Sunday, September 14, 2014

Logo, Take 1

One of the takeaways from finds2014 was a verbal description of a logo: “finili” in all lowercase letters in a bold typeface with a “factual” connotation and an “fi” ligature, with the colors blue, green, and red, respectively, “emerging” from the three dots. The roadmap says we will have an actual logo by year’s end, one that people would want to wear on T-shirts. Our volunteer designer has created a mockup of the proposed logo design for discussion purposes. To reiterate: this is only a mockup. It is not meant for use as the actual logo.

Note that the dots are an optional feature of the logo, and that in black and white print and where a simpler design is needed, the logo will not include the colored dots, but will be a simple text shape for rendering in any available color. This means, for example, the Finili logo could be rendered as light blue-gray letters on a black background.

Update, 24 hours later: Thanks to some quick feedback we now have a second mockup, shown below. Again, this is only a mockup for discussion purposes, and it may or may not ultimately be considered better than the previous mockup. The changes are: tighter letter spacing; larger dots (to lend more emphasis to the letter i); green color made less bright; chequered flag. The chequered flag symbolizes the finish line of a race, recognizing that the name Finili means “finish line” in several languages.

Update, at 48 hours: I am happy to see so much participation on this important question. Here is another alternative suggestion, combining the chequered flag with the lettering. It is undeniably harder to read, yet perhaps simpler and more distinctive. Keep the suggestions coming!