New Ubiquity Logo: Round 2

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There’s been an amazing amount of participation in the design process of the new Ubiquity logo. It’s been inspiring to see the range of ideas and quality of feedback that we’ve seen. Incorporating that feedback, designer Sebastiaan de With has sketched an utterly amazing 25 concept logos. Given the feedback on those ideas, we are now winnowing those original 25 down to three.

Please leave your comments and votes below!

Ubiquibot

Awesome and cute! How can you go wrong? The power socket is universal for charging (adding electricity), and by having Ubiquibot attach to the globe we have a clear metaphor for using Ubiquity to enhance the web. Even better, it’s easy to replace Ubiquibot with other plug-able objects as we continue working on other projects. This is a keeper — if we don’t use it for Ubiquity we’ll definitely want to for Labs, or future iterations of extension development.

Model Universe

The model solar system is a strong metaphor — ubiquitous but not tired. It ties in the globe/web motif of the Firefox-family of logos, placing the unadorned Firefox globe at the center. It shows that there is an system beyond the browser, ready to be extended and learned about. It’s also a wonderful simple explanation of a complex system — allowing any one to see the solar system in action with the turn of a crank.

Plus it has that steam-punk charm.

Points to watch-for moving forward with this concept: The globe should be identifiable as the Firefox globe, and the entire logo will have to work at small sizes.

Organic Globe

Organic, living, interconnected, growing. All things Ubiquity. I love this concept, as does everyone else. It was the most popular choice. The difficulties in moving forward are making the plants look like they are enhancing and not strangling the planet, and somehow giving an active feeling.

The world-tree version of the logo is colorful and iconic. The relationship between the tree and globe feels, though, a bit adversarial. Plus, we’d have to be super-careful not to make it look like nuclear explosion when small.

Here are a couple that didn’t make the cut.

Hand Motif

There’s something very human about hands. I’m quiet attached to mine. They touch, they feel, they create. They’re ubiquitous. They are also an extensible metaphor as the fiery hand and the cyber hand show.

It feels, however, perhaps too generic and easy. There’s no connection to the web, language, or organic community-based growth.

Interestingly enough, one of the three concepts for the Humanized logo was very similar hand. (I tried to dig it up, but wasn’t able to find it).

Enso-mark Whirl

I like the direction of showing the interconnectedness of pages — blurring the edges, shuffling the pages, bringing the internet to you. By itself, though, I don’t think it is strong enough.

Puzzles and Build-a-Globe

The puzzle metaphor has been used everywhere. While easily grokable, it feels a worn thin.

I’m attracted to the assembling globe logos. Especial the one that’s flying together. I can imagine it looking stunning. I wonder, though, whether these would be better for a more low-level technology like Gecko — the things the Web is made of.

About this entry

You’re currently reading “New Ubiquity Logo: Round 2,” an entry on Aza’s Thoughts

Published:: 1.12.09 / 3pm

Category:: WEBLOG

r3l4x 1.12.09 / 3pm

Organic Globe pic #1 would be a good choice… I would like to see ubiquity in fresh, “organic” colors. Green stalks are great :)

Wahooney 1.12.09 / 3pm

If ther is a vote, my vote is for the Ubiquitibot.

The organic earth may be difficult to identify at lower resolutions and the conflict/strangling aspect may be difficult to overcome.

Great ideas all around though :)

Nico du Plessis 1.12.09 / 3pm

Definitely the Ubiquibot. I think it’s pretty simple and has the most potential to grow into a clear and detail rich logo

Hal! 1.12.09 / 3pm

I really dig the model universe, 1st idea. I dig seeing the globe that ties the family of icons together clearly.

Dries 1.12.09 / 3pm

I’d vote organic logo’s too, the look and feel truly suits the feel ubiquity gives me..something that slowly crawls and gets bigger. The sketches reminded me of http://www.squintopera.com/blog/?p=43 .. perhaps it can be some source of inspiration

DVQ 1.12.09 / 4pm

Definitely the organic globe concept. Ubiquitibot reminds me to much of a character from wall-e.

Anna 1.12.09 / 4pm

I like the bot.

