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BSD Operating Systems

NetBSD Chooses New Logo 337

Posted by michael from the camel-is-a-horse-designed-by-committee dept.
jschauma writes "Live from EuroBSDCon 2004: The NetBSD Project announces its new logo. The logo was selected out of over 400 submissions in an albeit lengthy process, where the developers considered various important aspects of a new identifying logo. See the official logo contest announcement (to refresh your memory) and the official press release."
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NetBSD Chooses New Logo More

NetBSD Chooses New Logo

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  • More corporate looking (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fembots ( 753724 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:33PM (#10680514) Homepage
    The new logo certainly has more corporate appeal, and its simplicity also allows different colors to be used, which means easier to place on different color background.

    Coupled with a trademark, this might enough for people to push it to PHB.
    • Gak. Don't you k1dd13z remember your Dilbert history? The Pointy-Haired Boss was originally a devil also, but got watered down. (And that's not even counting his cousin Phil from Heck, the Prince of Inadequate Light, carrier of a big pitch-spoon...) In the PHB's case, that was probably a distinct improvement, but here it's just lame corporate blandness.

      Disclaimer: I work for a different Phone Company than the one Scott Adams worked for back when Dilbert was mostly a Phone Company thing.

    • Re:More corporate looking (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ajs ( 35943 )
      I'm curious, did the BSDs ever resolve the "disagreement" (I put it in quotes because the nature or extent of it and who exactly it was directed at was never clear to the public) between themselves and Phil Foglio [studiofoglio.com]? As I recall, it was Phil's Daemon design for one of the early Unix conferences that inspired the modern BSD daemon (I've seen the original T-shirt once, it's pretty cool).

      Here's one person's recollection of the history of the Daemon design [google.com].

  • New Logo (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:33PM (#10680518)
    Maybe a headstone would be a more appropriate logo, no?

  • Albeit? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by HawaiianMayan ( 550426 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:34PM (#10680522)
    Try "in a lengthy process".

    If you don't know how to use big words, please don't bother trying.

    • Re:Albeit? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:49PM (#10680611)
      If you don't know how to use big words, please don't bother trying.

      Albeit is not that big a word. Medium at most.

  • hmm (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nomadic ( 141991 ) <`nomadicworld' `at' `gmail.com'> on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:35PM (#10680525) Homepage
    I like it. Clean and attractive. Maybe someone can get that guy to design a new logo/mascot for linux, something other than that annoying-looking penguin.

    • Re:hmm (Score:4, Interesting)

      by superpulpsicle ( 533373 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:19PM (#10680783)
      I don't know about this NetBSD logo. Out of all the unix flavors, whether you like the OS or not, Sun Microsystem still have the most intelligent logo.

      The linux penguin looks so damn friendly. We need an elite-looking penguin symbol, like the Atlanta Falcons logo.

    • Re:hmm (Score:5, Insightful)

      by lspd ( 566786 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:49PM (#10680932) Journal
      I like it. Clean and attractive

      I'd call it bland and meaningless, but YMMV. The press release says nothing about why this particular logo was chosen and doesn't mention the color of the flag at all. The color of a flag is supposed to mean something. Orange is usually a warning sign, as in the orange flags on kids bicycles or the orange flags on beaches to indicate hazardous swimming.

      So why orange?

      • Re:hmm (Score:2, Funny)

        by nomadic ( 141991 )
        So why orange?

        To warn people how frustrating installing netbsd will be?

      • Re:hmm (Score:5, Insightful)

        by arivanov ( 12034 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @06:01PM (#10681005) Homepage
        I'd call it bland and meaningless

        Objection your honour.

        It is the flag from the old logo taken solely and transplanted. So anyone who has been around long enough to remember the old logo knows what it means. A bunch of d(a)emons sticking the banner on top of a mound of old computer kit. At the same time you can now present it to the PHB. He now no longer sees an image of satanistic computer abuse. You can now even put it on your website and say "driven by NetBSD" without being called onto the carpet.

        I do not like the reasons why it is being done, but let's face it, the realm of free Unixes is no longer a realm of geeks. It is a large business now and NetBSD has its place in it.

