17 ms·

The Next Microsoft

• pwny 14y ago
  3 days redesign of a brand for fun? Whatever you think about the result, this guy has talent. I personally thought it was beautiful, really breathtaking.
  • cooldeal 14y ago
    The only thing I liked over the current ones was the palette in the first WP screenshot. Left top one on http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-images/microsoft/m26.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1341180082954 http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-images/microsof...
• revscat 14y ago
  Wow. I am always amazed at the creativity displayed by those who so obviously have talent. It makes it all the more impressive given that Microsoft would likely benefit by taking this exact marketing route. What they're doing right now certainly isn't working...
• monkeyfacebag 14y ago
  Great work, although looking at them all together like that, Microsoft's 1985 logo appears to be the best of the bunch. I suppose design is cyclical. I really like the "slate" concept, I'm just not sure it works as a button. Buttons should have roughly equal height and width. The slate looks very out of place on the physical devices themselves. Otherwise, it's great.
• programminggeek 14y ago
  This is great. It will never work. A brand has to reflect the culture of how a product is made, sold, experienced, etc... Microsoft is not about simplicity, it's about feature creep. Microsoft sells software and licenses to big companies. Big companies don't want simple, they want value for their money - features! A better brand promise would be Microsoft - It Does Everything! Look at Windows 8. Is it going metro only? No, Metro is a feature on top of the existing mountain of features. Instead of one UI, it's now TWO UI's!!! Putting this kind of branding on Microsoft is like putting the geeky kid with oversized glasses and suspenders a new wardrobe. Sure, the kid will look cooler, but it won't stop him from playing Magic: The Gathering in their basement. Microsoft has built their company on saying "yes" to just about everything. The simplest Windows ever sounds like they are saying "no" to things and that's not what Microsoft does. I love the design, but it's not Microsoft
  • ShawnBird 14y ago
    I think that the sci-fi thing fits better with some modern Linux distros. The freeness of Linux reminds me of sci-fi settings where humanity has moved beyond money, a lot of Linux enthusiasts have this kind of starry eyed idea of building the future and having complete control over your device is very empowering. You can really feel the super-computer attached to your keyboard.
  • TazeTSchnitzel 14y ago
    That's an interesting perspective that I'd never considered before. If you're right, and you sound it, then Microsoft clearly has an internal struggle. Metro is all about simple. It's fast, it's fluid, it's simple, it's "alive with activity". But it's not complex, packed with features. This is the image Microsoft wants to present to consumers. On the other hand, Microsoft's Business division is all about things packed with features. Huge, bulky, expensive, extremely powerful but bloated products. Products licensed with 3 to 6 zeros on the price. Perhaps they need two brands. The consumer brand, and the business brand, because otherwise you have constant conflict.
    • eric-hu 14y ago
      Haven't they been down this road before with the Windows NT line that they released alongside Windows 9x? I suppose the different versions of Vista and 7 speak to them re-exploring this business-consumer partitioning. I don't have the information to comment on how effective this split was for Microsoft.
      • archangel_one 14y ago
        They're not really re-exploring it, they had Home/Pro versions of XP as well. They've always drawn the line between the two, although it used to be a lot more pronounced since 9x and NT were totally different codebases whereas now they're just arbitrarily partitioning their market. I assume the 9x/NT split was decided not to be effective since they ended up moving to a single codebase.
    • maytc 14y ago
• rjv 14y ago
  I don't understand all the hate on the new Windows logo in particular. Am I the only one who doesn't have a problem with it?
  • mrspandex 14y ago
    As far as products go, that's about the only thing he changed at all. I think it just is a way to differentiate between the "old" MS and the "new" MS in branding.
• posteditdelete 14y ago
  Well, if HP wasn't going to use their MovingBrands rebrand, Microsoft might as well steal it.
• pwny 14y ago
  After looking at quite a few of his blog posts, I wouldn't be THAT surprised to read articles in a few years time about how this guy is the new Jonathan Ive. Now if only he could start working for an innovative company, I feel great designs on the way.
• DrCatbox 14y ago
  Surely a new logo and "branding communication" will change the way a corporation works and conducts its business.
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• weego 14y ago
  The irony being that chunks of that (note the boxes, bags) would match Apple stock product surrounds almost exactly if they had an apple on instead. I also don't understand in a branding exercise why you pick some photos of planets (when Apple is known for its use space imagery on the desktop) and start from there. There needs to be a reason to result path, not a pre-determined result and then ignore of fit some reason to it.
  • Kudos 14y ago
    What was Apple's reason for it?
  • pwny 14y ago
    His reason for using space as a theme is probably deriving from his thesis that Microsoft should brand itself as a bringer of future tech. What seems more futuristic than space? It also appears mystically and naturally beautiful as well as allowing for a lot of breathtaking, pure looking pictures. Windows being a window into the future, seeing space through the slate projects the image this artist had in mind.
• esbwhat 14y ago
  I'm no designer, but aren't logos supposed to be recognizable? This is a geometric shape, why not just use a square for the logo, or a triangle? Would people really associate this shape (which isn't particularly unique and probably not even trademark-able) with microsoft when they see it? I have my doubts Also unrelatedly, the missing i-dot is really throwing me off (probably just because I am used to it)
  • brittohalloran 14y ago
    Microsoft is big enough that a shape that simple could easily become their logo. What company is this: http://www.owenjonesdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/1_Nike.png http://www.owenjonesdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/1_... or this: http://www.wearesuntravel.com/SquareLogo_Jewel.303162624_std.png http://www.wearesuntravel.com/SquareLogo_Jewel.303162624_std... or this: http://www.vintagevideogamer.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/map-pin1.png http://www.vintagevideogamer.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/...
    • jdjiaikej 14y ago
      What's the second one? Edit: never mind. Its Square Up. Found it on the second page of a Google Image Search.
      • twog 14y ago
        Square
      • jdjiaikej 14y ago
        Right. I found it. Probably not the best example of a ubiquitous company with an instantly recognizable logo, unless it was just a joke.
        • X-Istence 14y ago
          With the website you are on it is highly likely that many people would instantly recognize the logo. Maybe not the general population, but here, definitely.
• eragnew 14y ago
  very interesting. hopefully someone at msft is listening. btw, would love to know what you used to put this presentation together.
• wickedchicken 14y ago
  While I think it's cool that designers show off their creativity in thinking up new ideas for old products, I could never shake the feeling that this was design's answer to fanfiction. The original creators have to look back and go "okay...?" Related: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=is+this+the+iphone+5&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=is+this+the+iphone...
  • podperson 14y ago
    Except I do not think the designer is a fan of Microsoft's existing brand image.
  • Apocryphon 14y ago
    Laughably bad fan-made hypothetical Apple products are old hat, but sometimes design fanfiction gets the attention of the companies: http://9to5mac.com/2011/12/13/apple-hires-designer-jan-michael-cart-praised-for-his-ios-interface-concepts/ http://9to5mac.com/2011/12/13/apple-hires-designer-jan-micha...
• trentmb 14y ago
  It's certainly not worse.
