[Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

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chennes
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by chennes »

Any last-minute submissions? The window will close at midnight CET today!
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by chennes »

Thanks to everyone who submitted a logo -- the submission window is now closed. The members of the FPA will discuss the submissions and choose 3-5 finalists over the course of the next week. Starting next week those that were chosen will be opened up for a final round of public voting here on the forums. Stay tuned!
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by chennes »

OK, we have finalists! viewtopic.php?t=77168

Congratulations to all of the designers: FPA members were very split over which logos we liked, almost everyone got at least one vote :D . Designers who were selected as finalists (not counting me) will each receive a free FreeCAD t-shirt. @wandererfan, @Hannibal and @hsmeets, I'll have you coordinate that with @yorik, the Keeper of the T-Shirts.
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by michacassola »

@yorik and @chennes, so the old logo is the "new" logo for the FPA and will also probably stay the FreeCAD logo in the long run. This prooves to me that good design will most probably never get the proper attention as it is not appreciated or even wanted. And that I was right in the first place after yorik wrote what he wrote. He came up with the logo, so it would take him realizing it is not good. Probably will also never happen.

Good thing is, that FreeCAD is free and open, so people will have to figure out how to make their own spin off with a proper Icon and some UI improvements built in. It's a bit of a waste of time, because it is better to collaborate and focus all efforts, but the FreeCAD core members will, judging from this process, never opt for good design and build it into FreeCAD.

Please tell me that I am wrong and you are finally including all kinds of designers into all kinds of design decisions and processes instead of letting the programmers make design choices! But then again, you'd need a want and an eye for who are the good designers...
One member who comes to mind because of his great UI work is @Petrikas for example.

Thank you dear core members very much for a great program, it is amazing and will only get better! Would be good if the logo picture mark would communicate FreeCADs greatness also visually.

Will there have to be a prettified spin off, or are you guys open to design choice change?
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by obelisk79 »

While your frustration may be somewhat warranted, design and aesthetic is a purely subjective matter. Unless you have it in mind to branch the software yourself and embark on such an involved and complex endeavor, throwing stones in the direction of those who have brought FreeCAD this far already is likely not the best approach to effect change.

That being said, I strongly agree that the design and user experience have room for a lot of improvement, however until there is a stated desire to overhaul this aspect of the software by those who have the most control over it, you are wasting your time unless you want to fork and do it yourself.
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by michacassola »

obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:34 pm While your frustration may be somewhat warranted
They made a contest, they picked some, they voted and what came of it? They stuck with the same logo as for the software.
Please let me know where "somewhat" comes from. Because my statement, that there probably will never be any change if a founder and major contributor says they should stick with the FreeCAD logo and be done with it, completely came true.
obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:34 pm Unless you have it in mind to branch the software yourself and embark on such an involved and complex endeavor
It would need to be a group effort and I also have so many projects going on, I do not have the time now. But I think it might be unavoidable. Good thing is, if it happens, the design stuff could still be merged back into upstream...
obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:34 pm throwing stones in the direction of those who have brought FreeCAD
Not what I am doing. I stated towards the end, that FreeCAD is a great program. I am thankful for having it. And that makes me sad when I click on the icon every day, that icon... (Yes I am obsessed with the icon, yorik will probably never like me.)
And thinking they don't want to change any of those logos after they make a contest and then don't change any of the logos, well, it is a fact, not a stone. And you also have to seperate the logo from yorik, yorik is a great contributor to the project, if I am correct, he wrote the Arch WB and he definitely contributed a lot over the years, looking at the GitHub Contributor graph prooves that. That doesn't make his logo any different to look at. Not everyhing I do and create is great. Not everything anybody creates is always great. That's not stones.
So in short: Not trying to hurt feelings, just obsessed with a new icon for FreeCAD.
obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:34 pm That being said, I strongly agree that the design and user experience have room for a lot of improvement
Do you consider yourselve a designer? Would you like to be part of the group who designs the new logo and possibly UI?
obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:34 pm however until there is a stated desire to overhaul this aspect of the software by those who have the most control over it, you are wasting your time
Yeah, might be a waste of time, but at least I know that it really never will go anywhere here on upstream and I can start thinking about how this undertaking of prettifying the icon and then more could look like. Forming a design group (might not work out and be a waste of time), writing down a brand guide, developing the new icon and logo... Oh, I just realized that the name FreeCAD probably is protected... Would really be cool if it could be collaboration and not a seperate project. FreeCAD would benefit from a design group that would be put in power of design decisions. I think lot's of proprietary software is done this way, right?
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by obelisk79 »

