Our heart is complete! Our new logo is making it’s way across the web so look out for it. If you spot it out there, please let us know where.
In order to celebrate, there are a few desktop wallpapers for download from our Ovi site
I’ll keep you posted because there’ll be plenty more to come.
And a [Yellow Heart]y congratulations for doing such a great job at crafting the brand! I look forward to seeing what else you come up with soon…
The resolution in the title does not reflect the actual resolution of the image when you click on “all sizes.”
All of them are XGA (1024×768).
[...] the Symbian Foundation officially being open for business, they have also finalized their new branding, including these fun creative hand-drawn icons and yellow heart logo. There’s alot of [...]
Great to here you like it! I have to admit that it is so much fun working with this brand. The creative possibilities are endless which means endless fun!
Congrats on the new logo guys !
thanks Stefan – working on fixing the resolution now
Frankly, I don’t like new SF design at all.
Great logo, but think in a mix: heart shape mixed with a mobile phone or a shapes fussion of a heart with a world inside?
Regards and congratulations!,
Marco
[...] Until December 02 Symbian was owned by several companies, after that date, Nokia bought them all to transform them into Symbian Foundation, in this foundation[...]
YES! Congratulations Symbian-Foundation on officially being born.
Q: Why the heart? I know it’ll symbolize the heart of many types of devices/platforms/mobile computers … but why?
Now what is the official first release of the OS going to be called – Symbian Foundation ^2 (how is this pronounced .. to the exponent 2? Symbian Squared? ??)
[...] 3 април 2009 · Няма коментари в блога на фондацията се появи новото й лого и честно казано [...]
You need a paid Flickr “Pro” account to have the original sizes available:
http://www.flickr.com/help/photos/#18
Or store the images somewhere else as well, for example Nokia’s Share on Ovi allows you to easily download the original:
http://share.ovi.com/
Thanks for the nice wallpapers. If you’re like me, with lots of icons on your desktop I recommend to use the black one. But I do like the image with the white background as well. Maybe I can turn the white one into a ppt background, that might work well with the white space for writing.
Hugo, good idea. No one should be expected to pay for these wallpapers, so I support the idea to use Share on Ovi.
Ovi also has other services that work on Symbian based devices, so the synergies are already there.
hi Donny
In addition to Symbian being at the heart of many devices it’s also about a passion for creativity and for all things open. It’s also a brand that is playful and human. For more see my previous posting:
http://blog.symbian.org/2009/03/30/a-brand-that-gives-you-the-freedom-to-create/
The Symbian^2 is pronounced ‘Symbian Two’; the (^) Symbol is open to interpretation: Insert 2, Up 2, Version 2 – inverted (v) (^), Exponential growth (where ^ = ‘to the power of’)
For more information see posts from David Wood – here’s a good one for starters:
http://blog.symbian.org/2009/03/12/introducing-the-release-plan/#more-396
Trying to sort out the upgrade to flickr pro so we can share the wallpaper at full size but am experiencing a few problems. I’ll have something sorted pretty soon.
Have opted to Share with Ovi (thanks for the tip Petra) – the wallpaper can be downloaded from here http://share.ovi.com/album/annabelcooke.Symbianwallpape
Hope to get the flickr account sorted soon.
If found it somewhere! It’s shown on a screenshot of the Zoom OMAP34x-II here:
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbugencontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12013&contentId=53575&DCMP=wtbu_zoom&HQS=Other+PR+zoom2
I like the previous logo more. This logo doesn’t suit an OS. The letters look too simple and I think yellow is not the right color. Well, the heart matches your main idea, but doesn’t look well when we’re talking about an OS. Overall, I prefer the old logo
Firstly congrats! This logo SF does not stricke cords with me… it somehow seems out of place…
Terrible.
Unprofessional. Looks like a dating site logo
This looks really unprofessional, immature and old. Not good thing at all. Pleas reconsider or Symbian will be a laughing stock. I mean the whole branding is quite ridiculous. Fonts and everything.
Something modern and professional looking would be much, much better choice. Not this retro and childish look.