• neovive 14y ago
  Very nicely done!! When I first looked at the logo it reminded me of Accenture, so I don't know if the font would work, but it is a step in the right direction. I really liked the metaphor of seeing different things through the windows (slates). This could be leveraged by Microsoft as a play on "this is your Windows" or "what do you see through your Windows".
• pinkbucket 14y ago
  Weak.
• jarrettcoggin 14y ago
  I thought this was really great design work. I could definitely see getting behind this because it points out most of what I see that is wrong with MS' Windows strategy. Metro doesn't need to be on the desktop, but it's totally applicable to tablet-like devices, a la WP7/8 and Surface. If they went this route and did something like this, there would be serious impact to core Microsoft itself. But, it's definitely time for them to come into the new era, so to speak.
• EternalFury 14y ago
  Great work. But you know what they say about lipstick and pigs. Microsoft's problem is not their lack of spending on advertising, branding, marketing, PR, etc. They spend colossal amounts of money in these departments. Their problem is that they no longer know who they are. Worse, they no longer know who they want to be. In that respect, they are very close to Sony.
  • deleted 14y ago
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• bluthru 14y ago
  "Purely digital." There is no such thing. That's like saying "purely hologram". Pixels have no inherent materiality. There is nothing about the Metro UI that couldn't be recreated on a piece of paper. The goal is visual communication and delight. Sterile for the sake of sterile isn't virtuous.
  • mkr-hn 14y ago
    "Purely digital" means it avoids real-world metaphors like postal mailboxes, analog clocks and magnetic tape.
    • abrahamsen 14y ago
      I did notice that the proposed "Purely Digital" interface included icons representing an old style phone handle (which younger customers probably haven't seen), a physical letter (increasingly rare), and a paper wall calendar.
      • mkr-hn 14y ago
        The difference is that they're not fundamental to the interface. You won't see an audio player that looks like a reel-to-reel or a dialing app that looks like a rotary phone.
    • bluthru 14y ago
      Metaphors are part of visual communication. Blatantly disregarding metaphors creates unnecessary confusion and abstraction--it separates the interface from culture. Remember, all of this stuff is ultimately (and most truthfully) 1's and 0's. There is always abstraction. It is best to choose the abstraction that is most DESCRIPTIVE.
      • mkr-hn 14y ago
        Did you look at the examples? No one is talking about getting rid of metaphors.
• deleted 14y ago
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  • photon137 14y ago
    Eh? By Phone I suppose you meant Windows Phone? And Xbox runs the NT kernel for sure (though no way to confirm that).
  • untog 14y ago
    What is so wrong with Windows? Seriously. It's not perfect, but I'm yet to find an OS that is.
    • cturner 14y ago
      The big one - forking is far too slow. Others - you can't use select(..) on files. Nasty file-locking model. No good remote filesystem solution out of the box (CIFS is slow and unstable) and the third party solutions are nasty. No native workspaces and the third party attempts are nasty. You can't reflect against the system API (all current mainstream OSs suffer from this). The API is particularly thick with legacy overhead.
      • hollerith 14y ago
        The presence on your list of a complaint about workspaces is evidence that Windows is not so bad because having workspaces is not that important. OS X did not have workspaces at all for many years, and the two different versions of it they have introduced are kind of lame in the details of how they work. (Specifically, Command-Tab cycles among all open apps, not just the ones in the current workspace, as is done on Linux, and there is no other quick way to switch to a different app in the same workspace -- Mission Control not qualifying as quick -- with the result that I sometimes make a point to put two windows that "belong together" in separate workspaces just so I have a quick way to switch between them.
        • deleted 14y ago
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• lazylland 14y ago
  I'm more interested in the HN comments here. Personally, I felt it was an inconsistent, and pretty tame take on an iconic brand (I'm not a fan of the new Windows logo either). Check out his HTC 1 concept.. a bit dated but still interesting
• larrybolt 14y ago
  I think the new logo has a very interesting effect, that is according to me though. It's asymmetric yet simple. Where Apple's logo and most logo's can be perfectly centered this one doesn't. I think that's mainly because it looks "italic". I also wonder if this logo follows on certain points the golden ratio, but than again it's soo simple it shouldn't. Lastly, if you'd place this logo on varia devices they would even kind of look "unbranded" which some people, including myself, really like. I can't really explain what I mean, but compare a logitech keyboard to an Apple one, the Apple-keyboard doesn't has a logo to advertise their brand, yet it's "one of a kind". A phone without any brands explicitly written or displayed on it looks more sleek and modern to me. But don't take my opinion to serious, I'm just a developer.
  • photon137 14y ago
    That forward slant is a very well known design paradigm. Take a look at Deutsche Bank's logo - for example: https://www.db.com/index_e.htm https://www.db.com/index_e.htm
    • larrybolt 14y ago
      Thanks for the reply! But even the Deutsche Bank's logo has a square around it, which again makes it visually easier to center. I guess it's just me, but I can't help noticing how it doesn't looks centered, even if it is. Also I didn't realize Deutsche Bank has such an appealing domain name!
    • joezydeco 14y ago
      I'm surprised that nobody has pointed out that the slash in the wrong direction. Or am I just a frazzled old MS-DOS programmer?
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• shawnwall 14y ago
  I posted and complained about that same skeumorphic podcasts app today. Apple leads so much in the realm of hardware design but is starting to take steps backwards in it's own application/software design. I'm very anxious and hopeful for Microsoft to progress in this arena and give Apple some competition.
  • mathewsimonton 14y ago
    I really enjoy these designs. I see the Sony and Toshiba labels and they still throw me. I'd really like to see Microsoft step up their game in hardware. I know they all come from the same factories, but there's something about the simplicity of and the lack of another brand on Apple's products that make them so gorgeous to me.
• DannoHung 14y ago
  Huh... I had no idea the Windows 1.0 logo looked like that. It's actually rather timeless. Kinda interesting that they've brought it back a little with the new logo.
  • kenrikm 14y ago
    I noticed the same thing.. the windows 1.0 logo looked like something modern. I don't know why they did not just dust it off and go back to their roots.
  • cdcarter 14y ago
    My immediate reaction as well. Simple, elegant, and lends itself well to bold colors.
• Yarnage 14y ago
  I like it!
• keeptrying 14y ago
  Its still very "corporationish". If you see the ads for ipad or iphone (siri) on mute, you could mistake them for a Johnson & Johnson ad. Ie bright colors, people in the spaces they normally inhabit - running in the park, cooking at home etc. Microsoft needs to lose the corporate image and become what apple brands itself - part of your life.
• alberich 14y ago
  I didn't find it good at all. Why "microsoft" and not "Microsoft"? And the logo is ugly. well, after all, it's just a matter of opinion.
  • jasomill 14y ago
    Why "Microsoft" and not "MICROSOFT"? I emphatically disagree that capitalization is merely a matter of opinion, as it can have significant ramifications in both readability [1] and trademark law, especially where marks like 'Word', 'Windows', 'Excel', 'Outlook', and 'Surface' (or 'Apple', 'Pages', 'Keynote', and 'Numbers'; or 'Android'; or 'Oracle', 'Sun', and 'Java'; or ...) are concerned. [1] http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2012/06/05/a-design-with-all-caps.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2012/06/05/a-de...
