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Author Topic: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)  (Read 18713 times)

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Offline anglosaxonusaTopic starter

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Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« on: December 09, 2010, 10:27:22 PM »
Think back to the first computers you knew.  For many, their first acquaintance came in the 1980s.  I can recall my first encounter in a school library on a rainy day with an Apple IIe.  Before touching the keyboard or flipping on the monitor one thing stood out that I will never forget.  On the case of the computer was the silhouette of a small apple with a bite out of it.  By itself, it would not have been remarkable, however, the logo was filled with a rainbow.  To a child, the effect was magical.  As an adult, I realize the logo was simple, noticeable, and memorable.

In the 1980s the rainbow was incorporated into many computer manufacturers logos.  Their appearance coincided with the arrival of 16+ color monitors.  Amiga adopted the rainbow check in these days, and it served as their logo for years until the boing ball came along (and it was not a coincidence that it arrived during the beginning of the 3D era).

The point of all of this is that AROS needs a new logo.

Currently, the Cat serves as a sort of mascot in place of a logo.  To borrow a Yodaism, a mascot a logo makes not.  BSD has their Demon, Linux their Penquin ...neither take the place of a logo, they augment it.  Mascots are normally personifications of the things they represent.  Logos are textual, they scale well, they explain themselves to some extent.

Which brings me to the text logo of AROS.  In terms of what it /says/ to me, it recalls the Enlightenment window manager of the late 1990s.  The style of the font brings to mind a sort of techno-excess from bad Sci-Fi which is difficult to reconcile with Amiga's friendly nature.  The "R" is particularly confused, and has been filled in with horizontal stripes.  The cats-eye is related to the mascot, but not to anything Amiga.  The color, steel gray/blue, is far too tame to catch the eye and is uninspiring.  As a whole, the logo looks like that of a Klingon commode manufacturer ( which you'd find right under the toilette lid ).

AROS (and Amiga) would not be alive today without a certain amount of nostalgia.  If the AROS project wants to tap into more interest, it should hearken people back to the halcyon days of the Amiga.  Through a logo AROS can link, rather than divorce itself from its Amiga past.

Here is a first try:



The arrow-check recalls Amiga's check, the arrows are a play on the name "AROS", the rainbow recalls that of the original Amiga logo, as does the font, and the bullseye-"O" links the text with the arrows.

Below is a smaller version:



Below is the current AROS logo for comparison:



What do you think?
 

Offline tone007

Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2010, 10:35:11 PM »
I like the current one.
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Offline crawff

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2010, 10:41:15 PM »
I believe a new logo could be a good thing but I'm not sure if the suggested one is any better though.
 

Offline CSixx

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2010, 10:48:15 PM »
I also prefer the current one, by a good margin.
Sorry...
 

Offline the_leander

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2010, 10:48:16 PM »
Quote from: tone007;597943
I like the current one.


Ditto.

Hmm, This is the OP's first post... seems legit.
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Offline commodorejohn

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2010, 10:49:16 PM »
I'm good with cute catgirls, thanks. Interesting design, though.
Computers: Amiga 1200, DEC VAXStation 4000/60, DEC MicroPDP-11/73
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Offline anglosaxonusaTopic starter

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2010, 10:53:47 PM »
The cat mascot doesn't bother me so much as the font chosen for their logo.  What does the Klingon font have to do with the cat?  How are they related?

Also, how are they both related to the Amiga?  I'm not seeing it...
 

Offline the_leander

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2010, 10:57:50 PM »
Quote from: anglosaxonusa;597950
Also, how are they both related to the Amiga?  I'm not seeing it...


Of course you're not dear.

The cat was drawn by Eric Schwartz, who, if you know anything about the Amiga you should recognize the name.

As for the font... Why does a font have to be "related" to the Amiga?
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Offline anglosaxonusaTopic starter

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2010, 11:02:43 PM »
Quote from: the_leander;597951
As for the font... Why does a font have to be "related" to the Amiga?

Why shouldn't it be related?  AROS has Amiga roots, correct?
 

Offline anglosaxonusaTopic starter

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2010, 11:10:59 PM »
Second shot (changes to the fletching):

 

Offline adz

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2010, 11:26:07 PM »
Quote from: anglosaxonusa;597953
Why shouldn't it be related?  AROS has Amiga roots, correct?


The past, the past, you're living in the past man, quit living in the past :lol:
 

Offline the_leander

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2010, 11:29:58 PM »
Quote from: anglosaxonusa;597953
Why shouldn't it be related?  AROS has Amiga roots, correct?


You still haven't explained why it needs to be "related". Roots maybe, but both have long since gone their separate ways.

If it's simply that you don't like the font, fine, but I don't get why you keep using the above word.
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Offline runequester

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2010, 12:43:12 AM »
Quote from: the_leander;597959
You still haven't explained why it needs to be "related". Roots maybe, but both have long since gone their separate ways.
 
If it's simply that you don't like the font, fine, but I don't get why you keep using the above word.

well, one has gone its way and the other isn't going anywhere at all :)
 
I am prepared to be wrong, but I don't suspect there's a lot of AROS use outside of ex-amiga users.
 

Offline Ral-Clan

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2010, 02:25:56 AM »
Quote from: anglosaxonusa;597954
Second shot (changes to the fletching):



While I don't prefer your design over the current official AROS Logo, I do like your approach.  A nice clean logo.  At first I didn't understand why you were using actual "fletched" arrows in the checkmark until the similarities between the pronounciation of AROS=ARROWS dawn on me!  Good one!  I had never associated AROS with "ARROWS" (I guess in my head I had always used a long vowel sound).
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Offline Belial6

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Re: Logos vs Mascots (AROS)
« Reply #14 on: December 10, 2010, 02:31:34 AM »
I'm going to have to agree.  The current one is better by a wide margin.  The suggested one's "relation" to the original marks could actually pose a problem.  If I were on a jury, I might be able to be convinced that the suggested logo with its font, rainbow, and checkmark is intended to trick a consumer into thinking that Aros is an Amiga product.  That is specifically what Trademarks are intended to prevent.  Better to stick with the current.  Anyone that is currently interested in it already knows what it is, and anyone that is likely to become interested in it will not be swayed by an Amiga looking logo.

Personally, I want to start referring to the platform as MiniMig/AROS, and refer to Amiga/AmigaOS as the retro proprietary versions of MiniMig/AROS.  MiniMig is pretty much there.  AROS is close.

And, I thought the cat's eye was the graphical logo.