
The Next Microsoft - exogen
http://www.minimallyminimal.com/journal/2012/7/3/the-next-microsoft.html
======
blhack
Dear everybody,

Are you paying attention? This is how you build a portfolio. Did microsoft ask
this person to do this?

No. But he did it, and it's brilliant, and now he can put it in his portfolio
under "speculative work".

And then he gets a job doing this.

I can't tell you how many people I talk to (I live in a college town, and
frequently go to bars and strike up conversations with people) who just
finished, or are working on, some degree in "design", but have an empty
portfolio, and are waiting for their "big shot".

Good job, Andrew.

Totally rebranding the window to the "slate" is incredibly ambitious, but it
certainly looks good.

~~~
potatolicious
This can go either way.

Remember when dcurtis did a unsolicited spec redesign for the American
Airlines website? We here at HN tore him a new one (justifiably so, it ignored
so many critical aspects of the business, and came off as entirely
impractical).

When you do something like this, you better be sure you nail every single
angle of it.

FWIW, I normally hate spec redesigns - they're usually positioned in a
pompous, "I know better than everyone", self-aggrandizing way. But this one I
really like, this one strikes a chord.

~~~
pchristensen
HN criticized, but I've heard "the guy who redesigned American's website"
referenced in several times from several sources. It spread, it got him a
reputation, it gave him a brand! Dustin Curtis is now recognizable in any kind
of design discussion.

I've never heard of minimallyminimal, but I'll remember "the guy who rebranded
Microsoft" for a long time.

~~~
the-cakeboss
He may be recognizable in a design discussion on HN, but hardly out of this
context. Same goes for this guy.

That of course is not to say that these sorts of efforts should be avoided,
but I do think you are overestimating their impact.

~~~
wilfra
I think you are underestimating the impact of being well known on HN for
something like that.

Nearly everybody who matters reads this site at least sometimes.

~~~
jsprink_banned
Although jsprinkles got slowbanned and hellbanned (still unsure why but cannot
be bothered; more on that later), I had to create another account just to
respond to this. This comment encapsulates, in amazingly succinct fashion,
everything that is wrong with Hacker News and the people that participate in
this community.

I can translate "[n]early everybody who matters" in this context, and it means
_a subset of Silicon Valley that thinks it is the entire universe_. Hacker
News these days is TMZ for Silicon Valley, with the occasional dash of Lisp
thrown in. Conversations are usually way off-base and are wildly
misrepresentative of reality in many cases. Half the discussions are folks
opining on how poorly someone is running a business after digesting several
years of Hacker News articles during their work hours at someone else's
company, with no actual experience at the helm. I went after one guy for
proclaiming that Tim Cook hasn't done shit for Apple in his entire career
there, and I couldn't help but imagine the kind of person behind such a
comment and it wasn't a pretty picture.

The other day's thread about the sale of Sortfolio is a _great_ example of
this. The entire thread was arguing with DHH and Jason Fried about _their own
company's transaction_. No, really[1].

There are exceptions. There is the occasional absolutely phenomenal and
industry-affecting discussion here. There are people that use their "Hacker
News reputation" for good. However, standing atop a pillar of arrogance as
tall as "everybody who matters is here" just screams a complete disconnect
with how our industry actually works.

In the grand scheme of information technology, startups are tiny little
mosquitoes that are, with few exceptions, swatted to death quickly and
quietly. The occasional mosquito that kills a human, though, is the one that
gets press and pays off its investors mightily. That's the golden mosquito,
and a whole tribe of mosquito farmers has popped up in pursuit of their
payoff. However, simply because a couple mosquitoes have succeeded at killing
a human does not, I repeat does not, indicate that the entire world of disease
revolves around mosquitoes, nor that a forum discussing mosquitoes is
representative of epidemiology as a whole. The average startup employs what, a
dozen people? IBM employs more than _four hundred thousand_ [2]. And before
you turn around and mock IBM, they've made enough money to research and do
great things[3] while your startup is still struggling to come to terms with
burn rate in search of that ever-elusive revenue.

Please dig yourself out of the hole of narcissism and reconnect with reality.
Hacker News is _not_ the entire world, and more than half of the movers and
shakers in the industry have probably never even glanced at a comment thread.
I will ever remain relieved if that fact does not change.

An aside which reinforces that point:

After getting hellbanned, I stopped worrying about combating stupidity in
Hacker News threads. I stopped reading most of them, to be quite honest. I
relaunched my blog and wrote a long essay I've been meaning to write about how
Python decorators work[4] which before, I could never seem to find the time
for. I adopted an ethos of using my time for sharing knowledge instead of
arguing about pointless shit, like Sortfolio's acquisition price or what the
meaning of Steve Jobs parking in a handicap space is or what some UI designer
named Dustin Curtis thinks about Quora's latest funding round. I'm learning to
listen to what people have to say rather than waiting for my turn to speak,
just to refute my conversational opponent's take on Microsoft as if it matters
or has any bearing on my life whatsoever.

The effect that removing frequent Hacker News contribution has had on me as a
person is nothing short of extraordinary, so if "everybody that matters" is
here, God help our industry.

[1]: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4191233>

[2]:
[http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/perfo...](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/performers/companies/biggest/)

[3]: <http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/index.html>

[4]: <http://jedsmith.org/post/python-decorators.html>

~~~
wilfra
Startups create the future, not companies like IBM.

In the context of my comment, people in the orbit of world-changing startups
are the ones that matter.

You make some interesting points though. Good post.

~~~
cdf
I am obviously biased, but I am terrified, TERRIFIED, if a company with
Microsoft's history has a say in delivering the future.

I dont want that future.

Microsoft has a very very long way to rehabilitate their image for their long
history of bad behaviour.

~~~
Spearchucker
Not biased so much, maybe, but definitely subjective.

I have more faith in Microsoft than I do in any other big tech company. It's
easy to forget that any commercial organisation's mission is to make money,
which makes it inherently self-serving.

Microsoft, Red Hat, Google, Apple, Oracle, Facebook and so on all exist to
make their shareholders rich. And yet we seem to think that they exist to make
cool products, or to offer services we might find useful. Or to support us in
any way. Not so.

~~~
wilfra
"...Facebook...exist to make their shareholders rich. And yet we seem to think
that they exist to make cool products,"

Zuck specifically said this isn't true in his letter to shareholders. They
make money so they can build, they don't build to make money.

If you simply observe his own lifestyle and the choices he's made with
Facebook, it is pretty clear money means very little to him and that he
absolutely loves running Facebook.

Given that he can veto anything anybody else ever says about the company for
the rest of his life, I am inclined to believe him.

Wall Street seems to believe him too, thats why FB's stock is not doing so
hot. They know FB's dictator despises them and doesn't care about making them
money.

~~~
brandoncapecci
Interesting conjectures...

On the other hand since Zuckerberg's being an arrogant asshole preceded his
wealth, one can argue that this sing and dance number that fools you is
actually just history repeating itself.

I think I'll base my opinion on him from actions rather than what I read in a
multi-billion dollar letter... as if he would realistically say anything
else...

One thing is for certain though: his stock has underperformed because his
company was considerably overvalued, not because he wasn't a kiss-ass to the
street.

------
nhashem
We could debate whether this would "work" on a practical level as if this was
a Powerpoint presentation for Steve Ballmer and we're supposed to predict how
he'd react. But I'm really just finding myself appreciating the "space/science
fiction" metaphor for technology.

