New logo for openHAB

Announcements
1

All, I am very pleased to present the new logo for openHAB!

openHAB_empowering_vertical

Many thanks to everyone, who has participated in the design contest either by actively submitting proposals or by commenting and evaluating them. I had many face-to-face discussions as well and the decision wasn’t easy as there were many excellent submissions. Clearly there isn’t the one choice that is everyone’s favorite, so I beg for everyone’s pardon, whose input does not seem to be reflected. In the end, only one logo can be chosen and there was a very positive feedback on this final design with which I am very happy.

To recap, the main objectives were:

  • flat instead of glossy design
  • clear evolution, not just a variation of the old logo
  • serious, not playful
  • simplistic & clean
  • recognition factor

The new logo addresses these nicely. Although extremely simplified, it still references the circle and house properties, while showing that the project has „grown-up“. Besides the pure logo, the chosen font is also one of the most geometric and clean ones, while staying similar to the existing one. From the feedback I got, a major factor for the recognition is to keep the existing deep-orange/grey color scheme, which is a very good match here as well.

We will be updating the logo over the different places in the next weeks, so expect some visual changes.
I am also planning to publish hi-res versions of different logo variants for reuse by the community for which we still have to work out the terms of use - the idea is to come up with something similar as Github, so stay tuned.

Regards,
Kai

P.S.: I just found by chance my original sketches for the openHAB logo back in 2010 in a pile of paper, which I have to share with you. I am clearly no talented designer :roll_eyes:

logo sketches
logo sketches.jpg800×461 75.7 KB

67 Likes
2

The hidden Pacman in the new logo is also a nice touch! :slight_smile:

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3

I’m impressed with amounts of attention to detail here :slight_smile:
Clipboard01

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4

I am glad that these subtleties are being seen. :hugs:
Thank You

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5

Looks nice, though it somewhat reminds me of the identitarian movement’s logo…

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I hope the fact that I have never even heard of that is enough to prove distance from any such ideologies… So any similarity is indeed (unfortunate) coincidence.

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I don’t think that it is too similar. They are also using a lambda but with a different coloring (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitäre_Bewegung)

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The new logo looks nice :slight_smile: Great work!

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Please have look at https://github.com/openhab/openhab.android/issues/410 to find the best shape and background color in the Android App.

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Not a big fan of this new logo… Thinking that this logo will be used on mobile apps, at first sight I cannot recognize what this app really does…

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Hello @Kai,
wouldn’t it be a good idea to release a new stable version with the new logo?
I would love to see it along with bugfixes in stable 2.1.1 or 2.2!
Maybe a good release day would be the event in Ludwigsburg on Oct, 22nd?

Best regards,
Alex

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Haha, you mean because I have no other things to do these days?
Just to note: Doing a release is currently a couple of days work for me. There is a lot of effort being put into improving this, but we are not there yet…

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Oh, I see, 6 days in advance is very challenging. Maybe you find the time during November.

14

The new favicon is hardly readable in Firefox’ Compact Dark theme. Maybe add a white background?

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looks great :call_me_hand: well done. Logo also looks very good on its own as an icon

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I discovered this thread by chance. I must second @jmv_driver’s statement: for me the logo does not tell by itself that it stands for a home automation software. It looks more like a clock, so on a mobile device I would expect this logo is from yet another clock or alarm app. I would have preferred to still have a symbol of a house in the logo, that’s what I (and I guess a lot of people) are looking for when they are searching for (icons of) home automation software.
However a clear and even a bit technically looking font is absolutely fine for a project like openHAB which itself has technical people in its focus.

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18

It reminds me something like Star Trek or that has something to do with Ocean & Mountain (Ocean from O and Mountain from the rotated tick). By no means it is connected with the openHAB except that it can be found on openhab domain.

The previous logo was much more “connected” with the openHAB consept!

Sorry If you don’t like what I’m saying in my humble opinion.

19

So if you see an APPLE logo you think of some groceries store?

3 Likes
20

Are we comparing apples and oranges now? :smiley: Seriously: I think there is still a difference in the brand value and recognition between Apple and openHAB. If a brand is as widely known as Apple you can basically use anything as a logo that is unique, regardless how much the brand name reflects the products. But don’t forget that the apple logo and the apple brand name fit very well together. That’s where I see the disconnect between openHAB logo and name.
However I didn’t want to offend anybody who likes the new logo. Just wanted to let you know that there are people like me who do not like it that much and why.

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Almost every icon is highly abstract and doesn’t identify the function of the app. See the facebook f or any other icon on your homescreen, also of less known apps. Associated meaning is generated in our minds from memory and you’ll very soon get used to it. A logo doesn’t have to visualize the use of the product. A logo has to be unique, recognizable and flexible in it’s usage options.
As an exercise go through this list of apps and tell me which icon represents the function of the app :wink:

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