        • Re:hmm (Score:3, Informative)

          by lspd ( 566786 )
          It is the flag from the old logo taken solely and transplanted. So anyone who has been around long enough to remember the old logo knows what it means.

          Certainly a valid point. The slant of the flag pole indicates a team effort, even if the symbolism is lost on anyone who hasn't seen the old logo. Still, why is the flag orange?

      • Re:hmm (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Nutria ( 679911 )
        he press release says nothing about why this particular logo

        But puke liberal political correctness is the reason that the old logo was tossed.

        http://mail-index.netbsd.org/netbsd-advocacy/2004 / 01/14/0001.html [netbsd.org]

        "Has negative cultural, and religious ramifications."

        Although, for the life of me, I can't figure out what "religious ramification" the USMC War Memorial has.

        And, of course, the "negative cultural ramifications" is "defeat of really nasty aggressor regeime". Just ask the Chinese, Koreans, Phi

        • Re:hmm (Score:4, Insightful)

          by nomadic ( 141991 ) <`nomadicworld' `at' `gmail.com'> on Sunday October 31, 2004 @11:04PM (#10682508) Homepage
          Perhaps it was offensive to those marines who risked their lives to raise the flag there. Seeing the symbol of their courage turned into an operating system logo, where your fellow marines are depicted as devils might be a tad disrespectful. Call me politically correct, but I think I agree with them.

          Although, for the life of me, I can't figure out what "religious ramification" the USMC War Memorial has.

          I think you know perfectly well they were talking about the devils.

  • Hmmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by ShatteredDream ( 636520 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:35PM (#10680528) Homepage
    So they dropped the BSD devils? I wonder what happened? Did somebody send a few planes full of Southern Baptists and Jehova's Witnesses over to Europe to have a little chat with the NetBSD team?

  • Logo Contest (Score:5, Interesting)

    by base_chakra ( 230686 ) * on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:36PM (#10680529)
    Well, this was a long time coming, but I'm really pleased with the new logo. For a while I was wondering if the long delay meant that all the contest submissions were rubbish! In case you're wondering, the official reason for the long processing time was twofold: 1) the selection process (of course), and 2) the legal transfer of the logo from the artist to the NetBSD Foundation.

    A month ago this item appeared in the NetBSD Quarterly Status Report:
    "As announced in the last quarterly status report, the NetBSD Project has reviewed all of the entries submitted to the international competition for the creation of a new logo. Members of the NetBSD Foundation voted for the new logo from a short-list of six submitted designs selected by the logo committee. Characteristics important for the new logo were simplicity, appealing form and color choice, and dentification with the project.


    "At this point, a new logo has been selected the last formal step -- the process of transferring the Intellectual Property from the artist to the NetBSD Foundation (which includes the time-consuming but important careful review of some legal documents by a lawyer to ensure that everything is done correctly and appropriately) -- is virtually completed. Updating the website and creating imagery from the master copy are the last steps that need to be resolved. It is unfortunate that this procedure has delayed the official announcement of the new logo even further; the NetBSD Project would like to thank all users for their patience."
  • Of putting a snake's tounge at the end of a pool cue?

    Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

  • favicon? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dankelley ( 573611 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:36PM (#10680532)
    What will the favicon look like? The logo is nice, but work will have to be done to simplify the fine elements of the design, so that they don't turn to fuzz in small versions of the image.

    • Re:favicon? (Score:4, Informative)

      by base_chakra ( 230686 ) * on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:41PM (#10680559)
      What will the favicon look like? The logo is nice, but work will have to be done to simplify the fine elements of the design, so that they don't turn to fuzz in small versions of the image.

      Probably just the flag. Logos that have both text and graphical elements are often reduced to graphical emblems for certain purposes. The flag should scale to 16x16 with relative ease.
    • I hope they work quickly, my awstats icon is already stale. All 3 hits with it in the last year. ;)
  • It's alittle plain, I like the BSD devil too, but RedHat's Shadowman is my favorite logo.

    • Re:Not bad (Score:5, Interesting)

      by sydb ( 176695 ) <michael@NospAm.wd21.co.uk> on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:24PM (#10680811)
      A little plain?? Logos are supposed to be plain. Take a moment and look at some [motorola.com] memorable [apple.com] logos [bmw.com]. They're generally very, very, simple. This makes them easy to associate with the product. It helps build the brand.

