Logo finalist iteration, input, enhancements #78

Logo Voting Round 1 is Complete!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first round of the logo voting! Your engagement and feedback have been incredible, and we're excited to share the results.

Top 6 Logos

The six logos that received the most votes:

1. "CO-Arrow" #83

2. "CoMaps Arrow" #91

3. "Windy-Road-Pin" #84

4. "Co Compass" #99

5. "Clouds/continents arrow" #87

6. "CM-Compass-Split" #85

Next Step

These logos will now undergo a refinement process, to iterate and improve the designs.

Should people be able to submit their own variation of one these logos. Or, only 6 total logos with authors making the modifications based on input?

I would definitely love input on the globe arrow to make it as good as it can be. Whether people want to comment or submit their own ideas, we can come up with the best version of that logo together.

Just a suggestion:
logo authors may want to create separate issues to gather feedback and to iterate on their logos in a more focused manner.

Otherwise things would start intertwining here very quick like it was in #23 :)

And we can use this issue space to discuss requirements and setup for the final voting round.

IMO, the three logos with the arrowhead sadly look too much like instant messenger logos (e.g. Telegram).

Requirements suggestion:

• SVG format
• "real size" app icon version (15mmx15mm?)
• a bigger 60x60mm? version to examine details and have an impression how'd it look on the app's splash screen and on the website
• main/key colors should be from the projects' confirmed color scheme, auxilliary colors / shades / gradients etc. are up to the author

@Flummic @nclm

I liked the "Clouds/continents arrow" (5th), but at the same time it might be too generic... And it has the "messenger" problem.

The "CM-Compass-Split" (6th) bothers me little for not being as symmetric as the rest (but that might be just me).

IMO "Windy-Road-Pin" (3rd) may be a bit big for the icon, but it could work well as the startup splash screen and other places!

So my preference is more or less like this: 5 > 4 > 1 > 2 > 3 > 6

I wouldn't put the three people in the pin. This would make the icon simpler, easier to scale, and less misleading. These people could be replaced by a more traditional circle, or even the stylized letter C as found in the other icons.

The three people remind me of Teams somehow, but also make little sense to me in general since the app guides you towards a location, not towards people you're meeting (or not) in that location.

The compass should lean left, because having a compass is useful having a moral one is better.

I wouldn't put the three people in the pin.

I think it'd be too big divergence from the original concept that had been voted on and approved already.

The current iteration is about adjustments and fine-tuning while preserving the concept.
E.g. swapping an arrow for a compass needle is too big a change already, while changing its direction or line weights or colors is fine IMO.

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

I wouldn't put the three people in the pin.

I think it'd be too big divergence from the original concept that had been voted on and approved already.

The current iteration is about adjustments and fine-tuning while preserving the concept. E.g. swapping an arrow for a compass needle is too big a change already, while changing its direction or line weights or colors is fine IMO.

Fair enough.

However, I guess I wouldn't outright deny a possibility to propose modified alternative versions based on these current ones for the final selection, at least as long as the current six proposals are refined as required as well, if that makes sense.

The "CM-Compass-Split" (6th) bothers me little for not being as symmetric as the rest (but that might be just me).

I second this. I think it's pretty close if the angles get tightened up a bit more. There's just a few places where if the angles were working in the same direction, this logo becomes more successful:

image

A few of the others have some similar small misalignments like this (I presume the intent of this phase is ironing those out). Might also be a good opportunity here to introduce shading, a texture, or some other visual language difference to the compass arrow to distinguish it from the letters within the overall hierarchy- I feel like they're both presented at the same "volume" when they're two different ideas that should stand apart a bit more

IMO this logo's arrow is visually not centered - it seems to be a bit lower than the center.

Adding color and playing with line widths and rounding could be nice too.

E.g. I think @nclm's colored version is actually very nice.
It gives more weight to the C, while making the arrow less significant which is IMO good as many maps apps use the arrow already. Its good to have an arrow, but not as the main element perhaps.

Maybe with somewhat rounded C corners it'd look even better?

The Globe-Arrow logo

I've tried updating it to the color scheme, but it lacks contrast. So needs color work.

Also IDK if it has to have some background to fit launcher icon guidelines?

IMO in small size the first version has too thin dark regions (esp. top one is almost lost).
Whereas in the second version they're too big :) (no visible gap with the arrow)

In a big size larger dark regions start to look much better.
IMO the first version almost loses the globe resemblance because of too large light area.
The second version is better.

Also IMHO it'd help if those areas are a bit less marble-ish and a bit more continent-ish 🙏

@pastk, to me, both of these versions look like dirty circles, not globes. The dark regions have no semblance to any continents. In the second variant, it's almost as if continents are actually the lighter regions.

The dark regions have no semblance to any continents.

Completely agree with this sentiment. It's challenging to depict a globe in this visual style without both using a standard blue-green scheme (or some other adjacent visual language that makes the distinction more obvious) and using shapes of real continents. You quickly start to lose legibility here at lower resolutions as you've pointed out, too.

I'm really only tapping into this project for the first time now so I'm not very aware of the constraints, but I assume the goal is to illustrate something that already fits in with the pre-existing flavors of the app?

I've attached the more original full-color version by @zyphlar although its doesn't use project's colors, but probably illustrates the concept better.

For me it looks both like an abstract globe (actually for me the lighter regions are "continents" too :) ) and also a map fragment of some natural area with bushes and clearings patches with an arrow guiding through them.

@rimas wrote in #78 (comment):

@pastk, to me, both of these versions look like dirty circles, not globes. The dark regions have no semblance to any continents. In the second variant, it's almost as if continents are actually the lighter regions

I think for the continents to work we need to ditch the arrow and should only use two colors (white and green).

Yeah ive tried fixing the globe, but I couldn't. Once you make the Design simpler nothing is even close to beeing recognisable anymore. But without simplifying ... The Details are killing it.

