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Logos

One-Winged EagleOne-Winged Eagle
in Design
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD AND THE WORD WAS GOD AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD

But more seriously, it's a cryin' shame that Canon got rid of Guan Yin in their logo.
image
image
"Kanon" is literally Japanese for Guan Yin.

Comments

  • AnonusAnonus
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    Maybe they didn't think it could be simplified? That old logo seems kind of tricky to reproduce...

    (Then again, Starbucks' siren has been effectively simplified)
  • Section42LSection42L
    We can do anything if we do it together.
    Starbucks' siren has many possible interpretations design-wise, though.

    The original Canon logo really only has that one interpretation, at least without losing the iconic qualities of that image.
  • Princess AlicePrincess Alice
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    For some reason my thought was "if Canon is Guan Yin, what the hell does that make Nikon?"
  • One-Winged EagleOne-Winged Eagle
    Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    "Nikon" is a merging of the first two syllables of Nippon Kogaku, or "Japan Optical." No real meaning.
  • Princess AlicePrincess Alice
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    I actually did know that, oddly enough, but that didn't stop my mind from wandering into silly places.
  • MorvenMorven
    I would not be surprised if someone had invented a meaning for it, though.
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    who is Guan Yin?
  • One-Winged EagleOne-Winged Eagle
    Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    A bodhisattva who embodies compassion, mercy, and unconditional love, venerated in many Asian Buddhist traditions and worshipped by Daoists. Also known as "Thousand-Armed Guan Yin." In Japan she's known as Kannon or Kanzeon. 

    If you see a female character with many arms, chances are her image is based off of Guan Yin.
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    Ah.

    Interesting.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    Magic Jane said:

    who is Guan Yin?

    A deity in Chinese Buddhism, I think.  Wikipedia identifies Guan Yin (or as I call her in Cantonese, Guun Yum) as a "goddess of mercy".  I best remember her for showing mercy toward Sun Wukong a number of times in the Journey to the West.
    Section42L said:

    The original Canon logo really only has that one interpretation, at least without losing the iconic qualities of that image.

    Would that make it the canonical interpretation?
  • One-Winged EagleOne-Winged Eagle
    Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    Her figure is vaguely comparable to the Virgin Mary: a paragon of love and peace, who is loved by all.

    Indeed, when Christianity was suppressed in Edo Japan, they continued to worship in secret, venerating figures of Guan Yin that had crosses hidden somewhere inconspicuous.
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    Unfortunately I credit pretty much everything I know about her to this one live-action Cantonese-language production of Journey to the West.

    It has a catchy theme tune.  If i felt unlazy I could look up specifically which apparently a 1996 version starring Dicky Cheung; this is very distinctively the theme tune
  • One-Winged EagleOne-Winged Eagle
    edited 2014-12-08 03:16:45
    Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    I realize Guan Yin is a complicated image, but see that's the thing. If you bring back Guan Yin in this day and age, your logo stops being a logo and starts being something akin to a coat-of-arms.

    You stand out.
  • Salix BabylonikaSalix Babylonika
    https://i.imgur.com/IoGc2jA.jpg
    You assume that takes priority over the logo being easily replicated.
  • One-Winged EagleOne-Winged Eagle
    Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
    Of course. Identity is very important.
  • AnonusAnonus
    I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    ^^There is, after all, a reason this took the place of this.
  • PatchAwfulPatchAwful
    The Mysterious Ballerina and her Tree Stump Ghosts
    There's been a general trend recently towards changing logos to become more simplistic, for easier digital use

    I think its a shame really. A few fair creative designs have been lost.
  • TachyonTachyon
    imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    Anonus said:

    ^^There is, after all, a reason this took the place of this.

    To be fair that second one there is hideous.
  • TachyonTachyon
    imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    Actually i hope this is not a logo i am supposed to like, because i can't remember ever feeling so angry at a logo before.

    It doesn't even look like "DC"
  • Princess AlicePrincess Alice
    You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    It's supposed to have a stupid gradient, like so:

    image

    But it's designed in such a way that makes it basically impossible to render in a single color -_-
  • TachyonTachyon
    imagei will watch the heck outta this pumpkin patch
    Ah... i can see what they were going for, now.

    Feeling calmer.

    Still though, the single colour version is completely unreadable.

    Also, why gradients.  Why do they persist?
  • glennmagusharveyglennmagusharvey
    it looks like a tool has been stuck into it
  • lee4hmzlee4hmz
    ⚠ THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I read someplace (and I'm not sure now if that source was reliable, but oh well) that the reason a lot of logos went abstract in the late 1960s and early 1970s was that the photocopier had just come out, and elaborate logos didn't show up well on early Xerox machines.
  • CalicaCalica
    Sup bitches, witches, Haters, and trolls.
    lee4hmz said:I read someplace (and I'm not sure now if that source was reliable, but oh well) that the reason a lot of logos went abstract in the late 1960s and early 1970s was that the photocopier had just come out, and elaborate logos didn't show up well on early Xerox machines.

    I've definitely heard that this is why NASA switched away from the meatball for a while, and that this     pissed off a lot of the older employees.
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