      If only more [gnu.org] Free [gnu.org] Software [sourceforge.net] projects [rosegardenmusic.com]would follow the lead of NetBSD. There are a lot of decent logos out there too but by and large Free Software logos constitute strong evidence that Graphic Design is indeed a valuable skill. Not as valuable as coding, but still valuable.

      Specifically, it's not about technical prowess in using your favourite graphics program [gimp.org], it's about being able to come up with strong ideas and express them strikingly, visually.

      Not that I'm any good at it...

  • Obligatory Tired Cliché! (Score:5, Funny)

    by The-Bus ( 138060 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:38PM (#10680540)
    Netcraft confirms! The old NetBSD logo is dead!

  • New Logo (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Nikkos ( 544004 )
    The new logo looks very clean and professional. However, I would have liked to see a logo that continued on with the "team" aspect of the old logo.

    It's not the name or the flag that makes NetBSD what it is, it's the people behind it. Unfortunatly that's what was taken out of the logo.

  • Finally they've raisen the flag. (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Time for them to recognize the defeat against other OSes.

    We accept your surrender.
  • You keep using that word. I don't think that you know what it means.

    Hint- if you've used it right, you should be able to substitute something like "although."

    How freaking dumb does "an although lengthy process" sound? Another hint. To an educated person, "an albeit lengthy process" sounds just as dumb. It sounds like someone trying to sound smarter than they actually are.

  • Not cool enough (Score:5, Interesting)

    by systems ( 764012 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:42PM (#10680565)
    Personally I am very disapointed
    The logo is not cool, not artistic, not insipiring, not anything ...
    I really like what OpenBSD did, they know how to play with their logo, I believe this speaks a lot about the attitude of the people behind the project.
    And it says, that they like and want to have fun!
    NetBSD have made a terrible statement by this logo, this logo declares in my opinion that the NetBSD is not about fun anymore!
    I seriously can't imagine a worst logo ...
    • Really? In the land of goatsex man, you can't imagine a worse logo? (shudder) How I envy you...
    • I didn't like it either. I think the logo should show in some way that NetBSD is very portable and it can run on almost every plataform.

    • Re:Not cool enough (Score:3, Insightful)

      by l0rd ( 52169 )
      I thought I was the only one reading the replies.

      The new logo definately isn't cool. Come on people, Open source projects aren't selling products. They don't have to appeal to brain dead managers.

      Open Source is about creating free for all solutions for problems. Everyone's problems, not just your bosses.

      I think that, considering the nature of the project, a wrong logo was chosen. It's lame and NOT cool. It also isn't playful in any way. This is something I'd expect from microsoft or redhat, not from a bs
    • The OpenBDS puffer fish is a good mascot, but a poor logo. It's not simple (infact it seems to change), and doesn't really symbolise anything, with the possible exception of security.

      Fun? I though NetBSD was about secure computer systems that run on many platforms? Why would they want a symbol that promotes fun? Are they going to change into an entertainment company? Aren't the mascots supposed to be the "fun" side of a organisations symbolism?

  • OSS has come of age (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mollusk ( 195851 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:45PM (#10680591) Homepage
    Finally, proof that the OSS community can produce something as generic, uninspired, and forgettable as even the best corporate marketroids. I can't wait for the upcoming Apache Mission Statement contest. ("embiggens a dynamic paradigm in scalable infotecture")

    Seriously, is this the best that was submitted? Not trying to flame, but the best feature of a logo is a unique image that's easily remembered. Looking at the NetBSD logo I'm not sure if I'm installing an OS or playing in a CTF clan.

    Note to the judges, If the text in your logo needs to be readable to identify your product, it's not a good logo.

    • Significance (Score:4, Insightful)

      by base_chakra ( 230686 ) * on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:44PM (#10680899)
      Note to the judges, If the text in your logo needs to be readable to identify your product, it's not a good logo.