Maybe someone gets an idea how to fix it.

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

I've attached the more original full-color version by @zyphlar although its doesn't use project's colors, but probably illustrates the concept better.
And if you simulate beeing colorblind these colors are not the best you could possibly choose.

@pastk to me, the globe looks more like a jungle, with a user navigating inside of the jungle. The lighter area reminds me of the ground while the dark areas remind me of the flora within the jungle. Also the pin’s color looks like the hat that is worn by them.

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

IMO this logo's arrow is visually not centered - it seems to be a bit lower than the center.

Adding color and playing with line widths and rounding could be nice too.

E.g. I think @nclm's colored version is actually very nice. It gives more weight to the C, while making the arrow less significant which is IMO good as many maps apps use the arrow already. Its good to have an arrow, but not as the main element perhaps.

Maybe with somewhat rounded C corners it'd look even better?

Yes, the arrow should be a bit higher. In the color version, the arrow is pointing at the top right edge of the C, the original idea was for it to point through the opening of the 'C' to communicate the the app navigates out or through areas.

In a big size larger dark regions start to look much better. IMO the first version almost loses the globe resemblance because of too large light area. The second version is better.

Also IMHO it'd help if those areas are a bit less marble-ish and a bit more continent-ish 🙏

I agree, the second version looks better!

I too think finalist5 looks the best and most original out of them all. However a very good shout was made on Lemmy so will paste their comment here:

The Lemmy app Voyager let's you select and change the app icon. Maybe CoMaps can allow us to pick between all six of these (after refinement) icons.

They further point out that there obviously needs to be a default, e.g a winner out of these. I think it would be neat to choose one official one to begin with a d down the line add more finished ones for people to choose from 😊

@oleg-rswll wrote in #78 (comment):

the original idea was for it to point through the opening of the 'C' to communicate the the app navigates out or through areas.

Yes, pointing out is better!

Let's set some deadline for the iterations and to start a final vote!

How about end of the day Tue 17th?

Would it be enough time for creators to finish their logos?

@rimas wrote in #78 (comment):

I wouldn't put the three people in the pin. This would make the icon simpler, easier to scale, and less misleading. These people could be replaced by a more traditional circle, or even the stylized letter C as found in the other icons.

The three people remind me of Teams somehow, but also make little sense to me in general since the app guides you towards a location, not towards people you're meeting (or not) in that location.

I totally get the "teams-assoziation" 😆

My original thought was to combine the "navigation/maps-aspect" and the "community/collaboration-aspect" of CoMaps in this icon. So in my mind the icon is not about "this app navigates you to people", but rather "this is a maps/navigation-app made by the community (a strong community-aspect in that sense)"
The way I see it - the community/collaboration-aspect is one of CoMaps main distinctions from some of the other Maps-Apps and also one of the reasons the Name "CoMaps" was chosen: #34 (comment)
Therefore I thought it might be a good idea to indicate it in the logo-design :)

But I definitely think that it also does communicate what you saw in it, which might not be ideal!

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

Just a suggestion: logo authors may want to create separate issues to gather feedback and to iterate on their logos in a more focused manner.

Otherwise things would start intertwining here very quick like it was in #23 :)

I will try to find time to do just this later today/tomorrow - I am very open for suggestions/feedback!
@trashboat wrote in #78 (comment):

The "CM-Compass-Split" (6th) bothers me little for not being as symmetric as the rest (but that might be just me).

I second this. I think it's pretty close if the angles get tightened up a bit more. There's just a few places where if the angles were working in the same direction, this logo becomes more successful

I will look into this and create a separate issue for the logo later, so that we can discuss it further. Thank you for the input - this is great! ❤️

Not sure what change or clarify with the globe-earth arrow logo. Here's my late-night take on an svg for the "C/M" compass logo.

Feedback from the Lemmy community:

the first one looks similar to the Mapillary logo.

6 looks way too much like an envelope, implying a mail app, IMO.

4 is a little too similar to Safari.

1 and 4 look too similar to OpenResume

5 is too detailed

3 and 6 wouldn’t look very good when sized down (e.g. in the status bar.)

https://sopuli.xyz/post/28697566

Interesting and probably relevant to how people remember logos:

I just realized that the shape of the "closed C/O" drafts is pretty similar to the open collective logo. Maybe that’s worth avoiding?

Sadly I am not feeling too well this weekend, but at least I finally got to creating the feedback-issues for:

• Logo 1: "CO-Arrow": #83
• Logo 3: "Windy-Road-Pin": #84
• Logo 6: "CM-Compass-Split": #85

Feel free to add feedback, thoughts, ideas, own designs etc. there!
I'm looking forward to see your ideas/versions ❤️

I realized that the 2. logo is similar to the Mattermost logo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattermost

I will be on holiday from July 19 - July 23 (can't work on logos in that time) so I would love to know the time frame for the refinement process :)

Regarding the requirements I generally like what @pastk suggested here: #78 (comment)

I would personally add some "Logo-Type-Combination" to the mix - I think seeing how the logo can be used together with the "CoMaps"-Text will be quite valuable when evaluating which logo fits best

IMO we should have mandatory app icon size and bigger size versions for each logo.

And authors can optionally (if they have time etc.) add e.g. small b&w version for a notification bar, a logotype for a splash screen, etc.

"Clouds/continents globe arrow" logo refinement is happening in a separate issue: #87

Please add your feedback, variations and suggestions there! 🙏

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

Let's set some deadline for the iterations and to start a final vote!

How about end of the day Tue 17th?

Would it be enough time for creators to finish their logos?

This is now, so apparently not. @oleg-rswll what do you think about deadlines for next steps?

E.g. if we want to have a new release with a final logo in the first days of July (as a suggestion, we can move it), then

• we should have a final logo on 27th end of the day (so that we can start integrating it into the app; also reserved some time for stores reviews)
• the voting should be on 25-26-27th
• final logo versions should be marked by the creators on 24th Tue end of the day

Upd: postponed for a couple days because @Flummic is on holiday until 23rd

It looks like logo variations is starting to wind down, so not many more days may be needed.

