[rant]
OK, I have been staring at this for a while now and has finally bugged me enough to say something. The AppleFritter logo at the top of this page has changed. The black outline on the lettering is more bold and the font seems different than I remember. But most of all, the tag line has changed to include the word 'the' in front of the standard trio of adjectives brandished therein. I could swear those are new too.
I can maybe live with the new font, but the black is abit too much. The tag line just seems wrong with the articles (i.e. "the") added in (unless I missed it and they have been there all along, in which case I still do not like them there).
Are we soon to go to a solid colloring for our name badge as did Apple when the dropped the rainbow scheme for solids?
Is there a great big 'Undo' button somewhere?
[/rant]
it certenly did change.
have a look at the old logo (taken from an archive.org page):
and the new one:
"the" has been added to the subtext, as well as the font is thinner
i like it. change is good.
-digital
[rant]
NO!
Change is bad. No good ever comes from change.
Case and point:
Disney has just announced a deal to buy Pixar for 7.4 BILLION dollars in an all stock transaction making Jobs the largest single stock holder of Disney and giving him a seat on the board of directors. Given Jobs apparent distaste for the old, I fear much worse will come to my beloved theme parks with whom I am still extremely sore that the Penny Arcade is now a t-shirt store and the fabled Movie house on MainStreet no longer shows 'Steamboat Willie' in lieu of shelves of trinckets and junk. What was once a real MainStreet is now a mini strip mall and I fear Jobs will change it even more, leaving an even bigger wake of profiteering on classic Disney than Eisner ever did. I love Jobs, but not as a part of Disney and it is change and change is bad!!!!!
[eyes shotgun on shelf near tin-foil hat and bottle of Jack]
Why can't things ever stay the same?
This is the first day of my last days - o brave new world!
Change is bad.
[/rant]
I designed the old logo, and I designed the new one. Thanks for the insult.
I prefer the old to the new, but I'm not crazy about either. Does that insult the designer to say so? I don't think so, it just says that I have opinion. Since when does one individual's opinion take anything away from anyone else (in this sort of context I mean?)
I'm not thrilled with the trio of descriptors in the logo either, either with 'the' or without. But again, it's just MHO, eh?
dan k
The original tagline of Applefritter was "Apple Computers, Prototypes, Clones, and Hacks. The Obscure, Unusual, and Exceptional." We've moved through several variations, including a version with "the obscure, the unusual, the exceptional". When we switched over to using Drupal as a CMS that design was redone. Late 2003 as I recall (Edited: Early '04 actually). Personally, 'the wheel' was one of my favourite designs, second only to the 2001 design.
Of the literally dozens of logo designs we've looked over in the last few weeks, we did have a few solid-colour designs. We discarded them as looking too 'kindergarten'.
Oddly enough there is. We keep backups, which can be used for a partial or full restore in case of disaster.
We also have several versions of the current logo, carying the tagline wording. We're trying it with three "the"'s right now. It may change in the future.
Constructive criticism is always welcome, but please keep it polite.
no insult intended.
please do not take my rant as a slight to your much appreciated hard work - I just was never big on change. My only real beef is the addition of the 'the's to the tag line. Like I said, the font is okay, the outline is more pronounced which changes the accent just a little, and the original statement that the tagline was wrong was more 'it is not the same' as opposed to 'done poorly'.
The logo itself is nice, but it has changed, which is the source of my ire.
My rant is aimed at the principal of the matter, not the subject of the matter.
So please, do not be offended at my reaction to the result of your efforts, it was not meant to be personal.
Hugs and Kisses
--doug-doug
I was a 'lurker' then and have no right to complain about anything prior to becoming a member.
I liked it to, but was not a member, so my experience with it was superficial'
This was never meant to be cruel, or disrespectful. My complaint is about the fact that it has change, not what it changed to or from, but I am partial to not having the 'the's.
Considering it without the 'the's, we looked at it a couple ways:
'obscure, unusual, exceptional'
'the obscure, unusual, and exceptional'
'the obscure, the unusual, the exceptional'
I dislike the first one as the logo reads "Applefritter - obscure, unusual, exceptional". Possibility for misinterpetation. Our content is obscure, unusual, exceptional. Ditto for many of our users. 'Applefritter' isn't obscure. We'll admit to unusual and exceptional, but that's kind of patting ourselves on the back too much.
