Continuing the discussion from How do I help AskQuestions.Tech?:
We may have found someone to help with the logo, possibly the other graphics as well. A friend of @etua.
What are we looking for in a logo?
AQs Logo Design
etua
#2
Hello folks, as @Robbie says I have a friend that is gonna join us to create a nice logo. We can start with thoughts about what we want to communicate with it.
gbhorwood
#3
first, i am very keen on the idea of a logo. logos lead to stickers. stickers create fans. i know it sounds trite, but it’s true.
i’ve watched maybe a dozen clients go through the logo phase over the year and have come to the conclusion that logos need to be:
- colour agnostic.
- not rely on fine details, to allow for small sizes
- not rely on a proprietary font. this may only be an issue if we’re still living in 2002
- not already be used. i literally saw a client come within inches of accidentally appropriating the squatting logo. that was awkward.
i realize that that’s a list of “dont’s”, which is not really the most positive feedback, but i’m not really the most graphically-inclined person so i find it way easier to recognize when something goes wrong.
Robbie
#4
I love stickers! ok that’s out of the way.
I too, am not a very artistic or color coordinated person. I do think that the logo should reflect the ideology of ask questions. Inclusive, Kind, Welcoming. I like simple and minimal but also really like all the cute gopher artwork floating around out there. So I’m pretty much a walking contradiction. 
gbhorwood
#5
right. mascot animals. as long as it’s not an elephant, i’m in.
seriously, why are there so many elephants in software?
harvdogg
#6
My two cents is that you should essentially stick to what it is… just turn the text into an image. Maybe experiment with some other fonts/typefaces to get exactly the look you want in the letters. Nothing too extravagant though.
Here’s my reasoning…
- It’s tempting to spend a lot of time, effort, thought, and sometimes money churning through logo designs which may or may not add any ultimate value to the community. That’s a waste.
- The community is not built on the premise of an app that needs to stand out and be distinctive on a person’s screen amidst other apps. That’s really important for a company where the core product is an app, not so much for online communities.
- It’s a technical community, not an artistic one. Artistic flare doesn’t really represent the community so something that’s clean, simplistic, and straight forward is more representative of the goals we strive for in tech and the solutions the community seeks to provide (ideally?)
- The community is not well known enough that some sort of ambiguous mark or character would really benefit exposure when seen as a sticker. We recognize the Reddit alien or the GitHub logo because these are widely known and ubiquitous brands of the technically inclined. Same with the mySQL dolphin. In the earlier stage of a community like this, it’s more important that the name get out. Having the full name (and by extension domain name) on the logo is valuable.
Just my perspective.
gbhorwood
#8
while i think that @harvdogg has a point about not going solely graphic, the fact is that at one point github wasn’t that well known either. probably a combination of icon and text is best. in the future, when this place is wildly popular and we’re all drowning in eager noobs, maybe then the logo migrates to icon-only?
Robbie
#9
I think the point about the name being the focus is important. I also like logos and stickers, I think it can help build a community. Look what Ashley McNamara did with Renee French’s gopher.
etua
#10
I think a combination of a minimalist graphic (maybe mascot) and the name is the way to go.
alison
#12
Hi folks. A couple of minimum requirements from me:
- Has to work in grayscale and color. Should be color blind friendly.
- Has to be high res. And vector art is better than non-vector art.
- I have to own it. There’s lots of legal reasoning around this. To that end I have to pay for it, even if just $1 and there has to be an executed contract.
- Can’t have unwelcoming imagery. I can’t imagine what that would be at this moment, but this is an inclusive community so nothing that leaves someone out. Maybe another way to say this is - don’t rule out pink.
As for mascot, maybe a cute cuddly dog? A golden retriever named Maddie if my bias can come into play.
If the mascot is easy to draw, that’d also be great for the community since there’d be more artwork out there. Like Robbie said, everyone in Go draws the Go Gopher (especially Ashley McNamara)!. If Maddie is our mascot btw, I can’t wait for Taco from Trello to no longer be the only dog on the back of the SlothBox 
Ale
#14
Hi I’m Elvis, is really great to be part of this community and also to contribute in the logo design. Eduar ( @etua ) contacted me and invited me to join askquestions I’ve read your thoughts and have some grasp on what you want. Here I’m posting an idea which can be modified and according to your opinions to match it with the values of the community. Let’s start talking about what you think, it can be another mascot or shape if this one is not an option, in order to create another proposal. I will give my perspective as designer looking for the functionality of the ideas.
Look forward to hearing from you.
etua
#16
What do you think about the bee? It inspired us because it is smart and the question sign resemble the wigns.
alison
#18
I like the concept of the use of question marks, but I don’t like that it’s a bee. Bee stings hurt people, some people are deathly allergic, and you wouldn’t want to cuddle one. I think we want to promote something that would bring people comfort instead.
Also, we need to settle the business parts of the deal. It looks like you’re doing a lot of work, and I definitely don’t have a lot of money. I’ll send a PM to @etua and @ale to start that discussion.
