
Redesigning the Windows Logo - llambda
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/02/17/redesigning-the-windows-logo.aspx
======
ender7
I've actually grown to like the monochrome treatment of the Windows 7 logo:
[http://www.seeklogo.com/images/W/windows-
logo-C2E55C2526-see...](http://www.seeklogo.com/images/W/windows-
logo-C2E55C2526-seeklogo.com.gif)

It looks quite nice on the back of monitor screens, for example.

The extreme fake parallax in the new logo just ends up making it look
unbalanced to me, like it's about to fall off my screen. I understand if they
want to go all "Swiss" on the next logo...but if so, they shouldn't have had
any parallax at all. When I see it, I don't think "Metro", and I don't think
"Windows", I just think...apartment building.

Also, see commentary on Brand New:
[http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/with_win...](http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/with_windows_like_these_who_needs_enemies.php)

~~~
ChrisNorstrom
Yeah, they're going somewhere nice with it but it's just not there yet. It
actually looks like the logo hates its font and is turning away from it. It's
not an iconic symbol by itself and is too plain, boring, and generic to become
one later on. If they decide to use it I'm sure it'll stick eventually, it's
just right now, it doesn't look done.

------
m0nastic
I've never seen the original Windows 1.0 logo before (or maybe it's just been
so long that I've forgotten), but I actually think that's far and away the
best logo they've ever had.

~~~
nirvana
Interestingly that logo accurately represents the way "Windows" worked in
Windows 1.0. It didn't have overlapping windows. So the lines within the
windows represent the dividers of the UI between the window areas. You could
make one window bigger by moving a divider over, making all the windows on the
other side of that divider smaller. There was no concept of windows being in
front of or behind each other (like there was on the mac from the beginning.
Microsoft obviously started on windows late compared to the mac, and was quite
behind at the 1.0 release.)

~~~
literalusername
You speak about tiling window managers as if they were already an anachronism
in 1985. Yet today, some of us continue to prefer them, and they remain in
active development. What good is a window that's partially covered? I either
want to completely see it or I want it to be completely hidden from view. The
parlor trick of overlapping windows is useless to me.

~~~
seldo
I constantly use overlapping windows.

If I'm tailing a continuous log, I don't need to see the full text of each
line, I just need to see when the pattern changes, which I can get by having
the first 10 characters peeking out from behind the left of my active window.

My to-do list is big but really the first three words or so are enough to
remind me of what each item is; it's behind and to the left of the tailing
log.

Finally, I have a few corners of various other apps I'm using poking out all
over the place. It's much easier to switch to the window I want by grabbing a
corner than alt-tabbing or any other method.

~~~
literalusername
Fair enough. It's important to have different paradigms for different work
styles. You use whatever works best for you. My point was just that tiling WMs
were not anachronistic back in '85.

~~~
moe
Part of me hopes Windows will rediscover tiling, considering their new-found
love for tiles.

In the unlikely event they execute on that I might actually be tempted to try
windows again - for the first time in 10 years.

~~~
gcr
Will this be how Metro works?

------
RomP
Hmmm, I think I've seen it somewhere. Indeed:
<http://stocklogos.com/topic/past-and-future-famous-logos>

~~~
joedev
The GAP one is especially funny.

~~~
Roboprog
Yeah, but not as good as the 2015 Nokia.

------
MartinCron
_2\. It was important that the new logo carries our Metro principle of being
“Authentically Digital”. By that, we mean it does not try to emulate faux-
industrial design characteristics such as materiality (glass, wood, plastic,
etc.)_

This is in stark contrast to everything Apple has been doing lately with
address books and calendar on iPad trying to look like cartoonish versions of
real materials. I prefer "authentically digital"

~~~
r00fus
This logo also ties in with the Metro minimalist look.

------
zaidf
_Paula asked us a simple question, “your name is Windows. Why are you a
flag?”_

I have never really asked myself that question as a consumer. I have never
felt "confused" that the logo is NOT a window. I have just generally liked
Windows, the operating system, and have become fond of the brand after 15
years of use.