    • alberich 14y ago
      I agree that capitalization is not mere opinion. I was asking why not capitalize a name? Makes Microsoft sounds like some stuff, not some business.
      • marshray 14y ago
        To me the intentional lack of capitalization always seemed a little bit pretentious. It's not a big deal and I'm probably just feeling old-fashioned, but I still wonder if it's just a passing fad.
      • Apocryphon 14y ago
        There's something (unintentionally?) cyberpunk about this. Not to be confused with the present-day software company, in Neuromancer a "microsoft" is a chip used in conjunction with a cybernetic wetware implant located behind the ear. Microsofts grant the user new abilities as long as the microsoft is plugged in. For example, a French language microsoft might be used to temporarily allow the user to speak French. The term refers to a small, portable piece of embedded software, hence "micro" and "soft." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprawl_trilogy#Glossary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprawl_trilogy#Glossary For those who don't recall, Microsoft Corporation was not always a corporate giant; at the time the author wrote this book, Microsoft was one of the many small companies that made software for those newfangled microcomputers. Microsoft the company was started in the mid-1970's; the company name was registered in 1976 and went public in 1986. Just a couple of years before this novel was written, most software for microcomputers came in a plastic bag with a disk and some photocopied instructions (if you were lucky). http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=123 http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=123
• cubtastic71 14y ago
  wow - you apple-fied microsoft. I don't feel like it's a new image or brand identity, rather just try to fit them into that "other" brands persona. interesting concept, but I think it misses the mark on the actual audience of the brand.
  • mkr-hn 14y ago
    What about it resembles Apple's branding?
    • jeremyarussell 14y ago
      The fact that it's a simple and elegant version of what microsoft was failing at attempting with their metro logo. Don't you know, Apple own the ability to make things simple and nice. Or user friendly. Or stylish in any way. /sarcasm
• deleted 14y ago
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• mahyarm 14y ago
  It's pretty good, but it's a bit cold, impersonal and corporate. Almost alienating. It has a masculine minimalist bent that reminds me of hard stone floors, benches and the alienation of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  • stcredzero 14y ago
    Impersonal was the first adjective I thought of. Of the three, Apple is the least impersonal. Though deliberately unobtrusive, Siri is quite personal, to the point of having been lampooned numerous times by comedians.
• ssmc 14y ago
  Yeah, great work. Pretty impressive; how long did all that take you? Pretty Apple inspired though; as someone said in the comments above maybe Microsoft does need to have separate public entities much like the way telecomms up here in Canada are doing (Koodo/Wind etc.)
  • jarek 14y ago
    Nitpick: while Koodo is owned by Telus, Wind is independent. Chatr, Fido, and Virgin are some of the other brands owned by the big operators. (Solo was another one, I just learned they're being killed off by Bell now.)
• grg999 14y ago
  Microsoft didn't get where it is by tweaking their marketing symbology. They got where they are by a lot of work by quite a few very smart programmers, some shrewd business moves, and a lot of luck. I can look at new symbols all day, and it's not going to change my opinion of Microsoft or their products. Not one whit. And not that it matters, but I think the slash is too stark, and, frankly, ugly. It might be liked in some boardroom, but it's not consumer friendly, and it's nothing like the touch-feely trend that is the metro interface.
• dylanhassinger 14y ago
  beautiful!
• StacyC 14y ago
  This is really nice work.
• mattieuga 14y ago
  Read this while listening to dubstep. Was totally awesome!
• CubicleNinjas 14y ago
  So make them look like Apple? Gotcha.
  • CubicleNinjas 14y ago
    I'm getting downvoted, so let me explain. I wish people would discuss their ideas instead of downvote beliefs they disagree with. 1) Space themes – This is old in Apple land. Leopard launched with a space screensaver and the galaxy background. This was in 2007. Every year they update the space themes. Not cool, not sci-fi, and far from unique. 2) Packaging – The packing mirrors Apple's current packaging exactly. Side color with white text, main image from a direct shot, black text on white. 3) Utilitarian Design – The stark modernist style was pioneered by Apple. I run a design firm, and the number one thing I've heard consistently over the past ten years "I want to look like Apple". I got sick of Apple's style in 2002. Stark in computers is one brand. 4) Logos – The flat shape approach would be good if it wasn't mirroring Apple again. The lack of depth, the application on images, the short "inspirational" text...all of this is so common for Apple it is pained. Windows is one of the most recognized brands in the world, so it still needs to retain the iconic nature. Do I think this is cool? Yes. But do I think they should do it? No way! Adopting this design is adopting cultural defeat. MS gets labeled a copycat and the worst thing they could do would be to rip-off the worlds most profitable brand. Why not adopt the Metro approach? It can be refined further, made into a similar overview, and actually still "feels" Microsoft with being something completely new.
    • brandoncapecci 14y ago
      "The worst thing they could do would be to rip-off the worlds most profitable brand." There's a oxymoron if I've ever seen one...
• stcredzero 14y ago
  - Apple - Skeuomorphic - Google - Hybrid - Microsoft - Purely digital I agree that this is one of the things Metro has right. It's even more "about the content" than Google or Apple is. In the case of Apple, I think this may be intentional. Apple is also about the personal. Skeuomorphic interfaces can be used to evoke memories associated with physical objects and past technology.
  • creamyhorror 14y ago
    This rings true for me. The retro look of Winamp brings back vivid memories. I'm not sure how well Metro's content-is-everything aesthetic will go down with the public; it's bold, but possibly too much so. This proposed rebranding veers a bit too cold (or Orwellian, as someone else said) for me, despite its futuristic appearance. I'd be afraid that MS would turn out to be an amoral megacorp that was trying to develop weaponize alien lifeforms. The style is cool; a bit too cool. Still, a lot of respect to the designer for putting this great piece of work together.
    • stcredzero 14y ago
      I'd be afraid that MS would turn out to be an amoral megacorp... Too late. Hopefully, they won't go down any pathways involving weaponizing alien lifeforms. (1 - become amoral, 2 - weaponize alien, 3 - ????, 4- PROFIT!!) Really all three are amoral megacorps. Apple has been good at putting personable faces on its brand. Google still has some "Don't be Evil" cred, and is still held in good regard for open standards. Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do in the PR department. Then again, maybe Microsoft should apply the principles of Judo, and just go with it. Instead of fighting the public perception currents, they could gain incredible momentum by going with them. Forget the progressive and clinical Sci-fi future -- embrace dystopian darkness and evil! That stuff is geek-cool! For me, Steve Ballmer publicly and wholeheartedly embracing evil would result in an 800% increase in credibility. Add an evil scientist laugh, and he'd get an equal boost in nerd-cred. http://imgur.com/3Seb8 http://imgur.com/3Seb8 Also, they could dispense with their long struggle to be cool. Just embrace basement-dweller IT-worker RPG-playing nerdyness. Microsoft: Just Be Evil! Microsoft: Inflict your users, for the Lulz! Microsoft: Help us destroy society and make your Sci-Fi dreams come true!
