Microsoft Unveils First New Company Logo In 25 Years
Barence writes "For the first time in 25 years, Microsoft has issued a new company logo to usher in the Windows 8 era. Made up of a newly square Windows symbol alongside grey Microsoft logo type, it's been designed to closely match the logos for other products in Microsoft's portfolio, including Office and Xbox. The logo takes pride of place on Microsoft.com from today, and will be used in Microsoft's retail stores and on all future TV ads."
there is no dollar sign in there.
Next best thing to putting Clippy in there, I guess.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I'm pretty sure I've already seen this exact logo out in front of their Microsoft Store at University Village for quite some time now (maybe a year?).
#DeleteChrome
This article shows a history of Microsoft's logos.
http://www.bestlookinglogos.com/2009/07/four-square-logo/
or they paid him $50 for it
It really does look like the image used on a Quatro can: http://www.canmuseum.com/Staging/Images/Cans/22681.jpg
#DeleteChrome
Probably had to eat with only one hand too.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I don't like the spacing between the f and t, aesthetically, but I like clean lines and simple designs so it works pretty well for me.
So is the average user going to think that the logo is the app for the game Simon? Artistic brilliance, aye! Should make that playable while computer boots...
To be expected. What I want to know is:
a) How much time did they spend on this?
b) How much money did they spend on it?
Anything north of 12 months and $50 mil, I'll be suitably disgusted and impressed. 24 months and $100 mil, they deserve some kind of fail award.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
Interesting...a few weeks ago I recall seeing an article somewhere about supposedly leaked designs for new Microsoft devices -- I think it was a portable mouse and some other things, can't remember where I saw it. But one of the comments pointed out that it was probably fake, because the Microsoft logo on the devices didn't have their usual slant, didn't have the notch in the o.....it basically looked like this one. Perhaps they weren't fake after all?
Worse than the flag, that's an achievement.
Have you got your LWN subscription yet?
Wow, oh wow! Whoa! A square rainbow! WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?!? T_T
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
The ft ligature looks a bit like its standing out. Like they want their name to be stressed MicrosoFT and you get spit all over your screen.
When asked why, the answer is almost always: "It's 2014".
Apparently this is the "less is more" philosophy... but at the same time, it is plain and unimaginative. Isn't it bad for a company that aims to prove that they can reinvent themselves?
"It must have took around 5 minutes in paint to come up with that design..."
"I can't help but think of windows 3.11 for some reason."
"Does my monitor need calibrating again, or do those four colours in the panes look curiously sickly?"
"Intelligence has nothing to do with politics!"
-Londo Mollari
Really? This looks like the last thing you drew before you thought, "I should try out the circle brush."
Four squares and some basic typeset.
I can't even imagine how much they actually paid for this with all the different designs submitted, numerous meetings going over designs, tweaks to it.
I can imagine the comments in the meeting though.
"Yeah Bob. What we're looking for is something that says simple and not over thought. Go back and try AGAIN."
My studio - www.graylands.ca
Looks very Metro. (Tha'ts not a compliment)
There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
I bet the designer got paid more for that logo than I make in a year.
The designer must of taken a whole lunch break to create it.
Mayhaps but, you know it went something like..
Hey we need a new logo
Send out the RFP
Receive hundreds if not thousand of submissions, most of them decidedly silly
Spend hours upon days upon weeks of LSERs (Logo Submission Evaluation Reviews) to narrow the field
Toss that into the pot and go with an Execs 5yo did in crayon
...and, much like vista, it is a huge disappointment
This is Microsoft you are talking about here.
This was designed by multiple committees each of which would only support their own design.
After 3 months of deliberations Balmer sat in on a committee meeting and determined the winner by lining up the different executives that ran each committee and then started throwing chairs at them. The last one standing won.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Given the latest developments, the font should've been MS Comic Sans.
there is no dollar sign in there.
Of course there isn't. The logotype part is "Microsoft", not "MS". The dollar sign, an homage to Microsoft's roots as a BASIC interpreter publisher, comes in only when you abbreviate it as M$.
have. It's "must HAVE". "of" makes no sense.
The best response of that nature that I've seen read something like "Do you of any idea how annoying that is?"
William of Ockham had no beard. The most likely explanation is that it was chewed off by squirrels every morning.
I'm totally upgrading to Metro now!
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
M$ has too much cash on hand to be sold off.
How much cash would Microsoft have to hemorrhage before having to spin out pieces of itself? Would Xbox be the first to go?
No, even their gays are boring and uncreative:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/84/Logcabinlogo.jpg
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
That thing is so bad the f is molesting the t out of sheer despair.
We have a video of the kickoff meeting with Microsoft and that designer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE5WQLMwHHk
I figured the new logo would be a stylized graphic of Balmer bending a customer over a table and shoving an apple up the customers ass. Of course, I did poorly at marketing.
The apple goes in the mouth, Balmer is shoving something else up the customers ass.
Squeal!
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Yes, both Apple's Myriad and Microsoft's Segoe (rhymes with ego) are inspired by Frutiger.
This logo looks like it came out of a middle-school art contest in the 80's.
Do they even realize how hokey it is or have they just all drank the Metro kool-aid?
Wow, oh wow! Whoa! A square rainbow! WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?!? T_T
The video linked in the Technet announcement is interesting:
blue: Windows
red: Office
green: XBOX
yellow: ???
Maybe Microsoft is planning a new product line ... (if yellow was Server or dev tools there would be no reason not to include it in the video)
It looks like a cubist version of the rainbow Apple logo.
The video linked in the Technet announcement is interesting:
blue: Windows
red: Office
green: XBOX
yellow: ???
Maybe Microsoft is planning a new product line ... (if yellow was Server or dev tools there would be no reason not to include it in the video)
Hmm I would have thought ...
Blue - Windows (For BSOD) ... Okay stuck on this one.
Red - XBox (For RROD)
Yellow - ASP/.NET (Yellow screen of death)
Green -
Aaron
"Curiouser and Curiouser...." -Alice
Thanks, I just spent 10 minutes reading about vomiting.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
just wait till sp1 for better colors
The first thing you do when you find your company is getting ready to spiral into the toilet is to introduce a new logo. Right?
Green is for Money
there is no dollar sign in there.
If you watch the video introducing the logo, you'll note that three of the colors represent broad categories of Microsoft - Blue is Windows, Red is Office, and Green is XBox.
So what's the color remaining they didn't provide an explicit mapping for in the video?
Gold.
Well played, Microsoft.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
For years, Microsoft has been stuck on making everything "Windows". "Word for Windows". "Windows Live Messenger". "Windows Phone". Their marketing department seems convinced that it's their strongest brand and needs to be spread to absolutely everything, no matter how irrelevant.
They clearly now have committed the whole company to it, building the Windows logo into the company logo.
Personally, I think it's tedious and repititive and of little value. But they clearly aren't going to let go now...
For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert. - Arthur C. Clarke
Is it just me, or are those basically the same primary colors as Google?
Primary colours are all the same. That's why they're called primary colours.