Discussion about the new logo design

[SupDos]

Reference: ppy/osu-resources#305 & #26704

Without sounding too much like a "old is better, change is bad" person, I want to say that the new logo is not good, and misses everything that made the old logo great

• The dot inside the o looks weird, especially at smaller sizes (like when loading into a beatmap). Being able to see the inside of the o is important so that it is not glossed over when reading over it (i saw someone in peppy's twitch chat say that at first glance their brain just said "..su?" which I agree with)

• Font: being thinner does not help readability at all. There are no edges anywhere - it is way too round, The logo is already a circle, there has to be some kind of contrast somewhere.
  

• The triangle background only having outlines now, instead of being filled. This makes the logo "too pink", the previous filled triangles helped diffuse some of the colour and make it a lot more pleasing to the eyes. Even at long distances you could tell there was different colours in the background, while now all you see is a pink blob with some white scribbles inside. There is also basically nothing happening in the top of the logo, the triangles fade out way too early, while the previous triangles went all the way up
  
  Basically nothing happening in the top part of the logo

Personally, I feel like the new logo feels too "corporate" and brand-friendly. It's boring and bland compared to the old logo. It reminds me of how Discord recently changed their branding (example), and changed the iconic "Discord" word-logo to a boring corporate and generic font.

I always loved just leaving the game on the main menu screen because the logo and font was simple but effective, especially the triangle background. Now I find myself wanting to minimize it when I'm not actively playing due to this logo change.

I'm aware that lazer is supposed to be a breath of fresh air, and having all these complaints wanting to "go back to how stable does it" has been a big annoyance for the devs (S rank...) but I feel like the logo, which is something that defines the initial feeling of the game, is losing its identity with this change.

(sidenote, maybe the old logo could appear when using the classic (2013) skin? and you could choose what logo you want in the skin's .ini or even in the skin editor?)

[peppy]

Corporate WHAT?

Here's a bit of advice: take a step back. Wait 2 weeks. Then come back with any feedback.

[SupDos]

When I say "corporate" I mean the kind of designs that companies have been doing recently to dumb down their branding, sorry if that was the wrong way to word it

sure, I will do that

[DREADEDNOTE]

i think it looks good, but the dot inside o looks weird

[peppy]

Thanks for your opinion!

[trustytrojan]

i second this opinion

[trustytrojan]

After a month of letting it sink in, I think I honestly don't care about the dot anymore. Now that I've seen it so many times I might even feel weird if the dot was removed. Simple psychology works.

[Rabusu]

It's been a month. The dot still feels out of place. Everything else, I don't care.

[cihe13375]

the new font makes it looks like something for children

edit: idk if it's the same font as the one in osu!web or lazer UI. But even if that's the case, I think its appearance in the logo is way weirder than those in the UI... idk why, probably related to size, spacing, thickness, or being placed in a circle.

[peppy]

Thanks for your opinion!

[meepzyosu]

peppy-

[rodrigopina360]

Personally I like the new font, but I don't see the reason to add a dot to the O, as it will make it harder to read in places where it's smaller, like for example on the bottom right of the tournament player. I also don't really like how the triangles on the top of the logo are faded, and honestly I'd rather have it be constant like it was for the old logo. The triangles not being filled is not really a concern for me, as it just makes it look different, and personally not better or worse, but I do see a bit of concern with how it'll look in smaller places like the game shortcut, or in the taskbar.

[peppy]

You can be rest assured we've tested in small display cases

ppy/osu-deploy#159

[rodrigopina360]

Yeah, it looks good, the dot on the O is barely visible, which is probably better then being too visible, and also (atleast on the screenshots) you can barely see the triangle outline, which honestly I'd prefer otherwise, because then it just looks more like stable's current icon, but with a different font (atleast on small sizes), but at this point it's just me being too nitpicky. Honestly just glad we have a new logo, and that it was the push to get more people talking about it

[darkralts]

if you think about it, the dot could be like the osu cursor on the hitcircle, theres many ways of looking at things

[Qunas101]

Completely disagree about the font. The old one looks like something from the 2008 client, there is no reason for sharp corners there. I like how it looks like sliders now. I'd say do what peppy says and keep your feedback for later

But I like the idea of having an option to see the old logo via skinning or smth

[StoyanovDenislav]

In general, I believe the new logo is a great change for the Lazer client, as it provides a contemporary interpretation of the well-known logo that's been used for quite a few years now, but the dot inside the O is kind of off-putting.

