New logo ?

[xuv]

The question of a new logo has been already brought up a few times.

This thread is here to gather propositions and have a central place where we can discuss this. Maybe at some point, all design related discussions and files could end up in their own repo. But let's first see how this goes.

Actual logo: png - svg

Safari SVG tab icon look (to have an idea of the small sizes):

Here is the suggestion by @Gargron of what the new logo could be.

In order to have a clear process about this collaborative design approach, maybe we should start by throwing propositions and rough sketches along the guidelines provided by @Gargron.

And see where we go from there.

Looking forward to work with you all.

---

• I searched or browsed the repo’s other issues to ensure this is not a duplicate.

[KaraAJC]

If the horns keys could look more pronounced to be an M that horn icon could work

[yiskah]

I like the current logo :/ If we change it I'd still prefer something more abstract than a Horn. Maybe like, an elephant trunk? The horn does not have longevity imo

[diomed]

is this a joke?
Trumpet makes no sense.

I like current logo as well.

[MichaelSelsky]

@diomed
is this a joke?
Trumpet makes no sense.

Trumpets go toot.

[voronoipotato]

It should very likely be an elephant of some kind just to avoid confusion. Image of a trumpet uhhh whoops I was trying to get to mastadon.

[voronoipotato]

That's not to say it can't be a very iconic elephant, just like how the bird site uses a very iconic bird. 🐘

[xuv]

Thanks all for your feedback. I've changed the title of this issue to reflect the discussion. Indeed, there is maybe not a need to change the logo. My intention here is to have a central point for this discussion to happen and have a constructive approach to it.

There is (or will be) a demand for icons, buttons and other identity material related to Mastodon. In order to keep the quality of the design and the UX as good as it is already, I believe we should anticipate this and come with the right material.

The logo should be available in many formats and sizes and I'm concerned at what the actual logo would look like at smaller sizes. Maybe we can make propositions here and then we'll be able to fill the request to add it to Font Awesome.

Since there is also a need to differentiate between instances, we could also come with some a design system for the logo that could help keep a coherent Mastodon identity across the fediverse while allowing each particularity to shine out.

[xuv]

If @Gargron passes by here at some point, I'd be happy if he could point out to the vector (svg) version of the actual logo if that exists.

[Gargron]

See #1224 - a SVG version of the logo has been added to the repository.

[xuv]

@Gargron Oh thx. Awesome. Though it seems the png and svg differ slightly in color and shape. I'll see if I can correct that.

[alexgleason]

The current logo is great. Here's what it offers:

• Recognizable. Once you've seen it, you know what it is.
• Clean, modern look. It looks like something associated with a tech project that can be taken seriously.
• Works well at small sizes, including as a favicon. I'm never going to confuse which tab I have Mastodon open in.

I'm not against changing the logo, but not to literally a horn emoji. Maybe something that makes a subtle reference to a horn. But it's not worth losing the benefits of the existing logo and I'm not sure it makes sense to dilute the brand so soon unless there's an alternative that's really good.

[raphaelbastide]

As I don’t fully agree that the current logo works well in small sizes, especially in a social media icon context, I made the following test:

I think a simpler shape helps to be adapted in small sizes. Also -even if I don’t think my quick test is not a real logo yet- the “cool” side of mastodon (the name “Mastodon”, the “toots”, the community) is an important side of the identity that is not present in the current logo. I tried to investigate in this direction as well !

[jpdevries]

The sneezing snout looks rather...phallic. And "natural".

[yiskah]

It looks like it's uhhh.... Squirting..... I feel like I should mark it NSFW... It's very suggestive...

[daprice]

If you curve the trunk it makes it a lot easier to tell, uh, which part of the mastodon it’s supposed to be:

(I can provide my SVG file for this one if anyone wants to modify it, but GitHub won't let me upload it directly)

[daprice]

Or a logo with an irregular background shape could give more of a prehistoric vibe. I was trying for the shape/style of the rocks and other background elements from the Flintstones with this one:

[yiskah]

It still.. feels... really... moist... and squirty. and making it uhhh dangle down is not helping.

Maybe... the trunk... is the wrong things to be using.

[krainboltgreene]

These are fantastic, but also hahahahahaha.

