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Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

seattletimes.nwsource.com

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Re: Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

#51

Post by buro9 »

pilsetnieks wrote: post #48
buro9 wrote: post #44

For me... personally, the logo doesn't work. I am slightly colour blind. The logo in the article I see just fine, and all of the squares are the same size. And I get it... Metro theme. The favicon.ico and small logo on Microsoft.com Those don't fair as well. The red and yellow squares are much larger than the green and blue, and my eyes see a throbbing line around the bottom and left of the red box, and a black line…

The differing lines and popping squares are not because of your color-blindness, someone did an absolutely terrible job resizing the logo images for the website and preparing the favicon. Also, rounded corners on the favicon? It's ok to give these jobs to an intern but someone still should check the results before pushing them live.

I can take the logo from the homepage, enlarge in gimp, and it's fine to my eyes.

And what with being slightly colour blind, I've learned to suspect that it is probably my vision that is the problem.

Re: Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

#54

Post by k3n »

brudgers wrote: post #29
sudonim wrote: post #7

The logo is O.K. Their homepage http://microsoft.com looks like a mix between a "corporate" website template you'd buy for $50 and a domain squatting page with amazon referral links. Gosh I want to cheer for microsoft but they make it real hard.

The web came to Microsoft after the IPO. At the time, there were a lot employees with "fuck you money" and the web was still the wild west not a corporate branding commodity. Thus Microsoft's approach has been generally hands off and the first priority has always been to get information out on the web. The idea of a monolithic website like Apple's or Google's just doesn't apply. It's not part of Microsoft's DNA. Comp…

Consistently bad.

Re: Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

#55

Post by mitjak »

grueful wrote: post #32
sudonim wrote: post #7

The logo is O.K. Their homepage http://microsoft.com looks like a mix between a "corporate" website template you'd buy for $50 and a domain squatting page with amazon referral links. Gosh I want to cheer for microsoft but they make it real hard.

The layout looks rational enough in the context of the tiled GUI layout they're trying to push. But the top bar could be a few times thicker. It's too cramped. I tried a quick hack increasing the min-height attribute on hpHdr_PriRow to 50px, which gives much nicer proportions.

I agree. It's fairly in line with the new Metro and Phone 7 UIs. Not as polished though:

* In Chrome, the carousel controls at the top right are cut off. Intentional?

* The "For home" and "For work" buttons on the right shrink the margins between themselves and the carousel on hover but never quite bridge the gap, which looks awkward to my eye.

* The carousel is gigantic and hides all the content below it on all but the largest screen resolutions (and I thought Windows 8 is supposed to be running on small portable tablets?).

* The top menu under the logo is extremely cheesy with its thin 1px border on hover, never mind that it's next to invisible next to that massive carousel. When it comes to actually navigating the site to getting the user to Microsoft's products, this menu is failure.

* …

Generally, the entire layout feels a bit like the team that's been responsible for the page for years has been told to 'clone' the newest UI to the best of their abilities.

Re: Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

#56

Post by untog »

mbesto wrote: post #26

You know the greatest lesson I learned from the tv show The Wire? When your brand lacks credibility you make a change to the brand.[1][2] Good move by Microsoft. On other hand, I'm still trying to grok why Twitter changed it's logo recently[3]? Was something inherently being tarnished about the Twitter brand? As far as I know, the answer is NO. I'm going to make a major assumption here, but I think it had to do with…

So when Apple change their name from Apple Computers it was because they lacked credibility? No, of course not. But because it's Microsoft everyone throws this nonsense around.

Rebranding is something that all companies do at varying times their lives. When you haven't done it in 25 years... yeah, it's probably time for a refresh. Trends change.

Re: Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

#58

Post by calinet6 »

debacle wrote: post #40
quarterto wrote: post #2

I... don't hate it. What's wrong with me? It's bold, it's fresh, it does a pretty damn good job of shrugging off the Microsoft of the past 25 years.

It's also simple, but still utilitarian in that Microsoft style. It actually reminds me very much of the Wii logo.

I think it's fine.

It's just that it's... only fine.

It's perfect for Microsoft!

Re: Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

#59

Post by buro9 »

untog wrote: post #50
buro9 wrote: post #44

For me... personally, the logo doesn't work. I am slightly colour blind. The logo in the article I see just fine, and all of the squares are the same size. And I get it... Metro theme. The favicon.ico and small logo on Microsoft.com Those don't fair as well. The red and yellow squares are much larger than the green and blue, and my eyes see a throbbing line around the bottom and left of the red box, and a black line…

I'm part of that colour-blind chunk, and I don't see anything like what you're seeing. The squares appear to be an uneven size, but what would that have to do with our lack of ability to see colour? Colour-blindness comes in a great many varieties, and to be honest, if you're making something involving colour, you're going to displease some of them.

Your post and the one below make me think I need to go back to my optician. It's probably overdue, but I can't actually look at the smaller version of the logo without it hurting my eyes a little as they strain to stop the red square from throbbing.

Re: Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987

#60

Post by philwelch »

toddmorey wrote: post #30

Jokingly: That logo cost them $50 [1] My real questions are whether there will be a one-color variant, whether the symbol will be allowed to be displayed without the type, and how you could ever secure international trademark on four squares. My guess is that you'd have to be, well, Mircosoft. More than the logo designers, I'm really impressed by the legal team. My trademark lawyers would laugh at me. [1] http://www.…

Copyright isn't the issue; trademark is.
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