So, I'm providing a little mock-up of the more aesthetically pleasing logo, in my opinion.

[trustytrojan]

you forgot to remove the shadow inside the "o", but other than that this logo is beautiful, great work

[j4chck]

Logo feels too simplistic or something but looks peaty good, dot inside O looks ugly

[PhelBot]

I personally think that the dot in the O is completely unnecessary and just adds visual noise in exchange for nothing, the font however I do like since it seems more in line with lazer's overall design, aswell as gives of the feeling of being "osu!" written out of slider, given it's roundness.

The triangles on the back are quite hard to notice, and would probably work a lot better if they were filled instead of just an outline, although I do like the gradient effect on them, gives them a bit of a feeling of depth.

Ultimately if you really want to do something with the O (I'd really sugest not to unless you find something that works incredibly well for some reason), I have some sugestions of my own from something that I made for a joke tweet but has a concept you might find interest anyways:

Of course having the O be just a circle instead of a full slider, or maybe a slider if you were to somehow get that to work, but I doubt it, idea's too wacky

[OwenCMYK]

So it's been 2 weeks since peppy said "wait 2 weeks" so I'd just like to share my opinion. I like the solid triangles way better than the outlined triangles. They give the logo a nice texture and they look really slick and clean. As for the rounded font, I actually like it as I think it adds a cute simplicity that fits the game and matches the lowercase lettering. But I do agree the dot has got to go.

[darkralts]

i for one love the new logo, whoever done it, also i think the roundness to it all fits quite well, instead of thinking it "needs to contrast", i feel it harmonizes with the round logo

remember OP, there will be an option to use the whole "classic" UI too at some point (iirc) so if you prefer the old one its still useable. but i feel, along with the other subtle UI changes, that this whole theme fits the "lazer" identity quite well,

also the dot in the "O" i feel has significance as well, marking this as a "new" era for osu!

i urge people to keep an open mind on both sides, the logo kinda just came out, maybe let it sink in a bit before judging, you never know, sometimes things take a bit to fully appreciate. and osu! skins are a thing too, i feel lazer is aiming to be way more themable aswell

[BlueChinchompa]

There is this idea from npc_BeaniCraft on the osu forums https://osu.ppy.sh/community/forums/topics/1878531?n=1

That I personally think would be great

[darkralts]

thats actually really cool, could show when you have that mode set

On Saturday 10 February 2024, BlueChinchompa ***@***.***> wrote: There is this idea from npc_BeaniCraft on the osu forums

https://osu.ppy.sh/community/forums/topics/1878531?n=1

That I personally think would be great image.png (view on web) image.png (view on web) image.png (view on web) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you commented.<

https://ci5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/2Zp3izU4og4NHyGPwGeN3sXNYkgt6911gqEo6LpW1tWD7DZGPSlSxH0qNXlqQHc1eMZ03tUdLEpX4-k7Fa_6Hy5AgpKAxBdIuAUvoCEkbmLtOsds2tuB3VSadiddf9bsZVxkzFveKhMT87b5HxrVrU8cI1YggEgYRvGeuC2hNwSXQag5CQDedshX-FO4uzGszK5SLHTrAwO-_f5VQKu8AhKXSLIolt1CjaD-6jVwasOPqVARDuXALR6mks1o=s0-d-e1-ft#https://github.com/notifications/beacon/AD43UG2QVOWB2ISW7AFMYYDYS7237A5CNFSM6AAAAABCKN5QMKWGG33NNVSW45C7OR4XAZNRIRUXGY3VONZWS33OINXW23LFNZ2KUY3PNVWWK3TUL5UWJTQAQCRAM.gif>Message ID: ***@***.***>

[cl8n]

just more general logo feedback~

first, I'm reposting an image of the logo in-game, because mine doesn't quite match the one in OP (not sure if it was updated along the way or something)