Steve Jobs has often quoted Apple as "advancing the human race." I feel like
this takes it to the next level. I felt myself _wanting this company to exist
just on pure principle._ Whenever I read older science fiction, occasionally
I'll recognize the story is supposedly set somewhere between 2000-2100 A.D.,
and yet we wear spandex and zoom around with FTL travel and fight aliens with
lasers and make food with replicators, etc. And I'll smirk and think, "heh, he
was way off," but beneath that cynicism, there's just a bit of regret that we
just didn't actually evolve in that way. And I guess this is why the branding
here resonated with me so much -- it touched that part of me and convinced me
that this company could make all that reality after all.

As an engineer I feel like I have a hyper-literal mindset where most branding
and advertising just washes over me. I live in a world where it matters what
things "do," not how they "feel," so some guys playing volleyball with girls
in bikinis while drinking Coors Light just washes over me as a bizarre way to
stay hydrated while at the beach. But as I said earlier, I _wanted_ this
company to exist. I wanted to feel the things that this branding made me feel.
I wanted to strap myself into this spaceship that this company was building
and fly wherever it would take me. Practically speaking, that company probably
won't be the one we all know as the bloated monopolistic entity that makes
most of its profits from boring office productivity software.

But this made me wish it was.

~~~
alexirobbins
The "slate" logo is okay. The promise of delivering the future is brilliant. I
had the same exact reaction to it - there needs to be a multi-billion dollar
company devoted to this philosophy! I think microsoft is in a unique position
to become this company - they suck right now and they have the resources. I
also think Ballmer probably will see this. I bet he'll see it and he'll like
it, but worry that it's too big of a shift.

I don't know what they're working on internally, but if I were in his shoes,
I'd go for it. Bundle the phone with the laptop and do whatever it takes to
allow tethering at no extra fee. That's not going far enough. Create an
ecosystem with clear direction that upsets the market, under the banner of
delivering the future of science fiction.

I'm a mac, and I want to be excited to buy microsoft.

~~~
cdf
Bundle? One reason why microsoft is so hamstrung in the last ten years is
because of that word. That, and "anti-trust".

Apple has been behaving well enough not to be on anti-trust watch, and that
gives the company so much more freedom to innovate.

And I say that as a penguin.

~~~
alexirobbins
Point taken, bad idea. But they would need to back up a rebranding with new
and innovative products that demonstrate vision. I shouldn't pretend to know
what those products should be, or how they should be sold.

------
programminggeek
This is great.

It will never work.

A brand has to reflect the culture of how a product is made, sold,
experienced, etc...

Microsoft is not about simplicity, it's about feature creep. Microsoft sells
software and licenses to big companies. Big companies don't want simple, they
want value for their money - features!

A better brand promise would be Microsoft - It Does Everything!

Look at Windows 8. Is it going metro only? No, Metro is a feature on top of
the existing mountain of features. Instead of one UI, it's now TWO UI's!!!

Putting this kind of branding on Microsoft is like putting the geeky kid with
oversized glasses and suspenders a new wardrobe. Sure, the kid will look
cooler, but it won't stop him from playing Magic: The Gathering in their
basement.

Microsoft has built their company on saying "yes" to just about everything.
The simplest Windows ever sounds like they are saying "no" to things and
that's not what Microsoft does.

I love the design, but it's not Microsoft

~~~
geori
Could have easily made the same criticism of Apple in the mid 90s. Microsoft
can definitely be saved. You just have to fire Ballmer and put a visionary in
charge. There are still some really good people working at Microsoft.
Unfortunately, the leadership and vision haven't been there. Nobody has been
willing to take risks.

They took a risk in killing the OEMs and building Surface in house. They now
need to take a bigger one.

~~~
thematt
I used the think the same thing, but it's not clear to me that Microsoft
"needs" saving. They're growing the enterprise side of their business quite
fast and the problem just seems to be that investors expect them to be the
next Apple, whereas Ballmer is turning them into the next IBM.

They'll still make boatloads of money on the enterprise side and that'll be
enough to keep them floating for decades to come, so I continue to wonder if
there truly is a problem with their business strategy or if it's just
misaligned expectations.

~~~
roc
If Ballmer was aiming for the next IBM, he'd have spun off Windows Phone as
IBM sold off its PC business. They wouldn't be buying companies and pouring
resources into it and pissing off the OEMs by pouring resources into Surface.

And if they were just shooting for Enterprise++, keeping Windows Phone and
Surface to keep enterprise device sales under their umbrella, they'd be
spinning off the XBox and consumer media properties.

But they're not spinning anything off. They're still expanding into new
spaces. And they're fighting for consumer money harder than ever.

I'd say the evidence suggests that, even though it could be wildly profitable
if it went the IBM way, Ballmer still wants Microsoft to be all things to all
people.

~~~
noblethrasher
Isn't Microsoft more profitable than IBM?

<http://ycharts.com/companies/IBM/profit_margin>

<http://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/profit_margin>

~~~
roc
And how much more profitable would they be without things like their
Entertainment division, Bing, Ad company acquisitions, etc?

------
kitsune_
This design is Orwellian in nature.

In the current age of global wars, international terrorism, financial turmoil,
outsourced labor, awakening behemoths (China), increasing corruption, people
fear the future.

Look at Apple, classic 1960's space age retro.

Look at Instagram. Cozy and nostalgic polaroid filters.

If I designed for the future, I'd take hints from the past.

A key difference is that in the past, different social groups had something to
look forward to (emancipation and liberation), despite the looming threat of
thermonuclear warfare. Nowadays? In the western hemisphere? It's all gloom and
doom.

In western markets - Your brand should function as an opiate, it should
reassure and placate people.

In emerging markets - Sell the American dream of old.

Of course there's a third way, show us a way out of here. But for that
advertisement alone is not enough. You'd have to change how your business runs
and make a lasting impact on society. Forget shareholder value and start
thinking about society.

~~~
tammer
As much as I love the mockup, in the end I probably agree.

Microsoft's core branding strength in the consumer market is its
"genericness". Look at the new homepage - very standard US families using MS
products. While Apple's aesthetic appeals to millions and millions, to some it
comes off as elitist and/or flashy. As unusual as it seems to say this, MS may
be doing well by pushing their bland mostly-business-but-you-can-go-on-
facebook-on-it-too branding - many americans could assimilate the mockup's
intended message and react negatively. People want cheap crap that doesn't
make them think too hard.

Microsoft's current branding is unexciting (read: safe, reassuring) for very
specific reasons.

~~~
krrrh
I think you're right on the money. Your comment reminds me of Neal
Stephenson's characterization of Windows as the station wagon of operating
systems.

<http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html>

~~~
tammer
Thanks a lot for this, it was a great read.

I think the following phrases things far better than I did:

>The answer, for people who don't like Damoclean questions, is that since
Microsoft has won the hearts and minds of the silent majority--the bourgeoisie
--they don't give a damn about having a slick image, any more then Dick Nixon
did.

------
sjwright
Allow me to be contrarian for a moment and say _I don't like it._ It's a nice
experiment, and it's better than the new Windows logo, but to me it fails on a
few different grounds.

\-- The typographic mark is less substantial, and the typeface is just poor.
The existing logo isn't pretty, but it works just fine, and the arrow device
connecting the O and S is cute.

\-- The use of a lower case "m" is just a slave to a trend that died years
ago. And some idiot in marketing will decide that it has to be written as
'microsoft', even at the beginning of a sentence.

\-- The new design language with the "Deutsche Bank" logo competes and clashes
with all the work Microsoft have put into their Metro design language. As much
as I despise the new Windows logo, the Metro theme has been well implemented
in stores and marketing.

