16/12/04
56Spot the difference
When I mentioned that ABC News used the ‘older version of the logo’, there were a few people wondering just what was so old about it.
After the initial rush to get the Firefox logo out for v8, it was soon enlarged for use in the situations such as the windows installer graphics, and its many flaws were enlarged too. I recreated the logo in Illustrator, this time paying much more attention to detail. This was going to be a version that would hold up to being printed large (like this!).
So here, side by side, are the old and revised logos. The differences should hopefully be a little more obvious:
People tend to notice the glossier globe, and the furrier top of the head, but in particular, more attention was paid to the face.
So there you go!
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avianto said 1511 days ago:
Small details but make all the differences. Sorry for my ignorance but honestly, I just noticed the differences now when you put them side-by-side. Thanks for the enlightenment!Casey said 1511 days ago:
The newer icon looks much more mac. Wow, 3 “M”’s thats what I call alliteration!Rob Mientjes said 1511 days ago:
The difference is amazing. Never knew this. (Yeah, I know, shame on me…)By the way, nice comment view!
Jason Lancaster said 1511 days ago:
I never realized that it was a fox until you showed the big icons! Wow! Now I really like the firefox logo.You changed the style of your comments. I like the smooth rounded version with an avatar even better. Keep up the good work!
Jason Santa Maria said 1511 days ago:
Nice job Jon! These comments look like they could cut somebody!Sid said 1511 days ago:
Wow! It’s the little stuff that makes the difference. Great jobon the redesign of it, Jon. Btw thats so cool that the ads in the NY Times. I bought a copy today just for that. Once gain great work.Roman said 1511 days ago:
Currently in Germany there is a discussion going on about the question what is meant with Firefox actually. The reason is that in german media Firefox often was translated word-for-word with Feuerfuchs. Many critics said this translation was wrong because Firefox is the name for the red panda . A well known german computer magazine even didn’t want to take part of the discussion after readers pointed out that the translation was wrong.Seemingly Germans should read the english version of Wikipedia more often, unless there is an recognition that the logo shows the “wrong” animal…
bq. The animal shown in the logo is a stylised fox, although “firefox” was thought to be a common name for the red panda. The panda, according to Hicks, “didn’t really conjure up the right imagery”, besides not being widely known.
giz404 said 1511 days ago:
I had already noticed a diffrence between the old and new logo, and in fact, i prefer the old one, although the fox is slightly less detailled. I find the globe way too aqua-ish in the new version.BOB said 1511 days ago:
Love the comments design here!Tom Loudon said 1511 days ago:
I love the new logo. The second I downloaded the new version of Firefox I noticed the newfound glossiness that adorned my task bar. The little things do make all the difference (although I am sure you have read that enough times by now).andrew said 1511 days ago:
Jon, I just opened up my NYTimes without knowing about today’s printing and whaddyaknow, a two-page ad. Looks damn good, even in black & white.gb said 1511 days ago:
Someone had mentioned to me that they thought the logo had changed a bit, but I thought they were nuts. Strangely enough, it had.Genius in the details.
zenFish said 1511 days ago:
Ha! I posted on suicidegirls.com about this, and no one belived me that it had changed!Mwhaha! Vindicated!
Yes!
Thank you!
YuppY said 1511 days ago:
What planet is on the logo? It doesen’t look similar to earth because of different continents. I hope you’ll fix it future redesigns.Martagnan said 1511 days ago:
Great BIG Firefox double page spread in the New York Times – Congratulations Jon! :)Denis Radenkovic said 1511 days ago:
Jon, these comment fields look great!Andyk said 1511 days ago:
Well I can see the UK and western Europe pretty clearly right there in the top centre but the rest of the continents seem a bit out.I agree that more geographical accuracy would be good for a future revision ;o)
Jon Hicks said 1511 days ago:
_What planet is on the logo? It doesen’t look similar to earth because of different continents. I hope you’ll fix it future redesigns__Well I can see the UK and western Europe pretty clearly right there in the top centre but the rest of the continents seem a bit out. I agree that more geographical accuracy would be good for a future revision_
Nope, there’s nothing to fix! The continents are deliberately ambiguous, so as not to ignore any particular country. Quite often, globes are very North-America or Europe centric, leaving out folks on the other side!
