New app logo

timo

After a first attempt to find a new & better app logo for Diarium failed two years ago because the logo candidate didn't find sufficient support from the user base (see this forum thread and this poll on Twitter), I want to try it again this year.
I started to work with a logo designer and below you can see some of the logo ideas & variants that we came up with.

Additionally, these were the "finalist" logo candidates during my last attempt finding a new logo (see here).

So now I wanted to ask for your feedback on these ideas:
Do you like one or more of the logos or is the current logo still preferrable?
What elements of the logos do you like/dislike in particular?

Of course these aren't the final versions and can be adjusted in various ways (e.g. other colors, line thickness, gradients, quills or even completely new logo elements).

Looking forward to hear your thoughts 🙂

RuiMarques

timo
The finalist logo's aren't reflecting correctly on any browser's I'm using:

In addition to this, I think A3's checklist / calendar is nice and modern, but it would look better with A1s feather-pen.

oli170

timo Hello,
Just a few thoughts for the logo : I don't like the feather-stabbing-diary C line, it's like murdering the diary :-)
And I prefer the B line to the A line, because it has more contrast. Similarly I prefer B3 because it has a light/shadow effect, which gives it more punch ;-)
Just my 2p
Happy choosing

khibbets

timo
I like C1 and C3.

MrPresident

timo

C1 all day, everyday, hands down, no question.

The A’s and B’s are too busy, and way too generic. C’s are super unique, the quill and notebook form a sailboat because you journ_al about your life journ_ey. Out of the C’s, C-1 does it for me, the quill is sized just right and overall has the best proportions, it’s centered, symmetrical, simple, keeps it tight, it slaps. I’m passionate about it.

Seriously though, big fan of the app and not having to pay a subscription, thank God. I’ve moved everything over from Day One since discovering Diarium about a month ago and no regrets. I plan on picking up the Mac and Windows version as well, keep up the great work and thank you (especially for not requiring a subscription)!!

timo

RuiMarques The finalist logo's aren't reflecting correctly on any browser's I'm using:

The images are linked from this twitter post: https://twitter.com/tipartl/status/1485328753781882882
Maybe you have blocked twitter.com in your PiHole or something?

RuiMarques In addition to this, I think A3's checklist / calendar is nice and modern, but it would look better with A1s feather-pen

Thanks for your thoughts! Any particular reason you prefer A3 over A2 or A1?

RuiMarques

timo I can definitely access twitter, so I just checked them out there.

From the old finalists, my prefered is transparent with lines.

I prefer A3 over the other 2 because I like the fact the lines are thicker and there isn't a 'binder' as opposed to a hole? The binder gives me calendar vibes, whereas the hole makes me think of a file, or a program with text. I like it. I just don't like the featherpen being used. A1's feather pen is by far the best of the bunch.

timo

RuiMarques The "calendar look" is intentional, because it's the main UI and start screen of Diarium. The current logo also tries to resemble it. Would be interesting to hear from others if they see the symbol as a file rather than a calendar.

birdlady I have also considered integrating more color, and this could be an option for some UI elements (or as alternative iOS icons that users can choose from, if I implement them). Would you color the entire icon yellow or only parts of it? At the moment, I lean towards white as the icons color, but perhaps the "glow"/gradients that you see on the feathers will be removed, depending on what looks better

redeyeshev rosevines Thanks for your input. Any particular reason why you prefer A3 over A2 (which is my favorite, together with B3)?
I prefer A2 over A3 because the "hook"/"binder" makes the calendar part more recognizable, and I prefer the style of the feather. I think that on A3, the feather visually cuts the calendar in pieces, with the bottom right part kind of "hanging in the air"

grtrttutyu

I like C2 because it's unique and very different from other journalling apps' logos.

rosevines

A3 - both stylised and stylish and definitely has a diary vibe. The C logos are interesting visually, but aren't particularly meaningful (stabbing a book?)

birdlady

Hello.
Thank you for the wonderful app. Extremely satisfied.
Now, regarding the logo, are you thinking of changing the color? This is just my personal opinion, but I think yellow looks good.
Sorry for the unhelpful opinion.

redeyeshev

A3 gets my vote

birdlady

timo 　Personally, I thought it would be better if the blue part was yellow. As you said, I think white is better for the image part

redeyeshev

timo I like the shape of the feather and how it intersects the calendar. To me it looks much more like a quill that is writing rather than just a feather. Could quite easily change the calendar to look more like A2 though and it would still look good.

gust

A2 gets my vote. It looks great!

timo

redeyeshev Thanks for those thoughts. I see how the A3 feather can be recognized more easily as a quill. Do you think if the A2 feather was tilted a bit instead of "standing upright", it would make A2 look better to you?

CraftitING Happy you like it! What do you like on it in particular (or what do you not like in the other icons)?

SeanSmith Sure! I just don't find the current logo to be visually pleasing. I got "used to it", but I never really liked it. In fact, I like the logos of all my other apps much more. I also hope that with a better logo, the app receives better conversion rates in the App Stores (which is currently pretty bad). Do you prefer the current logo over the suggested alternatives above? If so, why?

CraftitING

A3 looks amazing! Very stylish 😃

SeanSmith

Hi Timo, can I ask what it is you're looking to improve, or what failings you have identified in the current logo?

SeanSmith

timo Thanks for the reply Timo, informative as ever. I've never had a problem with the app logo, for me it solidly holds its own alongside its peers and competitors. As a Windows user, I have the app pinned to my Task Bar, where it always stands out really well.

Having said all that, I like the alternatives too, especially, after a lot of consideration, the A3 version, which looks the most modern. I think it's important that you keep the horizontal lines in the logo which, for me, signify data and lists, as well as just journaling: both vitally significant characteristics of your app.

redeyeshev

timo redeyeshev Thanks for those thoughts. I see how the A3 feather can be recognized more easily as a quill. Do you think if the A2 feather was tilted a bit instead of "standing upright", it would make A2 look better to you?

Yes, definitely. If you replaced the feather in A2 with the one in A3 and kept the same icon design without chopping off the calendar, it would look great.

timo

SeanSmith Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I think I will certainly keep the horizontal lines, but it's very informative to hear what aspects of the logo someone sees as imporant

redeyeshev I must say that I much prefer the feather of A2 over the one in A3. I can ask the icon designer to create a version of A2 with a more tilted feather, but still with the A2 feather. I see your point of the A3 feather being more recognizable as a quill, though. Maybe there's a way to give the A2 feather a more "quill-like" look...

oli170 Yes I think we can ignore the C line, I'm not even sure why I included it as an option... 😃 I also like B3 a lot, but the shadow effect (which is in part necessary to show a visual difference between the two icon elements calendar & quill) can cause problems when showing very small variants of the icon

MrPresident

timo oli170

Murder as in he absolutely killed it with the logo design in C-1! I admit it took me a minute, but once you see the boat you can’t unsee it, just give it a minute.

But yeah, I like it.