~~~
mattdeboard
It's not contrarian when a full half of the top-level commenters say they
don't care for it.

And really this seems to me pretty much par for the course for design work
here on HN. Every single time someone posts an attempt at some design work
that they have taken very seriously, it quickly degrades into a contest to see
whom can say "meh" the most dramatically.

~~~
sjwright
At the time I posted, 90% of the top level commenters were positive about the
design. A vast majority of the top level comments are still positive.

A great brand design is like a great API -- it's easy to build something that
can pass casual scrutiny, but it's damn hard to make something that can
survive decades in the field, appeal to many different type of customer,
withstand changes in technology/aesthetic, and grow elegantly.

------
pooriaazimi
What I particularly hate about MS branding right now is those stupid,
unnecessary (TM) and (R)'s that follow names of their products... Just look at
this picture for God's sake: [http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-
images/microsof...](http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-
images/microsoft/m19.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1341179900853) or head
over to their website: <http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx>

It's ridiculous. So "Windows" is a registered trademark of Microsoft. Big
deal, but why put it after every single mentioning of the name?! Doesn't it
bother you ( = MS marketing guys) to see little dots _(they're so little that
you can't even say if they're (tm) or (r)'s!)_ after product names? Isn't it
ugly in your opinions?

Apple doesn't do it. Google doesn't either. Oracle does it too, however.
Congrats, MS; you're as uncool as a database company.

~~~
bztzt
They _are_ a database company :)

------
esbwhat
I'm no designer, but aren't logos supposed to be recognizable? This is a
geometric shape, why not just use a square for the logo, or a triangle?

Would people really associate this shape (which isn't particularly unique and
probably not even trademark-able) with microsoft when they see it? I have my
doubts

Also unrelatedly, the missing i-dot is really throwing me off (probably just
because I am used to it)

~~~
brittohalloran
Microsoft is big enough that a shape that simple could easily become their
logo. What company is this:

[http://www.owenjonesdesign.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/05/1_...](http://www.owenjonesdesign.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/05/1_Nike.png)

or this:

[http://www.wearesuntravel.com/SquareLogo_Jewel.303162624_std...](http://www.wearesuntravel.com/SquareLogo_Jewel.303162624_std.png)

or this:

[http://www.vintagevideogamer.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/04/...](http://www.vintagevideogamer.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/04/map-pin1.png)

~~~
JackC
I'm not saying you're wrong, but none of those logos is nearly as simple as
this one. For example, I wasn't taught a formula for calculating their area in
elementary school.

Are there any successful logos that really are this simple?

~~~
brittohalloran
Yes, you're right, they're slighly more complicated. Hows about these:

[http://blog.iso50.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/08/windowslive...](http://blog.iso50.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/08/windowslivewriterolympiclogos-1ed9rings-3.jpg)

[http://www.findthatlogo.com/wp-content/gallery/pepsi-
logos/o...](http://www.findthatlogo.com/wp-content/gallery/pepsi-logos/old-
pepsi-logo.jpg)

[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DvlYtL1ReM0/TIHrinS6g5I/AAAAAAAACw...](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DvlYtL1ReM0/TIHrinS6g5I/AAAAAAAACw4/gxLGDpDmZsk/s320/tvsquad_accidentally_on_purpose_55697_cbs_logo.jpg)

this is even better:

[http://www.logodesignconsultant.com/images/Memorable-
simple-...](http://www.logodesignconsultant.com/images/Memorable-simple-logo-
designs-examples-2.png)

this is probably the winner though:

[http://www.petergreenberg.com/wp-
content/uploads/2010/01/log...](http://www.petergreenberg.com/wp-
content/uploads/2010/01/logo_redcross.jpg)

~~~
batiudrami
Interestingly, the red cross logo is actually a trademark of Johnson & Johnson
[1], not the Red Cross. It's also easily confused with the Swiss flag, and
Swatch Watches (though granted they have inverted colours). Unless there is
some context you wouldn't necessarily know which brand that was referring to.
If you remove the colour (as is proposed on the page), it's just a plus sign
and not recognisable at all.

[1] [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1559971/Johnson-
an...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1559971/Johnson-and-Johnson-
sues-Red-Cross-over-logo.html)

------
ender7
So, I'm not a huge fan, but definitely an interesting attempt. Some
commentary, because why not:

\- As others have noted, the "moonshot" imagery is a good idea and manages to
seem classic and futuristic at the same time.

\- The wordmark is a little cliche (lowercase sans wooo), but it looks okay. I
like the beveled foot of the t, which provides echoes of the slanted logo, but
feel like it's just an afterthought right now. I wonder what it might have
looked like with a few more bevels.

\- The slate shape is nice, but it's not an uncommon shape. In order to avoid
confusion you're going to need something to make it extremely recognizable. A
strong color identity will help a lot here. Your system of positioning the log
above the top-left corner of text also helps, but only if there's text around.
You know you will have succeeded when the demo image of the woman in the
orange jacket is unquestionably your logo and not a random part of the jacket
design (which it could be mistaken for at the moment).

\- The derived logos (Windows, Office) are a little confusing. Why is windows
two slates? Why are the slates fighting in Office? Why doesn't metro have any
slates / why is it even up there with Windows and Office? To create a family
of logos you actually need a sense of "family" -- this just feels like the
first two things that popped into your head.

\- It's still a little unclear whether the slate logo is also Microsoft's
logo, or whether the corporation itself will just use the new wordmark. Why is
the slate logo used on the Windows Phone? Shouldn't it be double-slates?

\- Maybe it's just my screen, but your color palletes for metro don't look
that great. Dark blue on black is hard to overcome; the teal is too light
compared to the white text; the black theme is hard to distinguish from the
black background.

\- I really, really like the combination of screen reflection and slate logo
that you see in the ad for the Nokia phone. You see those fake reflections on
any ad for a device with a glass screen. I think you could turn that into an
enduring visual language for ads.

~~~
bascule
"The derived logos (Windows, Office) are a little confusing. Why is windows
two slates? Why are the slates fighting in Office?"

Apparently you missed what I thought were some pretty awesome visual
metaphors:

* "Why is windows two slates?" there are two of them, hence Window _s_ plural

* "Why are the slates fighting in Office?" They look like the walls of an office (the transparency helps with the 3D illusion)

~~~
ender7
You know what they say about a joke that you have to explain...

~~~
bascule
Oh really?

[http://inagorillacostume.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/08/Amaz...](http://inagorillacostume.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/08/Amazon-Logo-A-Z.jpg)

[http://pictures.mastermarf.com/blog/2009/090113-fedex-
expres...](http://pictures.mastermarf.com/blog/2009/090113-fedex-express-
arrow.png)

~~~
nickzoic
<http://www.goodlogo.com/extended.info/2385> (Sun Microsystems)

------
idspispopd
Design isn't about just being radical and experimental (which has a place).
Good designers know when to use these features while obeying the over arching
rule of design: Don't just include elements because you fancy them (or the
idea of them) - They must work completely on their own merits.

As an experiment this is interesting, as a proposition it's very poor, it's
design-poor.

This is subjective, but in my view it's both too abstract and unruly for
microsoft and fails the continuity test. Unstructured logos need careful
examination, this is more experimental than logical. Also Deutsche bank has a
very similar logo which is ill-advised in general.

With regard to the new microsoft logo type this is visually imbalanced,
particularly with the use of various clashing typographic styles. For example
the x-height limited 'i' is at odds with the "ft" ligature which ascends above
the x-height. Letter terminals are square, then the 't' on the end suddenly
has two angled terminals which directly contradict the 'f' it's attached to.
It doesn't come across as flair, it comes across as trying to add interest
where there is none.

