Of course, no logo is perfect in every context. With the potential for different colored backgrounds, printed materials, usage on other sites, it’s handy to have some alternative formats.
And these days, a single logo won’t cut it. There’s Twitter avatars, iOS touch icons, dock icons, and favicons! Oh my! We made sure to design a system that would support the level of flexibility necessary.
The Evolution
The original logo won’t completely disappear, but it’s no longer the logo. It will evolve to serve as a more supplemental signature for Sifter. In fact, the current logo evolved out of the shape of the Sifter.
Today vs. Tomorrow
More than anything, we just wanted to let people know about the change to ensure we don’t catch anybody off guard. If the touchy feely stuff behind logos bores you, then you can stop here. However, if you’re the type that’s curious about the thinking behind the identity, then read on.
A new logo by itself is meaningless. Right now, it’s just a shape and text. What we do in the coming months and years will be what instills the identity with any meaning. That said, there’s a very deliberate vision and set of intentions behind this process. We never had a clear vision of where we wanted to take Sifter or the attributes that we felt could define Sifter. We have that vision now.
Software development is an inherently intangible process. You can see things come to life on a screen, but there’s no real texture, weight, or feeling. In a way, it’s not as fulfilling as creating something physical in the real world. There’s something to be said for traditional hand-held non-electric tools like wrenches, planers, or even screw drivers that we use to create those items.
They last forever, and they’re incredibly reliable. They get scratched, bent, or even rust a bit, but they keep on trucking. They just work. Of course, you’d be crazy to only use manual tools these days, but something about them lingers. Even if you have the world’s best power tools, you’ll always have a set of manual tools as well. They’re classic and timeless. They don’t break. They don’t run out of batteries. You can pass them down for generations. That’s awesome. These days, digital tools are acquired one day and shut down the next. Other times, the businesses behind tools simply run out of money and shut down. There’s no longer a guarantee of permanence or longevity. So there’s some great facets to admire about these classic tools.
Moreover, there’s just something truly satisfying about working with your hands to create something. (No, keyboards don’t count.) Sifter is ultimately about making and crafting things, but it’s all digital. You can’t hold it. You can’t touch it. While Sifter won’t ever be on the level of a solid steel wrench, we can certainly strive to pay homage to the elegance and timelessness of those tools in our own way. We wanted an identity that embodied the classic nature of manual tools while still being a bit modern to tie in the digital nature of software.
That nod to the craft and manual part of creating anything is something that we’re fully embracing. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Behind the scenes, we’ve spent years researching workflows, talking to customers and thinking about how to create a tool that will help people make their own software and then make it better. We want to help you craft software with your team. We want to take greater care in how we craft our own software. We want all software to be better, and this new identity is just a little piece of a larger vision for how we hope to contribute to making it happen.