This assumes that your logo MUST be a _literal_ representation of your name.
I'm curious to know why. Without it, it just seems like an opinion of someone
named Paula.

~~~
artursapek
It's a stupid question. Logos aren't depictions. They're icons meant to
represent something, not describe it. I never questioned the old logo. I
actually liked it a lot more than the sad attempt at modernism they're
announcing in this article.

It's disappointing that Microsoft doesn't seem to understand this essential
design rule. They should read Paul Rand.

 _“Should a logo be self-explanatory? It is only by association with a
product, a service, a business, or a corporation that a logo takes on any real
meaning. It derives its meaning and usefulness from the quality of that which
it symbolizes."_

~~~
george_morgan
The design was by Pentagram, not Microsoft. They are certainly more than
familiar with the work Paul Rand…

~~~
rbanffy
Your designs can be only as inspired as the pointy-haired boss who approves
them.

------
gfodor
Let's put tons of effort in to make a clean, simple, beautiful logo. And then
let our lawyers stamp a honking (TM) on it to ruin it.

~~~
Zirro
It annoys me too. Is there anyone here who knows if they are required to put
it there to protect their brand, or if it's entirely optional?

~~~
culturestate
There are some legal advantages, but it's largely optional. Note, for example,
that Apple doesn't use it anywhere other than their written materials.

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joezydeco
_"By that, we mean it does not try to emulate faux-industrial design
characteristics such as materiality (glass, wood, plastic, etc.)."_

Is "materiality" code for "skeumorphism"? Either way, it's a big middle finger
to Apple.

~~~
literalusername
Ever since Windows 3.1, I viewed the faux 3D window decorations as an
insulting waste of my processing time. The Windows logo was merely an
extrapolation of MS's attitude that "Now that we have such powerful computers,
we can merrily waste all that power with this increasingly bloated but
supposedly impressive OS."

That attitude was not unique to them, at all. Apple has been equally guilty of
it for longer than Microsoft. It's that attitude that (in part) led me to move
to Linux a decade ago, where I could merrily work without suffering the
overhead of a GUI.

This new Windows logo is, in my view, the sexiest thing I've ever seen come
out of Microsoft. I stopped caring about Windows long ago, except to note that
minwin sounded awesome (but never shipped?), Windows 8 Server could run
headless (What an innovation!), and PowerShell actually does seem brilliantly
innovative (although it's unfortunately integrated with all that .net crap).

Now if this logo accurately reflects their change in attitude, to a minimal OS
that stays out of my way, then I've got to say I'm a fan. They're unlikely to
win me over from Arch Linux, but for once Microsoft seems to be on the right
track. At least with respect to that logo.

Edit: I'm amazed that this post is bouncing between 0 and 1 points. In a
discussion of the new Windows logo, I described why I like it so much. If you
disagree, feel free to comment. Down-votes should not be used to express
disagreement.

~~~
icarus_drowning
I'm upvoting just for your edit, as I think disagreement via downvotes is a
bit childish and all too common.

Having said that, I doubt Microsoft is moving in a direction an Arch Linux
user would call "minimalist".

~~~
literalusername
Thanks, icarus_drowning. Having reread my post a day later, I realize that it
could have been a lot better written. I suspect you're right, just based on MS
history, but that logo certainly looks like a fresh mentality. It's simpler
than the Arch logo, fwiw.

------
flyosity
Hey there, Shetland Islands: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shetland_Islands>

~~~
tripzilch
IT'S NOT A FLAG

------
icarus_drowning
What makes the new Windows logo appear so weirdly revolting to me is the fact
that it is minimalist, but not distinctive. Contrast this to the simplified
Apple logo that one sees upon booting OS X-- minimalist, but entirely
distinctive.

The new Windows logo is a weirdly parallaxed set of rectangles. Nothing
specifically diacritical at all.

EDIT: I think this is why the monochrome Win7 logo that has been posted here
is better. It is distinctly _Windows_ , building on decades of brand identity,
and a truly unique and iconic. It is almost as if the "flag" shape that
Microsoft seems so eager to drop is perhaps their greatest asset.

They've missed the point: minimalism for the sake of minimalism isn't
"better". Simple is simple. Beautiful is beautiful.

------
Ryanmf
"Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?"

I wonder how much they paid to listen to an expert ask that question when it
was likely asked, and ignored, internally for years.