• kalmsy 14y ago
  Love the effort, but that typeface is just horrific! Badly hinted and that 'm'? Jeebus.
• kitsune_ 14y ago
  This design is Orwellian in nature. In the current age of global wars, international terrorism, financial turmoil, outsourced labor, awakening behemoths (China), increasing corruption, people fear the future. Look at Apple, classic 1960's space age retro. Look at Instagram. Cozy and nostalgic polaroid filters. If I designed for the future, I'd take hints from the past. A key difference is that in the past, different social groups had something to look forward to (emancipation and liberation), despite the looming threat of thermonuclear warfare. Nowadays? In the western hemisphere? It's all gloom and doom. In western markets - Your brand should function as an opiate, it should reassure and placate people. In emerging markets - Sell the American dream of old. Of course there's a third way, show us a way out of here. But for that advertisement alone is not enough. You'd have to change how your business runs and make a lasting impact on society. Forget shareholder value and start thinking about society.
  • jsnk 14y ago
    I think Andrew's take on Microsoft delivers the right kind of futurism for consumers. It is sleek and simple. Straight lines, and angular corners seems to convey speediness, responsiveness, practicality and productivity. I think I can relate to you when you way the design is Orwellian in one aspect. The slate design is so stripped down from its original logo that it doesn't really convey Microsoft anymore. It is so simple that the feeling that conveys what Microsoft really is, isn't found in the logo. But perhaps, that is how Andrew hopes Microsoft would be seen to the public. Sure Microsoft has a huge division doing enterprise stuff, but to consumers, that isn't always the ideal way to present your company. Maybe this is a step in the right direction.
    • kitsune_ 14y ago
      With poetic licence, the argument that the design is Orwellian in nature, can easily be made :) The "slate", the brand's corner stone, is inspired by the emptiness you feel when you stare into the abyss of the myriad of windows that tower above you from faceless, anonymous skyscrapers. Welcome to the future, where you are one of many.
  • potatolicious 14y ago
• monkeynotes 14y ago
  Microsoft's major problem is not the branding. The branding is just a symptom of the underlying problem which is its culture.
• rndmize 14y ago
  I don't find it appealing. The surface version of the logo, especially, bothers me; it feels off-balance due to the size of the geometric block and its placement. Personal issues with the design aside, I also don't think the overall idea is any good. Microsoft as a whole doesn't need to be futuristic or hip or apple-ish. For its corporate customers especially, I think this would be counter-productive. Instead, they should take Microsoft Research and really DO SOMETHING with it. Such as attaching an accelerator of sorts, where small groups of entrepreneurs/innovators can take something MS Research has developed and see if they can make a marketable product out of it. Surface really feels like the case in point here - they're how many years behind in finally releasing something to the consumer market? I remember reading that the cool desk in the The Island (2005, two years prior to the iPhone) was a MS research surface prototype or something; and yet it took them another four years to get a product out, and they priced it at 10k and sold it to phone retailers. Phone retailers! What the actual fuck?! Today, all of that seems to have fallen by the wayside in favor of tablets. It feels like MS is following the TSA model - wait until something big happens, then do something about it, instead of the other way around. Anyway, if MS Research got a new logo that could be attached to semi-independent MS-funded experimental projects aimed at getting something to market, I could see a futuristic/high-tech branding being a useful thing to have. For MS in general, I don't.
  • justincormack 14y ago
    Surface was not a real product. Sure they sold it for 10k but that was cost. It got a Microsoft cool product into design agencies. No phone retailers were harmed...
• brudgers 14y ago
  It's a thought provoking study. However, the 2012 Windows logo kerns with text (Metro is text centered) in a way that is simply not possible with the proposed slash...which reminds me of a Kubric's obelisk. With the downside of suggesting "2001." And the translation of the slash to Office looks like cubicle partitions rather than the shared workspace of the current logo (e.g. office doors all facing each other). Though that's not to say that the current Office logo couldn't use a makeover.
• blhack 14y ago
  Dear everybody, Are you paying attention? This is how you build a portfolio. Did microsoft ask this person to do this? No. But he did it, and it's brilliant, and now he can put it in his portfolio under "speculative work". And then he gets a job doing this. I can't tell you how many people I talk to (I live in a college town, and frequently go to bars and strike up conversations with people) who just finished, or are working on, some degree in "design", but have an empty portfolio, and are waiting for their "big shot". Good job, Andrew. Totally rebranding the window to the "slate" is incredibly ambitious, but it certainly looks good.
  • kpennell 14y ago
    2nd this!
    • ShawnBird 14y ago
      If you click the triangle next to the username it will 'upvote' the comment and help get it to the top. Replies have no effect on rank so there is really no reason to reply unless you have something to add.
      • ancymon 14y ago
        If you click triangle pointing downwards next to the username it will 'downvote' the comment and help make it "invisible". Replies have no effect on rank so there is really no reason to reply unless you have something to add.
        • ericson578 14y ago
          can someone make this into a meme already, reading is so tiresome.
        • brittohalloran 14y ago
          mmmm I think you're thinking of StackOverflow. No down triangles here
• thallada 14y ago
  "My God, it's full of stars!"
• shmerl 14y ago
  New or next. Same thing in new package. Microsoft is a proprietary dinosaur of the previous era, which doesn't realize its time is slowly running out.
• crisnoble 14y ago
  I have never wanted a Microsoft product so badly. This is such a bad ass project!
• OzzyB 14y ago
  Absolutely exceptional work.
• kristiandupont 14y ago
  I like the designs but to me, space signals "past" more than "future". Or rather, it says "future, as it looked in the last century".
  • keithpeter 14y ago
    Glad you said that. I'm old and can remember the moon landings. I loved the images as well. I'm sitting in an open plan staffroom with hundreds of Windows 7 PCs with bright high colour screensavers. The room has primary colour (slightly pastel) desks and white walls with displays of student work. The building we work in is new, with curves and a 4 story atrium. Not sure how many will recognise the images here and what the younger people will think about it. The moon shot images on my monitor just disappear into sludge from more than 10ft. Not sure about the moon shot images or the modernist skyscrapers.... nostalgia?
• voxmatt 14y ago
  Rad.
• evo_9 14y ago
  Nicely done. I think the only 'mistake' is the shot of Balmer in there - nothing against the man, just think if you are truly trying to break their current image problem, then showing him doesn't help that cause. Otherwise, really well done.
• thisisstupid 14y ago
  It sucks.
• woj 14y ago
  That slate and the word "next" remind me of something... Ah, I know - http://www.logodesignlove.com/images/classic/next-logo-paul-rand.jpg http://www.logodesignlove.com/images/classic/next-logo-paul-...
