Re: [kde-artists] KDE Logo

On Wednesday 02 January 2008, Kolik Kolik wrote:
> I'd just like to say, I don't really like the KDE logo. It's not very
> stylish, actually, I think it's kind of ugly. There's a square - not very
> likable geometric shape, there's a K letter - ok, but what's a K, it's just
> a letter, and it even does not look very well - ugly font. And there's a
> screw - or what it is? Why is it there? Are we in a factory? Looks bad.

i'd recommend researching the history of the KDE iconography and keeping in 
mind that this is about branding. it also needs to translate perfectly to two 
colour print, small sizes and large banners.

now, there are some things i, too, dislike about the KDE logo but it's not the 
use of a "K" and a gear, it's more the little things like the placement of 
the gear teeth (the right most tooth is partially ocluded by the letter which 
increases the visual complexity of the logo) and how the exact placement of 
the K makes it look a bit like a person in a wheelchair. these are things 
that could probably be addressed with relatively minor visual tweakings.

perhaps you could try and, with sensitivity to the branding issues, come up 
with a variant that works better. any results would end up having to be 
vetted both by the artists here who have artistic design control as well as 
by the larger KDE community as this is a shared community symbol.

note that altering a logo, even in small ways, is a laborious and hugely time 
intensive job. i've gone through several corporate and product imaging 
processes in my professional life and even if the results are visually 
simplistic, it's a long journey to get to the Right Thing(tm).

p.s. it is out of respect for the sort of work that has been involved and that 
would be involved to move it even further that i personally would stay away