Dayna 1.12.09 / 4pm

I’m a fan of the organic globe first and then would have to say the Ubiquibot would be my second choice. Both look simple and fun. Although, I would have to agree that you might need to be careful about the organic material to prevent it from the “strangle” look. The drawings look cool!

Ian 1.12.09 / 4pm

Proposal. Has a Firefox,Enso,old Ubiquity and “interconnectedness of pages” look. Hope its not too late. http://ff.im/AdER

Stuart 1.12.09 / 4pm

Alberto Santini 1.12.09 / 4pm

Ubiquibot was my choice in round 1. Again I vote for it.

Donny 1.12.09 / 4pm

I would say that the Organic Globe. Gives the feeling that Ubiquity is spreading across the planet and connecting everything together. I do dig the Ubiquibot as well. I agree it should have a place somewhere. Great job on the sketches.

Royall 1.12.09 / 4pm

With a good color scheme the universe model logo could look amazing; it’s my favorite out of the rest

Nils 1.12.09 / 4pm

In German, “Ubiquität” also means animals or goods wich can be found everywhere. For example: water, air, certain insects and, funny coincidence: the Red Fox is also a “Ubiquist”. :-)

Bret 1.12.09 / 4pm

1). Ubiquibot
2). Puzzle Cube

If a little more direction is put behind the puzzle cube I could see that one jumping to the top. There might be a bit too much going on with the Ubiquibot to be a bold enough mark for Ubiquity.

My favorite is the solar system with the drawn orbits. Very attractive and conveys the message. Lokking at it i see interconnectedness, dependacy, belonging.

IDEA: Something like the unicef logo with hands instead of leafs. Its probably tried and tired but could work. See http://ff.im/AeJ.

Again Sorry for the late entry.

Moody Loner 1.12.09 / 4pm

I personally still prefer the original logo, not very helpful but it’s what I think about it.

Sjaq 1.12.09 / 4pm

Ubiquibot is the most original one, so I like that one the best.

wrong url , here is the right one http://ff.im/AeJ7

Andreas 1.12.09 / 5pm

so hard to decide! i think i’ll go for ubiquibot, (friendly much like firefox) and the organic globe second.

Asrail 1.12.09 / 5pm

The number 1 is definitely the best.

Alex Faaborg 1.12.09 / 5pm

Very cool ideas, is it too late to make a submission? Amongst these I’m a big fan of model universe.

I’ve been working with Sofa on a build-a-globe for the new minefield icon. We are thinking about having the app icon evolve over time as the release becomes more complete, with initial versions showing a glowing core.

dria 1.12.09 / 5pm

I like the orrery (the “solar system model” thing) a lot. Fits well, as you say, with the Firefox globe.

Second choice would be the organic globe, touching on the whole “organic software” meme as well.

Mike Beltzner 1.12.09 / 5pm

I’ll re-iterate the thoughts I shared on Sebaastian’s blog, which is to say that I don’t feel like Ubiquity should be linked to a thing, or have a character identity like the Ubiquibot. While I agree that he’s cute and charming and makes people feel love, I think Ubiquity itself is a concept best described in your intial introduction video. It’s about seamlessly connecting information and services to turn the web browser and the web into a magic “make it happen” machine. I get the idea of having an identity that looks like a “servant”, but I think the identity you want to really convey is “magic”.

It grows, learns, connects and makes things happen. It obeys your commands. It makes you and your browser into an omnipotent magician who can mould the web in his or her own vision.

So, I guess I’m saying I like the organic globe thing, with a sparkle.

Jethro Larson 1.12.09 / 6pm

Wow. I don’t like any of these.

The Bot is pretty cool, but I don’t know if it matches Ubiquity

Jeremy Sydik 1.12.09 / 6pm

I like the Ubiquibot best I think along with future options it provides as a mascot or for related projects.

#2 would be Organic version A (the world tree looked like a mushroom cloud during the ‘blink moment’ for me)

Jay 1.12.09 / 6pm

All the sketches are nice, but I think the Ubiquibot (really like the plug concept) and the Assembling Globe (panels coming together version) are the best ones.