A couple things to decide:

• Can only the creators of the logos submit a variation of the logo, or can others submit variations of a logo?
• How many days for voting?

@here

My fear with letting others submitting variations is that it might lead to a lot of options to vote on, which could make it hard to find a winner.

My suggestion would be to let the creators pick their variants, but we could encourage the creators to run a pre-vote for each of the 6 options entries to find the 'best' option within each of them?

I vote for 2, 5, 4 :)

How about 2 more days for updates/refinement, and then 3 days for voting.

So the authors should probably submit two version of the same logo, the primary being the 1-color logo as that is a harder logo to create, and a multi-color logo.

I managed to squeeze in one last session before the voting will take place and have added my personal favorites to the issues I posted here: #78 (comment)

Please feel free to "pre-vote" if you want to influence the submission :) I think especially #85 evolved into some pretty cool versions (at least in my mind) 👀

I would have loved to spend more time refining some of them (adjusting the roundness of corners etc.), but I think that can wait until a logo is decided (to protect the time of all the creators involved here ❤️)
I can't wait to find out what logo we ultimately choose, I think all of the options have turned out really nice! 😍

By the way:
If anyone is still looking for a quick way to create mockups for the logo (to see it "in action") - I found this nifty website: https://icon.kitchen/ which I used to create mine.
Sadly the download-option does not include the mockup, so (at least to my knowledge) you have to take screenshots of the results :)

@oleg-rswll wrote in #78 (comment):

So the authors should probably submit two version of the same logo, the primary being the 1-color logo as that is a harder logo to create, and a multi-color logo.

It seems that the 1-color version is needed for the notification bar only, so if its submitted then it should be in a small size suitable for there (and some authors have submitted it like that already)..

Otherwise for the bigger size logos (app icon, splash screen, website) there seem to be no restriction on number of colors or gradients etc. and its up to the authors, its just the primary color should be project's olive.

Also the requirements suggestion had been made almost 2 weeks ago #78 (comment) and there were no comments on it during this time.
Please let's not change it in the last day 🙏

We need to finalize the criteria for the vote.

Since the focus right now is on the GA release, the logo voting will be postponed for now, which will give more time for work to continue on variations and finalization, without a really short time constraint.

Regarding the Logo-Refinement/Finalization:

I personally think it would be nice to first find out which "Logo-Idea" we want to use for CoMaps and then take our time to "finalize" it (iterate/refine) based on how it actually looks in action in the App.

That way we could reduce "unnecessary" work on concepts that are not chosen in the voting and therefore minimize the workload for everyone involved.
I think that the Logo-Concepts we have, are mature enough to allow us to make a decision in the coming days. After that we can further elaborate the "chosen one" in a more focussed manner with a wider time-frame as we can iterate on it while it is already in use so we can clearly see what needs to be worked on :)

Regarding the Submission Criteria for the voting Process

I think it will be really important that all submissions are presented in (exactly) the same way to allow for a fair comparison and informed voting decision. On top of that I think we should make it easy to submit a version, since it is not given that all creators have the same amount of time to create/refine/optimize their submission. Therefore I would suggest the following:

• The Logo Creators each submit
  • a monochrome SVG (probably CoMaps-White on CoMaps-Olive) -> ColorScheme
    • without colors it is easier to evaluate the shape
    • monochrome icons are important for adaptive icons (https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/launch/icon_design_adaptive?hl=en) and the status bar
  • an (optional) colored SVG
    • to show how the logo could look in color
    • I personally think that colors are more flexible than the shape so the colored version can be just a suggestion, which imo could still be experimented with when the logo is in use later on
  • maybe a short "explanation/description" of the logo to explain the thought that went into it...
    • I am unsure about this one, since a logo should always work without an explanation... but It could still be useful to understand the vision behind it -> what are your thoghts on this? 👀
• The Voting-Orga/Mods will take those and use suitable tools (e.g. https://icon.kitchen/) or templates to create comparable Mock-Ups of the Logo in critical use-cases (different sizes and contexts) - e.g.:
  • App-Icon on a Home-Screen/App-Drawer (maybe both Android/iOS and different shapes circle/squircle etc.)
  • on a potential App-Splash-Screen
  • as a Status-Bar-Symbol (very small and monochrome)
  • on the current CoMaps Website
• The Mock-Ups should probably be shown to the Logo-Creator beforehand to make sure that the Logo is used as intended by the author

This way we should be able to ensure an even playing field and a fair voting process while minimizing the workload for the creators (they only submit two Logos) and maximizing the comparability by having a uniform presentation!

This is just a suggestion and only my personal opinion, so I would love to discuss this further. Sadly I probably won't have too much freetime in the coming weeks, because there will be a lot happening in my personal life :)
I'm looking forward to see CoMaps with a logo and hope this input is helpful in some way! ❤️

And we should also try to clearly communicate our target deadlines for the submission and voting to ensure that everyone is on the same page - I am currently unsure whether I have to submit by the end of today or if that has been changed to a new date 👀

The deadline is not end of today for sure, it had been postponed and is TBD.

Really sorry for this confusion with dates and requirements - unfortunately there were some last minute disagreements, so it feels right to postpone, continue discussing and find a consensus instead of rush and try to meet the previous deadlines 🙏
(especially as there are other very important things happening in the project right now like prepping "final" releases)

I would like to say one thing to @pastk and @oleg-rswll as they are the ones who took the main responsibility of organizing the vote on them.
Organization of such a thing is hard, it is ok that we arrive into unexpected problems and disagreements. Every such problem is part of a learning process for us all, so we can make (in the long term) the best mapping application for everyone. And I believe that as long as you keep communicating the problems you arrive to, the community will stand with you. So keep it up, you are doing great work for everyone :-)

@Flummic thanks for your input!