Also the type in general is poor, it's variously weighted strokes present a
mottled "grey area" and the surrounding "white space" is unnatural to read.

~~~
yakshaving
I completely agree - It seems like this is one of the only other design
responses on this board.

Every point you've made here is right. The harsh angles and general feeling of
a "sharp razor" are just not right for Microsoft, or many other companies
actually. It's experimental which is cool, but just far too strong to be
adopted.

------
rndmize
I don't find it appealing. The surface version of the logo, especially,
bothers me; it feels off-balance due to the size of the geometric block and
its placement.

Personal issues with the design aside, I also don't think the overall idea is
any good. Microsoft as a whole doesn't need to be futuristic or hip or apple-
ish. For its corporate customers especially, I think this would be counter-
productive. Instead, they should take Microsoft Research and really DO
SOMETHING with it. Such as attaching an accelerator of sorts, where small
groups of entrepreneurs/innovators can take something MS Research has
developed and see if they can make a marketable product out of it.

Surface really feels like the case in point here - they're how many years
behind in finally releasing something to the consumer market? I remember
reading that the cool desk in the The Island (2005, two years prior to the
iPhone) was a MS research surface prototype or something; and yet it took them
another four years to get a product out, and they priced it at 10k and sold it
to phone retailers. Phone retailers! What the actual fuck?! Today, all of that
seems to have fallen by the wayside in favor of tablets. It feels like MS is
following the TSA model - wait until something big happens, then do something
about it, instead of the other way around.

Anyway, if MS Research got a new logo that could be attached to semi-
independent MS-funded experimental projects aimed at getting something to
market, I could see a futuristic/high-tech branding being a useful thing to
have. For MS in general, I don't.

~~~
justincormack
Surface was not a real product. Sure they sold it for 10k but that was cost.
It got a Microsoft cool product into design agencies. No phone retailers were
harmed...

------
stcredzero

        - Apple - Skeuomorphic
        - Google - Hybrid
        - Microsoft - Purely digital
    

I agree that this is one of the things Metro has right. It's even more "about
the content" than Google or Apple is.

In the case of Apple, I think this may be intentional. Apple is also about the
personal. Skeuomorphic interfaces can be used to evoke memories associated
with physical objects and past technology.

~~~
creamyhorror
This rings true for me. The retro look of Winamp brings back vivid memories.
I'm not sure how well Metro's content-is-everything aesthetic will go down
with the public; it's bold, but possibly too much so.

This proposed rebranding veers a bit too cold (or Orwellian, as someone else
said) for me, despite its futuristic appearance. I'd be afraid that MS would
turn out to be an amoral megacorp that was trying to develop weaponize alien
lifeforms. The style is cool; a bit _too_ cool. Still, a lot of respect to the
designer for putting this great piece of work together.

~~~
stcredzero
_I'd be afraid that MS would turn out to be an amoral megacorp..._

Too late. Hopefully, they won't go down any pathways involving weaponizing
alien lifeforms. (1 - become amoral, 2 - weaponize alien, 3 - ????, 4-
PROFIT!!)

Really all three are amoral megacorps. Apple has been good at putting
personable faces on its brand. Google still has some "Don't be Evil" cred, and
is still held in good regard for open standards.

Microsoft has a lot of catching up to do in the PR department.

Then again, maybe Microsoft should apply the principles of Judo, and just _go
with it_. Instead of fighting the public perception currents, they could gain
incredible momentum by going with them. Forget the progressive and clinical
Sci-fi future -- embrace dystopian darkness and evil! That stuff is geek-cool!
For me, Steve Ballmer publicly and wholeheartedly embracing evil would result
in an 800% increase in credibility. Add an evil scientist laugh, and he'd get
an equal boost in nerd-cred.

<http://imgur.com/3Seb8>

Also, they could dispense with their long struggle to be cool. Just embrace
basement-dweller IT-worker RPG-playing nerdyness.

Microsoft: Just Be Evil!

Microsoft: Inflict your users, for the Lulz!

Microsoft: Help us destroy society and make your Sci-Fi dreams come true!

------
revscat
Wow.

I am always amazed at the creativity displayed by those who so obviously have
talent. It makes it all the more impressive given that Microsoft would likely
benefit by taking this exact marketing route.

What they're doing right now certainly isn't working...

------
EternalFury
Great work. But you know what they say about lipstick and pigs.

Microsoft's problem is not their lack of spending on advertising, branding,
marketing, PR, etc. They spend colossal amounts of money in these departments.

Their problem is that they no longer know who they are. Worse, they no longer
know who they want to be.

In that respect, they are very close to Sony.

------
steve8918
Wow, excellent work!

The only thing I would change is the black and white space photography. While
it's very cool, the grayscale lunar landscape photography doesn't quite convey
the feeling of future to me... it feels a bit too bleak and desolate to me and
maybe even depressing. I would consider adding a splash of color somehow (they
are the designer, not me!). It would take a little of the edge off of
something that is mass-consumer-oriented, in my opinion.

But regardless, the concept and the work is fantastic!

~~~
sp332
I agree, unfortunately it's already being used by Microsoft!
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpzu3HM2CIo> which led to this amazing parody
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ideYfNcEZsI>

------
pwny
3 days redesign of a brand for fun? Whatever you think about the result, this
guy has talent.

I personally thought it was beautiful, really breathtaking.

~~~
cooldeal
The only thing I liked over the current ones was the palette in the first WP
screenshot.

Left top one on [http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-
images/microsof...](http://www.minimallyminimal.com/storage/post-
images/microsoft/m26.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1341180082954)

------
irollboozers
I wanted to hijack a top comment to say what I will, but decided against it,
just because I didn't expect this thread to have such divergent views.

This portfolio to me just fucking gets it. The design thinking going on here
is incredible, in that it frames the challenge correctly and immediately, and
then fills that gap really well. MS has for a long time had the vision, but
the brand and feel of that vision has never matched. It results in the feeling
that some boring and risk-averse engineers are running the marketing
department. MS has no clear sense of self.

Web 2.0 and startups today focus and thrive on that sense of self, because
it's the only way to stand out in a sea of Microsoft's, Oracle, Cisco, etc.
Because of this, I feel like this new branding attempt resonates with a very
specific crowd - young 20-something's like me. It's very clear to me the ones
who are talking about lipstick and pigs in this thread are completely missing
the point of this experiment. That's what design thinking and branding is all
about.

Congratulations man, I can bet you a team full of marketing guys (whoever's
left that is) are shaking in their boots right now. Not for the branding or
design, but for what their branding is failing to do.

*edit - just food for thought for the forward thinking nature of this design, the FB thread I found this on is blowing up at a rate of a shit ton of likes and comments, all young 20 somethings who are really impressed.

------
monkeyfacebag
Great work, although looking at them all together like that, Microsoft's 1985
logo appears to be the best of the bunch. I suppose design is cyclical.

I really like the "slate" concept, I'm just not sure it works as a _button_.
Buttons should have roughly equal height and width. The slate looks very out
of place on the physical devices themselves. Otherwise, it's great.

