New Photoshop Logo
Adobe hasn’t missed a trick with their new logo for Photoshop. Let’s see… it’s a P for Photoshop, it’s a speech bubble and it’s an Apple Aqua interface button. It’s also carved rendered from the hardest plastic in the virtual world and refracts like a diamond. It’s reminiscent of the PBS logo, The Open University and half of E.T.’s head (?).
Unfortunately all this consideration has been a waste of time. Reading some of the 90+ comments on the blog of Adobe Photoshop’s Senior Product Manager, John Nack, there seems to be universal hatred for it:
“Um. Yeah. You know, the Dude abides and all that, but...that icon is poop. Plain, fly-drawing, stinking poop. And the flurry of trademark/registered symbols on it really does a lot to emphasize the poopitude. They should change the name to iPhotoshopChat™©® and throw in some pinstripes and an IM client to make the image complete. Cripes, to think this is the product of the company that actually develops Photoshop. Wow. Boil my eyes now, please.”
Um, boil mine too. Can anyone defend it?
David Rainbird
Posted on Wednesday, 19th of September 2007 Permalink Comment (24)
24 Comments
I don’t understand is why they’re changing it NOW. They just changed it recently. And does this mean other Adobe products will end up with a similar treatment?
Posted by Dale Cruse on Wednesday, September 2007 at 1:51 PM
They are still using the whole suite of application icons that they recently launched, I think this is more of a marketing device. Although it doesn’t appear on the packaging, so they already have a consistency problem…
Posted by David Rainbird on Wednesday, September 2007 at 2:29 PM
Why care so much? It fits ok in my Dock and would do well in that glassy Vista environment. As long as I recognize it clearly when I get working, then it’s fine with me. It’s not some sort of lifestyle icon or an airliner or whatever. It’s just a work tool.
Posted by Janne on Wednesday, September 2007 at 2:32 PM
Yes, why change it now? As a designer, the clean Pantone binders, as well as the clean Adobe icons and identity, felt appropriate. Style changes so rapidly, and attempting to keep up is futile. Going back in time five or seven years to the Aqua iMac isn’t going to help. If Adobe were going to find an identity, perhaps looking at MTV or Illy would provide some inspiration on how to take the current and apply it in a consistent yet fresh way continually. Ick.
Posted by Nicholas Paredes on Thursday, September 2007 at 4:15 PM
Looks like it was done using Kais Power Tools. Eck. Don’t these companies know that the 3D logo look is a passing fad just like the oval swoosh was during the dot com boom?
Posted by J Cos on Thursday, September 2007 at 6:13 PM
This logo sucks so hard it’s creating an afterburner. In my stomach that is. This is what makes people take my profession less and less serious. Shame.
Posted by vos broekema on Thursday, September 2007 at 8:28 PM
This would have to be a fake…
Posted by German W. Bauer on Thursday, September 2007 at 9:05 PM
I agree ... FAKE!
(… it has to be!)
(no ... really - please be fake)
Posted by Xander on Thursday, September 2007 at 9:10 PM
OMG! Horrible, just horrible!
Posted by Johnny Macri on Thursday, September 2007 at 9:37 PM
guys! get a life
Posted by fred capio on Thursday, September 2007 at 10:05 PM
It IS a shame to have such a crappy icon for such a nifty product, but really, it’s the product and not the packaging that is important.
Posted by Beerzie Boy on Thursday, September 2007 at 10:35 PM
This is the first time I’ve been compelled to leave a comment on a blog site. I feel that strongly about it. I honestly thought it was a mock up student project, but after seeing it on numerous sites, it struck me to what it REALLY was. I started to think the “PS” square that is used now was pretty clever. Someone should tell the person who designed this “new” logo to start taking night classes in graphic design. I can’t imagine having to see this logo everyday in my dock.
Posted by Andey on Friday, September 2007 at 4:58 AM
Why? It looks like someone took the iChat logo and poked it, and voila! It is such a huge departure from the rest of the branding, I really don’t understand the point of it. Also, it doesn’t really fit the “See whats possible” tagline either. Am I supposed to look through the hole and see something magical?
Posted by appalled on Friday, September 2007 at 3:00 PM
Beerzie Boy comments: “It IS a shame to have such a crappy icon for such a nifty product, but really, it’s the product and not the packaging that is important.”
I think you’ve completely missed the point of graphic design.
Posted by Rachel on Saturday, September 2007 at 3:23 AM
This logo seems at odds with itself, on the one hand the nice smooth contours and then a rather irritating spike. As an initial idea the combination of the P and a speech bubble would definitely not be a ‘eureka’ moment for me, it would time to move onto idea number 2.
Posted by PeteD on Sunday, September 2007 at 11:58 PM
looks like a hard plastic saber-toothed tiger head
Posted by cleek on Tuesday, September 2007 at 1:43 AM
Really, did the element table styling of the current CS3 icons really ‘feather your selection’??
I don’t have the deep hatred for the logo that some on this post are having, but will wait to see what the rest of the suite get by way of icons. As a shape i think it could be rather exciting. People keep stating that the gel effect is ‘seven’ years ago, and while you and i are over it, get ready for a whole lot more in the coming years. The gel effect ain’t over yet.
Posted by Julius on Wednesday, September 2007 at 7:53 AM
Tolleson Design in San Francisco claim ownership:
http://www.tolleson.com/project.php?uid=CCD918&referto=featured&client=&discipline
Posted by Tiger on Tuesday, October 2007 at 11:02 PM
Nice Post! Here is something more about Photoshop New logo at this blog. Take a look at that
http://www.logoblog.org/wordpress/new-adobe-photoshop-logo/
Posted by suzan on Friday, October 2007 at 6:29 AM
"I don’t know what are they smoking, but I want it!”
http://dimitridze.deviantart.com/art/New-Photoshop-Logo-66558714
Posted by Hairgel_Addict on Sunday, October 2007 at 2:54 PM
It’s not elegant at all. and what designer actually puts Typography as “not important”?… I still think the type based logo on CS3 is better. this IM-style is so last-era…
Posted by tek on Monday, October 2007 at 1:06 AM
The question I have is, what’s a speech bubble got to do with Photoshop? Does Adobe have plans to buy Skype from Ebay, and create the ultimate VoIP client with a multi-layered GUI, complete with masks and filters, or have they simply jumped on the (wrong) Web 2.0 bandwagon?
Posted by v.dog on Tuesday, October 2007 at 6:42 PM
This would have to be a fake.
Posted by property bodrum on Saturday, May 2008 at 9:02 AM
omg...hope its a fake
Posted by CasCad on Tuesday, May 2008 at 2:10 PM
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