• sjwright 14y ago
  Allow me to be contrarian for a moment and say I don't like it. It's a nice experiment, and it's better than the new Windows logo, but to me it fails on a few different grounds. -- The typographic mark is less substantial, and the typeface is just poor. The existing logo isn't pretty, but it works just fine, and the arrow device connecting the O and S is cute. -- The use of a lower case "m" is just a slave to a trend that died years ago. And some idiot in marketing will decide that it has to be written as 'microsoft', even at the beginning of a sentence. -- The new design language with the "Deutsche Bank" logo competes and clashes with all the work Microsoft have put into their Metro design language. As much as I despise the new Windows logo, the Metro theme has been well implemented in stores and marketing.
  • irollboozers 14y ago
    I don't think MS would have any problem with branding trademarks... if they wanted it, they could have it.
  • mattdeboard 14y ago
    It's not contrarian when a full half of the top-level commenters say they don't care for it. And really this seems to me pretty much par for the course for design work here on HN. Every single time someone posts an attempt at some design work that they have taken very seriously, it quickly degrades into a contest to see whom can say "meh" the most dramatically.
    • sjwright 14y ago
      At the time I posted, 90% of the top level commenters were positive about the design. A vast majority of the top level comments are still positive. A great brand design is like a great API -- it's easy to build something that can pass casual scrutiny, but it's damn hard to make something that can survive decades in the field, appeal to many different type of customer, withstand changes in technology/aesthetic, and grow elegantly.
• khalidosama 14y ago
  like wow microsoft keeps amaze me,it never sink.THUMB UP MICROSOFT check out the best blog for youth www.90sfuture.weebly.com
  • jorgem 14y ago
    This is my favorite comment of all. I like that people thought it was real.
• steve8918 14y ago
  Wow, excellent work! The only thing I would change is the black and white space photography. While it's very cool, the grayscale lunar landscape photography doesn't quite convey the feeling of future to me... it feels a bit too bleak and desolate to me and maybe even depressing. I would consider adding a splash of color somehow (they are the designer, not me!). It would take a little of the edge off of something that is mass-consumer-oriented, in my opinion. But regardless, the concept and the work is fantastic!
  • sp332 14y ago
    I agree, unfortunately it's already being used by Microsoft! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo which led to this amazing parody https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ideYfNcEZsI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ideYfNcEZsI
• nhashem 14y ago
  We could debate whether this would "work" on a practical level as if this was a Powerpoint presentation for Steve Ballmer and we're supposed to predict how he'd react. But I'm really just finding myself appreciating the "space/science fiction" metaphor for technology. Steve Jobs has often quoted Apple as "advancing the human race." I feel like this takes it to the next level. I felt myself wanting this company to exist just on pure principle. Whenever I read older science fiction, occasionally I'll recognize the story is supposedly set somewhere between 2000-2100 A.D., and yet we wear spandex and zoom around with FTL travel and fight aliens with lasers and make food with replicators, etc. And I'll smirk and think, "heh, he was way off," but beneath that cynicism, there's just a bit of regret that we just didn't actually evolve in that way. And I guess this is why the branding here resonated with me so much -- it touched that part of me and convinced me that this company could make all that reality after all. As an engineer I feel like I have a hyper-literal mindset where most branding and advertising just washes over me. I live in a world where it matters what things "do," not how they "feel," so some guys playing volleyball with girls in bikinis while drinking Coors Light just washes over me as a bizarre way to stay hydrated while at the beach. But as I said earlier, I wanted this company to exist. I wanted to feel the things that this branding made me feel. I wanted to strap myself into this spaceship that this company was building and fly wherever it would take me. Practically speaking, that company probably won't be the one we all know as the bloated monopolistic entity that makes most of its profits from boring office productivity software. But this made me wish it was.
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  • alexirobbins 14y ago
    The "slate" logo is okay. The promise of delivering the future is brilliant. I had the same exact reaction to it - there needs to be a multi-billion dollar company devoted to this philosophy! I think microsoft is in a unique position to become this company - they suck right now and they have the resources. I also think Ballmer probably will see this. I bet he'll see it and he'll like it, but worry that it's too big of a shift. I don't know what they're working on internally, but if I were in his shoes, I'd go for it. Bundle the phone with the laptop and do whatever it takes to allow tethering at no extra fee. That's not going far enough. Create an ecosystem with clear direction that upsets the market, under the banner of delivering the future of science fiction. I'm a mac, and I want to be excited to buy microsoft.
• septerr 14y ago
  Awesome designs. Microsoft rebranding experiment outshines their own branding but that work pales in comparison to your other works. I wanted to keep looking at your other designs. They simply please. Have you pitched to Coca Cola and Microsoft? And why isn't someone already making the divine Powder watches or the Pal? I haven't had the chance to read through the text and comments on those pages. Maybe they are already in production which they should be~
• deleted 14y ago
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• twodayslate 14y ago
  metro really needs more pallets. I would prefer a RGB color picker. This seems very doable.
• desireco42 14y ago
  The only thing here extra is Steve Balmer, get him out of the picture if you want to go to the future, otherwise, I can't wait to have my hands on genuine touch screen computer that win8 will provide. Oh, so this not official MS rebranding, well it should be, and kudos to that guy who made it, great work. Love it.
• jejones3141 14y ago
  Not bad, but I doubt they'll do anything about their branding or logo for a while--they just recently switched to the one that looks like the Ames Window... and as we all know, that's an illusion.
• mangoman 14y ago
  That was the first time I saw the Windows 1.0 logo (I'm in college). It looks REALLY similar to the windows 8 logo, but I actually prefer the 1.0 logo. The asymmetric lines, and rounded edges really remind me of a lot of the app logos you see in the android and iphone market place, and it's single color scheme reminds me of metro's strong lines. I think it would have been cool if Microsoft pointed out where they got the windows 8 logo (assuming they did do a redesign of the 1.0 logo), and maybe kept a little more of the 1.0 icon look.
• robomartin 14y ago
  I don't care what logos look like. I care about what products do. I also care about how the company treats its customers and developers. That said, nobody put a Microsoft sticker on their car. Maybe Microsoft should think about that a little. The designs proposed by the article would most-definitely not have me even consider a sticker on my car (which has zero stickers, but that's another topic).
• irollboozers 14y ago
  I wanted to hijack a top comment to say what I will, but decided against it, just because I didn't expect this thread to have such divergent views. This portfolio to me just fucking gets it. The design thinking going on here is incredible, in that it frames the challenge correctly and immediately, and then fills that gap really well. MS has for a long time had the vision, but the brand and feel of that vision has never matched. It results in the feeling that some boring and risk-averse engineers are running the marketing department. MS has no clear sense of self. Web 2.0 and startups today focus and thrive on that sense of self, because it's the only way to stand out in a sea of Microsoft's, Oracle, Cisco, etc. Because of this, I feel like this new branding attempt resonates with a very specific crowd - young 20-something's like me. It's very clear to me the ones who are talking about lipstick and pigs in this thread are completely missing the point of this experiment. That's what design thinking and branding is all about. Congratulations man, I can bet you a team full of marketing guys (whoever's left that is) are shaking in their boots right now. Not for the branding or design, but for what their branding is failing to do. *edit - just food for thought for the forward thinking nature of this design, the FB thread I found this on is blowing up at a rate of a shit ton of likes and comments, all young 20 somethings who are really impressed.