I support your suggestions with one exception regarding the 1-color vs multi-color SVG versions.

If the logo is meant to be primarily used in full color, then it should be presented as a primary option, e.g. displayed in various form-factors (app icon, website, etc.)

A 1-color version should be presented as well and displayed in specific form-factors that require a monochrome icon, e.g. a small notification bar version and optionally a themed adaptive app icon (which is not a requirement, but very nice to have, of course).

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

It seems that the 1-color version is needed for the notification bar only, so if its submitted then it should be in a small size suitable for there (and some authors have submitted it like that already)..

Otherwise for the bigger size logos (app icon, splash screen, website) there seem to be no restriction on number of colors or gradients etc. and its up to the authors, its just the primary color should be project's olive.

The one color also is necessary for at least one of the alternative iOS icons. The new icon format for iOS 26 also has some limits (only up to four groups on which the glass effect can be applied separately). So an unlimited number of colors maybe isn't possible, but that shouldn't be an issue looking at the iterations.

Looking at the graphics and iterations the most important features (SVG, a monochrome version, a possible multicoloured version with limited different colors) are fulfilled by all versions anyway.

The question really is more about voting presentation. I think the suggestions for that are good. Have one version at actual icons size (maybe even one some random background picture) and one big one. Best prepared by a single person so it looks the same for all.
The difficult thing is the difference between the logos, which have versions with colors, and those, which don't. That needs to be handled fairly.

With presentation its also important to figure out / test how to post on Codeberg so that e.g. app launcher size icons are presented indeed in that small size regardless of viewer's screen dpi.

@yannikbloscheck wrote in #78 (comment):

The difficult thing is the difference between the logos, which have versions with colors, and those, which don't. That needs to be handled fairly.

E.g. the app launcher size icon could be presented in two versions:

• in "original" color (which could be either multi-color or 1-white-on-olive-color version depending on which is primary according to the author)
• a themed adaptive version (a 1-color version re-tinted with e.g. rosy and dark purple as in the google's example screenshots)

Would that work for iOS adaptive requirements too?

@pastk This is basically the iOS theming. Instead of orange in the last two ones it could be of course any other color and the background for a few of them can be mostly transparent (see other image).

Ok so looks like iOS theming allows mid-tones in the monochrome version. From Google's description its not obvious whether midtones are allowed, it just says "monochrome".

IMO for the system-themed icons we can just go for the 1-color (no midtones) version as this is what had been in the development so far and every logo has this version already. Midtones could be utilized later in the process of integrating the logo into the app if it'd look good (probably #87 would benefit from midtones in the monochromatic version).

With presentation its also important to figure out / test how to post on Codeberg so that e.g. app launcher size icons are presented indeed in that small size regardless of viewer's screen dpi.

BTW @Flummic did very nice mockups for app launcher icons in #85 (comment)

Though on my laptop screen they look ~1.5 times smaller than app icons on my phone.
But when I open the image files in a separate browser tab then they look the same size as on my phone.

@Flummic wrote in #78 (comment):

• on a potential App-Splash-Screen

IMO it'd make sense to add such versions if they would be unique to the logo e.g. showcase how the logo could integrate with the "CoMaps" name like in your's https://codeberg.org/attachments/4dfd5242-93ac-4838-b985-4a090cbebf1a

But if its the same template for all logos then its more simple and is enough to just have a big logo version presented, IMO.

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

IMO for the system-themed icons we can just go for the 1-color (no midtones) version

I agree. There will be a need for flat one color version at some places and occasions anyway and whatever ends up getting picked it's important to have at least a unique and recognizable one color version of it.

Adding my submission criteria for discussion:

• Each submission has the same number of photos: all candidate logos have the same requirements and no additional or optional photos are included, to give an equal comparison for each logo and not skew how the logos are perceived.
• Include pictures:
  • Primary logo in brand color or colors
  • Black & white logo (for status bar, bottom of website, etc)
  • Logo in app icon shape
  • Logo with logotype
  • In context: app icon next to other apps, logo on the website
• The order in which logos will be displayed in the Issue will be randomized using a random number generator.

Probably better to not include a description as the visual logo should do the communication. The top logo should provide an explanation after it is selected.

Is a splash screen needed on Android? iOS doesn't have a splash screen and people don't forget which app they are using, the app icon has a logo, and the logo is on the main page. Created comaps/comaps#604

@oleg-rswll wrote in #78 (comment):

• Logo in app icon shape
• Logo with logotype
• In context: app icon next to other apps, logo on the website

I'm not sure we'll need it with the logotype. For the other things it might be better to one person, who is not part of the contestants, to do it centrally to make sure it looks the same for everybody.

@oleg-rswll wrote in #78 (comment):

Sounds good overall, with some comments:

• Black & white logo (for status bar, bottom of website, etc)

Its better to have it displayed in-context too. For this one its important to be clear / recognizable in a very small size, so it should be displayed in such a small size.

• Logo in app icon shape
• In context: app icon next to other apps, logo on the website

Just an in-context app icon is enough. Why a separate "Logo in app icon shape"?
It might make sense to add a system-tinted monochrome version to see how it'd perform in themed adaptive mode.

• Logo with logotype

If its the same template for all logos, then there is little point in it.
If its unique per logo, then I think not all logo authors will provide it.
So better to just omit it.

So for each logo images could be like:

1. Primary logo in brand color or colors
2. An in-context mock-up: round app icon next to other apps with a b&w icon in the status bar

Here in just two images 3 main uses will be showcased already.
If we want to better see performance of a monochrome adaptive version (also in a squircle shape), then a third image:

3. An in-context mock-up: squircle monochrome system-tinted app icon next to other apps

For the other things it might be better to one person, who is not part of the contestants, to do it centrally to make sure it looks the same for everybody.

