[libreoffice-design] Re: LibreOffice Icon

Hello Florian,

It is the main LO icon I'm talking about;  it's not so much what's wrong 
with it, so much as what it lacks - as I stated in my original message:

> I am writing to you today to plead with you to change the main program
> icon currently in use for LibreOffice as I believe it is seriously
> underwhelming!
> As an icon for the Document Foundation it says it all to me - clear, 
> simple, document.  However, considering it as the "flag" or
> "packaging" for LibreOffice, it is (IMHO) far too bland:
>
> • It is not easy to pick out among hordes of other icons
> • It lacks colour and warmth, is not striking or eye-catching
> • It says nothing about the elegance and sophistication of LibreOffice
> • It doesn't inspire confidence.

I must admit I am only used to seeing it on Windows systems - even the 
"blank" default icon in Windows (any version) has more character to it 
than the current LibreOffice icon!

I appreciate that the individual programs within LO have more colourful 
icons, with embellishments particular to that app, but when installing 
on Windows systems the option to have a desktop icon is only the main 
icon, the Document Foundation icon.  As I said before, I think this icon 
is fine for the Document Foundation, but LO I think needs much more.  In 
terms of marketing, it is almost as if the wrapper for the product were 
blank!  Imagine if this were a magazine on a table in a waiting room - 
would you pick up a blank sheet of paper, or one of the more 
recognisable covers, e.g. National Geographic, Time, or Reader's Digest?

Take as examples of other programs, Firefox and Thunderbird - easily 
recognisable icons to a wide audience, but the organisation behind it, 
Mozilla, has a completely different icon, and probably also much more 
obscure to most people.

As a mainstream user, and one who wishes only the best for LO, I am 
concerned that LO has a difficult uphill struggle ahead of it in order 
to gain the recognition from the general public (and therefore the 
survivability) that it deserves.  It is really unfortunate that in the 
split from Oracle, they retained the recognition (and even kudos) gained 
over all the previous years of work on OOo.  As I see it, LO has, in the 
eyes of the general populous, been "divorced" from its heritage, and to 
all intents and purposes (to the uninitiated) looks like a newcomer on 
the scene!  I believe that LO needs and deserves a beautiful icon for 
the main program, which says something about the elegance and 
sophistication which lies within.  This would also serve to foster the 
"brand image" of LO in the eyes of the general public (as opposed to the 
brand of the Document Foundation).

I can appreciate too, that to many of you guys and girls within the 
Document Foundation community it may be difficult to understand what I'm 
getting at;  maybe being so close and intimately involved in the whole 
project means it is not easy to step back and see it in the same way an 
outsider does.  I think it is fair to say that Linux (in many of its 
flavours) suffers from a "club members only" sort of image, which has 
probably done a lot to stifle its uptake by the general public, and I 
fear that LO may slip into a similar category.  That would be a great 
pity indeed.  I hope that perhaps my perspective may be of use to you in 
this regard, and give an "outsider" view that you may otherwise find 
difficult to attain.


Best Regards,
        Alistair Bain
Kingswells Computercraft
Aberdeen, Scotland


On 31/10/2012 15:06, Florian Monfort wrote:
> I actually think the logo is pretty good.
>
> - The absence of vivid colors makes it easy to adapt to any platform design
> standard.
> - Simple shape makes it easy to recognize.
>
> What problem is it that you identify with the current logo ?
>
> Cheers
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 3:56 PM, Kingswells Computercraft <
> support@kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > Dear LibreOffice teams,
> >
> > My apologies if you have already got my message (below) - I tried sending
> > it a few days ago, but only seem to have succeeded in subscribing to
> > mailing lists!
> >
> >  From my message below, you can see I believe it is essential that the
> > LibreOffice main icon be replaced by one that aids in the recognition and
> > identity of LibreOffice, which I believe the current one icon fails to do.
> >  From some of the messages I've seen since subscribing (especially
> > marketing), it now seems to me that it is crucial that the icon is replaced.
> > I would suggest that the following are essential requirements of the main
> > icon for LibreOffice:
> >
> >    a) colourful and eye-catching, i.e. an attractive "wrapper".
> >    b) equals (or at least hints at) the sophistication of the program.
> >    c) something that aids with  "brand" recognition.
> >
> > I'm sure it is (and will continue to be) an uphill struggle to achieve the
> > recognition that Apache OpenOffice has automatically inherited from its
> > predecessor.  Without an icon that helps to achieve this, I could see a day
> > when LibreOffice disappears into obscurity, and that would be a great pity.
> >   It wouldn't be the first time a great product has failed, not because it
> > was unworthy, but it didn't have the recognition (and therefore the
> > following) necessary to carry it forward.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >       Alistair Bain
> > Kingswells Computercraft
> > Aberdeen, Scotland
> >
> >
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject:        Re: LibreOffice Icon
> > Date:           Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:50:31 +0200
> > From:           Florian Effenberger <floeff@documentfoundation.org**>
> > Organisation:   The Document Foundation
> > To:     Kingswells Computercraft 
> > <support@**kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk<support@kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk>
> > >
> > CC:     info@documentfoundation.org
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > thank you very much for your feedback and interest in LibreOffice! The
> > topic you raise fits very well for our design team, and I strongly
> > propose you get in touch with them directly.
> >
> > All information as well as the official mailing list is available at
> > http://www.libreoffice.org/**get-involved/ux-visual-**designers/<http://www.libreoffice.org/get-involved/ux-visual-designers/>
> >
> > Thanks again,
> > Florian
> >
> > Kingswells Computercraft wrote on 2012-10-11 10:41:
> >
> > > Dear Document Foundation,
> > >
> > > First, thank you so much for LibreOffice!  I have been a user since
> > > OpenOffice.org version 1.1.2, and I have recommended it to many friends
> > > and customers over the years.  I recognise LibreOffice to be the
> > > legitimate successor to the earlier OpenOffice.org, and believe it to be
> > > a better suite than the Oracle/Apache's version (I used both until
> > > recently).
> > >
> > > I am writing to you today to plead with you to change the main program
> > > icon currently in use for LibreOffice as I believe it is seriously
> > > underwhelming!  As an icon for the Document Foundation it says it all to
> > > me - clear, simple, document.  However, considering it as the "flag" or
> > > "packaging" for LibreOffice, it is far too bland:
> > >
> > >    • It is not easy to pick out among hordes of other icons
> > >    • It lacks colour and warmth, is not striking or eye-catching
> > >    • It says nothing about the elegance and sophistication of LibreOffice
> > >    • It doesn't inspire confidence.
> > >
> > > In my experience I often introduce LibreOffice as an alternative to
> > > Microsoft Office to people who have never heard of it before.  To these
> > > new users, the desktop icon is the "shop window" for the application,
> > > and it is frankly uninspiring!  I have considered replacing the desktop
> > > icon with another (third party) icon, but I am aware that this breaches
> > > your guidelines about branding & icon usage, so I don't want to do that.
> > >
> > > Please, please change the icon for something that does the application
> > > justice.
> > >
> > >
> > > Best Regards,
> > >       Alistair Bain
> > > Kingswells Computercraft
> > > Aberdeen, Scotland
> >
> > --
> > Florian Effenberger, Chairman of the Board (Vorstandsvorsitzender)
> > Tel: +49 8341 99660880 | Mobile: +49 151 14424108
> > The Document Foundation, Zimmerstr. 69, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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