~~~
aggarwalachal
not really a flag... i guess they look at something like this for "window"

[http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs15/f/2007/113/9/d/Old_Window_by...](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs15/f/2007/113/9/d/Old_Window_by_ofeliq.jpg)

~~~
bitwize
It was a flag.

I guess it's supposed to connote triumphalism. As in "yay, it finally
shipped!" The NetBSD logo, itself based on a cartoon of daemons hoisting a
flag like at Iwo Jima, has many of the same connotations.

Back in Windows 3.1, by going to ProgMan's About box and Ctrl-Shift-Clicking
the Windows logo X amount of times, you could trigger an "easter egg", one
screen of which was a flag waving with the Windows logo on it. Another of
which was a credits scroll with a cartoon figure that had one of four faces:
Gates, Ballmer, the Windows dev lead at the time (I forget who but he had a
beard); and a creepy looking teddy bear (some sort of internal mascot for the
Windows division).

Good times.

------
Too
> We have evolved from a world of rudimentary low resolution graphics to
> today’s rich high-resolution systems

...but we still haven't learned to not save single-colored pictures as jpeg.
Aaa my eyes!

------
aggarwalachal
I actually like the Windows 1.0 logo...

------
cschmidt
The Pentagram blog also has a writeup on the new logo:

<http://pentagram.com/en/new/2012/02/new-work-microsoft.php>

including a nifty animated logo

~~~
Corrado
I really like the video as it actually gives some "context" to the window and
its relation to the text. I just wish this view was more transparent in the
static version.

------
martingordon
And here's Apple's rendition of the Windows logo (used for Boot Camp):
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanchao/127292839/>

------
cpeterso
I think they should have retained the distinctive red/green/blue/yellow colors
of the Windows logo. And skipped the parallax.

The Metro look has lots of flat, colorful squares that are just crying out to
become a Windows logo. See this Windows 8 screenshot, for example:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_8_Developer_Previ...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_8_Developer_Preview_Start_Screen.png)

~~~
polshaw
Agreed -- it would have been to metro what the windows 1.0 logo was to it's
tiled windows. If the colours were deemed too garish, then perhaps varying
lightness of one colour.

------
demione
Could someone explain what motivates Microsoft to try and "completely
reimagine" their OS every time they iterate? We're talking about an OS, not a
video game. I get that they're trying to innovate, but it comes across as
self-deprecating.

I love how Apple has maintained uniformity in their UI across the past few
iterations of OSX. It's just one less thing to worry about relearning,
allowing me to get my work done easier.

~~~
untog
_Could someone explain what motivates Microsoft to try and "completely
reimagine" their OS every time they iterate?_

They don't, though. Vista was, cosmetically, a big leap from XP, but in terms
of actual UI it barely changed at all. Start button is still in the same
place, maximise, minimise, etc. All still there.

I do really appreciate the little touches MS add, actually. Drag a window to
the top of the screen to maximise, to the left to use 50% of the screen, shake
the window to minimise all the other ones... I use that stuff every day, and
miss it when I go home to OS X.

~~~
doublextremevil
I use better touch tool to do pretty much exactly that on OSX (along with
multitouch gestures) <http://blog.boastr.net/>

------
alanfalcon
This is great. Not the logo itself, that's just... Something. But it's a very
good idea for the clean break from previous Windows logos which were getting
more and more complex. And now if you see any of those colorful logos, you
will think "oh, that's old", so it's a subtle push to upgrade. Unlike Vista
which was like, "oh that's the same old OS wrapped in a fake Apple-like
shell."

------
lwhi
I think the metro UI is genuinely interesting and (dare I say it) exciting.
The logo redesign fits with our times - but it's incredibly safe .. verging on
dull.

Large corporations have so much ubiquity .. we encounter them so many times
throughout our day. Daily exposure ensures familiarity and this familiarity
eventually leads to acceptance; in one sense the logo could be virtually
anything and would still serve its purpose (e.g. Pepsi redesign).

The age of the logo is over in my opinion .. these days the prominance of a
logo has been supplanted by a fuzzier, more Machiavellian concept - the
ability for a brand to connect with its audience on a personal level. In that
respect a logo is sometimes simply fodder to for the latter; ensuring the
brand and company are spoken about socially (e.g. the gap redesign / 2012
olympics).

It pains me to imagine how much Pentagram were paid for this.

------
jheimark
trademark symbol really ruins it for me. Windows 1.0 is much better for that
reason alone.

------
sjm
This is far better:
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/36724189@N05/6892887709/in/phot...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/36724189@N05/6892887709/in/photostream)

~~~
grandpoobah
OOo an opening window. I like it. That's re-imagination right there.

