It’s hard to believe that we don’t have a Wonderland logo. Well, not one we’re particular proud of. Way back in July 2007 (has it really been that long?), Nicole created this 3D "W" logo in SketchUp:
This was only intended to be a placeholder until we could hire a designer to create a real logo. Well, I’m happy to say that we’ve finally hired a graphic designer, Gary Ritchie, to work on 2D and 3D art assets for our forthcoming 0.5 release. If you’ve seen the HUD for the new whiteboard, that’s his work.
So, we put Gary to work on designing a real logo for Wonderland. We wanted a logo design that conveyed the collaborative focus of Wonderland and established a strong identity. We also wanted something that couldn’t be confused with a hotel chain, a certain ex-president or other virtual worlds. Since Wonderland is an open source project, not a product, we’re also free to not be constrained by Sun’s product branding (and who knows what might happen to that!)
The logo will be used in our web content, as a desktop logo, and on the Wonderland login dialog. Gary is also creating a 3D version of the logo that we can bring in world as a sculpture, which will be cool.
We’re really excited by the designs that Gary has produced for us and we wanted to share them with you, so you can help us decide which of several alternatives we should choose. I’m including the top contenders below. Let us know which you prefer. If you don’t like any of them, explain why but also give us some constructive feedback. Also, if the logo reminds you of someone else’s logo, please tell us. We obviously don’t want to confuse people.
First, here are three different color schemes:
A. Blue/Green
B. Purple/Blue
C. Yellow/Blue
Next, there are three variations on the logo orientation. I’ve chosen the Purple/Blue color scheme to show the different options:
1. Left orientation
2. Right orientation
3. Vertical orientation
Tell us which you prefer by picking a color scheme from A, B or C and a logo orientation from 1, 2, or 3. So, if you liked the left orientation of the yellow/blue color scheme, that would be C1.
Hmmm…maybe we should get some t-shirts printed with the logo on them for our 0.5 release celebration!
Update March 25, 2009: 10:15am PT:
Wow! We’re amazed by the voter turnout and excited that so many of you are reading the Wonderblog. We really appreciate the design critiques too. The voting isn’t over, we’ll leave it open for a few more days, but here are the votes so far in graphical form:
A1 is currently leading with 24 votes, followed by C1 with 18. Layout "1" is the clear favorite. It’s interesting to read the comments about "eco burnout". We hope that Wonderland will have an eco-impact by reducing the need for people to travel, but Wonderland is more about collaboration and bringing people closer together, it’s not just an eco project.
I produced this graph in OpenOffice, but it would have been much more fun to visualize it in Wonderland with Glasshouse by greenphosphor, our earliest early-adopters!
Great suggestion about the t-shirt/hoodie store, by the way!
I would go for the C1 version and sign me up for a shirt!
All of the Designs look great but the one that catches my eye the most is Design A-1 and The Desgin would look great on a shirt
B3 gets my vote
A1 gets my vote. Shirts would be great!
I like A-1 – I like the green version because it invokes "eco" which is one of the benefits of a virtual world. Cindy
I vote for A (i like the green and blue) -you might ask Sun Branding to review and make suggestions too – they are great!
I like C2 the best, then C1. Even though there’s a nice horizontal flow on C1 right to left, I’m liking the abrupt angle from the graphic to the text on C2 better.
C1 is the winner!!! clean/modern/ and simply "wonder(land)ful"
C3 – is the world exploding?
A – Green now means only one thing.
2 – off balance
I prefer
A1
First choice: A2
Second choice: C2
A1
A says eco so much that the eco aspect overwhelms all else. B is the most legible, but lacks contrast and is too cold. C is warm and lively and, incidentally, says Sun.
2 is abrupt and off balance and that is good. Also, it says growth.
So, I prefer C2.
I vote for A1. What about some capital letters?
C1 – I like the gold (yellow) and blue. The colors are rich and warm and inviting.
I like B1 but A1 was very close. It was hard to decide between them.
I prefer C3
I like orientation 1 by far, as for colour scheme, I like C the best, followed by A.
How much revenue is generated from this project ?
C1. Definitely. I like the yellow because it allows you to see the nice shading on the
"project" letters. Plus it makes the continents look like actual land masses as seen from space. And I like the left orientation because it makes the logo look like it is dynamically balanced around the world as a pivot point.
I like B1!
The purple is nice. Also, similar to what another poster said, the green/eco is becoming overused. I do like the yellow, though, so my second choice would be C1.
Yay, T-shirts!
A1
I like C1, which just hits my eye with strong impression.
I vote for #1. But why the word "Project"?
I like A1.
I vote A-Blue/green, but, when the proyect finish, the virtual world is wonderland. logo without the proyect word.
A1
A1 for many of the reasons previously stated, including the "eco" inference.
3. The vertical orientation looks like an active exclamation point! !!! It seemed to emphasize more than the rest.
For the colors, they all look nice, but heck, don’t we all have favorites? Perhaps a touch of red with the Purple and Blue?