      That is not the case. By your definition, no text-only logo could ever be "good". The thing to understand here is that in graphic design, text functions simultaneously as a means of encoding a verbal message and as a formal graphic in its own right. The letterforms or typefaces are significant, the configuration is significant, the colors are significant, and all of those things culminate in a recognizable pattern. Don't view the word and the image as mutually exclusive concepts when looking at the logo (or in general, for that matter). There are more aspects to reaction than the cognitive.

      Anyone who knows NetBSD's heritage knows the significance of the flag. The old image has been distilled into something iconic, but by the reactions it seems that many slashdotters have again demonstrated that unfortunate tendency to hastily judge based on instantaneous first reaction. Contrary to some of the criticisms voiced today, this logo does mean something.
    • ("embiggens a dynamic paradigm in scalable infotecture")

      That's a perfectly cromulent statement...

  • NetBSD Devils != WWII Soldiers (Score:3, Funny)

    by miket ( 4882 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:46PM (#10680593) Homepage
    As a member of the US Air National Guard I don't like the devils raising the NetBSD flag in the likeness of World War II soldiers raising the Unites States flag over Iwo Jima. I hold the sacrifice of my grandfather's generation sacred.

    • Re:NetBSD Devils != WWII Soldiers (Score:4, Funny)

      by zentex ( 176409 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:55PM (#10680651) Journal
      As a member of the US Air National Guard I don't like the devils raising the NetBSD flag in the likeness of World War II soldiers raising the Unites States flag over Iwo Jima.

      Some Soldier you are! If you were better educated, you would know those "World War II Soldiers" were infact U.S. Marines.

      err...your only a guardsman, sorry to hold you to higher standards ;-)

      I was going to moderate you as flambait, but I felt compelled to set you straight; as my Grandfather was *ON* that island.

      Anyways, the previous logo was meant to convey the fact that NetBSD has "conquered" almost all hardware; nothing more. Don't be an idiot.
      • Likewise here - my grandfather was a Marine and was on Iwo Jima when the 4th and 5th Marines invaded. I take their sacrifices extremely seriously too, but I think that image has become such a part of the cultural millieu for victory it's hard to hold it as inviolate.

        If the image were being used in a way that mocked the sacrifices of the Marines in WWII, then I would understand finding it offensive.

        In any case, there were more than enough other things wrong with that old logo to justify trashing it and I'
      • Some Soldier you are! If you were better educated, you would know those "World War II Soldiers" were infact U.S. Marines.

        If I understand what you are saying then, according to you, a US Marine is not a soldier. I disagree with this. I know they are Marines.

        your only a guardsman, sorry to hold you to higher standards

        I don't know what standards you use but I am required to maintain the same level of readiness and profeciency as the active duty Air Force (but don't get to practice every day), not to me

    • Re:NetBSD Devils != WWII Soldiers (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Score: 1, Funny.

      Why is this rated funny? I completely agree. I'm not American myself, but I always did think that the old NetBSD logo trivialized something so important and meaningful, ofcourse no bad intentions were ever meant by it, but I never appreciated it.

    • Re:NetBSD Devils != WWII Soldiers (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Brandybuck ( 704397 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @08:02PM (#10681711) Homepage Journal
      Hmmm, you do know that the famous flag raising photo was *staged*? You know that, don't you?

    • Re:NetBSD Devils != WWII Soldiers (Score:4, Informative)

      by danimrich ( 584138 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @08:36PM (#10681860) Homepage Journal
      The act of raising a flag has been depicted on numerous occasions in history, e.g. on a famous painting from the 18th/19th century (can't remember the painter). It's not necessarily a reference to WW2.

    • Re:NetBSD Devils != WWII Soldiers (Score:4, Insightful)

      by miket ( 4882 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @08:50PM (#10681897) Homepage
      I can say this, given the tone of the responses to my message coupled with the fact that my comment was rated "Funny" has caused me to loose a great deal of respect for the slashdot community.

      To those of you out there who are tolerant of other people's positions, I apologize that you find yourself associated with a group such as this.