------
tripzilch
Yeah! Let's use the flag of Shetland so ... people won't confuse our logo with
.. a flag?

Um?

Granted they didn't pick the flag of big country like Sweden or anything, and
if Shetland, Calais and Pärnu, Estonia, as well as Iceland in the past, were
already using it, why couldn't Microsoft?

On a more serious note, there's lots of valid criticism on this logo, the TM
and (R) are clutter, their "Metro style" is not supposed to have perspective,
and the font isn't particularly anything either.

But then, it's not _my_ logo :)

~~~
sixothree
Not to mention the dot on the i looks misplaced and misshapen.

My first emotional reaction to that logo was 'ewwww'. It's not a good sign
when the best word I can find to describe it is gross.

------
kibwen
Other than the color, it's a decent new logo.

There is, however, one huge flaw: separated from the wordmark, the icon is
flaccid. It looks like they were aiming for Apple-like minimalism in both
color and form (which isn't to say that Apple is the only company allowed to
practice minimalism), but "a skewed, doubly-bisected square" simply isn't
distinctive enough to be iconic. I really hope they iterate on it for Windows
9.

------
chrislomax
In the nicest possible way, I'm actually bored of this metro look already and
it's not even released yet.

I find that logo boring, some squares with a warp on it. I know it doesn't
have to be over complicated but I don't think there is any imagination there
at all.

The blue is not very strong either, the branding it quite weak.

Just my opinion, which I am entitled to before anyone starts giving me grief!

~~~
drewrv
Boring can be good, from a usability perspective. Metro seems to be their big
selling point now and I imagine they want the branding to reflect the
usability of the product.

Not trying to give you grief. I agree it's kinda boring, I'm just thinking
that maybe it's boring by design.

~~~
chrislomax
I think I know what they are trying to achieve, they are hoping to get the
Apple simplicity, I think.

I didn't think you were giving grief, sounded like constructive criticism, I
don't mind that. I just don't like mindless comments that are biased.

I hope this product gets them back in the game, they been a bit behind in
innovation lately so I'm looking forward to something radically different.

------
vacri
_Using bold flat colors and clean lines and shapes, the new logo has the
characteristics of way-finding design systems seen in airports and subways._

Bold colors? As in _plural_ colors? That's the first place they've failed. And
trying to emulate an airport's system for moving people around is bad from the
outset - those things are meant to be simple and boring. They do their task by
being unambiguous, uniform, simple... and bland.

Sure, make your logo work in monochrome for places where it has to be (like
the plastic moulding mentioned above), but in both print and digital, a single
flat pale blue is pretty tepid. It also doesn't evoke the multitude of colour
panes that they're trying to push in every screenshot - why not simply move
their four colours to the new 'window'?

~~~
politician
Well, really, why shouldn't an operating system be "simple" and "boring" and
"bland"? I don't need an exciting OS -- it needs to be dependable.

~~~
vacri
It doesn't matter how simple, boring, bland and dependable your _product_ is,
your _logo_ should not be bland, especially if you're marketing to the general
public.

------
lupatus
If it didn't say "Windows 8" next to it, I wouldn't have known that it was the
Windows logo.

Frankly, it is kind of a let-down. The Vista & Windows 7 "pearl" logo is cool
- it is flashy and is artistically impressive with it's lighting effects on
the rounded semi-reflective surface. It draws the eye to itself. The new logo
is a bland blue monochrome square whose slight tilt causes the eye to
passively move right over it without notice.

Is this the first hint that Windows 8 is an operating system to "pass" on
instead of adopting?

If Microsoft wants this operating system to grab market share, a bland
Germanic logo that tells the user "don't mind me, but your next exit is in
half a mile" is a poor first step at grabbing the market's attention, IMO.

~~~
mikemaccana
Really? I bought the shiny blue liquid vista pearl looked a lot like a poor,
and very self conscious, attempt to imitate their competitors.