Neat theme for the logo in general, though.
I vote for A1
I prefer A1
I prefer A1
c2
A3 (sustainability) (exclamation point-ish)
c1
C definitely has the best color scheme due to the connection orange and blue have to the java, mysql, glassfish, etc logos, and I’d be happy with either 1 or 2, if the largest exclamation on 2 wasn’t ever so slightly off. Please steer away from green. Combined with the globe, it seems like any other meaningless "eco" product one is intended to feel superior while purchasing. C1or2 ftw!
I think C1 is the best.
I like the T-shirt idea, why don’t you take it one step further? Open a spreadshirt.com shop, where people can buy all kind of Wonderland merchandise.
A-1 gets my vote. w00t!
How about we create a poll for this? So the votes will be easier to manage.
B1 gets my vote!
B1
… looks nicely and makes a professional impression of the virtual world as well!
C1 for me. Speaking as a designer the colours used in C are nice and vibrant while the shape elements balance perfectly in option 1. Nice work ; )
Hey! Lets have Hoodies : )
A2 or C2
C1 gets my choice. 3 is a definite NO regardless of color since it does look like the planet is exploding, or angry!
I think you need some color in the upper left "splash" part. And be careful not to make it look too much like a rooster. Seriously. Might not want to have the splashes in ascending or descending order, but rather a bit like a water or paint "droplet" type of splash. (If I was good at photoshop I’d show you what I mean…)
Hope that helps!
A. Blue/Green
C3
#3 will work best for times when you will use the image alone without the name–such as the favicon.
+1 on the hoodie! My vote is for A3… No poll needed since I think some smartypants can grep/regex the votes on this page ;-)
c would be good
The design reminds me of the Second Life logo, mainly with color scheme A. the same for 2. and 3. The blue of B is a bit cold. So I vote for C1.
A1 is my favorite, the colors immediately bringing to mind a lush world. C1 is my second favorite. The 2 orientation is a little rooster-y for my tastes.
A for me – looks great and reminds us that this technology can be eco-friendly alternatives.
A1 is my favorite, the green color is the color of hope.
C3!! I like the warm colors and the vertical thingies. The vertical suggests active and imaginative. IMHO. :) Ric
C1 or C3
the yellow / blue combination looks really nice :)
C1 or C3
the yellow / blue combination looks really nice :)
C1 or C3
the yellow / blue combination looks really nice :)
A1
A1 works well for me.
I’d go for C1.
A1 is also nice, but with so much green&blue eco talk going on lately it might suggest Wonderland is about alternative fuels or saving the rainforest.
C2 : Yellow gives a little touch of "warm".
What about splitting the text on two lines? it is very long…
My choice: A2. Green and blue are an excellent colour combination. The green fits best for the earth.
My vote is the same as the other day. I like C1 the best and C3 second.
I’ll go for A1
C1
orientation 2 looks a little like the gnome logo but not much.
As for the colour blue and green globes are boring. I like the purple but the words don’t contrast enough. So yellow/orange is my vote.
B2 (I know… I’m an outlier)
(And I’m so tempted to vote with multiple email addresses…)
A1 Have to go with the leader because I’ve loved green and blue together ever since I first started drawing pictures with crayons.
It’s great that Wonderland is now getting an official logo! I like the general playfulness of the logo, as well as the choice of font, but I can’t get past the connotation with a (sorry) chicken or turkey (see Disney’s "Chicken Little" movie for example). I was wondering if Gary could produce some wildly divergent schemes to vote on. In my mind, these are six variations on a single scheme, mostly differing in color or "zoot" orientation.
It would be interesting to pay greater homage to the Lewis Carroll "wonderland/looking glass" theme, perhaps some Escher-esque mirrors-on-mirrors or something that connotes three dimensions or immersion.
Just some thoughts. In any case, keep up the great work on the logo and .5!
C1, I agree about green having an eco-flavor, which might not be appropriate here and is a little over-used.
A3. The colour scheme and shape work great together. ]
I don’t like the left orinentation as much (although it seems a clear winner) as it doesn’t seem to fit as well as layout 3.
I vote for A1
A1 gets my vote,
but C1 also looks good..
A1 gets my vote,
but C1 also looks good..
Thanks for all the votes and the great suggestions, everyone. We’ve now got two strong contenders: A1 and C1 to consider. We’re taking your concerns about the "eco" theme and rooster-isms to heart and we’re going to tweak the logo as a result. We’ll announce the winning logo soon, once we have the dev release finished. Thanks again for taking the time to comment!
C1 has my vote. Its much more warm and inviting. Kinda reminds me of the Sun. A1 comes in a close second.
C-1, gives the best WOW factor!
all weak work, get a designer to do it, this is not scalable across screen or print domains and would be expensive, none of them have any design thinking at all in my opinion- if you had a designer make them for, you should fire them.
(a real designer)