The fact that you realise it’s a globe is the important bit.
dotjay said 1511 days ago:
I’m really liking this new comment styling – very swish! Even the comment preview looks groovey… except for when there’s no content in the preview (at least in Firefox).Also, I love that Firefox logo. I don’t think I’ve seen much of the original version though, as I was a little later than most to the Firefox party.
Mikkel Malmberg said 1511 days ago:
Oh Jon, you’re quite a perfectionist, eh?The firefox icon (by you) has always been great…
BUT these comments are cool! What an idea :)
Rob McMichael said 1511 days ago:
Nice work Jon, to be honest I had to look quite hard to see the differences, but I guess with OS X and blown up icons people may start knocking on your door ;)Joerg Petermann said 1511 days ago:
The new logo is better. Nice!Pierce said 1511 days ago:
Holy moly this is a nice comment design.The updated logo seems more complex the foxes detail, etc, but the ridge of his back is more simple in the updated version. He looks less scraggledy I guess. Yes. Scraggledy is a word.
Did you join the UK and Ireland into one landmass? That’s so weird.
T James said 1511 days ago:
I really need to stop visiting your site, simply because I feel completely inadequate every time you make a minor change.The comments are genius.
And of course your logos are mana from the gods.
Eric said 1511 days ago:
Hey, I don’t care about the firefox logos, the comments look so good!Jus kidding. Great work, both, the logo and the comments.
Ian said 1511 days ago:
i started using firefox about 6 months ago and then about 3 weeks ago i stumbled onto your site. lemme tell ya, it’s pretty cool to find a blog by the guy who made the logo…great work on the revisions, they just make an already awesome logo even better. and these comments are incredible. they make me wish i had actually decided to study computers in college.
Roger Herbert said 1511 days ago:
looks great with the tweaks – I hadn’t noticed either, but then around the time it changed I guess I was only seeing the teeny taskbar version in Windows on a regular basis.Benjamin Congdon said 1511 days ago:
Very interesting to say the least! Goes to show the quality effort placed in to the smaller things in life. I dig both icons, really—it’s too difficult to take sides ;)Chris J. Davis said 1511 days ago:
Very nice job with the logo redesign, and smooth man, the new commenting styling is inspired! You site gets better everyday, I am impressed.Euan said 1511 days ago:
Looks fantastic!Indranil said 1511 days ago:
Now, that’s really cool. Never knew about it.Joshua Hynes said 1511 days ago:
Sweet logo – I’ve always thought so. And seriously tight commenting.Joen said 1511 days ago:
I was looking forward to an update like this, seeing as I was one of the inquiring ones in the other thread.When on the topic of logo/icon changes, I seem to remember you wanting to make a few updates to both the Firefox and Thunderbird logos—one change I remember was that you wanted to make the Thunderbird logo more circularly round. While I think both logos are fine as they are now, have there been any changes, although subtle, in the nightlies?
Finally,
The fact that you realise it’s a globe is the important bit.
Very well said, I buy it.
Kevan said 1511 days ago:
Is the fox smiling at his success? Or maybe at his reduced “scragginess”? Nice work, Jon.BTW, these comments rock.
skibbo said 1511 days ago:
I agree that more geographical accuracy would be good for a future revision ;o)How ridiculous to think that this wasnt done on purpose. There is no way you can show all continents on just one globe. So instead of doing a usa- or european- oder asian-centric version he was wise enough to make it vague.
Mozilla is a global institution, not a hemispheric one.
Btw.. at the official site you can buy the mascot. The description there says that its supposed to be a red panda.
Aw! said 1511 days ago:
Hi J,I wanted to ask you for something, as you are the firefox logo designer.
Days ago i was looking for a firefox browser logo with the version number and without the battle cry (take back the web, the browser reloaded..) but i could not find it.
I am looking for a logo like this one .