• e03179 14y ago
  The best brand pitched here is that of the author. If he is looking for a job, I hope he gets one.
• macco 14y ago
  Interesting that Nokia is allready a part of Microsoft. And since when is Apple a friendly company?
• dmor 14y ago
  The next Microsoft... is not Microsoft. Sadly.
• pooriaazimi 14y ago
  What I particularly hate about MS branding right now is those stupid, unnecessary (TM) and (R)'s that follow names of their products... Just look at this picture for God's sake: http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-images/microsoft/m19.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1341179900853 http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-images/microsof... or head over to their website: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx It's ridiculous. So "Windows" is a registered trademark of Microsoft. Big deal, but why put it after every single mentioning of the name?! Doesn't it bother you ( = MS marketing guys) to see little dots (they're so little that you can't even say if they're (tm) or (r)'s!) after product names? Isn't it ugly in your opinions? Apple doesn't do it. Google doesn't either. Oracle does it too, however. Congrats, MS; you're as uncool as a database company.
  • bztzt 14y ago
    They are a database company :)
• zxcvvcxz 14y ago
  The graphics on this are just so awesome. In particular black-and-white images with those particular font choices. What are those fonts? Really interested.
• FreshCode 14y ago
  I like how designers are beginning to feel compelled to point out the disconnect between the old Microsoft and the new. To me this signifies the impending reinvention of the Microsoft brand. Their development tools (like Visual Studio 2012) are so far ahead of anything out there that their new product designs delight without surprise. That being said, these proposed designs take minimalism too far.
• pippy 14y ago
  I haven't got excited about a mockup since I saw the windows 8 concepts: http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-ui-concept http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-ui...
• yaix 14y ago
  Or how about this: MS could just build again inovative and beautiful products and invent new stuff that pushes the limits of technology, rather than only having the legal and marketing departments kill off competing products? Sounds crazy, I know. The new Windows interface is a good start. But with Balmer at the top, I don't have much hope.
• coridactyl 14y ago
  As a longtime Apple product fanslave I've got to say, something like this would be welcome competition. Apple's obsession with sickly-sweet sentimentality (seriously, who uses FaceTime with any regularity?) grates on the nerves. A cold sci-fi revamp is exactly what I'm expecting from Microsoft in the next few years. It's obviously started to dominate their product line and is slowly permeating their flagship UI. The dubsteppiness of the Surface commercial wasn't an accident. It will take a long while before the company has earned itself a rebrand, because a rebrand without actual, significant and, here's the kicker, successful change to its entire product line (including Windows, that poor magnificent demented bastard of an OS) is an empty gesture and deserving of contempt and mockery. Microsoft is fighting an uphill battle with itself, but it has one advantage on its side: technology rapidly changes and improves, and it's only accelerating. As long as the company doesn't fall too far behind, the shifting landscape of mobile platforms, touch surfaces and desktop v. small screen conventions will be a perfect excuse to retire its failed products entirely, rather than endlessly iterating and mutating them beyond reason. If they can scrape by long enough to let the features rot fully and throw the garbage out the window, and finally shine some sunlight on their promising new seeds, they will be able to justify a new brand. Til then, moar dubstep.
• anigbrowl 14y ago
  I can't stand design pomposity, but this is excellent. As a ~25 year Microsoft fan, who thinks the company is much smarter than it is given credit for, hire this guy already.
• losethos 14y ago
  I've been denied my window on the market with LoseThos. God is just. I'll take compensation in God swag. You guys are fucked. God says... returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land. 8:4 And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done. 8:5 And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life. 8:6 And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now. ---- God says... no_way_dude far_out_man recipe now_that_I_think_about_it think_you_could_do_better a_flag_on_that_play One_finger_salute you_shouldn't_have I_was_just_thinking Shhh Boo crazy ghastly commanded debt wonderful busybody no_more homo thank_you_very_much whale comedy by_the_way duck_the_shoe high_mucky_muck oil how_about_those_yankees why_is_it adultery tattle_tale place ba_ha high_mucky_muck Ivy_league comedy sex you_think_I'm_joking Dad Oh_really fool not_a_chance_in_hell strip I'm_the_boss no_you_cant you_talkin'_to_me youre_lucky whoop_there_it_is are_you_insane goods fake bad_ol_puddytat run_away Okilydokily hold_on_a_minute youre_welcome I'm_not_dead_yet doh basket_case so_let_it_be_done beep_beep cursing ---- God says... 8:2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. 8:3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. 8:4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, 8:5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces: 8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? 8:7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.
• ender7 14y ago
  So, I'm not a huge fan, but definitely an interesting attempt. Some commentary, because why not: - As others have noted, the "moonshot" imagery is a good idea and manages to seem classic and futuristic at the same time. - The wordmark is a little cliche (lowercase sans wooo), but it looks okay. I like the beveled foot of the t, which provides echoes of the slanted logo, but feel like it's just an afterthought right now. I wonder what it might have looked like with a few more bevels. - The slate shape is nice, but it's not an uncommon shape. In order to avoid confusion you're going to need something to make it extremely recognizable. A strong color identity will help a lot here. Your system of positioning the log above the top-left corner of text also helps, but only if there's text around. You know you will have succeeded when the demo image of the woman in the orange jacket is unquestionably your logo and not a random part of the jacket design (which it could be mistaken for at the moment). - The derived logos (Windows, Office) are a little confusing. Why is windows two slates? Why are the slates fighting in Office? Why doesn't metro have any slates / why is it even up there with Windows and Office? To create a family of logos you actually need a sense of "family" -- this just feels like the first two things that popped into your head. - It's still a little unclear whether the slate logo is also Microsoft's logo, or whether the corporation itself will just use the new wordmark. Why is the slate logo used on the Windows Phone? Shouldn't it be double-slates? - Maybe it's just my screen, but your color palletes for metro don't look that great. Dark blue on black is hard to overcome; the teal is too light compared to the white text; the black theme is hard to distinguish from the black background. - I really, really like the combination of screen reflection and slate logo that you see in the ad for the Nokia phone. You see those fake reflections on any ad for a device with a glass screen. I think you could turn that into an enduring visual language for ads.
  • bascule 14y ago
    "The derived logos (Windows, Office) are a little confusing. Why is windows two slates? Why are the slates fighting in Office?" Apparently you missed what I thought were some pretty awesome visual metaphors: * "Why is windows two slates?" there are two of them, hence Windows plural * "Why are the slates fighting in Office?" They look like the walls of an office (the transparency helps with the 3D illusion)
• WiseWeasel 14y ago
  The only thing that strikes me as in poor taste is the choice of colors for the new palette. His monitor must have really low saturation, because a few of those colors look pretty bad on mine. The light grey looks dull and dirty, and the contrast with the text is insufficient on the light blue and orange backgrounds, both of which are too bright to be comfortable; though they might be fine with dark grey text instead of white. It's really hard to find a light blue and light orange/yellow that looks good as a solid background for text on a wide range of displays, and white text on a light background is just asking for trouble. Other than that, this is some fine work. Microsoft should hire this guy to replace the person currently in charge of branding, marketing and packaging design (or invent that position and make all those people report to him).