I should note that there was strong opinion that it should be 'obscure, unusual, exceptional', rather than changing. As I mentioned earlier, we have variations of it just sitting here. In a couple days, I'll probably upload another version and see how the site looks with it there for a few days.
Nobody really wanted 'The obscure, unusual, and exceptional'.
Doc Webster and I both liked 'the obscure, the unusual, the exceptional', so we figured we'd give it a trial run. If there's a marked improvement by just using it without the 'the's, then we'll seriously consider leaving them out. For the moment though, I'm of the opinion it's clearer the way it is.
My opinion. Your differs. Funny thing those opinions.
Don't think of it as change. Think of it as recovering the tagline from backup.
sometimes I think you guys operate in the mode of "let's change it and see who notices", which is entirely legitimate (and something I am guilty of in the past - which explains a subtle self-loathing thing I have going on).
Knowing that you guys are trying things out and testing changes puts it in a different light, but I still did not intend any insult.
I just know that when changes happen quietly and without fanfare, they oft times become permanent. Sometimes it needs to happen, sometimes it is change for change's sake.
The artistic styling that Dr. Webster did is fine (just takes getting used to when you are used to things a certain way).
Changing the tagline to keep people from misinterpreting the site's function and content makes sense and is clearly understood to not be change for change's sake.
Yes, we all have opinions just like other things (sitting on mine as I type)
, point taken.
...but it is still change and that change is bad - and yes, it was only after I either got too fat to wear them or my wife threw things out that my wardrobe from the 80's got updated (I still weep bitterly for my favorate rugby lost to some thankful soul shopping GoodWill for styling duds from yester-year).
I like it as well. Favicon.ico, you are woefully behind the times
I love the current favicon.. it's my favourite form of the logo.
I think the new logo is nice. One single line of serif font on the entire page just didn't fit. I preferred the old main title font, but this one is fine too.
Keep up the good, un-paid work, Dr Webster
i could care less about the logo, i just want the "obscure, unusual, exceptional" tag back It's too long to say it with the "the's"
the criteria of a well designed logo: instantly recognizable,
reproduceable without distortion on nearly any substrate, simple enough
for instant association and neutral enough to keep the focus on the
product instead of the design.
I too have noticed the change. The new logo has a retro feel to it, as did the prior logo, just in a slightly different way. It's a bit more readable than the older one, owing to the fact that the black outline makes it stand out more against the grey gradient background.
I also like the addition of the three "the"'s - gives the tagline a nicer rhythm, and also eliminates the ambiguity of the "non-the" version, whereby one could infer that the AF site itself - rather than the stuff it covers - was claiming to be obscure, unusual and exceptional.
So to the mods I say, Well done gents.
Best,
Matt
The new logo is certainly more readable and I think the 'the's are the right choice, as is using all-lowercase for the subtext, but the font used in the old one definitely lends itself better to having the letters pushed up against each other. The baselines and the tops of the lowercase characters are slightly uneven in the new font, causing them to align strangely (does that one pixel of the 'r' sticking up above the top of the 'i' that overlaps it bug anyone else, or is it just me?).
The edges of the curves are also something to look at. In the old logo, they are smooth to the point of appearing blurry, while in the new one they are sharp to the point of looking jagged. Neither of these is likely to be noticeable on a CRT, but they can become a bit of an eyesore on an LCD, and a happy medium between the two should be found.
You may now commence flaming me for showing my graphic designer side on a hacks site
I frequently go between CRT and LCD and this may be why it has caught my attention more.
...it did change. Thought something looked different. Just assumed it was the meds...
just ideas...
unusual for sure, creative without question.
I do not like it as it is too much change.
This makes me feel like an even bigger ssa then normal in light of the subtle changes Dr. Webster made and my starting of this thread.
I just hope the original point of this thread was not lost:
The new logo is not bad, but it is change and change is bad (just on principle alone).
speaking on behalf of the descendants of primates everywhere...
we never should have left the trees. In fact, the trees were probably a bad idea in the first place.
