Re: Logos proposal

[Fotios Kasolis]

On Jun 8, 2010, at 10:25 PM, Michael D. Godfrey wrote:

> On 6/8/10 5:56 PM, Søren Hauberg wrote:
>> If you go to
>> 
>>   http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/about.html
>> 
>> you will see the following text:
>> 
>>         "
>>         Just about everyone thinks that the name Octave has something to
>>         do with music, but it is actually the name of one of the
>>         author's former professors who wrote a famous textbook on
>>         chemical reaction engineering, and who was also well known for
>>         his ability to do quick "back of the envelope" calculations. We
>>         hope that this software will make it possible for many people to
>>         do more ambitious computations just as easily.
>>         "
>> 
>> I think it would be a nice reference to the origin of the name "Octave"
>> if the logo actually included something that looks a bit like "back of
>> the envelope" calculations.
>> 
>> Anyway, those where just a few thoughts...
>> 
>> Søren
>>   
> This definitely relevant.  And, this logo should be thought of as probably
> permanent, so some careful thought should be applied.  The first three 
> examples
> are, I think, OK.  But, they do not immediately convey an important message, 
> as
> above.
> 
> Let's give this serious thought.  I will try to think of something to 
> propose, but
> so should everyone else.  providing the winning logo should be considered to 
> be
> a substantial accomplishment.
> 
> Finally, I think that John should be the final judge.
> 
> Michael
> 

There are some issues which make me not to converge to the above opinions.

"Back of the envelope calculations" is a good property for a human but has a 
pointer to bad accuracy/guess etc, so characterizing a product by sth that 
links to a "guess", or sth "close to a solution" is not good promotion for 
software that should be accurate and robust!

I could accept a logo as far as (a) is eye candy and attractive (b) shows that 
the software is related to scientific computing, numerical computing, 
programming, (c) gives the feeling of safety and stability for the product 
(which for Octave is the case ;D ).

I m not a professional designer so all comments are welcomed.