Yesterday marked 'day one' of the Symbain Foundation. The Symbian Foundation announced the commencement of the beta testing of its new website and that 81 companies have applied for membership (50 of which are first time endorsers). The new logo of the Symbian Foundation was alo unveiled: Symbian, in stylised letters, underlain by a yellow heart. Read on for more.
Read on in the full article.
So what's the new website like? What can you tell us about it?
Associating rubber ducks with Symbian devices... now where did they get that idea from? 😉
We're not part of the beta test so we can't tell you! However there is some extra info in the press release. I imagine it will be out of beta fairly quickly and we'll take a look then and report back.
gotta be honest here,I am not liking this "non-retro" logo...
Was that a cheapskate logo design?
Honestly, I'm sure yellow heart has lots of ramifications on your health.
BTW if going so radical, why not abandon this "parasite-sounding" name altogether?
(You know, some people still "dunno" the spelling... simbiant, symbion)
Just compare this to "WebOS". 😮
Looks like the kind of thing I might have come up the first time I used CorelDraw.
Yikes. The new logo looks like it was designed by a 4-year old. I think it looks simply awful...childish, uninspiring, amateurish. And I agree...the name Symbian has almost no recognition or traction here in the U.S. Not sure why.
The logo looks pathetic at its best. I hope they bring back the old logo or design a better logo before the platform reaches the masses.
AFAIK this logo isn't intended for end users, it's meant for developers who are interested in open source software. That's probably why there's a "fanzine" style about it rather than anything corporate, because they're trying to emphasise that Symbian is leaving its corporate-oriented roots.
The end users will (probably) continue to only see manufacturers' brands and logos on Symbian devices, so the Symbian Foundation logo is completely irrelevant to them because they'll never see it.
the name Symbian has almost no recognition or traction here in the U.S. Not sure why.
The reason is because Symbian devices haven't sold well in America, despite selling well practically everywhere else in the world (including Japan).
There are various explanations for this, but perhaps the most interesting theory is that Americans seem to prefer more PDA-like smartphones, whereas the rest of the world seems to prefer more phone-like smartphones.
In favour of this theory is that Apple's iPhone is basically the same proportions as a traditional Palm-like device (to make it more computer-like), whereas the latest crop of upcoming Symbian devices use a narrower and longer screen which puts them closer to the shape of a traditional mobile phone (perhaps to make them easier to operate with one hand just like normal phones).
Tzer2 wrote:The reason is because Symbian devices haven't sold well in America, despite selling well practically everywhere else in the world (including Japan).
There are various explanations for this.
Mmmm.... you didn't mention the possible, slight branding problem. Have you ever tried googling for "Sybian"?
neilhoskins wrote:Mmmm.... you didn't mention the possible, slight branding problem. Have you ever tried googling for "Sybian"?
Hehe, yeah I was just about to mention that word. 😊
It's not only in NA though, Symbian OS isn't exactly well known in the rest of the world either. Certainly not to the end users. Most people (practically everyone) buying a Symbian phone has no idea about the underlying OS, the UI, nor that they have just got themselves a brand new pocket sized 'multimedia computer'. :tongue:
Btw, hate the new logo.
Hated the new logo at first when I saw it here. Then followed the link to the Symbian Foundation blog and at a much reduced size with all the nice hand-drawn elements next to it, it looks pretty good, echoing the thoughts of one of the commenters there:
I find that when people see how all the different elements of the branding cartoons and doodles fit together - in the animations and other creative designs - then they lose any initial scepticism they had about the brand design.
Big it looks horrible, but as a dinky logo - no complaints. Have a look at some other corporate logos scaled up to be as big as the logo on this page - many look pretty awful as well! (OK,OK, not the apple one, I said 'many' :P )
I like the logo it looks simple fresh and modern to me.
It also seems a bit light hearted which I think is a nice twist for and OS company who are normally seen as very serious.
Unregistered wrote:Hated the new logo at first when I saw it here. Then followed the link to the Symbian Foundation blog and at a much reduced size with all the nice hand-drawn elements next to it, it looks pretty good, echoing the thoughts of one of the commenters there:Big it looks horrible, but as a dinky logo - no complaints. Have a look at some other corporate logos scaled up to be as big as the logo on this page - many look pretty awful as well! (OK,OK, not the apple one, I said 'many' :P )
I agree with this. I hated it when I saw it on AAS, but on Share on Ovi there are some other images that kind of put it in some context; then my attitude changed considerably.
Perhaps AAS should put one of the other images up here, since this bare image is misleading - I doubt it's designed to be used on it's own like this.
What is goin on with that logo....!
all else looks interesting 😊
That logo is so naff that I like it!
It is such a load me crap to excuse this logo as being ok when it is used on a small scale. The point of any logo is that is has to look good regardless of whether it is a gif on a website or a mighty banner backdrop at a show.
Granted that in the context of the Symbian website it looks more at home and for the most part, it is not going to be consumer facing. But this does not excuse the impression it conveys - amateurish rather than different.
I'm all for something 'different' as design language would never progress. But this is a mis-step up there when BA jettisoned the Union Lack for the 'international' theme a decade ago.
Ask yourself whether they would go with this design were Symbian looking to create consumer awareness?
I was really surprised about all the emotions that this new logo was able to evoke in me. For quite some time, I was alternating between thinking "That can't be true", "This is completely ridiculous" and "They have lost their marbles".
That's the kind of stuff that needs qualifying by the sentence "I am not making this up" if you try to explain it to outsiders, together with a quite helpless shrug.
Now, being through with my alternating thoughts, I settled on the following conclusion, which I think would also be a good claim to complement the new logo: "Symbian Foundation - Where the lunatics took over the asylum".
rbrunner wrote:"Symbian Foundation - Where the lunatics took over the asylum".
Great tagline rbrunner!
Rafe - 'the logo experience' - surely a great discussion piece for the next podcast! 😉
My dog would make a better logo. Is it "designed" by a Symbian developer?
I think the Logo is a stroke of Genius.
By introducing �Day One� with such an atrocious logo (almost universally accepted), Symbian Foundation have assured themselves far more publicity than they would have got if they had done something �presentable�.
I just hope the expression �all publicity is good publicty� holds true�
Can't see any other explanation for it 😊
Zuber
All publicity is good publicity?
Tell Gerald Ratner that!
I really like this logo... It's totally non-corporate. However, I'm not convinced that it will be around in its current form anymore than a year or two. Some 'suit' will demand something more logical, mark my words.
On the subject of logos; Isn't it about time you guys sorted you're own logo out? What's with all that letter spacing? Are you trying to convey openness? (^_^)
I already downloaded the PC screen saver and love the 50's retro feeling every time I log onto computer. They should have phone screen savers as well.
Really, really bad.
It doesn't inspire any of the things Symbian should given its rivals: History, quality, robustness, maturity, strong corporate backing. It's trying SO hard to be the little guy fighting against the system when what a handset manufacturer or network which is betting tens of millions of dollars on an OS wants is the system.
To me it sends a message of "we'll fight for our independence", that's not what customers want they want to see all the (rubber) ducks lined up together.
Simon Rockman.