[raphaelbastide]

@daprice I like your tests very much! In a way this is what I had in mind. I also like the way you break the circle, but I think it is best to keep the global shape in a square (width = height). Honestly I find it really funny :-)

[nclm]

Can’t believe I missed this conversation until now! 😄

I always liked the current logo, but a new one would certainly be welcome now that the project and the community evolved!

I love the tooting trunk idea, it’s super fun and it makes sense. Still it’s understandable that some are concerned about it being too… organic. Also I think it says “Toot!” more when raised diagonally than when resting. But I like the idea of an irregular shape, and “prehistoric” could certainly be the keyword for the art direction. I started thinking about a custom icon set for the UI the other day, and that was the vibe I was imagining too.

---

Anyway, I rebounded on your ideas and made some tentative sketches:

↑ Not logos, but explorations on the trunk. There’s this way to stylise elephant trunks that I remembered from illustrations, and it may fit a logo better than the fleshy one. Also, it forms a M in a way, relevant for us! Then, three ways to say “Toot”: original, compact alternative, and sound waves. The later could be a bit cliché, but as the federation all runs on Atom feeds, I think it’s still applicable here.

↑ The full logo, as you may find when used in a large enough sizing. I used a polygon instead of a circle to break the monotony, and it would be possible to make it irregular as well. Everything in these are made from straight lines, which is the way here to interpret the roughness of the prehistoric theme, like if everything has been carved from stone.

↑ The icon, for favicon, share links, etc. They make the M more apparent.

(Inkscape SVG source)

---

Colours: none. I don’t think the main Mastodon identity should have any colour, and certainly not a Twitter-like blue one. On the other hand, each instance can certainly have its own accent colour! For buttons, emphasis, and the logo. What would be really good is a random colour generated at each instance’s first run (that the administrator can change later), so we’re sure they all get a little thing to differentiate their identity as soon as they start. /cc #967

Custom logos: each instance could also change what goes out of the trunk in the logo. Imagine the three tests as being three instances. They are all part of Mastodon (the trunk/M), but each different (the sound they make isn’t the same).

Mastodon.social: there’s a need to differentiate the software/the whole network from Mastodon.social, the original instance. The visuals of that instance is another discussion, and for now it can keep what it always had: the blue colour, the earthy floor photo background, the cute illustrations of mastodons. Which may be therefore things to remove from the software and the other instances: they can have their own photos and illustrations, keeping only the interface and the logo/icon as constants.

Icons: as mentioned in #1469, FontAwesome is somewhat too generic. Imagine a custom icon set that looks and feels like Mastodon! That certainly something we can work on after/with the logo/icon! 🙂

[violy]

agree with @raphaelbastide in one point — small size is very important for a logotype :

• important contraste
• heavy shapes.

[SkyzohKey]

Really like the one @Davice made, looks just perfect ! 🙂

[ghost]

I just see on mastodon a logo for a new instance from Japan, looks cute & awesome !

from : https://mstdn.jp/@shunozo/32871

BTW i really like the work did by @daprice ! I think you're on the good way.

[gubgubgub]

I do some stuff last night (some are just for fun) : https://mastodonfrance.com/@gub/30121 and https://mastodonfrance.com/@gub/30128 . If it can help.

[SansPseudoFix]

@daprice I like your mockups, but, since many of you have dirty thoughts ( :P ), maybe keeping the curve, add some music note to the trunk? I mean, instead of splashy drops.

[Dragnucs]

@gubgubgub I like first and second.

[gubgubgub]

@Dragnucs thx. 3rd, 4th and 5th are just for fun :) (but maybe in the 5th is there an idea ?)

[Gargron]

Perhaps an instance could do a test run of

as in, favicon + frontpage logo, and we'll look at it in action? @beatrix-bitrot

Actually I could probably just do that in a dev environment and share screenshots, though perhaps somebody wants to give that a live test run anyway.

I'm all about the animal anyway. If you wanna know, this was the original logo that I made, before someone professional made the current one:

[SamSaramyak]

Following the bubble speech approach:

[SamSaramyak]

@Gargron I find your mastodon very interesting !

[Dehelssey]

wow @SamSaramyak , once again i feel you've got something right here!! you managed to get the speech bubbles/vertical timelines, the M and the mammoth shape in the same logo \o/

[yiskah]

@xuv is it really that significant if me and gargron agree on something?

I'm still generally against any "Three vertical lines" designs. They don't convey much to me besides III and stacks of books.