Alex Iskold 1.12.09 / 6pm

I like these, but they seem geeky to me. Firefox logo is cool and easily graspable by masses, I think you need to shoot for something like that.

Alex

Patrick Ds 1.12.09 / 6pm

Ubiquibot, the best logo so far.

Danny Hope 1.12.09 / 7pm

For me it has to be the Ubiquibot.

There’s so miuch milage in terms of brand and iconography – the various parts of the logo can be used individually the character, the globe, the plug/socket.

Great work, Sebastian.

yonkeltron 1.12.09 / 7pm

Ubiquibot or the model universe. I’m not such a fan of the organic globe.

When a logo is chosen, can we get some Ubiquity swag? I wouldn’t mind a bag or something like that.

Blair McBride 1.12.09 / 7pm

My votes, most preferred first, least preferred last:

1. Organic globe
2. Model universe
3. Ubiquibot

Anant 1.12.09 / 7pm

My preferences, organized by first preferred most:

1. Model Universe
2. Ubiquibot
3. Organic Globe

I would stay away from the hand motif, or any human body part for that matter; it makes it very easy to create an offensive logo for some culture or the other ;-)

Bridger Maxwell 1.12.09 / 8pm

I like the Ubiquibot the best. Like a few people have said, it has a lot of flexibility to grow and be modified.

Nathan 1.12.09 / 8pm

I love the Ubiquibot, but I’m not sure it’s specific enough to Ubiquity. Could it be modified somehow to highlight the importance of language as an interface?

The same goes for the other metaphors as well–there are many projects that aim to promote interconnectedness of the Web and so forth. What makes Ubiquity unique?

shawnee 1.12.09 / 9pm

Ubiquibot and Model Universe V2 are my favorites. Ubiquibot, of course because he’s so cute! But the metaphor with model Universe is also really strong; it shows that there’s another conceptual entity “wrapping” around the fusion of Earth & ideas.

NetOperator Wibby 1.12.09 / 10pm

Hey that’s awesome! My selection made the cut [the second globe logo].

Andrew 1.12.09 / 10pm

I vote for Ubiquibot (just the bot) as the new Ubiquity logo. However, I think that the earth with the socket should be the Ubiquity Herd logo. This represents Ubiquity “plugging into” Herd to get more commands.

Abi 1.12.09 / 10pm

Here are my preferences:

1. Organic Globe
2. Ubiquibot
3. Model Universe

But honestly, I don’t particularly like any of the three proposed logos. When I think of Ubiquity, the first thing I think about is the brain (connecting your brain to the wealth of knowledge in the web). I’m surprised none of the proposed logos used a brain…

Jimmy 1.12.09 / 11pm

It seems like most of these icons have a metaphor for enhancing the web. I was just wondering has the plan to eventually break ubiquity from the browser gone away?

Nico 1.12.09 / 11pm

I agree with Blair:

Steve 1.12.09 / 11pm

I don’t mind some of them, but how about something similar to the current Firefox logo and Thunderbird, but instead of the fox wrapped around the bottom edge, why not put a pair of cupped hands, holding the globe?

Just a thought….and it would fit in with the existing icons :)

Mick 1.12.09 / 11pm

I too prefer the original logo to any of these.

Dan 1.13.09 / 12am

Ubiquibot seems a bit too phallic. Maybe it’s just me. :(

I like the solar system on a globe stand, though.

Joshua 1.13.09 / 1am

I prefer the Ubiquibot. Makes it look more like plug-in/add-on.

Peppe 1.13.09 / 3am

I prefer the bot…it’s a good metaphor for ubiquity.

Remco 1.13.09 / 4am

I would go for organic globe, because of these reasons:

- mozilla logo’s need to be round, everey logo (firefox, thunderbird) is round. Please, for the sake of consistency, take a round logo

- i like the organic idee, the goal of ubiquity is to make te commands feel natural and easy

- though the robot thingie looks kinda cute, a robot stil has a ‘geeky’ side. And i guess that’s the image that mainstream application doesn’t want?

Hans 1.13.09 / 4am

The first Organic Globe is nice, but the other reminds me of the end of the world as we know it.

Looks like a gigantic nuclear mushroom cloud.

