Thoughts on Microsoft Branding & Meme's

In the beginning there was IBM - 

Micro-Soft's first logo emulated that with the lines in the "O"

    

After emulating IBM - a new Apple inspired logo was created:

(horribly stretched to be "Different")

The multi coloured window (not flag) was introduced to simulate the colourful apple brand

            

 

The "flat" window was for home Windows - the "Thick" window was for robust NT

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Then this logo came along.  This one seems original - if a tad corporate

But also there was a version of "Microsoft" that appeared with products - that was thin:

So there were sort of 2 Microsoft brands - thin and fat

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Next up for windows was 98 - which had the same window icon - but with the
flat part made thicker than 95 - but not as thick as NT

   

then we got a web browser with a letter and oval for an icon:    oops i meant  

Then ME came - first Windows brand - with a brand (windows me)
This used the win2000 branding

So now we had - Fat Microsoft  brand - the Thin one - Fat Windows - and another name entirely Me

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Then this one appeared - which looked really cool - although after 6 years it is now wearing a little thin
(and it still uses 2 instances of the brand Microsoft)

 

we also got MSN:

    oops - i meant...: 
(coloured winged creature)

 

as well as Windows Media:    

oops i mean:   ( thick donut )

*edit forgot one:    messenger:    oops - not that faceless avatar..much better

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then along comes this one:  after 6 years... the same thing with different lighting

Seems more like it should should used for an XP 2nd edition -
not too exciting after such a long wait - and there are still inconsistencies across the brand lines
Windows is medium thick - vista is really thin

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office has followed a similar path:

    <- huh?  *i personally wouldn't have removed the puzzle piece meme

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and xbox cool first logo

has now been made 360 - or a sphere - to signify - all about/around you

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So to me - all of the above seems like a multi billion dollar chicken running around with its head cut off - reacting and copying other things
- and applying them to the current brands - or integrating along side of them

So what if - and i say if - all the products incorporated 360, all the products
incorporated a sphere and all the products had one Font style?

 

so   and Microsoft

would become just the same:

* This would mean one Microsoft brand - not 2 - and also although pretty much
the same looks abit faster / agile of the same fatter slower older brand?

 

The brands would also be consistent - all 3d sphere - hopefully forming an x

* i screwed up the office sphere - it would be the centre of the
one above that formed an "X" like the other ones as so

 

so anyway - that would look something like this:

and above would be Xbox 360 / Office 360 and Windows 360 ( id dump vista - thats me though)

 

perfect?  not in the least - but at least stuff would match up more.
One Microsoft brand - and sub-brands in sphere w/ "X"   ( 360/all around you tag)

* is it really all around you, if only one product espouses the 360 rhetoric?

I also think Vista needs more than just a new lighting treatment on the flag.
It has been a while and the flag has gone from flat, to thicker, to thicker - to lighted different
doesn't make as much sense as the last incarnation being thicker yet again - so thick it becomes spherical

Plus c9 guy is round - case closed haha

1024   1280   1600

 

That was cool, Jamie.

dahat wrote:

Don’t get me wrong... I love what you do jamie... but you’ve got way too much time on your hands sometimes... care to share?

working for clients = do what they want
posting on c9 = do what i want

LarryOsterman wrote:

Actually, afaik, the blibbet was a nod on the original "parallel lines" Microsoft logo (all the letters were spelled out with 4 parallel lines - it was SO early 70's tech).  I've got a binder from that era in my office, but no scanner currently.

Use your webcam then

And whilst you're at it, take a photo of yourself and make it your avatar

Jamie,

1. the final S in Windows looks weird. It doesn't flow with the rest of the font...

2. the carved spheres for both Xbox and Windows will print exactly the same in B&W

I'd like if the "Microsoft" had the bold part more tight / when it seems as if the s overlaps slightly with the o.

The "Office" and its sphere is best of the three. The hilight seems to clip a bit early perhaps or maybe its my monitor.

*edit - didnt see that charles - i will

again - these arnt real -

ms can hire a multi million dollar branding company for that

my point was to try to illustrate the "willy nilly" nature of the past brands - ...and the copycat ness as well

whatever they decide to do - it would great to think of the microsoft brand as one thing - and all the products as similar - in relation to it

not microsoft as 2 brands - and all the products based off legacy competitor branding


I think when they designed xbox - they deliberately wanted to make it "un microsoft" - to compete with PStation

so now they have a stronger - read - MORE ORIGINAL brand in their game system than they do from the copied/hack job brands that are ie / msn / winmedia / windows and office

(office is pretty good though - not sure i remember a puzzle used before ( did wordperfect, lotus 123 or other use a puzzle?

anyway - that was my point - not the actual designs i provided

PaoloM wrote:

Jamie,

1. the final S in Windows looks weird. It doesn't flow with the rest of the font...

youre right - if you notice there was no letter in windows that lent itself to the small piece coming out.. like an e or B - guilty as charged  - not sure how to get around that

2. the carved spheres for both Xbox and Windows will print exactly the same in B&W

correct again - it was also bugging me that its too close to xbox - and not enough flag.  The sample isnt in 3d - so i cant "roll" it - and im not going to make it again - but picture : 

on the win"ball"  if you rolled it twords you and to the right a bit - so now its still a ball - but instead of x at top - like xbox - the x is more like the flag  - or showing ball head on - spun counterclockwise by a half..

and for office - the ball would be the same - only spun left

Charles wrote:

The Windows sphere should be closed

...and the LinuXBox one is open, makes sense

nine haha

i gotta go out for a bit - will do when i get back

dont forget there was another circular winflag in the Wallpapers thread  (thought it should be round to match the new vista round startbar button - which lead to the xbox style...

Well, the advantage of the current logo is that it still suggests, albeit abstractly, a "real" window with four windowpanes.  The Xbox sphere really doesn't say "windows" so much as... uh... "baked potato?"

Curiously, the Start menu in the latest Vista build seems to have replaced the word "start" with a round, bulgy button with the Windows logo... so it's sort of like your multicolored Xbox sphere....

Spotlights must be en vogue or something -- there's a subtle spotlight on the center of the Vista logo:



As well as the OS X logo:


I honestly don't know if it's copying -- to establish that, you have to determine who thought it up first...

Speaking of (ahem) derivative works, did you get the black background-with-reflections from iTunes?



(When you view videos by thumbnail...)

I didn't know if you cribbed from iTunes or if "objects on black background with glossy black reflections" is one of those designer memes that's going around....