Who wants to volunteer please step up! 😊

I think logo in the Apple rounded square and the Pixel circle is important (and maybe even designed as such, with slight alterations) because many of our logos are circular so how to reconcile that is important. (If my globe is white on a green background, does that mean on a Pixel it should have a green ring around the outside edge? Or just white to the edge? Etc)

It's true that a logo can be more than just an app icon in theory, but in practice for us they're essentially the same.

I think logo in the Apple rounded square and the Pixel circle is important (and maybe even designed as such, with slight alterations)

Yeap both shapes are covered in 2) and 3) proposed in-context mock-up images.

because many of our logos are circular so how to reconcile that is important. (If my globe is white on a green background, does that mean on a Pixel it should have a green ring around the outside edge? Or just white to the edge? Etc)

It should have some background color around it always.
See "safe zone" (that is never clipped by a shaped mask) in https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/launch/icon_design_adaptive?hl=en

Let's follow the basic voting setup from the previous round #73 (comment) ?

The voting issue with instructions and all 6 candidate logos (in randomized order) should be created beforehand.

When its ready we'll announce and share the voting link on various media and the voting will last 3 days.

Let's decide whether the voting will be done

1. by 👍 and 👎
2. by 👍 only

The latter seems to be a better choice as it doesn't discourage logo authors with downvoting.

However as project's name and color scheme voting used both 👍 and 👎 - people got accustomed to it.
So even though the 1st logo voting round instruction said use 👍 - most people have used both anyway.

So it won't be easy to convey this "restriction" or change to the voters, we'll have to make a strong focus on it in all announcements.

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

So for each logo images could be like:

1. Primary logo in brand color or colors
2. An in-context mock-up: round app icon next to other apps with a b&w icon in the status bar

Here in just two images 3 main uses will be showcased already. If we want to better see performance of a monochrome adaptive version (also in a squircle shape), then a third image:

3. An in-context mock-up: squircle monochrome system-tinted app icon next to other apps

Alright so as a result each Author has to submit 2 versions of the logo (?):

• Primary Logo
• Monochrome Logo without background (this enables the "Mockup-Creator" (Moderator) to create the status-bar-mockup and an adaptive mockup with the logo on different themed (colored) backgrounds

or should we also submit a monochrome logo with background?

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

Let's decide whether the voting will be done

1. by 👍 and 👎
2. by 👍 only

I personally also prefer the voting style that uses only 👍 as that is usually how votes work - you vote for something 😄
and if you don't like an option you vote for your preferred alternative(s)!

@Flummic wrote in #78 (comment):

I personally also prefer the voting style that uses only 👍 as that is usually how votes work - you vote for something 😄 and if you don't like an option you vote for your preferred alternative(s)!

excactly!

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

The latter seems to be a better choice as it doesn't discourage logo authors with downvoting.

However as project's name and color scheme voting used both 👍 and 👎 - people got accustomed to it. So even though the 1st logo voting round instruction said use 👍 - most people have used both anyway.

So it won't be easy to convey this "restriction" or change to the voters, we'll have to make a strong focus on it in all announcements.

I'd also be in favor of only going for the 👍voting here. All logos have passed through the 'pre-approval' stage already (where filtering with negative votes was more relevant). We can make clear that we will only count the 👍 and ignore all other emoji.

(Fun fact regarding how voting systems usually work: There's a huge diversity in voting systems, many allow negative votes, e.g. Combined Approval Voting, and Latvia juses such a system this for their parliamentary elections - political nerdery over 😆)

@gedankenstuecke wrote in #78 (comment):

I'd also be in favor of only going for the 👍voting here. All logos have passed through the 'pre-approval' stage already (where filtering with negative votes was more relevant). We can make clear that we will only count the 👍 and ignore all other emoji.

I agree. All logos left have already passed a high bar to be still part of this competition.

(Fun fact regarding how voting systems usually work: There's a huge diversity in voting systems, many allow negative votes, e.g. Combined Approval Voting, and Latvia uses such a system this for their parliamentary elections - political nerdery over 😆)

Single Transferable Vote would be of course of the best, but that's really too much for this and not even really possible here 😄

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

Ok so looks like iOS theming allows mid-tones in the monochrome version. From Google's description its not obvious whether midtones are allowed, it just says "monochrome".

IMO for the system-themed icons we can just go for the 1-color (no midtones) version as this is what had been in the development so far and every logo has this version already. Midtones could be utilized later in the process of integrating the logo into the app if it'd look good (probably #87 would benefit from midtones in the monochromatic version).

Don't forget about Material 3 Expressive's Monet icon, which follows your wallpaper and adjusts the colors in real time!

@Ipmlosion are they different from https://developer.android.com/develop/ui/views/launch/icon_design_adaptive?hl=en ?

@pastk Monet in User theming

starting with Android 13 (API level 33), users can theme their adaptive icons. If a user enables themed app icons, by turning on the Themed icons toggle in system settings, and the launcher supports this feature, the system uses the coloring of the user's chosen wallpaper and theme to determine the tint color.

In the following scenarios, the home screen doesn't display the themed app icon, and instead displays the adaptive or standard app icon:

• If the user doesn't enable themed app icons.
• If your app doesn't provide a monochromatic app icon.
• If the launcher doesn't support themed app icons.

Ok so its the same adaptive icons used, there are no new requirements for app developers.

@Flummic wrote in #78 (comment):

Alright so as a result each Author has to submit 2 versions of the logo (?):

* Primary Logo
* Monochrome Logo without background (this enables the "Mockup-Creator" (Moderator) to create the status-bar-mockup and an adaptive mockup with the logo on different themed (colored) backgrounds

Yeap if there won't be any objections / changes till end of the day July 2nd, then let's take it as confirmed.