/edit/
ok... this one's really funny (in the holy hand grenade sort of way)
/edit2/
uh, I guess this is one for merchandising... for the mud flaps
In the interest of, well, interest, I made my own version of the logo.
the logo from 2001.
oh, and this was the tagline:
here's the logo at the top of a page from 2002, with a modified tagline next to it (part of the image):
Applefritter IRC logo:
Applefritter Forums logo:
I think that's all of them. I freakin love Archive.org! excellent site.
-digital
... sorry, but had to have fun and add my own interpretation of what goes on around here...
You missed the original, original, original one:
http://web.archive.org/web/20000105075017/http://www.applefritter.com/
IMHO the one you posted is still the best though!
TOM
Ha!
My DSL modem fell into an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, and I managed to capture this image before the cable snapped...
Spooky...
whoops, not my fault. i clicked on the first entry, but it broke the logo image. should have searched the page source for it. sorry.
and yeah, I do like the 2001-2002 logo the best.
-digital
Hahaha! Now, the next question is, are they "windows treatments" or just dang "curtains"? Either way, they're designed so you don't have to look at the Windows(tm) all the time...
Out of interest, does anyone know what font the 2001/2002 logo was done in?
TOM
i do like the new logo
some change is good and some are bad we are here just for the ride
I prefer the old logo, it seemed more thought out. The new one looks like it's been done in two minutes (no offence). Also the background gradient doesn't match up properly.
The old logo took me 5 minutes and 1 revision. The new one took 5 revisions. The background problem is something that's being worked on.
Hmm, it's almost impossible to get PNGs to match up colour wise for some reason. It doesn't look too bad as a 8 bit GIF, so I'd convert it (and the background gradient) to GIFs.
TOM
Huh. The colours chosen when downsampling an image to a smaller palette will vary depending on the program. You'll have a tough time, and maybe have already had a tough time, trying to match two gradients together.
Have you considered finalizing the new logo, then taking a slice of the gradient off that image and creating a new menu bar gradient from it. That way you've guaranteed they'll match.
To add some incentive to that...the gradient on the new logo displays much smoother on my PC than the rest of the top bar, which displays some slight banding between gradient shades.
Yeah, however PNG images display differently depending on the OS and browser, and it's impossible to match them to a CSS colour. Safari is the only browser that renders them correctly. However, remaking the background may be enough...
TOM
Alright everyone. I've solved the problem:
A peek at a parallel universe
For more entertainment, try this.
Transparency...(smacks head)...so obvious in retrospect...
Well done, old chap, especially on the Fritoxy Selector.
BTW, the Reverend's logo up there...definitely a spray coke out the nose experience.
Unfortunatley as we discovered when we launched this "new" AF, Internet Explorer doesn't readily handle transparent PNGs... or at all.
The new IE7 is purported to though... whenever it arrives.
Offtopic, but you may find this interesting: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/bobosola/pngtestfixed.htm
Javascript hack to allow some transparent png support in IE.
Save this one for Aprol Farst.
Wow... I remember that...
Amazingly scary.
but i just wanted to put my two cents worth into this discussion. i dont expect applefritter to stop all presses and adopt my design but when i read this thread when it first occurred, i thought to myself:
"ande, i wonder what you could do if you just put a little time into it."
so i opened photoshop and fiddled around. the reason it has taken so long to actually post this is, my boss walked in and i had to close everything out bafore he realised i was screwing around on the clock. after that i just forgot to upload the thing. so here it is now:
its not much. just five minutes worth of free time. its very rough and i probably would seriously adjust the curve of the text. but thats what i had pop into my head at the time.
peace and love
ande
Good concept. I like the rainbow shadow. Maybe do a logo with a "modern" Apple style mono mirrored/bubble logo, with a full length rainbow shadow?
Maybe something similar with the gradient fill on the type and Myriad for the typeface...
i've noticed you fixed the differing background of the logo image and the top silver bar, good work!
It just depends on the browser, color depth, resolution, etc. I still see it in certain resolutions, color depths, in firefox.
Could you be more specific? Settings, OS, and version of Firefox?
32-bit xp sp2 2.0a2 very faint line
' ' 1.5.x the same
' ' ie6 gone