17 replies to this topic

[Woody]

I'm not sure how to get the attention of the right people, so I'm posting this proposal to the AutoHotKey forum.

For years AutoHotKey has been among the set of tools that I install on every Windows system I use. Recently I found myself wishing the AutoHotKey logo was more interesting, so I decided to see if I could come up with a new logo design to offer for use in the product and web site, and here's the result:



The logo uses simple geometric shapes to represent the letters of the acronym "AHK" with each letter in a different color.

I chose a triadic color scheme comprised of the secondary colors of the traditional RYB color model (fear my mad color theory jargon skills) with the following rationale:

[*:1uc6wrc0]Green often symbolizes action (a green light for "go", for example), so it seemed like a reasonable color choice for the letter "A" in "Auto".
[*:1uc6wrc0]Orange is a warm fiery color, so I thought it made sense as the color for the "H" in "Hot".
[*:1uc6wrc0]Purple completes the triad, and "K" is the remaining letter in the acronym, so the "K" in "Key" is purple. Feel free to assign your own meaning to the color. :)
You can download the logo/icon collection from http://woodpress.org...go_Proposal.zip.

It includes the following raster logos:

[*:1uc6wrc0]Large (512x512 PNG) - logo with the text "AutoHotKey" ("Century Gothic" font) for use anywhere that a large logo makes sense.
[*:1uc6wrc0]Large Brushed Metal (512x512 PNG) - a variation of the Large logo with a brushed metal background and engraved text, just for fun.
[*:1uc6wrc0]Web (200x200 PNG) - a "web-sized" export of the large logo.
[*:1uc6wrc0]Medium (48x48 Windows .ICO) - an acronym-only logo for primary application icon.
[*:1uc6wrc0]Tiny (16x16 Windows .ICO) - a simplified logo reduced to minimal geometric shapes and vivid solid colors for use as a web favicon and as a system tray icon.
I realize that there are other icons in the AutoHotKey executable, but I am targeting the primary AutoHotKey icon (the white H inside of a green square) which I believe is effectively, if not officially, the product logo. If this proposal is well received, I will probably create additional icons to create a consistent set.

These logos were created with CorelDRAW 12, and I have included the CorelDRAW .CDR vector files as well as Adobe Illustrator .AI files (exported from CorelDRAW) so they can be edited by others to meet any needs that I haven't anticipated.

[SoLong&Thx4AllTheFish]

Colourful!
Just in case you weren't familiar with it yet, there has been some discussion about it already
New website <!-- m -->http://www.autohotke...pic.php?t=70500<!-- m -->
New logo <!-- m -->http://www.autohotke...pic.php?t=65847<!-- m -->

[fincs]

Tip: it's AutoHotkey.

[sumon]

I think it SHOULD be spelled Autohotkey instead of AutoHotkey. Nicer. Also, ver nice and modeen logo. Maybe a bit too gray.

[tank]

i really like this logo and icon. i also like thefact you used a triadic color scheme

[Woody]

Colourful!
Just in case you weren't familiar with it yet, there has been some discussion about it already
New website <!-- m -->http://www.autohotke...pic.php?t=70500<!-- m -->
New logo <!-- m -->http://www.autohotke...pic.php?t=65847<!-- m -->

Thanks. I did a few searches, but didn't find those posts.

Tip: it's AutoHotkey.

D'oh! I never noticed that, but it makes sense. Thanks for the tip! Here's an updated logo with the capitalization error corrected. The new set (minus the brushed metal version because it was huge and too much hassle to update) is available at http://woodpress.org...Proposal-v2.zip

I think it SHOULD be spelled Autohotkey instead of AutoHotkey. Nicer. Also, ver nice and modeen logo. Maybe a bit too gray.

I'm going to opt out of the debate about how it SHOULD be spelled. :)
I'm glad you like the logo. Any ideas about how I might fix the "too gray" issue?

i really like this logo and icon. i also like thefact you used a triadic color scheme

Thanks! It's not every day that I receive praise from a super genius. :)

[Woody]

I added single-color images to the set, so there's a v3:
http://woodpress.org...Proposal-v3.zip

[Frankie]

I like the colors, and with little changes it could be a good logo. However, a logo was already chosen. For that reason I wouldn't support changing the decision at this point.

For the sake of constructive criticism, here's what I'd change. Get rid of the gray, replacing it with trans. Make the logo wider than the icons. Square logos are hard to look at. For the icons they would have backgrounds based on the state (suspended, pause, normal).

[Woody]

I like the colors, and with little changes it could be a good logo. However, a logo was already chosen. For that reason I wouldn't support changing the decision at this point.

For the sake of constructive criticism, here's what I'd change. Get rid of the gray, replacing it with trans. Make the logo wider than the icons. Square logos are hard to look at. For the icons they would have backgrounds based on the state (suspended, pause, normal).

I understand your position regarding the selected contest logo. I appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback anyway. If I'd known about the contest, I wouldn't have made a logo after the fact.

I experimented with using transparent instead of gray when I was originally designing the logo, but that made the letters invisible on a black background. I tried outlining them with white, which helped, but I still didn't like the way it looked. Did you have a solution to that in mind when you made the suggestion, or do you have ideas for addressing it? Do you have any other ideas about background color?

I did use transparency on the single-color logo:



I also made a white version, but I doubt that would show up very well here (at least not with the gray background in the theme I'm using).

I like the idea of changing the system tray icon's background color to reflect the state. I'd have to be careful to avoid clashing with the existing color scheme, of course.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Edit: I forgot to respond to your suggestion about making the logo wider. I agree with that too. Is the "square logos are hard to look at" something you've decided based on observation, or can you point to an authoritative source on that?

[Woody]

Here's a wider version of the logo that gets rid of the gray...

[Frankie]

Everything I said was in my opinion, including my preference for a rectangle logo.

I like this version better. Here's the new site if you want to see how it fits.
<!-- m -->http://test.autohotkey.com<!-- m -->

[jethrow]

I like the style of the first one (including the gray), but the width of the second. I'd recommend making a wide version of the first with AutoHotkey under it & Automation. Hotkeys. Scripting. in a smaller font under that.

As far as actually using this logo, I would vote for it. IMO, even though philou's looks professional, I also think it's rather dull.

[Woody]

48x48:

16x16 (system tray or favicon size):

For the 16x16, the blue area would change to reflect different states.

[Frankie]

Tip: it's AutoHotkey.

D'oh! I never noticed that...

Here's an updated logo with the capitalization error corrected.

...why not edit the 1st post & correct that image...& fix the subject?...& perhaps Search & Replace the entire text of the 1st post too.

I don't think it matters that much. If it bothers you insert some javascript that replaces it in your browser. And fixing drafts is a waste of time.