I.e. each logo author has to submit 2 versions:

• primary logo (in brand color or colors, suitable for an app launcher icon)
• no background white logo (for use in monochrome cases, i.e. notification icon and tinted icon)
• both should be in SVG format

Then a volunteer would process all 6 logos and prepare a voting presentation for each in the following format:

• Primary logo in brand color or colors
• An in-context mock-up: round app icon next to other apps with a monochrome icon in the status bar
• An in-context mock-up: squircle monochrome system-tinted app icon next to other apps

We still need a volunteer to do it! 🙏
As a first step it'd be great to produce and post here a example presentation, so that we can review and confirm it.

DRAFT: instructions for the 2nd round logo voting issue

Final Logo Voting is Now Open!

Shape the face of CoMaps! The top 6 logos authors from the first voting round #73 have refined their designs in #78 and now it's up to you to decide which one will represent CoMaps!

– Check Out the Designs: Take a look at the different logo options and see which one resonates with you the most
– Vote: Add 👍 reaction to your favorite designs
Please don't use other reactions like ❤️ or 👎 - they won't be counted!

Deadline
Voting closes July 11 Anywhere on Earth time (UTC-12:00). Make your voice heard!

Each logo is represented in 4 different situations: a big logo for website, app's splash screen etc.; a rounded Android icon, a small monochrome notification bar icon, a themed squircle iOS icon.

The project logo will be decided by the highest number of likes 👍
The winning logo could be further slightly refined / adapted / colored as needed for various cases.

P.S. this issue for voting only, feel free to discuss the logos and the process in #78

(thanks to @yannikbloscheck for preparing presentations for all logos!)

Also we need someone to prep the logo 4 "Co Compass" (by @nclm) for submission (make it svg and according to #78 (comment))

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

Also we need someone to prep the logo 4 "Co Compass" (by @nclm) for submission (make it svg and according to #78 (Kommentar))

I could probably do that (if there are no objections). Since it is pretty similar to the CO-Arrow (just with a needle and slightly different line width) - it should be relatively quick 👍

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

I like it - thank you for providing the draft! ❤️ Some minor adjustments/suggestions for discussion:

• I think it should be "...the top 6 .... authors... have refined..." instead of "has refined" in the first sentence (?)
• Maybe add a line explaining that we are mainly searching for the shape and that different color variations are possible (depending on the context, use-case, theme - e.g. a "Christmas-themed-icon" (for fun))
• Maybe also add a line that the "chosen logo" will possibly still undergo further refinement, once we actually use it and encounter situations where it does not perform as expected (?)
• Maybe add a "thank you"-Credit-Line for the Volunteer who created the Icon-Representation ❤️
• Add a line that clearly explains that the logo with the highest 👍-Count will be the "Winner" (just to make sure that the "Number of 👍" is the only deciding metric)

Also it might be important to clarify "how many" Variations an author may submit for the final voting 😄
Take me for example - I currently would like to:

• submit ~2 Versions of the CO-Arrow:
  • #83 (comment)
  • #83 (comment)
• submit ~2-3 Versions of the CM-Split (probably??):
  • #85 (comment)
  • #85 (comment)
  • #85 (comment)
• submit 1 Version of the Windy-Road-Pin:
  • #84 (comment)

If that is not wanted I will have to make some tough choices (for me) - which ideally I would want more user feedback on. I personally really like some of the "new" CM-Split-Variations that came out of the refinement-process and would have a hard time choosing just one 😄
So if anyone wants to help me out, feel free to add comments/votes in the refinement-issues linked above!
All the posts marked with "FAV" (Favorite) are logos I personally like at the moment... ^^

@Flummic great suggestions, thanks!

I've updated the draft accordingly.

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

We still need a volunteer to do it!

If really nobody else steps forward, I could do it.

• An in-context mock-up: round app icon next to other apps with a monochrome icon in the status bar

But I would need a screenshot for this point to base the mockup on, because as I don't use Android I don't know what the current look is. I have seen different variations of it and can of course to a web search for it, but I don't know what the curent default look it.

@yannikbloscheck wrote in #78 (comment):

But I would need a screenshot for this point to base the mockup on, because as I don't use Android I don't know what the current look is.

E.g. here are nice screenshots / mockups by @Flummic (I'd just make them a little less tall, so that overall the image is more magnified):
#83 (comment)

And actually it'd be great if one mock-up is Android and one is iOS!
One use round shapes, another - squircle.
One use colored icons, another - tinted monochrome.

@yannikbloscheck wrote in #78 (comment):

• An in-context mock-up: round app icon next to other apps with a monochrome icon in the status bar

But I would need a screenshot for this point to base the mockup on, because as I don't use Android I don't know what the current look is. I have seen different variations of it and can of course to a web search for it, but I don't know what the curent default look it.

That would be awesome! Regarding the Mockup I would point you to https://icon.kitchen/ - which is what I used so far to create my mockups (I then just take a screenshot of the result) -> it makes it really easy to create Circle/Squircle/IOS-Mockups and you can even easily create a Mockup of System-Themed Icons for light and dark mode (sadly only for Android) -> but maybe that would still be helpful (at least for the Android-Mockups) 👍
Should you need any help with the site, feel free to ask, but I think it is relatively "intuitive" to play around and find out what you can do with it :)

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

Also we need someone to prep the logo 4 "Co Compass" (by @nclm) for submission (make it svg and according to #78 (comment))

Here are the SVGs (and an Illustrator file) from the bunch of tests and variations I had done earlier. You can use them as a base for anything, no need for credit (I just made tests around someone else’s concept in the original thread).

I just tested the "themed-Icons" from IconKitchen in #99 with the light theme activated - it's not perfect, but I think it`ll do the job for our needs :)

@Flummic thanks!
At a quick glance the themed version looks almost like b&w (although it isn't).
Would it be possible to make it more obviously tinted / themed?