      • It was rated funny to keep you from getting as much karma from it.
        They didn't want you to get karma because it was a knee-jerk reaction on your part, and a rather stupid one at that. I suppose the mods don't care if you LOSE respect for the community.
        One can only be offended if one chooses to be so. Perhaps you should simply lighten up and take it at face value. It wasn't meant as a belittling of that accomplishment in any way, shape or form.
        But then again, that's America for you. BTW, I'm offended t

  • Mirror (Score:4, Informative)

    by Rufus211 ( 221883 ) <rufus-slashdotNO@SPAMhackish.org> on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:46PM (#10680595) Homepage
    I think the new logo looks quite nice. Very simple and stylish. Since the site is somewhat slow loading, I threw up a mirror [hackish.org] including the large versions.

  • I'm not sure I'm convinced ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Kaemaril ( 266849 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:47PM (#10680597)
    I don't know, it just seems a little ... bland and generic. Looking at it, if you removed "NetBSD" and substituted virtually any short word or phrase it could just as easily be the logo of a political party, or a company that makes ... well, practically anything, really. It seems ... personality free.

    Still, YMMV and all that.

  • the contest, months of waiting... for THAT? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ArbitraryConstant ( 763964 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:47PM (#10680599) Homepage
    I'm sorry, but it's really hard to get excited about that logo. Seems to me they wanted to be so neutral, so inoffensive to everyone in the entire world that they picked a logo that means nothing.

    That sound you hear is millions of geeks the world over saying "meh".
    • I'm sorry, but it's really hard to get excited about that logo. Seems to me they wanted to be so neutral, so inoffensive to everyone in the entire world that they picked a logo that means nothing.
      It's classic design-by-commitie. er... I'm sorry I meant "open development process"
    • Seems to me they wanted to be so neutral, so inoffensive to everyone in the entire world that they picked a logo that means nothing.

      And then while they might insist this is "just orange", what they did pick looks awfully similar to a red flag, raising the specter of all the atrocities that have been committed in its name. BTW Mozilla ditched the red star for this very reason [mozilla.org]. Neutral? Inoffensive? How "good" intentions often go terribly wrong (if the ones you name ever really were more than epitomes of "p

  • Yuk (Score:3, Informative)

    by Space cowboy ( 13680 ) * on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:50PM (#10680621) Journal
    Blandness incarnate. Sorry guys/gals, I'm sure everyone put a lot of effort into it, and you'll never please all the people all the time, but it looks like a political-party logo to me, or possibly a mega-conglomerate corporate logo.

    I guess if, as a brand, you're all trying to move up-market - say, to distinguish yourselves from those upstart linux rabble [grin], then it'll work just fine. In my case, my eyes would automatically shift to [next topic], but then I'm not a corporate clone, so I guess it's doing its job.

    Just to be non-PC for a second, some people have far too much time on their hands - the old image was cute, easily recognised, and daemons (note the 'a') have a long and distinguished history in Unix. My Oxford english dictionary defines 'daemon' as:
    • An inner or attendant spirit; a genius (the daemon of creativity)
    • A supernatural being in ancient greece
    ... which is a *little* different to how it defines 'demon' (lots of definitions - basically really nasty thing you don't want to meet in a dark alley. Or anywhere.) Interestingly, the online dictionaries tend to blur the meaning a bit more...

    I take the point in the requirements about it being complex - hard to render at low resolutions etc, but to reject the whole idea of a cute daemon just because some people can't handle that there is no god (hey, I said I was going to be non-PC, you knew it was coming :-) seems to be cutting off your nose to spite your face...

    Simon.

    • Re:Yuk (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Slack3r78 ( 596506 )
      Meh, I can't say I agree with you at all. Personally, I have a strong sense of cynicism about the world and the power of big business, but I refuse to see "corporate" as a dirty word as many Slashdotters do.

      I also see a distinction between "corporate" and "professional," myself. While corporate generally implies professional, professional does not necessarily mean corporate. It's entirely possible to have a professional looking logo while retaining a free thinking attitude.

      The whole point of this logo is

  • I don't like this logo, here is why (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cjmckenzie ( 602090 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:50PM (#10680622)
    It has been coming for a while now - the end of the anarchy - the end of the tightly knit communities of hackers with criminal records. Like the commercialization of 60's leftism through a lucrative popular culture, the free software movement is starting to lose its roots. The flag is too polished. It's too professional. It basically makes me think that I am looking at evilcorp.com. This is not what free software is supposed to be about - it's supposed to be about things like EFF, stallman, nogifs, sokol, etc - not about appealing to corporate monery mongering beauracrats. It's perfectly fine with me if it stays fringe - in fact, the downfall of freebsd is its mainstream-ness . . .
    • The point is, infiltrate and subvert. You can't do that wearing flares and round-rimmed spectacles, you need a sharp suit.