Ricky Moorhouse 1.13.09 / 8am

I like the Ubiquibot best - really seems to get across the concept of ubiquity. It give the impression of a friendly and useful extendable system.

I also agree with Andrew about using the globe with the socket as the herd logo.

Philipp 1.13.09 / 8am

I like the right “Model Universe” :-)

Wil Wade 1.13.09 / 8am

One of the model universes.

After all in a model universe everything would be connected (at least with magnetic forces for those cool floating ones)

ChrisJF 1.13.09 / 9am

Organic Globe FTW!!!!!!11111 (And maybe the leaves at the bottom should form a U for Ubiquity?)

Aamod 1.13.09 / 10am

The ever-awesome “Ubiquibot” because I think if their is a mascot kind of thing in logo like bot here, people like it very much.
I’m a Mozilla CampusRep and while talking with a lot of people, they tell me how awesome Firefox and Songbird logos are. Both of them contain Fox and bird resp..

Laurent 1.13.09 / 10am

I prefer the simple organic globe (no nuclear tree !)

Kevin Warden 1.13.09 / 11am

Just by these preliminary drawings alone, I’m gonna have to go with the Ubiquibot.
The Organic Globe seems more like a Green-Party logo. Looks cool, but not for software.
The Model Universe looks nice, but it seems a little too bland. Maybe if it was spiced up a bit.

All in all, they’re a good set to work with!

wazoox 1.13.09 / 11am

I love the ubiquibot. So cute.

Eno 1.13.09 / 12pm

The bot is cute. The universe concept, while great, is not friendly to a user. Bots are friendly so I vote for the bot (maybe make the globe have a 3D Firefox logo?).

Gray 1.13.09 / 1pm

As Nathan pointed out, language is fundamental to Ubiquity and arguably its most salient distinguishing feature…and it’s not represented in any of these candidates.

I agree with others that the “organic” characteristics of Ubiquity are awesome, and critical to its success…but my sense (and hope) is that, over the long haul, this aspect will become less unique to Ubiquity as more and more projects are conceived and structured to be open and generative in the way that Ubiquity is. As that happens, I think the language aspect of Ubiquity will continue to set it apart.

It might also be worth discussing explicitly who we most want this logo to speak to (no pun intended). My sense is that the organic aspect is something that resonates more with the developer/contributor/early-adopter audience, and not so much with the everyday users (of whom there will eventually be a lot more if Ubiquity truly becomes ubiquitous). Everyday users will definitely benefit in a big way from Ubiquity’s organic nature, by virtue of all of the variety/choice/power it creates…but I don’t think they’re likely to realize or appreciate how organic Ubiquity is, and I don’t think they need to realize/appreciate this to get a lot out of it.

Anyway, I’m not against having the organic side represented in the logo, of course…just think that it would be a real shame not to bring out the language aspect in some way.

One more thought: the way I see it, one of the most powerful things about Ubiquity is that it breaks down the restrictions of “place” that have historically been so central to the way we interact with content and services on the Web. With Ubiquity, if we need a piece of information or want to manipulate some content in front of us, we don’t have to *go* anywhere…we just say (type) what we want, and summon the Internetty goodness from wherever it is. The image that comes to mind is of reaching out into the ether (or perhaps I should say the cloud), plucking just the threads that I want/need, pulling them toward me, and seeing them coalesce into just the experience that I need, right before my eyes. (That’s easy to represent in a logo, right?)

Geoff 1.13.09 / 2pm

I’m really liking the Ubiquibot!

Dan Fitek 1.13.09 / 2pm

I love the globe pieces flying together. Ubiquity brings the pieces of your online world together.

sep332 1.13.09 / 4pm

The Ubiquibot needs to look stronger! Total milquetoast doesn’t do the project justice. Also his head is currently reminiscent of the Google Chrome logo.

Yann Dìnendal 1.13.09 / 4pm

ubiquibot is great!

Aidan Hornsby 1.13.09 / 4pm

Ubiquibot all the way. I think it has the strongest metaphor and would work best as a nice icon at all sizes (with the hand and organic globes especially, I think the smaller icon sizes would definitely suffer from some loss of detail). As you said it is also cute and expandable for future products / icon changes.