Hi Alexander,
>the heart matches your main idea, but doesn’t look well when we’re talking about an OS
Here’s one way I think about it: the OS is the heart of the device.
But we’re not just talking about an OS; we’re not just talking about a software platform. We’re talking about a community. And it’s part of the vision of Symbian to be at the heart of the mobile community. So, again, the heart makes sense
// David W.
Hi Tupe,
>Something modern and professional looking would be much, much better choice.
I’m not sure what counts as “modern”. That’s as hard as trying to define “fashionable”!
As for professional, do you mean immaculate and highly scultped? Like someone wearing an expensive tailored suit and tie? My view is that an informal look appeals better, on the whole, to developers
>Not this retro and childish look
I personally prefer the description childlike to childish. The latter suggests limited thinking, or undue egocentrism. But the former suggests openness and a willingness to experiment. That’s why I like it!
PS It’s interesting that the colour of this smiley is similar to the colour of the Symbian heart
Hi Tom,
>Looks like a dating site logo
Is that an entirely bad thing…?
Symbian is in the business of growing a community. That involves a lot of match-making!
// David W.
Sorry but i dont like the new logo…
The logo, and the whole branding of the site took some time to get used to, but I do really like it. It’s a dramatic shift from what most people think of when they picture Symbian in their heads. Long-term, I think that will be good – especially as smartphones become more than just the tools of the stodgy businessperson.
Very surprising Symbian, and I’m looking forward to what’s coming next.
On one hand symbian only care for Enterprises that’s the reason they need TC trust Certificate (i.e. a registered company) for useful API to get symbian signed. On the other hand they show they want to attach with community. Are you talking about enterprise community or community at whole. If community at whole you must take steps first to involve individuals not just making community log. Actions speaks themselv, logo doesn’t.
May be my comment is harsh but I am not in a mood to setup a company with all legal procedures and big amount for accountant and lawyer to get involved with Symbian. So enjoying blog till then and happy with Android for now.
Hi Rob,
>On one hand symbian only care for Enterprises that’s the reason they need TC trust Certificate (i.e. a registered company) for useful API to get symbian signed
The reason for the identity certificate is so that people can be sure app writers are who they claim to be. That is, no spoofing or phishing.
That’s not just something of interest to Enterprise. It’s something that ordinary people care about too. The trust model for applications relies on us being able to trace back, reliably, to the original writer of the app.
But I agree it would be good if there were alternative ways for application writers to reliably establish their identity without requiring them to set up a company first. This is one of the initiatives that the Symbian Signed team is investigating.
// David W.
I don’t really like this at all. People will associate rubber ducks and hearts to Symbian devices. Is this a OS for little girls?
This is just my own opinion of course and it would be best for Symbian that others would not agree with me.
i hate this logo, what were you thinking??? looks like @#€=%&” i mean, i know that you want people to feel symbian closer or whatever but this way??
am not gonna be getting a phone with this @#€=%& even if its only in the box. sorry…
One more last thing: I encourage you there at Symbian Foundation to monitor some sites that are Symbian focused to see what their reaction is for this. I have not seen many that like this design.
I wish all the best for Symbian Foundation and I hope that this will gain even more popularity than currently.
first – congrats on launch
the heart is an odd choice to me…
someone should’ve held onto the Squid-monster ray gun (lots of implications there….organic, ray gun can kill robotic things that oppose it
And wrt Mark’s
>>how is this pronounced .. to the exponent 2? Symbian Squared? ??
I vote ^ be referred to a “house top” harkening back to my elementary school days
Common guys. I like the courage behind choosing something so different and fresh like the new logo. However, I strongly believe that such a logo doesnt fit an OS. Please change it. Choose something a little more serious. Thats my opinion.
I still like it, maybe we can call it revolutionary? I don’t love it but also don’t hate it, what I think is we will get used to it and ultimately accept it, at least it is creative.
Anyway, for those who don’t like it, I think you will never see it on your future Nokia phone. Just take a look at your phone, if you have a 3rd FP1 you don’t see at all the S60 logo, maybe just a small thing on the box. And if you have a FP2 Nokia only thing you will see is the little star on the top of open apps, so really, you just get to see the OS logo on their web site and other sites but not in your phone or in your box. Each phone still has its own branding, think of an Eseries box and an XpressMusic box, completely different.