      A lot of the hippies from the 60s became the rich bankers, accountants and lawyers of the 80s. Fortunately, the goodness of Free Software is enshrined in the licenses.

      I was going to say something rude there about BSD versus GPL but that would have been inflammatory.

  • Sigh. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by arcade ( 16638 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @04:51PM (#10680624) Homepage
    Not that the logo makes a difference when it comes to the OS (which I absolutely love. NetBSD is one of my favorite OSs) - but I think the new logo sucks.

    I loved the look of the old one. The BSD daemons scrambling to raise their banner. It gave me a nice feel.

    Now we've got this .. flag .. and nothing more. It doesn't tell me anything. It's got no feelings, no 'struggle', no cooperation .. and no _daemons_.

    But sure.. it's clean looking .. but .. I really don't care about that.

    Bad choice, imho.

  • Congrats to the winner. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Anthony Boyd ( 242971 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:01PM (#10680680) Homepage

    I'm bummed that they didn't pick one of mine [outshine.com]. But at least the flag has a creative idea behind it -- namely, keeping the tradition of the original logo alive a little bit.

    Oh well. If any developers would like to claim those logos I made, I have SVG (and EPS, I think) versions lying around. I can send them on, possibly with a project name added in. There is a link at the bottom of my logo page that reads, "contact the webmaster." Use that if you're interested.

    • I'm not saying you deserved to win (as I'm sure there were hundreds of equally cool or cooler logos submitted), but you deserved to win a great deal more than the "flag of indifference".
    • I didn't notice the similarity in the logos until I saw them side by side. The thing that stood out most to me, I guess, is the pile of various hardware and the crowd being triumphant having conquered it. I can't really say that I noticed the flag all that much, but I know I must have known it was there.

      And I've been using NetBSD for 3 or 4 years now
    • Your "one ring" rocks.
    • I strongly agree -- the flag is boring and un-memorable. It feels generic.

      Your (Anthony Boyd) suggested logos are much better; they have the requisite simplicity (they're even simpler than the flag), but are far more striking, and for a logo "striking" is a very good thing. The first two retain the daemon image people like and associate with *BSD, without being too overt about it (keep the fundies at bay). They also simply have a panache that is completely lacking from the flag logo.

      I don't know WTF ha
  • On its own, it's a good logo. Simple, spot-color, has name, has a key element (the flag).

    However, by dropping the devil, it obscures its historical relation to other BSDs. This is A Bad Thing.

    A small devil silloette somewhere in the logo would've eliminated this problem.

    Some /.'ers have complained about the lack of "team" in the logo. The very presence of a pennant or flag suggests a team effort, at least in my eyes.
  • But will anyone look at a bland flaggy thing and think "NetBSD"? Meh.

    Hint for the suits: if your logo could without alteration be applied to pretty much any category of business or thing, if it could be mistaken for a thousand similar logos, then it's too bland to mean anything or be memorable. Ie: it is unable to function properly as a logo.
  • I'm still trying to imagine a tattoo [bmezine.com] of a... flag. Or an attractive woman (sorry, can't find the link) in a... flag costume.

    Nope. Still no good.

    I understand the reasoning behind making a blander, more corporate logo, but it's kind of a sad change, nonetheless.

  • More links (Score:4, Informative)

    by wikinerd ( 809585 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:21PM (#10680791) Journal
    Some more links:

  • First Impressions... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Dogtanian ( 588974 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:26PM (#10680824) Homepage
    Whilst it's good that the NetBSD people have recognised the need for a proper logo, my impressions are...

    It looks slightly dated, like something from the late 80s/early 90s when corporate types were going for 'flowing' logos with gentle curves. The typeface and colours also contribute to this impression.

    It's also fairly boring. If they decide to have a mascot as well, this won't such a problem though; logo for corporate stuff, mascot for the fans and developers.

