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Mozilla Is Changing Its Look -- and Asking the Internet For Feedback (arstechnica.com)
Megan Geuss, writing for ArsTechnica: Mozilla is trying a rebranding. Back in June, the browser developer announced that it would freshen up its logo and enlist the Internet's help in reaching a final decision. The company hired British design company Johnson Banks to come up with seven new "concepts" to illustrate the company's work. The logos rely on vibrant colors, and several of them recall '80s and '90s style. In pure, nearly-unintelligible marketing speak, Mozilla writes that each new design reflects a story about the company. "From paying homage to our paleotechnic origins to rendering us as part of an ever-expanding digital ecosystem, from highlighting our global community ethos to giving us a lift from the quotidian elevator open button, the concepts express ideas about Mozilla in clever and unexpected ways," Mozilla's Creative Director Tim Murray writes in a blog post. Mozilla is soliciting comment and criticism on the seven new designs for the next two weeks, but this is no Boaty McBoatface situation. Mozilla is clear that it's not crowdsourcing a design, asking anyone to work on spec, or holding a vote over which logo the Internet prefers. It's just asking for comments.
They are trying to polish a turd. Logos don't mean anything, this isn't sugar water. They better fix their core.
You ignored al feedback so far, why ask now, just to ignore us again?
So many other more important things they could be doing with their product. I've been frustrated with Chrome's greed lately and would love an alternative. They have an opportunity, but instead are making logos.
As far as "look", I want to see the non-content part take up less vertical space. It's fine on a 1920X1200 screen, but on smaller screens I have to rock the page up and down to use it effectively. Find a way to offer browser features without taking up space at the top of the frame.
As far as function, I'd like the browser to not consume the entire four cores, please. When I'm doing something else (example, Lightroom) and the response is extremely sluggish, Task Manager will show Firefox consuming most of my memory and nearly pegging all CPUs, reminding me yet again that I forgot to dismiss Firefox before doing, well, pretty much anything else. It's just a browser, for chrissake. Just sitting there it shouldn't take up that much in resources.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
They don't need to ask the internet. The internet will let them know regardless.
I took a look and I can't believe companies still waste thousands of dollars on "concepts" logos like this. All but one gave me nausea so much they looked bad/dated(especially no2) and the only one that didn't isn't worth the thousands of dollars they surely paid for it, because, let's face it, we could all have come up with it (Mozi//a) Stick with your current one, none of those are better IMO
I miss 3.6 and Mozilla that wasn't overrun with this crap.
Mozilla's problem is not with its logo. How much lower does the Firefox marketshare have to drop before someone at Mozilla gets a clue?
Ok, there is only 1 that doesn't look atrocious, the "Moz://a". The rest look like what I would expect from what grade schoolers class assignment.
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive
Rebranding and image polishing are undertaken only when a company knows that things aren't going too well for them. Many Firefox users would probably agree with that, at least the technical users know it all too clearly.
However, the problems are not caused by the brand being unsavoury or the image tarnished. The brand and image are fine. Where problems have appeared it is because Mozilla developers have been forcing unwanted change on their users, forcing them continually to find remedial fixes to preserve friendly and productive old functionality. Browsers are not kettles, people don't want a completely different look each year.
The fact that Mozilla is now undertaking brand and image refurbishment clearly indicates the nature of the problem. The immense and unbridled ego of Firefox developers has put them in complete denial that Mozilla's problems are caused by them and them alone, and that has left their management with only one alternative, to play with branding and image.
It will achieve nothing of substance.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Your ID is 6 digits. Get off MY lawn!
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
Agreed. My take on the set:
1. In 1985 it would have been cool.
2. So you're hosting the Olympics?
3. Mozilla is a media player?
4. Bland but tolerable
5. Mozilla is a CAD program?
6. In 1995 it still wouldn't have been cool.
7. Wait, that's a Monument Valley map.
I'd suggest a simple but stylized M, with understated modern aesthetics and not the pop art of #6. People aren't looking for whimsy in an app they'll use for banking.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
My id is null, I will hide in your hedge.
Maybe what we need is Javascript sandboxing that can pause scripts in tabs without focus, limit CPU usage, autokill pages, and so on. I have no idea whether the engine is buggy or the site code is buggy or the frameworks are broken or whatever, but if it hasn't been fixed yet, then we need a drastic solution.
1. Stop firing people for bullshit offenses to Social Justice Warrior sensibilities.
2. When you automatically restore multiple windows after crashes, load the freaking close button controls before anything else.
1: Put off branding until their have their actual products well defined.
2: Stop shoving their nose so far up Google's nether-sphicter. They want their OWN products, not Google also-rans.
3: Dump the fucking SJW culture. It's toxic and it's negatively impacting your products by making your development every bit as psychotic and MPD as it is.
4: Hire someone who ACTUALLY knows something about branding. Whoever's fourth cousin came up with the shit you have there needs to never be allowed near anything even RESEMBLING product branding ever again...
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Disclaimer: I've got a design diploma (with accolades).
The letter-logo is just fine. They should just iterate their branding a little.
Here are my quick points for the website (German layout version) alone (a new style-tile incorporating these would also be a neat base for a brand overhaul) ... The current englisch version looks boooooring btw. - it's an example of a bad iteration. Just current trendy stuff quickly ripped and remixed without a clear concept, once again half finished. ... Why don't these people just iterate an ok design to make it perfect? Why always a complete overhaul? This is non-sense.
My list: ... get an expert on this) ... Mozilla needs a presentation video of its own. Hero size, professionally done. People want Moooovieezzz! nowadays.
- Letter Logo off to the side a bit, more breathing room (hero image/video backdrop maybe?)
- Letter Logo bolder (is there an extrabold version of the font? They should move to that.)
- less clutter on the screen
- limit the palette and have it follow color theory (looks like an unfinished MS Metro rippoff - not nice)
- one radius for rounded corners and not 5 or so that I'm seeing.
- Justify left, better images, perhaps some hippster hero images (yes I know, we have enough of those already, but well done they *do* work
- 2 to 3 font sizes, not the 6 or 7 I'm seeing (bad layout design!! Together with the various radi on rounded corners the layout is a mess - a little tweaking alone would be a huge improvement)
- Flowtext font thinner.
- Flowtext fontsize smaller
- Double your whitespace. No, really, double your whitespace.
- layout backdrop coloring is so 2010 - should get a redo, limit colorset or remove it all-together and stick to base-color-palette
- We'res the Firefox Ad or the Moz equivalent?
- Nice to have: They should check with some world class webdesigners and see if they can remove or limit the "bootstrappiness" of the entire layout. People are bored of that. Perhaps limiting the use of Icons would already help a bit. Fontawesome and Co. make sense, but they're often overused and out of place. Like postmodern architecture with no sense or meaning... Maybe more to the polymer icons - those are hip, classic and work well with fresh minimalistic designs.
My 2 designer cents.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
Instead of wasting time with a crappy new logos (that no one asked for) how about fixing your products instead so they don't suck ?
You know, based on technical merits, like you did back in the FF 2.x and 3.x days.
/sarcasm Because I'm sure a new logo will solve all your problems.