I am designing some web application interfaces and I wanted them to run over firefox too (it does not deppend on me). I need this logo to be place d in the user manual near the IE logo.
:D
Rutger said 1510 days ago:
Love the detail in the newer version of the Firefox logo! Great job!Also your site is amazing and the comments look awesome!
That’s enough sucking up for today ;)
Oskar said 1510 days ago:
Very Mac(OSX)alicious. Nice!AkaXakA said 1510 days ago:
I can only echo the others here:Both the new logo and the comments are really well done, I’d round the left top logo a bit more though, but that’s probably just me.
Alexis Gallisa said 1510 days ago:
I suppose once you get a chance you could update the poster with the new logo as well. Very well done.http://www.mozillastore.com/products/stuff/firefoxposter
Alex Reid said 1510 days ago:
I noticed the changed logo the first time I saw it, and I like it much better than the old one, which just looks murky to me now. Wonderful logo, just a pity I can’t bring myself to use it over the OmniWeb betas (their globe is very Atlantic-centric), especially since Japanese now works on b5.Ah, well, maybe with FF 1.1…
M.e. said 1510 days ago:
Equal planetary representation has been a thorn in the side of graphic artists since the third century BC. With the popularity of glossy, three demential icons, and full alpha channel support in Mac OS X, none of us wants to use a flat map when a globe can look so cool. Once again, modern technology is wrecking it for everyone.See also Camino and the anti-Asian OmniWeb logos.
stilist said 1510 days ago:
Looks very beautiful, my good fellow! I must say, you’ve got real talent.JAbbott said 1508 days ago:
Does it seem strange to you that the NY Times slaps the Firefox logo (the older version) onto the IE logo and captions it with Illustration by The New York Times? It is viewable hereThe Wolf said 1508 days ago:
I thought everyone knew this! Hah!Off topic: Is there a way to disable this preview thing as its making my computer sluggish?
Marcus said 1508 days ago:
Now u show me the new version, the old one looks defintely blur…Roger Herbert said 1508 days ago:
on a slightly related note, the Thunderbird logo, while also an excellent piece of work, has always looked very slightly odd for its dropshadow under the envelope. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems a fraction too imposing or the wrong shape or something – am I just being pedantic? As I say though, lovely icon otherwise!Johnnie Manzari said 1507 days ago:
I like the new design, even if it’s only noticeable in larger replications. Speaking of which, I believe the t-shirt may still be using the old design.Max Glenister said 1507 days ago:
yeah, there are parts of the old icon which in my opinion could have possibly looked better if you had kept them on the newer version, such as the more detailed hair on the fox’s back.. but then again, the new version looks really good side by side…... either way, old or now, the icon is amazing, and is perfect for such a good browser.
Kyle Rove said 1505 days ago:
These comments are looking very slick! And it would seem that gravatars are back!Vincent Grouls said 1505 days ago:
Definitely an improvement. I hadn’t noticed the difference yet – shame on me!It’s just that at 20×20px in my dock it’s very hard to see.
The comments are just gorgeous Jon! It’s truly original.
Matthew said 1505 days ago:
Perfection is in the details. I love the updated logo – but, to be honest, I didn’t even notice the new logo until I came upon this entry. I do notice the difference in my dock now though – and I do like it!Thanks for your continued work on Firefox!!!
Shom said 1504 days ago:
The new logo’s details really are fantastic! I still like the Thunderbird logo better, there’s more to see in it; although a fox hugging the globe with its tail its pretty cool!Thanks for allowing users disect your site to learn from it =) you are my CSS guru!
Ryan said 1500 days ago:
Looks good. I like the differences in the globe. However, under the fox’s arm, there are some really bright blue patches. If you get the chance to edit it again, I think you should clean that up. It’s not too noticable, but if you’re going for perfection…Tim Houghton said 1496 days ago:
Love the commenting preview!Dennis said 1491 days ago:
This is what being a designer is all about, subtle changes that everyone can appreciate. Things can always be improved, its up to the masters to figure out what, and not to destroy the original with to many cool Photoshop “features”. sighIn other words, nice work!