    In fact, I wish someone would design a proper (generic) Linux logo. Specifically, one that incorporates the word 'Linux' and could be used without fear of looking unprofessional. Tux seems to have become logo (as well as mascot) by default, but is not really suitable for more serious use.

    Of course, Tux would remain as the mascot (although personally disliking Tux, I appreciate that I'm probably in the minority). 'Serious' literature would use the Linux logo, everyone else could use either- or both- as they pleased.

  • Much more professional logo (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Infonaut ( 96956 ) <infonaut@gmail.com> on Sunday October 31, 2004 @05:28PM (#10680832) Homepage Journal
    If you're trying to get people interested in your product, the first rule is don't offend people. Like it or not, there are folks out there who don't understand the difference between daemon and demon. If you're the tech guy trying to show management that OpenBSD is worth using, the new logo is going to be much more reassuring than the old one, particularly if you happen to be operating in the Bible Belt. You may laugh, but it's true.

    This is about marketing - pure and simple. The people behind NetBSD have every right to make the OS more accessible to as wide a range of users as possible, and part of doing that involves making it look more professional and less like something thrown together by a bunch of gamers in their parents' basement.

    The new logo is clean, elegant, shows motion, uses bold colors, and is readily distinguishable from any other OS-related logo. Having a professional logo doesn't make you evil, and it doesn't mean you've sold out. But for better or worse it does mean that people (and not just management types) will tend to take you more seriously.

    • If you're trying to get people interested in your product, the first rule is don't offend people.

      Having read slashdot-articles for the past few years, i'd say that offending people makes them buy your products. Just think of Microsoft, SCO, Nokia, Siemens, Redhat, SuSE and - especially and - IP phone vendors like Grandstream...

      Maybe BSD's would do a lot better on market-share if they'd stop beeing polite and start kicking ass...

  • Pink Slip (Score:2, Offtopic)

    by BSDevil ( 301159 )
    I take it this means I'm now fired...
  • I honestly believe that anyone remotely interested in downloading the NetBSD logo's has the computer know-how to do to so. I don't think the 9 or so various README's on HOW-TO download images off the web! and suggested html tags are absolutely necessary. it's almost insulting. give us more credit then that!
  • ...do they still stick to the daemon as maskott? Cause i rather like to stick to my 30cm daemon i have on my desk than to an orange/grey flag that looks like the latest advertising campaing for generic viagra...

  • The whole "cute animal" thing has got to go (Score:3, Insightful)

    by carcosa30 ( 235579 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @08:10PM (#10681744)
    When I see cute cartoon Tuxes and BSD devils, whether they're doing their imitation of the Iwo Jima flaglifting or not, I think "my god, and we're trying to get onto the corporate desktop here."

    I've actually had an experience where I was recommending Linux in a corporate environment, and someone said "Is that the one with the cartoon penguin? How can we take that seriously?"

    And it's no joke. You have to remember, appearance is everything to those people. Appearance matters more than reality. And if you have a cartoon demon as your "mascot--" or Eddie from the Iron Maiden albums, or WHATEVER-- nobody but hackers are going to take the thing seriously.

  • Actually, I like it. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 31, 2004 @08:51PM (#10681906)
    Sure, it's el-bland-o. That's the whole point. It's a subversive, sneaky way to get our favorite daemon team past the PHBs and into the corporate centres.

    It's a DISGUISE, people. The mascot has not changed. The software has not changed. It's just gone stealth, dived below the loony-religious radar.

    The new logo is funny because it's so deliberately bland that PHBs won't remember what it means in a weeks' time. It's the semantic relative of '404' or a little green light - means nothing to the beancounters, but speaks volumes to those in the know.

  • As an art guy, (Score:4, Interesting)

    by MQBS ( 264470 ) on Sunday October 31, 2004 @11:42PM (#10682809)
    I have to say that I like the logo. It meets my one requirement for a good logo, and in spades:

    A good logo can be recognizably spraypainted with one template.

    In other words, the logo is simple enough that it doesn't require any serious work to put it on things, it can be read from close up or afar, its not overly complicated and it looks unique. And this logo fits that requirement quite nicely.

    I also like the placement of the flag, the diag it makes with the text really gives the logo some oomph.

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