Hey all, I'm the designer of the new logo that kicked off this thread. I will now and forever consider it the "shuriken" logo (I did not even know that word before this thread, so thank you). Based on the feedback I went back to the drawing board and came up with another version that is closer to the original pinwheel design, similar to the alternates that Daniel drew up.
You can see it along with a slightly modified version of the shuriken logo (I made the colors more bold and vibrant and rounded the edges a bit to soften it up): https://imgur.com/Sclh5pZ I also dropped the logos into a screenshot to see it in context, and also included Daniel's alternate logo: https://imgur.com/PaJYxsM A few notes about the design: Simplifying the original logo was my main objective, especially the "flaps" on each fin of the pinwheel. The darker-colored flap on each fin of the shuriken logo was intended to represent the flap itself, not a shadow. At first, like some of you, I felt this was odd since the flap would typically not be darker in color. However, it was more important to me that I use a lighter color for the larger part of the find ("behind" the flap) — I did not want to make the fin too dark as it would make the logo much darker at a smaller size. Eventually, the dark flap grew on me and I still prefer it because it allows the overall fin to be lighter and more vibrant in color. For the new pinwheel design I decided to swap the colors so the flap is lighter in color, which does give it a stronger sense of depth. Speaking of colors, this is what I spent the majority of my time on. Color is one of the most powerful tools a designer has to work with and I went through many iterations of each color to make sure they worked well each other, testing them on both light and dark backgrounds, which always make colors look surprisingly different. The versions were heavily tested on both light and dark backgrounds. I wanted to make the logo's colors bold, vibrant, and modern so it can sit comfortably next to logos like Google, Airbnb, and other modern logos that also use vibrant color palettes. I tend to avoid using gradients or shadows in logos or small icons, though there are exceptions (I did use a gradient for the red-gold swoosh on Astronomer's icon, which can be seen at https://twitter.com/astronomerio?lang=en). Generally, it's better to keep things flat and simple because flat and simple always reads better at small sizes. This icon is rather complex so avoiding gradients and shadows was a must. Finally, while I didn't originally eliminate the center dot as I was working on what would come to be known as the shuriken logo, our CTO at Astronomer suggested doing so and it stuck. Removing the dot gave the logo a cleaner, more unified look. The dot tends to draw attention to itself. The pinwheel design does hearken back to the original and certainly reads better as an actual pinwheel. However, I still prefer the shuriken logo. While it deviates from the original pinwheel design, especially the removal of the black dot, I think it breathes some new life into the logo and takes it in a new direction that feels modern and bold. —Chris On 2019/08/15 03:03:47, Aizhamal Nurmamat kyzy <aizha...@google.com.INVALID> wrote: > Hey Daniel, > > Thank you so much for alternate logos! > > @everyone please take a look at the link provided by Daniel. > I really like the last option, which is Alternate 2. Maybe we could really > consider a middle point b/w old and new ones? > > Thanks, > Aizhamal > > On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 23:33 Daniel Gruno <humbed...@apache.org> wrote: > > > Hi James, > > I don't mean to butt in much here, but as the general "guy who fixes > > various logos around here" (I re-did the current airflow logo as the other > > version had bad color tearing and splotches of...I dunno what), what about > > perhaps taking the best of both worlds and compromising? Using the more > > simple design of the suggested logo in this thread, but making it more > > realistic, adding the 'button' back in, adding a bit of thickness to the > > wings. > > > > I made a quick mock-up of the current, proposed, and an example compromise > > version at: https://imgur.com/a/G0Bpcky > > > > It features: > > - the current logo > > - the proposed logo > > - an alternate compromise example > > > > I have little to no skin in this game, but I figure if the logo is getting > > an overhaul, it shouldn't just be a dichotomy between old and new :) I have > > them all as SVG, so adjustments can always be made. > > > > With regards, > > Daniel (who is not on this list, so please cc if you need my attention) > > > > > > On 2019/08/13 12:37:32, James Meickle <jmeic...@quantopian.com.INVALID> > > wrote: > > > I'm gonna have to voice my discontent on this one. The previous logo was > > > designed to look like a physical pinwheel, with shading and gradients to > > > add depth. That makes it hard to reproduce, so of course it's worth > > > considering a flatter replacement. > > > > > > This simplification keeps the same overall shape but elongates the > > points, > > > drops the gradient, and reduces the region of overlap. Overall this means > > > there's larger contiguous regions of color, and they're skinnier. > > Combined > > > with the shading moved to a location where it wouldn't be on the physical > > > object, it winds up looking like four chef's knives rather than four > > points > > > of a pinwheel. Removing the central "dot" also replicates this uninviting > > > spikiness in the interior, where the regions of shading look like they're > > > jabbing at each other rather than meeting smoothly. > > > > > > So... redesign sure, but please not this one? > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 7:36 AM Kamil Breguła <kamil.breg...@polidea.com > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > I also planned modernization of the logo as part of the website > > > > creation. The creation of the website is also to include: > > > > > Brand book with updated logo (including logo safe space, colors, how > > not > > > > to use the logo and black&white version) > > > > > > > > In the near future I will try to provide more information. > > > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 1:08 PM Driesprong, Fokko <fo...@driesprong.frl > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > Great work Chris, love the clean design. > > > > > > > > > > Cheers, Fokko > > > > > > > > > > Op di 13 aug. 2019 om 13:06 schreef Kaxil Naik <kaxiln...@gmail.com > > >: > > > > > > > > > > > Love the new one. Nice work Chris. > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 13, 2019 at 12:03 PM Bas Harenslak < > > > > > > basharens...@godatadriven.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > I like it! Looks modern and finally that annoying stain is gone. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Bas > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On 2019/08/13 10:28:48, Ash Berlin-Taylor <a...@apache.org> > > wrote: > > > > > > > > Hi everyone,> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Here at Astronomer we've just had our Lead Designer, Chris > > > > Hendrixson, > > > > > > > join us recently and he's proposed a few subtle tweaks to the > > Airflow > > > > > > logo > > > > > > > that I think keep it still recognisably the same logo, but just > > a bit > > > > > > more > > > > > > > refined.> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > In his words:> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > The new Airflow icon was designed by me, Chris Hendrixson. > > I’m > > > > the > > > > > > > Lead Designer at Astronomer. I’ve been designing logos and > > > > interfaces and > > > > > > > many other things for over a decade. This rebrand is free, of > > > > course. I’m > > > > > > > excited about contributing to the open source community.> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I don't think the mailing list allows attachments, so you can > > view > > > > it > > > > > > on > > > > > > > the wiki < > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/AIRFLOW/Proposed+Logo+Redesign > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What do people think of this?> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -ash> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > *Kaxil Naik* > > > > > > *Big Data Consultant | DevOps Data Engineer* > > > > > > *Certified *Google Cloud Data Engineer | *Certified* Apache Spark & > > > > Neo4j > > > > > > Developer > > > > > > *LinkedIn*: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaxil > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