+1 Edward Umana. At least as far as “ordinary”/non-technical users go, you pretty much have to look for a 1-line reference to Symbian in the About application, to find out if your device contains Symbian OS, and as far as I know, an About application doesn’t even exist on S40 devices (although it’s a long time since I last used one)
Naturally, that application is the only place referencing S60 at all (says “Series 60 Platform is developed by Nokia and Licensed from Nokia Corporation.” on my N70 with the latest T-Mobile UK-molested firmware, although “Series 60″ or “S60″ weren’t mentioned at all there, previously).
I was sceptical at the beginning, but it grows on you. I really like it now, and unlike with many other IT logo’s much thought has gone into its symbolism. It has meaning and is positive!
// Lars
Seriously, the logo looks really amateurish. In fact the whole site looks like some 5th graders website. I don’t know whether it was deliberately done to give a more ‘open feel’. I can say only one thing: Symbian is a great platform. Signing has marred it and by ignoring style in all aspects- web, UI, design of phones- you are ensuring that lousy platforms like iphone’s OSX and Palm’s WebOS are catching the fancy of customers.
Dear, Mr David Wood, thank you for the feedback. So you may read the posts here, most of which are very negative about the new logo. Check the hundred symbian themed sites. If Symbian is targeted to us, you should take and respect the majority’s opinion. The “i” with the yellow dot has the simplicity of the yellow heart but looks much more better. Just try to express your idea in different way. I often give as example the ubuntu logo
The grey footer and yellow line at the bottom of the pages on the Symbian.org website are nice touches – at least for me, they bring to mind “This is still the Symbian that you’ve came to know and love, even amongst rapid change”. Although others might disagree.
[...] how Symbian explains the logo (link): It is a brand that’s human and playful and friendly, where you feel the human hand. A brand [...]
The logo is defenetely different! Not sure yet, if like it or not. Anyways, good luck and congratulations for the new logo!
To be honest, i hated this logo the first time i saw it. It mainly gave me the impression of something “not serious” or done in a hurry.
After a couple of days and having seen the number of variants around the brand, i must admit that i started to accept the idea; and i rather find it cool now. It is very different than the standard companies logos, including the Nokia or Symbian logos that give the impression of a big Corporation/Establishment behind the logo. This matches quite well the birth of the new Open Source free momentum that the Foundation is trying to convey; and allows to make a break w/ the legacy image of Nokia or Symbian (very restrained eco-system dedicated to few professionals and dominated by Nokia). Will this change happen in reality? that’s a different story and the whole branding strategy is at least part of this move.
One small advice: The font of “Symbian” in the logo is not very readible and may need to be changed. Also, there might be a need to add some text/”mantra” with the logo so that it helps to emphasize the message; because the IT world is not used to such logos. For example: Symbian, Open Up the heart of Smart Platforms..
Why is that in SF web site, you can navigate to blog, but can’t navigate back to SF, because blog doesn’t have navigation bar. It’s quite annoying. Reminds me of Ovi web interface..
Whether you like the heart or not at least it is doing one thing the other Symbian related logos weren’t doing together: Creating a buzz.
Not many people know Symbian (outside the same group that is writing about it here and other blogs) or S60 or UIQ or MOAP(S). Maybe after pushing for 10 odd years it is time to admit that previous logos/branding weren’t doing the trick. And that a new approach was needed in getting normal people to recognize that their phone actually has an OS that can do a lot of cool and advanced things.
This new logo and the new community/openness approach to Symbian as a platform, is a bold step outside the comfort of a quite limited group of developers and industry insiders. I for one applaud that – even though not fully beating in unison with the heart design yet.
If you think about e.g. IKEA there are some similarities. Previously people bought furniture from here are there, cheap and expensive, high quality and not so good. But there was no single place where you could get a constant quality level, a constant design language and a pricing level that didn’t change a lot from article to article. IKEA is not for everyone of course. But ask a random stranger about it, and most likely he/she will know the brand and the promise.