[xuv]

@yiskah Yes. For me it is significant. Your history with this project makes your voice prevalent in the discussion. When we talk about design, we can bring valid and reasonable arguments to propose one solution or another. We can discuss the real benefits of certain design options. But there will be a need at some point where someone has to make a choice between two or more valid propositions. And that, from my point of view, is a responsibility I tend to give to the persons who were involved and actively contributing since the beginning. Which I believe is your case.

[joyeusenoelle]

Hi all,

We've just launched a Discourse instance for Mastodon at https://discourse.joinmastodon.org/; there's a thread there about the design and logos shipped with Mastodon. Since this thread is getting really long, and is a non-binding discussion rather than fixing an issue proper, how do you feel about moving it over there? (Either to the existing thread or to a new one; I'm not picky.) I don't want to add anyone's logo suggestions there without permission, but you're welcome to upload them or just link specific logos in this thread.

You can sign in to Discourse with your Github login, so it should be easy to move over. :)

[yiskah]

Makes sense! Just be sure to link to this thread for continuity

[vin-san]

I moved my propositions here : https://discourse.joinmastodon.org/t/mastodon-socials-design/68/3 (Let me know if I put it on the wrong place)

[voronoipotato]

I find Gargron's pick to be one of the least offensive, I'd personally remove the ear as the elephant is already in the shape of a chat bubble and is a bit redundant, but this is an acceptable middle ground.

[Starless-Night]

I think the pre-history trunk one would look good with a speech bubble or exemption point. if uses the same blue as the current logo.

[mdik]

tl;dr (i read the beginning and the end), but I can't see how the new logo is an improvement. Not that I would have thought that the logo would have needed an improvement, as it looks cool in all the scales.

😢

[Gargron]

This issue can be closed as we already got a new, great logo.

[ccoenen]

If anyone else got caught by this by surprise: apparently it's this:

Logo

Favicon

(not sure if this is only for the main instance or for all of mastodon, I like the favicon, though!)

[nclm]

It is indeed, there’s the full wordmark version as you inserted, along with two icon versions (the use of which should be more properly defined I think, I was going to write a post about these two as well as about the adaptation to instances, but later). The logo has been designed by Jin Nguyen. For reference and having the full story here, here’s the document presenting the new logo and icons in more detail (from press-kit.zip):

[ccoenen]

May I inquire how this came about? Neither this ticket nor the Discourse seem to answer this question. Neither Github nor the discourse in general feature any other discussion on "logo" as far as I could find.

[op3nus3r]

I was surprised to see this new logo, I thought that the creation process was open. :-/

[joyeusenoelle]

This thread was never intended to be a binding discussion, and allowing people to continue commenting simply leads to the discussion being prolonged and nothing getting done. This is true of any design by committee, and the problem only increases the larger the committee gets; a committee the size of "people who have opinions about Mastodon" could go in circles forever.

@Gargron, the owner of the repository, after months of discussion, thousands of words written, and hundreds of potential logos suggested - and after nearly two months of silence from the community, during which time anyone could have chimed in with additional ideas - made a decision and went with it.

[Gargron]

I thought that the creation process was open

This GitHub issue was not opened by a core contributor or member of the project. I hired a professional designer and we went through a couple iterations with feedback from the project's patrons in our Discord.

[raphaelbastide]

Thank you everyone for your time, your comments, your tests an your inspiration!

You’re welcome 🐘!

[xuv]

I'm the one who started this thread and I apologize to anyone who felt mislead by it. The intentions were to create a brainstorming process, a central point of conversation as much as a design experiment. Due to life-work priorities, I indeed left the thread on hold for a too long period of time and I apologize to all of you for this. Though, I can clearly see in the excellent design work that Gargron has chosen as a final logo that our brainstorming process and everyone's contribution here have had an influence on the final result.

So I want to thank everyone who participated and to the core dev team to have let this happen.
Your work is not lost. Mastodon has now a beautiful official logo that works at all sizes and shades. As for the other propositions, if you run your own instance, nobody stops you from using your preferred one. Or an endless version of it.

☮️

[saper]

Thank you, @xuv!

[aral]

@Gargron You’re everything that’s right in independent technology right now – please keep being awesome :)

PS. Love the new logo.

[lukepighetti]

I have tried to run community design projects in the past and it's next to impossible. The final logo is very professional and hits all the criteria. Major kudos to the designer and all of those involved in that project.