• dot in the "o" -- I can see where this idea may have come from, because it does even out more margins within the letters, for example the gap between the dot and ring of the "o" is about the same as the spacing between each letter. but I feel like there's more of a missed opportunity in rotational symmetry among the "osu" letters. without the dot, this font makes "osu" look very symmetric about the "s" and I think leaning into that would give the whole logo a much more clean/polished look than current (which seems to have been the goal). it's also just easier to read without the dot as others have mentioned
• drop shadows on the letters and top of the outer ring feel too large -- this makes the background texture feel like it is set further back into the logo, whereas previously it felt like the foreground was resting just on top of the background. I think it's mostly the spread of the drop shadow that gives it this feeling for me. it looks out of place compared to the rest of the game and web UI, which usually doesn't do inset shadows at all.

the rest seems good to me. it looks about what I would expect from a simple logo refresh to closer match the look of the rest of the game. I can see what people are saying when this feels "too simple" or "too rounded" or even bland, but I don't think that is the fault of this logo, moreso the broader osu design language that this logo has been translated to. I have pretty strong opinions about that topic but prob not so relevant for this discussion...

---

this isnt related to the logo but I also want to comment on this quote that kind of annoys me, especially because I saw a few other ppl repeating the sentiment elsewhere...

Here's a bit of advice: take a step back. Wait 2 weeks. Then come back with any feedback.

feels kind of rude to assume that the people giving early feedback are just blinded by initial aversion to change or something and can't make sense of their own feelings. I could have written my exact points above weeks ago but I didn't want to get the "just give it a chance" response that was dealt out to many others about the logo.

it's also very discouraging to give feedback about anything too late for various reasons. momentum dies down no matter what the topic is, because people have other things to care about. changes are assumed to be helpful until proven otherwise, so it just gets more and more difficult to argue that something should be reverted or significantly changed, the longer you wait. this is especially true if more things are built on top of it over time. and then all of this results in devs not considering suggestions in part due to lack of current vocal support despite the underlying issue not having changed with time at all.

sorry for mini rant but ive seen this kind of logic have imo a significant negative impact on many projects im involved with now, definitely including osu

[OwenCMYK]

I agree. While it's important to give the new logo a chance and not be clouded by "change bad", it's also important to recognize that just because the vocal outcry dies down over time, doesn't mean people's opinions are actually getting better. And while I'm not sure if everyone agrees with me that the triangles should remain solid, I'm very confident that almost everyone prefers the logo without the dot.

[peppy]

"everyone" is a strong word when that's not true, because myself and many others quite like the dot.

[OwenCMYK]

I apologize. But that's why I said "almost everyone". I respect opinion, and I value the work you do, but the community seems pretty one-sided on this issue

[GhostylGit]

I don't think I'm ever going to like the osu!nipple ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[StalkyBoi43815]

I agree. Old logo looks better, but I can see why the new logo was designed this way.

[ghost]

honestly, i got used to the new logo and that variation without the dot feels weird to me now lol

[itsirfan05]

yeah same! seeing the old logo looks weird.

[WitherFlower]

Well, it's been nearly a month now, and it still hasn't "sunk in"/"marinated" for me. I still share the opinion of many, that the logo is unbalanced and just feels wrong with this random dot. I hope some compromise can be found for the better, perhaps skinning is an option to consider.

[peppy]

skinning is not an option which woudl ever be considered.

[OwenCMYK]

Peppy, why not? (sorry if this has been asked before)

[peppy]

Game's core identity. Branding issue. My own intent for the game. This is a strict "no". It's not even something I feel the need to provide an answer for.

[cloudiees]

Honestly I was kinda against this at first, but it grew on me the more I played. But just like the original poster said the amount of pure/bright pink at the top of the logo is not great, becomes a bit of an eyesore after a while. The reason for this (at least what I think) is because the bottom of the logo is mostly obscured in the song select (where we are like 99% of the time) so whenever I look at the logo in the corner its just a blast of bright pink without much contrast.
Also the dot on the looks a little goofy on the smaller version shown when you scroll down on web, but idk if there is a proper way to remedy that.
Overall tho I think this is an improvement over the old logo.

[senttex1407]

being completely honest, im not a fan of the dot, the logo itself looks good, i wish the triangles were a little less faded but its just, the dot, though it is a nice redesign from the og one