Amad 1.13.09 / 6pm

A ’shining’ green globe could be used( imagine a sunflower), as a replacement of the strangling vines

Alex Biggs 1.13.09 / 6pm

I’m going to say either the Ubiquibot or the second Model Universe one. They both have great potential for color contrast and recognizability. Plus, since they’re both made up of two components(the bot and the plug-in world in the former, and the stand and the atom in the latter), you can simply use one of the two components in the smallest resolution icons.

If neither of those are selected, however, I’m fine with the Organic Globe, though.

Alex Faaborg 1.13.09 / 9pm

Here are two concepts, the triple twist (a play on some of Sebastiaan’s very cool previous work) and Planet Mozilla Exoskeleton:

http://people.mozilla.com/~faaborg/files/labs/ubiquityLogoIdeas.png

Ziad Hussain 1.14.09 / 12am

If you use the universe motif, you could also make it look like a Hydrogen Atom, which is of course, ubiquitous and organic.

Abi 1.14.09 / 1am

I posted my thoughts on why none of the logos fit here: http://abcdefu.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/defining-ubiquity/

Laurel Treguboff 1.14.09 / 2am

I vote for the Organic Globe

skrat 1.14.09 / 6am

I don’t like them. They all are just abstractions. Tell me what is the relationship between keyboard navigation and:
- a globe
- a cube
- a puzzle
…what are the associations that these concepts want to achieve? I suggest to use some kind of keyboard button (black) with some white symbol (maybe that original painted circle which reminds me of Zen)

James VanDyke 1.14.09 / 4pm

I like the Model Universe and Enso-mark Whirl.

Josep 1.14.09 / 6pm

Ubiquibot is great!

Dario Salvelli 1.15.09 / 7am

Dear Aza, sorry for this [OT] comment. Can u write an email to me? dariosalvelli[at]gmail.com. I would to interview you for my personal blog. Thank you, cheers. :-)

Antoine Turmel (GeekShadow) 1.15.09 / 10am

I vote for the Ubiquibot =)

shane langnes 1.15.09 / 1pm

i vote for the ubiquibot. it’s a cool name and a cute logo.

Shane McCallum 1.15.09 / 3pm

Vote 1 for Ubiquibot

Gerv 1.15.09 / 5pm

There’s a big problem with the Ubiquibot idea. You say “The power socket is universal for charging…” This may be true, but the shape is not. Currently, Ubiquibot plugs into a US-style NEMA 1-15 socket. Wikipedia has details of the 13 different types used around the world. The US one probably isn’t even the most common, the Euro one is.

…and so having a US-centric plug on a logo that’s supposed to be about the world seems really bad.

The hand stuff: isn’t there a long-standing thing in UI design that you don’t include body parts, because some cultures find them offensive?

James Heaver 1.16.09 / 11am

I would vote for Ubiquibot.

But my one comment would be that plugs don’t have two prongs all around the world. My instinct says that this shouldn’t be an issue, particularly with the ubiquitous americanisation - but should be considered.

I think the Model Universe is strong and would get my second vote.

I have to admit, I think the others are varying levels of bad. The tree on the globe is cliched and makes me think of the environment and green issues.

The hand does nothign for me whatsoever. This does imply, however, that I’m missing something about it so perhaps a better sketch might suddenly click with me.

Enso-whirl, like you said - not enough on its own.

The world: ubiquity doesn’t build the world; it builds on top of the world. This one doesn’t work for me.

Jamila 1.17.09 / 11pm

Ubiquibot is the most unique one to me. I’d work with that concept.

Jacopo 1.19.09 / 4am

Definitely Organic Globe # 1.

Ricky Moorhouse 1.19.09 / 7am

I like Alex Faaborg’s Exoskeleton concept - think that really shows Ubiquity building on top of the web and adding to it.

Teegan 1.29.09 / 6pm

Definitely the Ubiquibot!

Matty 9.3.09 / 2pm

I really like Ubiquibot to. The sketch of the new logo looks so cool.

شات 11.27.09 / 4pm

@vere nice@

New Ubiquity Logo: Round 2

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