention it's easy to mistakenly assume that the smart people "know better" and will comment with their opinions on how they'd do XYZ better. A lot of the threads I saw back then had people giving contrarian opinions and getting lots of attention for it. So for the newbie it's most likely easy to assume that's how things are done around here and that's how you prove your intelligence/expertise. But the thing is, what often looks like a contrarian view is often a question or an alternative way to do XYZ that isn't really saying XYZ is bad or wrong at all. So I think it's a case of monkey see monkey do mixed with a misunderstanding of popular comments, who their authors are, and missing context. Everyone wants to be the smartest person in the room. HN can be an intimidating place because of how seriously exceptional a lot of people around here are. Hell, I still feel like a moron half the time when I comment. Egos get in the way of accepting that instead of being the smartest you should learn from the smartest and seeing that you don't have to say anything at all. In fact, saying nothing is often the smartest thing to do. How does that saying go? Something like "Shut up and let people assume you're stupid instead of opening your mouth and confirming it"?
- petercooper 14y ago
  Everyone wants to be the smartest person in the room. It's a shame, because it never used to be that way. And if ever it was, it was in a positive "look, I made this!" way. To me, the fact that a story like this would even get to #1 on HN says more about how HN has morphed. Would we have seen this 4 or 5 years ago? Unlikely IMHO.
  - sad_panda 14y ago
    The paranoid SEO articles really put me off.
    - billpatrianakos 14y ago
      I'm not understanding what you're referring to. Can you give a link or other example? You piqued my curiosity.
  - DanBC 14y ago
    Today is Saturday, so maybe that has some effect on placement.
- _delirium 14y ago
  Earlier discussion on the negativity meta-question: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3755228 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3755228
- K2h 14y ago
  There is a biblical reference [1] and also some quote attributed to Mark Twain [2] on keeping silent. I don't consider myself a fool, or ignorant, but choose to remain silent most of the time because of the exceptional insight many have, and I love HN for it. i just skip over the negative stuff and look for those nuggets of insight so prevelent here. [1] http://bible.cc/proverbs/17-28.htm http://bible.cc/proverbs/17-28.htm [2] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain122650.html http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marktwain122650.h...
- waterlesscloud 14y ago

gjulianm 14y ago

The only problem I see with this new watermark is that it takes too much space. It's too tall for me, it could be shorter. But it's just a tiny detail, I love the concept and the design.

freditup 14y ago
It's actually a square interestingly. Just glancing at it, I felt it was taller than it was wide. Had to measure twice to believe it was a square :D
- Drbble 14y ago
  I think the rectangle illusion is created by the text that is vertically justified but not horizontally justified.
  - thenonsequitur 14y ago
    I think the illusion is reinforced by virtue of the square itself being flush with the right-hand edge of the image, but offset from the bottom edge.
vacri 14y ago
The text also needs to be outlined - you can see how it becomes hard to read when in low-contrast/light areas of the photo.
mambodog 14y ago
You know what the purpose of a watermark is, right? The old one covered the whole image.

Devilboy 14y ago

Ripping everything apart is what HN is all about. Look at any random article on the front page and tell me I'm wrong.

billpatrianakos 14y ago
I'm telling you you're wrong. It's more about intelligent discussion and learning a thing or two than ripping everything apart. Going into anything with that mentality automatically stops you from learning anything. The front page you see may give you that impression but it's definitely not the intention.
pg 14y ago
Analysis is what HN is about. Meanness is not. The former can easily degrade into the latter, but we're fighting a constant battle against that tendency.