A new logo for SFML

[Tank]

Gears = "it works"

[Klaim]

Also "basic construct of an engine".

[eigenbom]

I'm not a fan of gears, it's too .. generic? Any library could probably have gears in its logo. Personally I'd use something multimedia-ish, like a joytstick, ray of light, or whatever.

Btw if you google image search "sfml logo" you get all the logos in this thread next to each other.

[Cornstalks]

The gears in the gear logo make me think of a solid engine that works.

I agree that it's a bit generic, but I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Most logos I can think of have nothing to do with their products. It's hard to do anything with "multimedia" that isn't already being done, doesn't look tacky, or is extremely obscure for regular users (like FFmpeg's zig-zag).

In fact, I almost like the generic-ness because I feel like it implies I can create many types of programs that SFML is useful for. There's windowing and graphics and networking and audio and threading and controller stuff all in SFML.

I don't necessarily have anything against a multimedia-focused logo, but I think that gears logo is the most solid candidate I've seen in this thread. It would be cool to explore different logo options if someone has the time & talent to do that, but I certainly don't

So +1 for the gears from me.

[adrigm]

What do gears mean for a simple and fast multimedia library ? To me, gears are often associated to system stuff or settings.

Engine for games.

[FRex]

SFML is super comfy wrapper for few C libraries, not an engine.

[eXpl0it3r]

As FRex said SFML is not an engine.

I agree that one of the gears logo is the best looking so far, but I also agree that it doesn't hace much to do with SFML. The fact that most logos don't match the brand, doesn't necessarily have be the case for SFML. It often happens because they got not much of a choice and take the next best thing.
I'd like if the logo represented a bit more the SFM...

The real question is then, what should the logo express?

[eXpl0it3r]

I've created an imgur album with all the versions I've found here on the forum so one gets a bit a better overview.

SFML Logos

If I've missed anything, let me know and I'll add it to the album.
Unfortunately there are quite a few logos that aren't online anymore and if those people notice it, could they possibly upload it freshly?

[Cornstalks]

As FRex said SFML is not an engine.

Personally, I think "engine" is a nebulous term and, depending on the developer and what it is they're making and how they're using libraries (like SFML), they might have different definitions of what an "engine" qualifies as.

But besides, we don't have to encourage the "SFML is an engine" idea. The gears, to me, say SFML is the cogs in your engine, the part that makes the rest of the engine work.

Anyway, as for alternatives (thanks for the album!) I kind of liked this one, though I'd tweak it a bit (remove the icons, maybe remove the ellipse, and maybe change the M and L so everything is italicized forwards... and I guess I'd play around with various stylizations of the S (and I guess the other letters, but I like the F)).

[Laurent]

I don't mind if the logo is totally abstract and has nothing to do with SFML. It could be just "SFML" written with a nice font and effects, or a funny mascot, or whatever.

I don't like gears because they mean something, and it doesn't really match what SFML is (in my opinion). And I think that we see too many gears in software stuff

By the way, thanks for the album

[timo777]

I like David's logo. Especially because it doesn't look cheap. I don't want to be something angry (don't know the good English word) but it's true for most most icons posted and the current one. David's looks professional and solid from my view.

BTW, how did you learn that? I want it too!

[eXpl0it3r]

I like David's logo.

For all those that don't know who has made which logo:

[krzat]

I liked eigenbom's shapes, so I made these:







Source: svg file

[Laurent]

I don't think that keeping the 5 icons is a good idea. It makes the logo really heavy, and probably not suitable for smaller sizes. And it doesn't give it a clear identity.

What I want to avoid is what the current logo is: some icons, text, simple shapes and cheap effects thrown together -- no artistic skills involved at all

[eigenbom]

some misc google webfonts with animal silouhettes, just to mix it up...