------
rjv
I don't understand all the hate on the new Windows logo in particular. Am I
the only one who doesn't have a problem with it?

~~~
mrspandex
As far as products go, that's about the only thing he changed at all. I think
it just is a way to differentiate between the "old" MS and the "new" MS in
branding.

------
mgunes
Some relevant writing on unsolicited redesigns from last year, worth bearing
in mind in this context, by

\- Lukas Mathis:
[http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2011/05/15/unsolicited_redesig...](http://ignorethecode.net/blog/2011/05/15/unsolicited_redesigns/)

\- Khoi Vinh: <http://www.subtraction.com/2011/07/28/unsolicited-redesigns>

\- Andy Rutledge: <http://andyrutledge.com/journalism.php>

------
shawnwall
I posted and complained about that same skeumorphic podcasts app today. Apple
leads so much in the realm of hardware design but is starting to take steps
backwards in it's own application/software design. I'm very anxious and
hopeful for Microsoft to progress in this arena and give Apple some
competition.

~~~
mathewsimonton
I really enjoy these designs.

I see the Sony and Toshiba labels and they still throw me. I'd really like to
see Microsoft step up their game in hardware. I know they all come from the
same factories, but there's something about the simplicity of and the lack of
another brand on Apple's products that make them so gorgeous to me.

------
weego
The irony being that chunks of that (note the boxes, bags) would match Apple
stock product surrounds almost exactly if they had an apple on instead.

I also don't understand in a branding exercise why you pick some photos of
planets (when Apple is known for its use space imagery on the desktop) and
start from there. There needs to be a reason to result path, not a pre-
determined result and then ignore of fit some reason to it.

~~~
pwny
His reason for using space as a theme is probably deriving from his thesis
that Microsoft should brand itself as a bringer of future tech. What seems
more futuristic than space? It also appears mystically and naturally beautiful
as well as allowing for a lot of breathtaking, pure looking pictures.

Windows being a window into the future, seeing space through the slate
projects the image this artist had in mind.

------
pwny
After looking at quite a few of his blog posts, I wouldn't be THAT surprised
to read articles in a few years time about how this guy is the new Jonathan
Ive.

Now if only he could start working for an innovative company, I feel great
designs on the way.

------
lazylland
I'm more interested in the HN comments here. Personally, I felt it was an
inconsistent, and pretty tame take on an iconic brand (I'm not a fan of the
new Windows logo either).

Check out his HTC 1 concept.. a bit dated but still interesting

------
coridactyl
As a longtime Apple _product_ fanslave I've got to say, something like this
would be welcome competition. Apple's obsession with sickly-sweet
sentimentality (seriously, who uses FaceTime with any regularity?) grates on
the nerves. A cold sci-fi revamp is exactly what I'm expecting from Microsoft
in the next few years.

It's obviously started to dominate their product line and is slowly permeating
their flagship UI. The dubsteppiness of the Surface commercial wasn't an
accident. It will take a long while before the company has earned itself a
rebrand, because a rebrand without actual, significant and, here's the kicker,
successful change to its entire product line (including Windows, that poor
magnificent demented bastard of an OS) is an empty gesture and deserving of
contempt and mockery.

Microsoft is fighting an uphill battle with itself, but it has one advantage
on its side: technology rapidly changes and improves, and it's only
accelerating. As long as the company doesn't fall too far behind, the shifting
landscape of mobile platforms, touch surfaces and desktop v. small screen
conventions will be a perfect excuse to retire its failed products entirely,
rather than endlessly iterating and mutating them beyond reason.

If they can scrape by long enough to let the features rot fully and throw the
garbage out the window, and finally shine some sunlight on their promising new
seeds, they will be able to justify a new brand.

Til then, moar dubstep.

------
WiseWeasel
The only thing that strikes me as in poor taste is the choice of colors for
the new palette. His monitor must have really low saturation, because a few of
those colors look pretty bad on mine. The light grey looks dull and dirty, and
the contrast with the text is insufficient on the light blue and orange
backgrounds, both of which are too bright to be comfortable; though they might
be fine with dark grey text instead of white. It's really hard to find a light
blue and light orange/yellow that looks good as a solid background for text on
a wide range of displays, and white text on a light background is just asking
for trouble.

Other than that, this is some fine work. Microsoft should hire this guy to
replace the person currently in charge of branding, marketing and packaging
design (or invent that position and make all those people report to him).

------
jimmyjazz14
While I appreciate the work that was put into this I gotta say I really don't
like it. The "slate" logo looks cold and enigmatic which is really not
something that a large corporation like Microsoft generally wants to be seen
as. I actually think one thing Microsoft has going for it is its familiarity,
its a brand almost everyone has a history with and to the average consumer at
least that a big selling point. The lettering also feels particularly generic
and a little on the trendy side. Of course its all a matter of taste I
imagine.

------
mangoman
That was the first time I saw the Windows 1.0 logo (I'm in college). It looks
REALLY similar to the windows 8 logo, but I actually prefer the 1.0 logo. The
asymmetric lines, and rounded edges really remind me of a lot of the app logos
you see in the android and iphone market place, and it's single color scheme
reminds me of metro's strong lines. I think it would have been cool if
Microsoft pointed out where they got the windows 8 logo (assuming they did do
a redesign of the 1.0 logo), and maybe kept a little more of the 1.0 icon
look.

------
aniketpant
I went through more or less all of the comments out here and many of them say
that the effort is great but it's not implementable.

I really don't understand what makes you say that, many of the people have
given out points like: * typefaces suck * 'moonshot' ain't nice * the slate
doesn't mean much

To be frank I am quite amazed by the point I put above. I have been following
minimallyminimal's blog for quite some time now and his work is really
amazing. And specifically this _rebranding effort_ carries a lot of meaning
and shows the dedication he put in. He has taken so many cases to showcase the
usage of the 'slate' logo.

As for me, I love the slate logo a lot. He is able to make different
combinations by transforming the original base unit and created logos for
other products. I feel that it adds more value to the logo because of it's
flexibility and fluidity. The old logo couldn't be transformed in any manner
to generate logos of their other products.

\--

And the worst part of all this discussion here is that it went astray at so
many places. But, if Microsoft had this logo in the Windows 7 products, no one
would have said a thing then. We just accept what the company is offering.
When someone put in his time in doing a rebranding, I guess we better
appreciate it and put in relevant points. Pouring in crap like 'the design is
poor' doesn't do any good to anyone.

------
anigbrowl
I can't stand design pomposity, but this is excellent. As a ~25 year Microsoft
fan, who thinks the company is much smarter than it is given credit for, hire
this guy already.

------
brudgers
It's a thought provoking study.

However, the 2012 Windows logo kerns with text (Metro is text centered) in a
way that is simply not possible with the proposed slash...which reminds me of
a Kubric's obelisk. With the downside of suggesting "2001."

And the translation of the slash to Office looks like cubicle partitions
rather than the shared workspace of the current logo (e.g. office doors all
facing each other). Though that's not to say that the current Office logo
couldn't use a makeover.

------
kposehn
I was really impressed by this. As nhashem said, "I _wanted_ this company to
exist".

The "Mankind's most advanced phone" image was what really did it for me. Here
is an extremely talented person who really has vision, with a subtlety to
match.

What I wish for the most, is that more people will show their vision in this
way. We need to re-imagine like this all the time, otherwise ideas and vision
become stale.

And when vision becomes stale, the future becomes mediocre.

------
wickedchicken
While I think it's cool that designers show off their creativity in thinking
up new ideas for old products, I could never shake the feeling that this was
design's answer to fanfiction. The original creators have to look back and go
"okay...?"

Related:
[https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=is+this+the+iphone...](https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=is+this+the+iphone+5&tbm=isch)

~~~
Apocryphon
Laughably bad fan-made hypothetical Apple products are old hat, but sometimes
design fanfiction gets the attention of the companies:
[http://9to5mac.com/2011/12/13/apple-hires-designer-jan-
micha...](http://9to5mac.com/2011/12/13/apple-hires-designer-jan-michael-cart-
praised-for-his-ios-interface-concepts/)

------
FreshCode
I like how designers are beginning to feel compelled to point out the
disconnect between the old Microsoft and the new. To me this signifies the
impending reinvention of the Microsoft brand. Their development tools (like
Visual Studio 2012) are so far ahead of anything out there that their new
product designs delight without surprise. That being said, these proposed
designs take minimalism too far.