E.g. Google's examples
image

@pastk I see your point - sadly the only thing you can do on IconKitchen is to toggle the dark mode which will also change the icon-theme, but it does not look like the current examples from google, so maybe it would be better to use your example-picture and manually create a mockup by adding our logo in the same color schreme in there with a graphics-software 🤔

@Flummic wrote in #78 (comment):

Also it might be important to clarify "how many" Variations an author may submit for the final voting 😄

People expressed varied opinions on this matter, e.g.

My fear with letting others submitting variations is that it might lead to a lot of options to vote on, which could make it hard to find a winner.

Although it was said about others submitting variations - the same logic applies to original authors submitting multiple variations.

One of the points of the 1st round was to come up with a shortlist.

Personally, I'm not strictly against submitting variations, but the numbers should be limited. E.g. max 2 variations per logo. Hence we'll end up with 12 logos max, which is probably manageable :)

Also so far it seems like you are the only author who have expressed a wish to submit several variations.

(@oleg-rswll has previously suggested that anybody could submit variations too; I'm not sure if he wants to submit an extra variation for his own logo though )

So my suggestion would be to keep it to just 6 logos by default - unless more authors (who haven't touched this topic before) chime in with their strong opinions and ultimately change the balance.

That sounds alright to me - I don't want to overcomplicate things - my main struggle will be to choose between some of the "CM-Split"-Options in #85, since I personally grew to really like the new "pin"-design, but that is quite different from the OG-CM-Split-Design - even though it originated from it 😄
So ideally I would love to submit both one of the pin-designs and the refined OG-Design, but that is probably just me trying to avoid a decision😄

So what should we set as deadline for the final submissions? (Or did I missed the new one?)
And then based on that how many days should the vote be?

I'd say: Let's give people until end of Sunday (anywhere on earth time) to submit the final submission and then do a 4/5 day voting period, that gives enough time for folks to clean up/finalize designs and then enough time to get folks to submit their votes!

Sounds good to me - I`ll be away again until sunday, but I should manage to submit everything on sunday in the evening, if I only need to submit 2 basic logos without any mockups etc. as discussed above :)

Sunday as an end of submissions sounds good to me!

Then it'd take 1-2 days to process and standardize the submissions into all the necessary mock-ups etc. and setup a voting issue.

Then 3 days for a voting.
(I don't think more is necessary as the most of the people would come and vote immediately upon seeing a vote announcement, after that its just a trickle of new votes).

It means we'd have a winner by the end of the next week, so there will be a week to integrate the logo into the app (before the next release).

Sounds good! Then we should send out the final requirements for the logo basically today (iirc it was mainly about submitting two versions and not more to keep it fair?)

Anywhere on earth time for the end of submissions is not necessary as it seems all the authors are based in Europe and the US.

Deadline for final submissions: Sunday 23:00 UTC
sounds good?

As there have been no objections for #78 (comment), then the final logo submission requirements are:

Each logo author has to submit 2 versions of their final logo:

• primary logo (in brand color or colors, suitable for an app launcher icon)
• no background white logo (for use in monochrome cases, i.e. notification icon and tinted icon)
• both should be in SVG format

CC authors @Flummic @oleg-rswll @zyphlar @nclm

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

Deadline for final submissions: Sunday 23:00 UTC

Yep, if that's fine for the US folks then that works!

@yannikbloscheck if you're keen to do the mockups for the voting, then it'd be great if you can make and post one sample for any logo, so that we can consent on the approach 🙏

@pastk I'll make an example mockup with some generic icon later today

This would be how I would do the mockups

Looks good to me!

@Flummic @oleg-rswll @zyphlar WDYT?

The mockups look really nice to me! I will submit the logos once I'm back home tonight, which should hopefully be before 23:00, but I hope it is not a big deal if it is a little later :)

Do I submit them in this issue or in their own separate ones?

@Flummic wrote in #78 (comment):

Do I submit them in this issue or in their own separate ones?

It's probably best, if you submit them in their own topic. But in the end it's only important that it's clear what the final submission is.

@yannikbloscheck if the purple gradient is hard to accomplish evenly on all logos, can you pick a more neutral/flat scheme? Just to keep it fair

@zyphlar it's actually a white to light gray gradient and the background completely black. The system then tints the color (in this example purple) and makes the black background also a slight gradient. That's how the theming works (at least so far with the next iOS version it will be even more complicated).
But I'll try it to do all the mockups in a way that looks good and similar for all the icons. I want a fair competition and all of them to look their best.
Also as soon as I have created the mockups tomorrow I will post them here. So it doesn't just go directly to the voting. All icon designers will have the chance to look at their mockups and the ones of their competitors first. So there still will be opportunity to note complaints, if somebody thinks some icons are advantaged or disadvantaged in some way.

@yannikbloscheck wrote in #78 (comment):

@Flummic wrote in #78 (Kommentar):

Do I submit them in this issue or in their own separate ones?

It's probably best, if you submit them in their own topic. But in the end it's only important that it's clear what the final submission is.

Okay I managed to submit them all in their specific topics (just barely on time ^^) - I marked them all with "SUBMIT FOR VOTING" and tagged you with @yannikbloscheck in the post! If you have any questions feel free to reach out anytime!

Thank you for work with the mockups to enable this vote! ❤️

I've updated the voting issue draft #78 (comment) with sample mockups so that people know what to look for (especially the small notification icon could be missed otherwise).

I've put a tentative deadline date as July 11 AoE (Fri).
(assuming the voting will be open tomorrow or no later than a day after tomorrow)

Looks good?

We have the problem now that there never was a real vote submission for "CoMaps Arrow" #91. So the question is now how to proceed.
I think it should still be included in the vote. Therefore my suggestion would be to wait a few hours to hear from @oleg-rswll and if there is now response I basically recreate it as SVG for the vote. As far as I know he didn't really want to change it anyway, because otherwise there also would be maybe be an issue of giving one person extra time to refine their submission.

He was busy with the GA announcement and now its early morning in the US, so let's wait.

Perhaps you can prep all other logos in the meantime.