Look at my forum avatar, I have in-fact designed a 'modernized' take of the current logo that I think respects the pedigree and concept of the old one while making it generally more pleasing and somewhat more modern. As far as being a designer, I do enjoy graphic design, but on that same note my career is in the military and not as a designer. I suggested earlier this year that this FPA logo contest be a unified effort for FreeCAD's identity and not a disparate effort between FPA and FC because they should be related to each other. Given the circumstances that they did not, choosing an option that reuses the existing icon/logo is the most logical choice. This is why I didn't participate in this contest. FWIW, I manually override the icon and splash with my own designs on my computers.
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by michacassola »

I forgot to answer another important part of your answer:
obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 1:34 pm design and aesthetic is a purely subjective matter
https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/des ... subjective
It's always between objective and subjective.
The article also states that the better you know what to communicate, the better your design can become.

For example one could try to unify a few statements:
- FreeCAD is a 3D program. You can create all kinds of 3D things.
- It has architectural functionality.
- The current logo picture mark consists of a capital F and a cog.

So part of the design brief could be like this:
"We must design an icon that looks 3D. The current F could become parts of a corner of a minimalist house with the top two horizontal bars containing a window and the bars themselves being the floors of the house. Of course the F has to still be perceived as an F."

It is better, because it communicates better what this icon I am clicking on will do. What this program I just installed can do.
So in the design process, collecting opinions what the most important functionalities are and how we could marry the functionality with an F form and make it look good also on smaller icon sizes, would be a major step.
obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:52 pm This is why I didn't participate in this contest
You are smarter than me. :)
obelisk79 wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 2:52 pm I manually override the icon and splash with my own designs on my computers
Yeah, will have to do that too.

Maybe we can build something also with some UI guys that benefits a lot of users, not just ourselves. I will come back to you once we form a design team, or if you want to build one, I would be honored to be allowed to be part of it.

But first of all I would like to exhaust the option of doing it for FreeCAD.
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by MisterMaker »

I think you can use the icon addon to replace the images.
I wonder if we can use preference packs to make icon packs for the icon addon.
No need for a team btw, just post your stuff here.
People who will like it, will help.
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Re: [Contest] FPA Logo - Submit Designs Here

Post by adrianinsaval »

MisterMaker wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 4:51 pm I wonder if we can use preference packs to make icon packs for the icon addon.
probably yes and that is actually a good idea.

the problem with changing the logo is that then the rest of the program looks very different from it. The current logo follows the same guidelines used for most of the icons, and yeah it might not be as modern and fancy as you would want but it's certainly functional. IMO an effort to change the logo has to come with an effort to change all icons, understandably is hard to find a designer with that kind of commitment for free. Making an icon theme is probably the best approach, later on if it becomes popular and has a good percentage of coverage of old icons it can be adopted as default and the current icons relegated to an optional icon theme instead. For the actual logo then a contest can be made where people would present their proposals that are in tune with the new icon theme and a new logo is chosen there.
michacassola wrote: Thu Jun 08, 2023 12:30 pm Good thing is, that FreeCAD is free and open, so people will have to figure out how to make their own spin off with a proper Icon and some UI
[...]
Will there have to be a prettified spin off, or are you guys open to design choice change?
making a spin off of the entire software only for the logo is a ridiculous idea, see the whole debacle with gimp and "glimpse" (and that one was somewhat better justified), instead theming the app is probably better.
I can start thinking about how this undertaking of prettifying the icon and then more could look like. Forming a design group (might not work out and be a waste of time), writing down a brand guide, developing the new icon and logo...
That would be a good idea, if you come up with actually good guidelines that satisfy usability needs and not just aesthetics and a recognizable logo it might very well be accepted. And btw the actual current logo is an iteration of yorik's original logo, not yori's logo. And despite liking his design more than the current one yorik accepted the current logo anyways. The current logo was made by the guy that wrote the Artwork Guidelines and made a bunch of the current icons used on the software. Hence my suggestion based on what worked in the past.
We are not married to the current design guidelines but they are certainly functional and have served us well up until now, a proposal to change it will not go through if it's halfassed and does not take usability factors into account as the current does.
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