------
kristiandupont
I like the designs but to me, space signals "past" more than "future". Or
rather, it says "future, as it looked in the last century".

~~~
keithpeter
Glad you said that.

I'm old and can remember the moon landings. I loved the images as well. I'm
sitting in an open plan staffroom with hundreds of Windows 7 PCs with bright
high colour screensavers. The room has primary colour (slightly pastel) desks
and white walls with displays of student work. The building we work in is new,
with curves and a 4 story atrium. Not sure how many will recognise the images
here and what the younger people will think about it.

The moon shot images on my monitor just disappear into sludge from more than
10ft.

Not sure about the moon shot images or the modernist skyscrapers....
nostalgia?

------
monkeynotes
Microsoft's major problem is not the branding. The branding is just a symptom
of the underlying problem which is its culture.

------
keeptrying
Its still very "corporationish".

If you see the ads for ipad or iphone (siri) on mute, you could mistake them
for a Johnson & Johnson ad. Ie bright colors, people in the spaces they
normally inhabit - running in the park, cooking at home etc.

Microsoft needs to lose the corporate image and become what apple brands
itself - part of your life.

------
DrCatbox
Surely a new logo and "branding communication" will change the way a
corporation works and conducts its business.

------
nsfyn55
This is the same uninspired crap that Microsoft always puts out. M$'s problem
is not their marketing its their leadership. They keep making superficially
changes and marketing them as huge leaps. XP-->Windows 7 = some gui changes. I
launch the system program and tada its exactly the same as it was in Windows
98. The most innovrative thing they've announced in a long time is locking
down your install completely to prevent install of unsigned software. Apple
makes new products. Google takes real risks to change the way things are done.
Microsoft is way to risk averse for the space they are trying to play in.

Step one to a good rebranding effort. Change what it is your selling. You can
rebrand a turd as a chocolate lollipop and expect me to drop what I'm doing to
rush to the candy store.

------
larrybolt
I think the new logo has a very interesting effect, that is according to me
though. It's asymmetric yet simple. Where Apple's logo and most logo's can be
perfectly centered this one doesn't. I think that's mainly because it looks
"italic".

I also wonder if this logo follows on certain points the golden ratio, but
than again it's soo simple it shouldn't.

Lastly, if you'd place this logo on varia devices they would even kind of look
"unbranded" which some people, including myself, really like. I can't really
explain what I mean, but compare a logitech keyboard to an Apple one, the
Apple-keyboard doesn't has a logo to advertise their brand, yet it's "one of a
kind".

A phone without any brands explicitly written or displayed on it looks more
sleek and modern to me.

But don't take my opinion to serious, I'm just a developer.

~~~
photon137
That forward slant is a very well known design paradigm. Take a look at
Deutsche Bank's logo - for example: <https://www.db.com/index_e.htm>

~~~
larrybolt
Thanks for the reply! But even the Deutsche Bank's logo has a square around
it, which again makes it visually easier to center. I guess it's just me, but
I can't help noticing how it doesn't looks centered, even if it is.

Also I didn't realize Deutsche Bank has such an appealing domain name!

------
NahcDivad
I can appreciate the guy who did this for the amount of work he put into it,
but the actual design feels incredibly uninspired.

The space motif screams of a PBS or Discovery Channel special. Also, isn't the
"Slate" already the name of an actual tablet?

------
foxhop
The ev1 was marketed as "sci-fi" and "advancing the human race". It used dark
settings and scared consumers (<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g7cgUm7o9k>).
If you go for sci-fi don't go for scary dark moon pictures. Personally I link
the moon surface pictures to the death star.

When the Playstation 3 was running commercials they used weird sci-fi shorts
that were confusing and didn't show off the product. Also ps3 did not perform
(sales) as well as the wii or xbox 360.

more examples: 5gum tv marketing, Hulu's alien marketing

I would be curious to see if this sort of marketing actually hurts sales.

------
woj
That slate and the word "next" remind me of something...

Ah, I know - [http://www.logodesignlove.com/images/classic/next-logo-
paul-...](http://www.logodesignlove.com/images/classic/next-logo-paul-
rand.jpg)

------
mahyarm
It's pretty good, but it's a bit cold, impersonal and corporate. Almost
alienating. It has a masculine minimalist bent that reminds me of hard stone
floors, benches and the alienation of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

~~~
stcredzero
Impersonal was the first adjective I thought of. Of the three, Apple is the
least impersonal. Though deliberately unobtrusive, Siri is quite personal, to
the point of having been lampooned numerous times by comedians.

------
dclowd9901
I was into it, until I saw it running on the boring, generic hardware.

The reason Apple's products are so inspirational, so meaningful, and so
timeless is because from the moment you _see_ the computer, before it even
turns on, you're entranced.

Apple knows that the _experience_ of using a product starts right from the
moment a person sees it, and they've made that part of their mission. Yes,
ownership of everything from the hardware to the software is inevitably part
of that, but in my mind, it's what makes Apple work from boot-up to shutdown.

------
grg999
Microsoft didn't get where it is by tweaking their marketing symbology. They
got where they are by a lot of work by quite a few very smart programmers,
some shrewd business moves, and a lot of luck.

I can look at new symbols all day, and it's not going to change my opinion of
Microsoft or their products. Not one whit.

And not that it matters, but I think the slash is too stark, and, frankly,
ugly. It might be liked in some boardroom, but it's not consumer friendly, and
it's nothing like the touch-feely trend that is the metro interface.

------
pooranprasad
Brilliant scheme.. might not work for Microsoft as it Enterprise focused, and
mockups are more concentrated on Consumer focused. Though Office might look
small, corps still love MS Office. Windows Server family, Azure Family, most
of these are nowadays forefront tech from Microsoft. Dev tools is another
aspect of Microsoft arsenal. Little bit more work might be required. Good
effort though :) Would love to see Microsoft taking some hints from this
design.

------
jarrettcoggin
I thought this was really great design work. I could definitely see getting
behind this because it points out most of what I see that is wrong with MS'
Windows strategy. Metro doesn't need to be on the desktop, but it's totally
applicable to tablet-like devices, a la WP7/8 and Surface.

If they went this route and did something like this, there would be serious
impact to core Microsoft itself. But, it's definitely time for them to come
into the new era, so to speak.

------
septerr
Awesome designs. Microsoft rebranding experiment outshines their own branding
but that work pales in comparison to your other works. I wanted to keep
looking at your other designs. They simply please.

Have you pitched to Coca Cola and Microsoft? And why isn't someone already
making the divine Powder watches or the Pal? I haven't had the chance to read
through the text and comments on those pages. Maybe they are already in
production which they should be~

------
wbillingsley
What I particularly like about this is that it fits with changes Microsoft
have already been making (a move to minimalism and a focus on the content and
clean lines, with extraneous UI elements normally off-screen and need to be
swiped in). So, rather than the spec proposal coming across as an arrogant
"About face and do it my way", it comes across as a thoughtful and sympathetic
proposal based around their business.