• dictum 14y ago
  http://hipsterbranding.tumblr.com/ http://hipsterbranding.tumblr.com/
• josephcooney 14y ago
  I liked it a lot, except for the "promise made, promise kept" by-line.
• dgcoffman 14y ago
  This reminds me of Nike branding, which is very powerful.
• dclowd9901 14y ago
  I was into it, until I saw it running on the boring, generic hardware. The reason Apple's products are so inspirational, so meaningful, and so timeless is because from the moment you see the computer, before it even turns on, you're entranced. Apple knows that the experience of using a product starts right from the moment a person sees it, and they've made that part of their mission. Yes, ownership of everything from the hardware to the software is inevitably part of that, but in my mind, it's what makes Apple work from boot-up to shutdown.
• xefer 14y ago
  Having the company name start with a lowercase letter always seems "weak" to me.
• mgunes 14y ago
  Some relevant writing on unsolicited redesigns from last year, worth bearing in mind in this context, by - Lukas Mathis: http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2011/05/15/unsolicited_redesigns/ http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2011/05/15/unsolicited_redesig... - Khoi Vinh: http://www.subtraction.com/2011/07/28/unsolicited-redesigns http://www.subtraction.com/2011/07/28/unsolicited-redesigns - Andy Rutledge: http://andyrutledge.com/journalism.php http://andyrutledge.com/journalism.php
• vacri 14y ago
  I like it a lot (except for the dotless 'i'), but can you trademark a parallelogram?
• chj 14y ago
  Love this guy's work. His metro UI looks much more fun than the original one.
• jimmyjazz14 14y ago
  While I appreciate the work that was put into this I gotta say I really don't like it. The "slate" logo looks cold and enigmatic which is really not something that a large corporation like Microsoft generally wants to be seen as. I actually think one thing Microsoft has going for it is its familiarity, its a brand almost everyone has a history with and to the average consumer at least that a big selling point. The lettering also feels particularly generic and a little on the trendy side. Of course its all a matter of taste I imagine.
• adventureful 14y ago
  The slate logo is every bit as 'visually uncomfortable' as the Windows logo on that tablet. And the kinda-sorta-connecting office logo style is just plain terrible.
• capkutay 14y ago
  I would highly consider microsoft products if they were marketed that way...but they aren't and they never will be.
• kposehn 14y ago
  I was really impressed by this. As nhashem said, "I wanted this company to exist". The "Mankind's most advanced phone" image was what really did it for me. Here is an extremely talented person who really has vision, with a subtlety to match. What I wish for the most, is that more people will show their vision in this way. We need to re-imagine like this all the time, otherwise ideas and vision become stale. And when vision becomes stale, the future becomes mediocre.
• wbillingsley 14y ago
  What I particularly like about this is that it fits with changes Microsoft have already been making (a move to minimalism and a focus on the content and clean lines, with extraneous UI elements normally off-screen and need to be swiped in). So, rather than the spec proposal coming across as an arrogant "About face and do it my way", it comes across as a thoughtful and sympathetic proposal based around their business.
• jmduke 14y ago
  Curiously, Microsoft's most exciting project outside of the general SV/HN community, Xbox, is absent.
• deleted 14y ago
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• potomushto 14y ago
  Everything is amazing, but I especially liked a screenshot of the New Wallet. Metro app done right!
• katsumeiyo 14y ago
  Simply brilliant, what's everyone bellow and above's me problem lol, can't someone work just be appreciated. Sheesh
• zapt02 14y ago
  Beautiful!
• SuggestionBox 14y ago
  +1
• jpegleg 14y ago
  Good work! I would say that the over all feel may be a bit too trendy/hip for microsoft's business market, but I can see this being very strong for the younger crowd. Thanks for sharing!
• generalcalm 14y ago
  Nice, but while your at it, why not change the name too, to "MACrosoft"
• Fused 14y ago
  Actually I like it. Microsoft should jump right in to it imo ^^
• Ewoks4life 14y ago
  How incredibly pretentious. The woman in the orange hoody is just super lame.
• zachinglis 14y ago
  There's looking cool, and there's being functional. This has even less personality than their current branding.
• JesusHChrist 14y ago
  The first thing MS should do is fire a whole bunch of people. I'd start with Balmer.
• idspispopd 14y ago
  Design isn't about just being radical and experimental (which has a place). Good designers know when to use these features while obeying the over arching rule of design: Don't just include elements because you fancy them (or the idea of them) - They must work completely on their own merits. As an experiment this is interesting, as a proposition it's very poor, it's design-poor. This is subjective, but in my view it's both too abstract and unruly for microsoft and fails the continuity test. Unstructured logos need careful examination, this is more experimental than logical. Also Deutsche bank has a very similar logo which is ill-advised in general. With regard to the new microsoft logo type this is visually imbalanced, particularly with the use of various clashing typographic styles. For example the x-height limited 'i' is at odds with the "ft" ligature which ascends above the x-height. Letter terminals are square, then the 't' on the end suddenly has two angled terminals which directly contradict the 'f' it's attached to. It doesn't come across as flair, it comes across as trying to add interest where there is none. Also the type in general is poor, it's variously weighted strokes present a mottled "grey area" and the surrounding "white space" is unnatural to read.
  • yakshaving 14y ago
    I completely agree - It seems like this is one of the only other design responses on this board. Every point you've made here is right. The harsh angles and general feeling of a "sharp razor" are just not right for Microsoft, or many other companies actually. It's experimental which is cool, but just far too strong to be adopted.
• NahcDivad 14y ago
  I can appreciate the guy who did this for the amount of work he put into it, but the actual design feels incredibly uninspired. The space motif screams of a PBS or Discovery Channel special. Also, isn't the "Slate" already the name of an actual tablet?
• c141charlie 14y ago
  Microsoft should fire their VP of Marketing immediately without severance. Then hire this guy as his/her replacement. He should be given a $1 million retention bonus for 365 days of employment. Or better yet, Microsoft should create a new position called President of Simplification and Branding, then have all employees, including Steve Balmer, report to him. The first thing he should do in his new role is fire Balmer. The second thing he should do, which is alluded to in his presentation, is roll up all subsets of a given product into a single SKU. For example Windows 7 has the following versons: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. This does not include sub-editions, upgrade editions, and family pack editions. All of this should simply roll into a single version that includes all features. Let it be named Windows 7. Do the same thing for the upcoming Windows 8. Drop 32 bit support outright. For windows set the price for this single version to $50.00. After making this change alone, you could probably eliminate 500 FTE head count. Do this across all product lines and you could eliminate thousands of jobs, and numerous levels of management, a move that would reduce costs, but far more importantly interject some much needed nimbleness into the organization. Next combine all like products that compete with each other. For example, consolidate Windows Media Player, Zune, and XBox Music product groups into a single product group. Kill notepad. Acquire Light Table or Sublime Text editor and include it with every copy of the OS. Fire 1 and 3 program managers. Fire 2 in 3 product managers. Increase the base salary of every engineer by $30,000.00 or rebase their salary to $200,000, whichever is more. I'm just getting started but you get the point ...