Already prepared the others logos this morning. Just waiting for the missing logo to come in to post them here so there is a level playing field.

The missing icon came in. So we have everything now.
I noticed some colors deviated in shades from the brand colors, but I left them how they are as artistic freedom. Only thing I made sure is that the background green really is always our primary brand color green.
These are the mockups (just in alphabetical order for now). I tried to treat them all the same while having them stay true to their own look. If somebody notices something, that seems very wrong with their icon, please mention it now.

@yannikbloscheck thanks so much! For Simple Arrow - Android (Circle) can you make the broken circle concentrically centered like the others? I think it's mathematically centered but not visually centered.

For my Continents version it's true that most of the colors aren't brand colors, but yes the "background" (outer ring and coastlines) is intended to be the same brand green as the others.

@zyphlar wrote in #78 (comment):

For Simple Arrow - Android (Circle) can you make the broken circle concentrically centered like the others? I think it's mathematically centered but not visually centered.

I noticed the same thing and asked @oleg-rswll as the author, if he rather wants me to follow the shape line for the round icon in Android mockup instead (basically centering it as if it was a full circle), but he preferred this version. It's also not even mathematically centered, but already adjusted a bit to the left side but not completely.
If there is some agreement or just change of mind by the author before the vote, that it would be better to follow the circle shape for the round icon in the Android mockup, I would be very happy to quickly change that.
Also small adjustments like that of course still would be possible after the vote, if it gets chosen.

Wow @yannikbloscheck - they all look great! Thank you so much for your effort!! 🙏😊

They only thing I noticed is that maybe the "Pin" in the status bar looks like it is a tiny bit "too big" compared to the other status bar icons?
But it already looks great as is and I do completely trust your judgement here!

@Flummic wrote in #78 (comment):

They only thing I noticed is that maybe the "Pin" in the status bar looks like it is a tiny bit "too big" compared to the other status bar icons?

The status bar icons are actually all exactly the same hight, but I see what you mean. I think it is because the shape is so similar to the wifi icon, but different at the same time.

After the winning design is chosen will there be the opportunity to tweak the icon for fit and finish? Like a slight drop shadows or gradient to enhance legibility, or for iOS specifically incorporating the liquid glass effect via Apple's Icon Composer?
If so, I'd be happy to propose/share some options.

@Careylin I believe so. All aspects of the app are always works in progress, these are just important general/big choices.

@yannikbloscheck I customized my "Continents" status tray icon to be more legible at that size, could you use that version? Also, I didn't notice it at first, could you add status bar icons to the purple screenshots as well?

The continents one will probably look better as Android icon if without a stroke around the continents (i.e. retain the stroke only for the big version for splash, website etc.). Just my 2c, its up to @zyphlar

@Careylin for sure - in my opinion this vote's main purpose is to find the "shape" for the CoMaps Logo. All the other aspects (Colour, slight corner radius, shading etc.) can and probably should be refined/adjusted once we start using it and see how it behaves in different real life scenarios :)

Ideally our draft for the Voting-Issue already reflects this: #78 (comment)
We currently write: "The winning logo could be further slightly refined / adapted / colored as needed for various cases."

Would you change something in that text to make it more clear?

@pastk @yannikbloscheck yeah I'm okay with removing the outer green line from the circular app icon (just increase the logo by 10% so the outer edge is cropped)

I've actually meant the inner stroke around the continents 😊
In a small size it looks like the edges are just blurred, which is not very good.

Made the wanted adjustments to the Continents and Pin status bar icons.

@zyphlar wrote in #78 (comment):

@yannikbloscheck Also, I didn't notice it at first, could you add status bar icons to the purple screenshots as well?

iOS only has system status bar icons. Apps don't have their own. That's why it isn't included there.

So looks like everything ready to setup the voting issue?

Somebody wants to run a random shuffle to determine order of the logos?

And then we can start announcing later today e.g. around US morning time.

I ran the randomization based on the names @yannikbloscheck used above:

1. Needle
2. Windy
3. Simple Arrow
4. Arrow
5. Continents
6. Pin

In [5]: import random
In [6]: logos = ['Arrow', 'Continents', 'Needle', 'Pin', 'Simple Arrow', 'Windy'
 ⋮ ]
In [7]: random.shuffle(logos)
In [8]: logos
Out[8]: ['Needle', 'Windy', 'Simple Arrow', 'Arrow', 'Continents', 'Pin']

Just an observation: I believe the requirement here #78 (comment) was that the logo should work well on a comaps-green background, presumably because it will be used in places full of this green, such as the website or splash screen, and currently the continents logo is not shown this way. So I just wanted to point this out to make sure there are no issues down the road if it happened to win the vote, such as with the website integration :-)

@riadok it had been discussed here: #87 (comment)

The voting issue is ready! #102

Any last minute comments?

@riadok for a comaps-green background, the white version (or a new white-greyscale version) could be used. My intent with the full-color version is that it can be nicely used standalone on plain backgrounds, but I designed the white version for this requirement (it's just not represented in these decided mockups)

@pastk wrote in #78 (comment):

I've actually meant the inner stroke around the continents 😊 In a small size it looks like the edges are just blurred, which is not very good.

Since it's a bit late now I think I'll leave it as is, but definitely any used logo can/will undergo tweaks for any given application (even android vs iphone vs website.) My intent with the full color is that it could be used as a full size splash, and as the size or complexity decreases it will obviously need to be simplified. iPhone screens are extremely high-rez so it'd need a little testing to determine the best look.

"Compass Maps" may not be the best fit, it looks like the Safari logo, and makes the app seem like a compass app.

Special thanks to everyone who participated, expressed their ideas and proposed logos and also huge thanks fellow contributors who made a great effort in organizing the contest as best and fair as possible.

Can #102 become closed? I seen it in list of open issues, voted, then realized that vote closed long time ago.

Good point, closed it!