------
sequoia
I really liked this stuff. I am commenting just to mention that my "free
association" response to the two slashes together was "[nazi] SS." I think it
looks nice but that just popped into my head. Kudos on the awesome rebranding
proposal in any case!

[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_faQqAqCMoKc/TDxWZNPnD2I/AAAAAAAABE...](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_faQqAqCMoKc/TDxWZNPnD2I/AAAAAAAABEo/-o1uFs6lSHk/s1600/SS.jpg)

------
robomartin
I don't care what logos look like. I care about what products do. I also care
about how the company treats its customers and developers.

That said, nobody put a Microsoft sticker on their car. Maybe Microsoft should
think about that a little. The designs proposed by the article would most-
definitely not have me even consider a sticker on my car (which has zero
stickers, but that's another topic).

------
Apocryphon
Just wondering, is minimalism really the forward of design where it comes to
software-related aesthetics? You'd think so that, on principle, computers are
getting more and more user-friendly and easy to understand, so minimalism and
simplicity should follow. On the other hand, should every company embrace
minimalist aesthetics, as both Apple and Google have?

------
neovive
Very nicely done!! When I first looked at the logo it reminded me of
Accenture, so I don't know if the font would work, but it is a step in the
right direction.

I really liked the metaphor of seeing different things through the windows
(slates). This could be leveraged by Microsoft as a play on "this is your
Windows" or "what do you see through your Windows".

------
thebuccaneer
Eh, the logo also looks like the bit of the blade you snap off on a utility
knife. Not sure that's a good image to convey. :p

"If you don't buy our products, someone from Microsoft will cut you."

[http://image.made-in-china.com/4f0j00veRTkBUralbh/Utility-
Kn...](http://image.made-in-china.com/4f0j00veRTkBUralbh/Utility-
Knife-30105-.jpg)

------
yaix
Or how about this: MS could just build again inovative and beautiful products
and invent new stuff that pushes the limits of technology, rather than only
having the legal and marketing departments kill off competing products? Sounds
crazy, I know.

The new Windows interface is a good start. But with Balmer at the top, I don't
have much hope.

------
nutjob123
I want to pay this kid to hang around the office and come up with remedies to
our questionable design decisions.

------
desireco42
The only thing here extra is Steve Balmer, get him out of the picture if you
want to go to the future, otherwise, I can't wait to have my hands on genuine
touch screen computer that win8 will provide.

Oh, so this not official MS rebranding, well it should be, and kudos to that
guy who made it, great work. Love it.

------
macco
Interesting that Nokia is allready a part of Microsoft. And since when is
Apple a friendly company?

------
e03179
The best brand pitched here is that of the author. If he is looking for a job,
I hope he gets one.

------
dictum
<http://hipsterbranding.tumblr.com/>

------
c141charlie
Microsoft should fire their VP of Marketing immediately without severance.
Then hire this guy as his/her replacement. He should be given a $1 million
retention bonus for 365 days of employment.

Or better yet, Microsoft should create a new position called President of
Simplification and Branding, then have all employees, including Steve Balmer,
report to him.

The first thing he should do in his new role is fire Balmer.

The second thing he should do, which is alluded to in his presentation, is
roll up all subsets of a given product into a single SKU. For example Windows
7 has the following versons: Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional,
Enterprise, and Ultimate. This does not include sub-editions, upgrade
editions, and family pack editions. All of this should simply roll into a
single version that includes all features. Let it be named Windows 7. Do the
same thing for the upcoming Windows 8. Drop 32 bit support outright.

For windows set the price for this single version to $50.00.

After making this change alone, you could probably eliminate 500 FTE head
count. Do this across all product lines and you could eliminate thousands of
jobs, and numerous levels of management, a move that would reduce costs, but
far more importantly interject some much needed nimbleness into the
organization.

Next combine all like products that compete with each other. For example,
consolidate Windows Media Player, Zune, and XBox Music product groups into a
single product group.

Kill notepad. Acquire Light Table or Sublime Text editor and include it with
every copy of the OS.

Fire 1 and 3 program managers. Fire 2 in 3 product managers.

Increase the base salary of every engineer by $30,000.00 or rebase their
salary to $200,000, whichever is more.

I'm just getting started but you get the point ...

~~~
tcpekin
I'm confused if this is sarcasm or not. I'd like to believe sarcasm, but if
it's not, then could you explain why they would ever drop 32 bit support
outright? Perhaps on new versions, but are there not problems that come with
64 bit installs and 32 bit drivers? I would assume that much of the
scientific/technical drivers, not to mention old printer drivers, would not
get updated and therefore be unusable. However I could be completely wrong, so
I'd like some more information on this. Thanks.

------
lavametender
Has some consistency issues and flaws in design. Not perfect typeface, windows
logo is smaller than office/surface logo, looks as stranger in set, metro/xbox
has no logo, logo/ui relations could be better across the board. But. For 3
days project, good.

------
ssmc
Yeah, great work. Pretty impressive; how long did all that take you?

Pretty Apple inspired though; as someone said in the comments above maybe
Microsoft does need to have separate public entities much like the way
telecomms up here in Canada are doing (Koodo/Wind etc.)

~~~
jarek
Nitpick: while Koodo is owned by Telus, Wind is independent. Chatr, Fido, and
Virgin are some of the other brands owned by the big operators. (Solo was
another one, I just learned they're being killed off by Bell now.)

------
kalmsy
Love the effort, but that typeface is just horrific! Badly hinted and that
'm'? Jeebus.

------
greenmanmax
From a marketing point of view: Great work! I really like the "slate" logo.
The only thing i didnt' like that much was the font: Espacially the "c" looks
strange. But the rest: Just nice! I would hire you, if my name was ballmer ;)

------
jonkl
One fact: that slate trapezoid is wAy better than the new slanted window logo.
The entire project is an improvement. Ps, can't wait for winrt, can't type on
this stupid iPad (I'm gonna give it to my grandma to read the news on)

------
evo_9
Nicely done. I think the only 'mistake' is the shot of Balmer in there -
nothing against the man, just think if you are truly trying to break their
current image problem, then showing him doesn't help that cause.

Otherwise, really well done.

------
asciilifeform
"Microsoft is a once-in-a-civilization disaster." (from
[http://www.xach.com/naggum/articles/3243717585684194@naggum....](http://www.xach.com/naggum/articles/3243717585684194@naggum.no.html))

------
pippy
I haven't got excited about a mockup since I saw the windows 8 concepts:

[http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-
ui...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-ui-concept)

------
jejones3141
Not bad, but I doubt they'll do anything about their branding or logo for a
while--they just recently switched to the one that looks like the Ames
Window... and as we all know, that's an illusion.

------
generalcalm
Nice, but while your at it, why not change the name too, to "MACrosoft"

------
gtirloni
Lots of good intentions but by making it public, you ensure Microsoft cannot
and/or will not consider it. Their marketing people might even actively try to
avoid anything similar to this.

------
jpegleg
Good work! I would say that the over all feel may be a bit too trendy/hip for
microsoft's business market, but I can see this being very strong for the
younger crowd. Thanks for sharing!

------
tenaciousV
I would hope Microsoft(M) would listen and eliminate some features. Even M is
not about simplicity it can learn from others how to do it. Bravo, great work.

------
dgcoffman
This reminds me of Nike branding, which is very powerful.

------
VijaySailappan
I dont think the science fiction(tomorrow is here) kinda branding will work.
Verizon tried a lot with for their Driods without luck.

------
prtamil
Your design made me to like Microsoft and Look Current Microsoft product in
different Eye. Believe me I'm a Linux Hacker.