  • tcpekin 14y ago
    I'm confused if this is sarcasm or not. I'd like to believe sarcasm, but if it's not, then could you explain why they would ever drop 32 bit support outright? Perhaps on new versions, but are there not problems that come with 64 bit installs and 32 bit drivers? I would assume that much of the scientific/technical drivers, not to mention old printer drivers, would not get updated and therefore be unusable. However I could be completely wrong, so I'd like some more information on this. Thanks.
• Lisa2000 14y ago
  This is what the preview of Microsoft's new web site could have looked like, very well done, inspiring.
• aniketpant 14y ago
  I went through more or less all of the comments out here and many of them say that the effort is great but it's not implementable. I really don't understand what makes you say that, many of the people have given out points like: * typefaces suck * 'moonshot' ain't nice * the slate doesn't mean much To be frank I am quite amazed by the point I put above. I have been following minimallyminimal's blog for quite some time now and his work is really amazing. And specifically this rebranding effort carries a lot of meaning and shows the dedication he put in. He has taken so many cases to showcase the usage of the 'slate' logo. As for me, I love the slate logo a lot. He is able to make different combinations by transforming the original base unit and created logos for other products. I feel that it adds more value to the logo because of it's flexibility and fluidity. The old logo couldn't be transformed in any manner to generate logos of their other products. -- And the worst part of all this discussion here is that it went astray at so many places. But, if Microsoft had this logo in the Windows 7 products, no one would have said a thing then. We just accept what the company is offering. When someone put in his time in doing a rebranding, I guess we better appreciate it and put in relevant points. Pouring in crap like 'the design is poor' doesn't do any good to anyone.
• vlokshin 14y ago
  This is really nicely done. This is also just a love-child of microsoft and apple. That's ok though.
• jonkl 14y ago
  One fact: that slate trapezoid is wAy better than the new slanted window logo. The entire project is an improvement. Ps, can't wait for winrt, can't type on this stupid iPad (I'm gonna give it to my grandma to read the news on)
• nutjob123 14y ago
  I want to pay this kid to hang around the office and come up with remedies to our questionable design decisions.
• ncourage 14y ago
  This was an amazing work. That's all I have to say with my first post on a 2-minute new account.
• prtamil 14y ago
  Your design made me to like Microsoft and Look Current Microsoft product in different Eye. Believe me I'm a Linux Hacker.
• pooranprasad 14y ago
  Brilliant scheme.. might not work for Microsoft as it Enterprise focused, and mockups are more concentrated on Consumer focused. Though Office might look small, corps still love MS Office. Windows Server family, Azure Family, most of these are nowadays forefront tech from Microsoft. Dev tools is another aspect of Microsoft arsenal. Little bit more work might be required. Good effort though :) Would love to see Microsoft taking some hints from this design.
• VijaySailappan 14y ago
  I dont think the science fiction(tomorrow is here) kinda branding will work. Verizon tried a lot with for their Driods without luck.
• maguay 14y ago
  This somehow reminds me of Aol.'s new branding, which as I remember was soundly criticized in most design circles...
• lavametender 14y ago
  Has some consistency issues and flaws in design. Not perfect typeface, windows logo is smaller than office/surface logo, looks as stranger in set, metro/xbox has no logo, logo/ui relations could be better across the board. But. For 3 days project, good.
• gtirloni 14y ago
  Lots of good intentions but by making it public, you ensure Microsoft cannot and/or will not consider it. Their marketing people might even actively try to avoid anything similar to this.
• foxhop 14y ago
  The ev1 was marketed as "sci-fi" and "advancing the human race". It used dark settings and scared consumers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7cgUm7o9k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7cgUm7o9k). If you go for sci-fi don't go for scary dark moon pictures. Personally I link the moon surface pictures to the death star. When the Playstation 3 was running commercials they used weird sci-fi shorts that were confusing and didn't show off the product. Also ps3 did not perform (sales) as well as the wii or xbox 360. more examples: 5gum tv marketing, Hulu's alien marketing I would be curious to see if this sort of marketing actually hurts sales.
• sequoia 14y ago
  I really liked this stuff. I am commenting just to mention that my "free association" response to the two slashes together was "[nazi] SS." I think it looks nice but that just popped into my head. Kudos on the awesome rebranding proposal in any case! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_faQqAqCMoKc/TDxWZNPnD2I/AAAAAAAABEo/-o1uFs6lSHk/s1600/SS.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_faQqAqCMoKc/TDxWZNPnD2I/AAAAAAAABE...
• tenaciousV 14y ago
  I would hope Microsoft(M) would listen and eliminate some features. Even M is not about simplicity it can learn from others how to do it. Bravo, great work.
• thebuccaneer 14y ago
  Eh, the logo also looks like the bit of the blade you snap off on a utility knife. Not sure that's a good image to convey. :p "If you don't buy our products, someone from Microsoft will cut you." http://image.made-in-china.com/4f0j00veRTkBUralbh/Utility-Knife-30105-.jpg http://image.made-in-china.com/4f0j00veRTkBUralbh/Utility-Kn...
• nickbauman 14y ago
  Branding is lying. Plain and simple. In order to execute this strategy, Microsoft would need to corporate equivalent of a brain transplant. Will never happen. Given these truths, this branding exercise is masturbation.
• kaushalc 14y ago
  If only all the problems of a company could be solved by changing its logo...
• Apocryphon 14y ago
  Just wondering, is minimalism really the forward of design where it comes to software-related aesthetics? You'd think so that, on principle, computers are getting more and more user-friendly and easy to understand, so minimalism and simplicity should follow. On the other hand, should every company embrace minimalist aesthetics, as both Apple and Google have?
• echo_wang 14y ago
  It may hurt.
• nsfyn55 14y ago
  This is the same uninspired crap that Microsoft always puts out. M$'s problem is not their marketing its their leadership. They keep making superficially changes and marketing them as huge leaps. XP-->Windows 7 = some gui changes. I launch the system program and tada its exactly the same as it was in Windows 98. The most innovrative thing they've announced in a long time is locking down your install completely to prevent install of unsigned software. Apple makes new products. Google takes real risks to change the way things are done. Microsoft is way to risk averse for the space they are trying to play in. Step one to a good rebranding effort. Change what it is your selling. You can rebrand a turd as a chocolate lollipop and expect me to drop what I'm doing to rush to the candy store.
• asciilifeform 14y ago
  "Microsoft is a once-in-a-civilization disaster." (from http://www.xach.com/naggum/articles/3243717585684194@naggum.no.html http://www.xach.com/naggum/articles/3243717585684194@naggum....)
• greenmanmax 14y ago
  From a marketing point of view: Great work! I really like the "slate" logo. The only thing i didnt' like that much was the font: Espacially the "c" looks strange. But the rest: Just nice! I would hire you, if my name was ballmer ;)