------
peterfschaadt
I'm curious to see when/if they update the Windows key on laptops and
keyboards.

~~~
bgarbiak
I think they won't mind leaving it the way it is for some time. It could be
used as a sort of a subconscious metaphor: keyboards/old logo is the thing of
the past and touch screen/new logo is "the now".

------
dkrich
Microsoft's main failure for the past decade or so is that they have
repeatedly enacted a flurry of short-term strategies in reaction to whichever
direction the industry winds happened to blowing, and did so for just about
every consumer tech industry.

Xbox to Playstation, Bing to Google, Zune to iPod. In the process they did
very little leading along the way and hemorrhaged money from all of these
businesses.

I still like and respect Microsoft as a company and think they can still
produce great things, and I hope that the next decade sees them develop some
leadership and return to innovation.

------
tikhonj
Heh, the phrase "Authentically Digital" neatly sums up what I like about the
Metro UI. If Windows Phone wasn't so locked down, I would get one just because
it's the best looking option by far right now.

As for the logo, I think a flag shape would be better than the window shape
they have. It feels a little bit generic and almost self-parodying. That said,
I definitely see where they are coming from, and it does fit in with their new
Metro UI aesthetic.

------
artursapek
It's rough times when a rectangle split into four is newsworthy and people
suddenly realize they prefer something that was designed in 1985.

------
some1else
The article and shape reminded me of the logo I did for Compiz before they
merged back with Beryl:
[http://forum.compiz.org/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=236&p=...](http://forum.compiz.org/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=236&p=1811)

It's by no means a perfect philosophy and account, but designers might enjoy
the story.

------
pwpwp
Now it really looks like the Swedish flag.

------
redthrowaway
Does the kerning in the new logo look wrong to anyone else? That 'o' has an
awful lot of space around it.

~~~
cpeterso
The kerning immediately irked me, too, but I was thinking the 'W' and 'i' were
too close.

~~~
pvarangot
The way the W sort of points at the dot in the i makes me feel like if someone
is poking my eye.

------
sabret00the
Is it really legal to Trademark such an image? There must be a thousand prior
iterations of such a thing.

~~~
cbr
A thousand prior iterations in the Operating Systems market? Trademarks are
specific to markets; that's why UPS can have the color brown but non-shipping-
companies can also use brown.

------
brudgers
The fierce reduction at the root of Metro's design allowed me to fairly
accurately envision the new logo as soon as I read, "It’s a window… not a
flag."

One color, simple shapes, simple text - MicroSoft clearly has a design vision.

------
efsavage
If I had to picture "windows logo for metro" something more akin to the Black
Flag logo comes to mind. Not this disaster that looks like some shareware
multi-monitor utility.

------
molecularbutter
Microsoft seems confused, but I am genuinely interested in Windows 8 and
Metro. Hopefully they ditch their legacy stuff though and make a clean break a
la iOS/OS X

------
altrego99
"Microsoft and Windows are all about putting technology in people's hands to
empower them to find their own perspectives."

This line could be avoided :)

------
heydenberk
This gets worse with each iteration.

------
jagjit
An ode to friends in Finland? The logo looks very much like flags of Finland,
Sweden etc.

------
baby
Okay, so I've read the comments here and I am the only one who really likes
the new logo.

------
functionform
This is the first logo I haven't liked honestly. It looks unbalanced and
unfinished.

------
run4yourlives
Sorry, not feeling it. I think the Vista one was the best, to be honest.

------
bostonpete
I checked the Windows 8 wikipedia page b/c I was curious whether someone had
already put this image there and I was astonished to find the page has 74
references! By comparison, the page for the Civil War has 31 references -- 22
of them from the same book.

------
sniperjoe
well, it's well crafted, elegant, and minimalistic. however, deep down I just
feel microsoft is far too sophisticated a company to be monochrome.

------
georgieporgie
I'm really not feelin' it. It looks like some sort of industry association
sticker that I might see on a window or glass door at Home Depot. I agree with
others here, too, that the 3.1 logo seems to be a better example of the clean
look they're going for.

------
Alind
As for today, in my opinion, windows 1's logo is such a fashion.

------
lurker14
Giving the blog a name that is easily confused with "Window Steam Blog" says a
lot about the team's understanding of how to build user-friendly interfaces.

------
publicus
Interesting that they'd choose the Greek flag as the next Windows logo...

~~~
tripzilch
It's the flag of Shetland, Calais, a historical flag of Iceland and some place
in Estonia, but the Greek flag looks different.

------
boubountu
Too much space between "windows 8" and the actual window.

------
gubatron
The new logo is an homage to the BSOD

------
kruhft
> very short list of agencies that we wanted to work with on the redesign of
> the logo and were thrilled when Pentagram agreed to join us in the project

Pentagram. Sounds like an appropriate company name to work on the logo
redesign.