Most people are aware of its quality, its design and the pricing. The quality, the design and the pricing doesn’t suit everyone, but at least they are known by a huge amount of people. In essence, the IKEA promise is a platform promise. You know what you get when you see the four letters or even the brand colours. Pretty much the same way as you should with Symbian.
If you look at any truly global, platform based (be it SW or not) and consumer oriented companies, you have to have a logo that is easy to remember. A logo that doesn’t lock you to a single product or product segment. In this respect the heart logo works well. There is a promise behind it, it makes the complicated Symbian word easy to remember and it’s not difficult to approach.
Now it just has to start living up to its promise. And we all play a role in that. We need to make the products and the apps to back it up.
And as a side note about the logo being “unprofessional” or drawn with a PowerPoint – I think each of us can write the mentioned four letters: I, K, E, and A. Too bad none of us were the first one to do that
. Hindsight is always 20/20…
Ikea isn’t trying to get carpenters to work with them, and doesn’t care.
Heart logos seem to be for healthcare products, medical charities and things that make you fat (search heart brand).
Anyhow, I suggest the marketeers run with the creepy heart logo and developers run with something more palatable. Laser tentacle ftw.
[...] at the heart By David Wood I hesitate to re-enter a debate where there’s already been lots of impassioned comment – the debate over the “heart” logo adopted by the Symbian [...]
If anything, the new Symbian brand should be more prominent, and “available” to end users (either on packaging, on hardware itself, or wherever software installation/handling is mentioned) to inform them that their phones run Symbian OS, so that they know what they’re capable of.
Case in point – try an Nokia NSeries handset, there are no mentions of Series 60 or Symbian on the box (at least for some models, as far as I know), and the only place where it’s mentioned in the UI is buried in an obscure About application* 4 levels deep, split across 9 lines and 2 paragraphs of text.
* See http://friendfeed.com/e/8547aefa-5657-41ab-8561-b6f9d9a96393/It-runs-Symbian-OS-and-S60-But-do-the-users-know/, although the images are in the wrong order.
Can I say that I really don’t find the logo that amusing?
I’ll define it as “childish”.
But, of course, I’m not a designer/marketing expert…
You know what?
the logo reminds me the design concept made around the french TWINGO Renault car.. something quite naive, related to children cartoons.. I liked that because it fited the car concept: basic, easy to use/park, small, “car toy” style… But for an OS such as Symbian…
I can not get used to it so far.. and afraid of unlikely will ever get..
Sorry to say this, but this is one of the worst logo concept and design I have ever seen
I’m not a programmer, developer, or even user of symbian or any other cellphone OS. But I am just purchasing a new phone with Symbian and followed up on this thread via All About Symbian.com.
I think the designers did a good job of playing with the style they picked, but I find the choice of iconography a bit too childish for a project like this. I admit that it is not out of line with our culture, which now worships imaginary super heroes on the big screen and uses cartoons and animation in expensive, mainstream tv ads. But I find the cartoon style (“cutesy” comes to mind) really better suited for the peter pan crowd that does not want to grow up.
I’m all for the heart idea, but the style used to deliver it (mostly the surrounding material) is not to my liking for a project like what I’ve seen here (I am not an expert though). It can be simple and clean and all that without being too cute by half.
Good luck!
Annabel, I would like to use the heart logo to illustrate a blog post about Symbian, but the photos are “all rights reserved.” I will need Symbian’s permission to reproduce the logo. May I have that?
thanks, John
hi John. You’re more than welcome to use our logo. I’ve uploaded a few sizes to our flickr account http://www.flickr.com/photos/symbianfoundation/sets/72157616501275094/.
Let me know if you need anything else.
I love all the wallpapers, want some more! lol
Carlos Silva
http://Nokia-Blog.net
I never thought I would see something so poorly done coming out of Symbian. This is a joke right? Please tell me it is.
The font, the color, the heart…everything about it is so unprofessional. OK, let’s play a long and put professionalism aside and put the love of the community forward…it’s still a logo that I would be ashamed to show off.
This logo should never see the light of day. Again, I really really really hope that this is a joke.
The wallpaper link does not work any more.