------
maguay
This somehow reminds me of Aol.'s new branding, which as I remember was
soundly criticized in most design circles...

------
capkutay
I would highly consider microsoft products if they were marketed that
way...but they aren't and they never will be.

------
zachinglis
There's looking cool, and there's being functional. This has even less
personality than their current branding.

------
Lisa2000
This is what the preview of Microsoft's new web site could have looked like,
very well done, inspiring.

------
jmduke
Curiously, Microsoft's most exciting project outside of the general SV/HN
community, Xbox, is absent.

------
vlokshin
This is really nicely done. This is also just a love-child of microsoft and
apple. That's ok though.

------
potomushto
Everything is amazing, but I especially liked a screenshot of the New Wallet.
Metro app done right!

------
ncourage
This was an amazing work. That's all I have to say with my first post on a
2-minute new account.

------
xefer
Having the company name start with a lowercase letter always seems "weak" to
me.

------
kaushalc
If only all the problems of a company could be solved by changing its logo...

------
josephcooney
I liked it a lot, except for the "promise made, promise kept" by-line.

------
Fused
Actually I like it. Microsoft should jump right in to it imo ^^

------
Ewoks4life
How incredibly pretentious.

The woman in the orange hoody is just super lame.

------
chj
Love this guy's work.

His metro UI looks much more fun than the original one.

------
mattieuga
Read this while listening to dubstep. Was totally awesome!

------
dmor
The next Microsoft... is not Microsoft. Sadly.

------
eragnew
very interesting. hopefully someone at msft is listening.

btw, would love to know what you used to put this presentation together.

------
twodayslate
metro really needs more pallets. I would prefer a RGB color picker. This seems
very doable.

------
alberich
I didn't find it good at all. Why "microsoft" and not "Microsoft"? And the
logo is ugly.

well, after all, it's just a matter of opinion.

~~~
jasomill
Why "Microsoft" and not "MICROSOFT"?

I emphatically disagree that capitalization is merely a matter of opinion, as
it can have significant ramifications in both readability [1] and trademark
law, especially where marks like 'Word', 'Windows', 'Excel', 'Outlook', and
'Surface' (or 'Apple', 'Pages', 'Keynote', and 'Numbers'; or 'Android'; or
'Oracle', 'Sun', and 'Java'; or ...) are concerned.

[1]
[http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2012/06/05/a-de...](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2012/06/05/a-design-
with-all-caps.aspx)

~~~
alberich
I agree that capitalization is not mere opinion. I was asking why not
capitalize a name? Makes Microsoft sounds like some stuff, not some business.

~~~
Apocryphon
There's something (unintentionally?) cyberpunk about this.

Not to be confused with the present-day software company, in Neuromancer a
"microsoft" is a chip used in conjunction with a cybernetic wetware implant
located behind the ear. Microsofts grant the user new abilities as long as the
microsoft is plugged in. For example, a French language microsoft might be
used to temporarily allow the user to speak French. The term refers to a
small, portable piece of embedded software, hence "micro" and "soft."

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprawl_trilogy#Glossary>

For those who don't recall, Microsoft Corporation was not always a corporate
giant; at the time the author wrote this book, Microsoft was one of the many
small companies that made software for those newfangled microcomputers.
Microsoft the company was started in the mid-1970's; the company name was
registered in 1976 and went public in 1986.

Just a couple of years before this novel was written, most software for
microcomputers came in a plastic bag with a disk and some photocopied
instructions (if you were lucky).

<http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=123>

------
thallada
"My God, it's full of stars!"

------
OzzyB
Absolutely exceptional work.

------
StacyC
This is really nice work.

------
trentmb
It's certainly not worse.

------
cubtastic71
wow - you apple-fied microsoft. I don't feel like it's a new image or brand
identity, rather just try to fit them into that "other" brands persona.
interesting concept, but I think it misses the mark on the actual audience of
the brand.

~~~
mkr-hn
What about it resembles Apple's branding?

~~~
jeremyarussell
The fact that it's a simple and elegant version of what microsoft was failing
at attempting with their metro logo.

Don't you know, Apple own the ability to make things simple and nice. Or user
friendly. Or stylish in any way. /sarcasm

------
echo_wang
It may hurt.

------
zapt02
Beautiful!

------
dylanhassinger
beautiful!

------
voxmatt
Rad.

------
Yarnage
I like it!

------
DannoHung
Huh... I had no idea the Windows 1.0 logo looked like that. It's actually
rather timeless. Kinda interesting that they've brought it back a little with
the new logo.

~~~
cdcarter
My immediate reaction as well. Simple, elegant, and lends itself well to bold
colors.

------
adventureful
The slate logo is every bit as 'visually uncomfortable' as the Windows logo on
that tablet. And the kinda-sorta-connecting office logo style is just plain
terrible.

------
zxcvvcxz
The graphics on this are just so awesome. In particular black-and-white images
with those particular font choices.

What are those fonts? Really interested.

------
vacri
I like it a lot (except for the dotless 'i'), but can you trademark a
parallelogram?

------
CubicleNinjas
So make them look like Apple? Gotcha.

~~~
CubicleNinjas
I'm getting downvoted, so let me explain. I wish people would discuss their
ideas instead of downvote beliefs they disagree with.

1) Space themes – This is old in Apple land. Leopard launched with a space
screensaver and the galaxy background. This was in 2007. Every year they
update the space themes. Not cool, not sci-fi, and far from unique.

2) Packaging – The packing mirrors Apple's current packaging exactly. Side
color with white text, main image from a direct shot, black text on white.

3) Utilitarian Design – The stark modernist style was pioneered by Apple. I
run a design firm, and the number one thing I've heard consistently over the
past ten years "I want to look like Apple". I got sick of Apple's style in
2002. Stark in computers is one brand.

4) Logos – The flat shape approach would be good if it wasn't mirroring Apple
again. The lack of depth, the application on images, the short "inspirational"
text...all of this is so common for Apple it is pained. Windows is one of the
most recognized brands in the world, so it still needs to retain the iconic
nature.

Do I think this is cool? Yes. But do I think they should do it? No way!
Adopting this design is adopting cultural defeat. MS gets labeled a copycat
and the worst thing they could do would be to rip-off the worlds most
profitable brand.

Why not adopt the Metro approach? It can be refined further, made into a
similar overview, and actually still "feels" Microsoft with being something
completely new.

~~~
brandoncapecci
"The worst thing they could do would be to rip-off the worlds most profitable
brand."

There's a oxymoron if I've ever seen one...

------
crisnoble
I have never wanted a Microsoft product so badly. This is such a bad ass
project!

------
shmerl
New or next. Same thing in new package. Microsoft is a proprietary dinosaur of
the previous era, which doesn't realize its time is slowly running out.

------
bluthru
"Purely digital."

There is no such thing. That's like saying "purely hologram". Pixels have no
inherent materiality. There is nothing about the Metro UI that couldn't be
recreated on a piece of paper.

The goal is visual communication and delight. Sterile for the sake of sterile
isn't virtuous.

~~~
mkr-hn
"Purely digital" means it avoids real-world metaphors like postal mailboxes,
analog clocks and magnetic tape.

~~~
bluthru
Metaphors are part of visual communication. Blatantly disregarding metaphors
creates unnecessary confusion and abstraction--it separates the interface from
culture.

Remember, all of this stuff is ultimately (and most truthfully) 1's and 0's.
There is always abstraction. It is best to choose the abstraction that is most
DESCRIPTIVE.

~~~
mkr-hn
Did you look at the examples? No one is talking about getting rid of
metaphors.

