Joplin Icon & identity

Features
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Hi everyone, I have just installed Joplin as an Evernote replacement, and think it's a really neat application!

The only thing I dislike, is the icon, which as a designer, I think looks a little 'unpolished'.

I was looking at the J for a long time and then realised that the tail looks a little like an elephant's trunk, which is kind of a neat link with Evernote.

I wanted to create something a bit more interesting that made reference to Evernote without copying it, but retaining the J identity that is synonymous with Joplin.

I created some initial sketch ideas This is the first:
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It would be good to see what some of the forum users think :slight_smile:

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This is the second:

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also see:

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This is the third:

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That thread is closed. Some of the suggestions are okay, some not.
The question " * If Joplin was a person what personality and characteristics would it have?" I personally found a bit silly.

Most software is simply software and doesn’t have much of a character at all. This question is a very good one to apply to product design and company logos, but for a product which already exists, and is fundamentally utilitarian, it’s arguably pointless.

My starting point was that the J is meaningless in and of itself. Joplin, from an English speaker’s point of view is simply the surname of a singer, which bears no relationship to the nature of the product. Using the J simply because it’s the initial of the application name is the only justification for using it.

However it is established, and getting rid of it seems to make no sense to me.

I started from the principle of Joplin being an Evernote replacement. Evernote has an elephant logo, based on the premise of ‘an elephant never forgets’. This is a useful and relevant idea, and the link with Evernote is a powerful one. If (or more likely when) Evernote folds, everyone will try to find a replacement and Joplin is an ideal candidate, particularly as it imports .enex files.

What I tried to do is keep the J logo but turn it into a pictogram which was elephant-themed.

All the logo ideas are kind of fun and informal. Joplin is not currently like that, but could be. The letters can still work as elephant pictograms with a more formal, regular appearance, but at this stage, it’s about discussing ideas and opportunities for development, not necessarily presenting finished proposals.

What are the plans for UI development? Are there opportunities to inform development, of for the planned development to inform the appearance?

The current logo is expedient, but it’s anonymous.

It obviously needs changing, and there are lots of opportunities.

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Please don’t bite my head off but imho there are more pressing issues that have been raised in the features and development sections that should take priority over logo and brand identity.

I don’t fault you for really being interested in the look and feel of the app but I guess at the end of the day the developers will have to make a decision on what they consider more important based on the resources (time, funds etc) available to them.

Just my two pence.

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Thanks for submitting the logos but indeed at this point there’s no plan to change it due to limited resources. It will probably be done one day though, so that’s why for now I keep track of the various ideas in the GitHub thread (I’ve added yours).

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Of course!

But different people have different perspectives. Development doesn't sit within a vacuum, and it's not a linear process. We don't stop thinking of y and z until x is complete.

Almost everyone likes things that look nice. Things like logos and icons do not take up a huge amount of time, although there clearly is time involved. They don't cost any money either - at least not for an Open Source application.

I've produced them for other software. Once agreement is reached, these things can be developed in parallel.

Things like this are useful to 'park' until such a time as they may become useful :slight_smile:

I've been playing with some less formal versions.

Here is another:

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There are 2 more variations which I have to post separately, but after that - I'm done.

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Last one - I promise :slight_smile:

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Hahaha. Looks nice though.

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Nice one.

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Just to clarify: The thread is not closed. It was at one point, but shortly after it was re-opened.

I also would like to say that there's a lot more involved than replacing one resource. You can check the repo for the logo. Then there's the web site, forum, app stores, ...

I'm not the developer of Joplin, but I do understand the reluctance in changing the logo. It is a lot of work.

One last thing: I really like your logos.

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Thanks :slight_smile:

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Yeah, I like them as well. (Can’t say I’m a big fan of the whole elephant thing - EN is something I want to get away from, after all - but they still look nice.)

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I think the current logo is fine.

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I understand why you want to get away from Evernote - that’s probably what we all want!
However it has a well established brand identity which Joplin does a good job of replicating.

When Evernote finally does disappear, people will be looking for a replacement. That’s how many of us found Joplin.
Making reference to that brand is a good way of attracting users and developers, which should help to make Joplin even better.

The real question is “what do you have against the elephant motif, apart from the Evernote reference?”

My view is that you either like it, or you don’t. The ‘elephant never forgets’ is something I guess most of us heard as children.

We are not copying it, I am proposing to keep the current Joplin J logo but evolve it to make it more interesting and fun, and at the same time link it back to the same idea Evernote had. Coincidentally Joplin is referring back to Evernote’s functionality - although in some respects, it’s better.

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I would have looked at Why is it named Joplin?

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Your logos look great! I do agree with you that the current logo needs to be changed one day.

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I´m also a designer and thank you for your work.

For me are they too playful, the font looks like a fairytale-book for kids.
Maybe the simplest thing of all, something like this Ⓙ