Re: Public concerns over new W3C logo

Hi everyone,

Here are my two cents as a former W3C team person, former fellow and 
long-time contributor.

The new logo is problematic for me because it can accidentally make 
people I teach uncomfortable. I often used the W3C logo in my 
presentations, and if only 1% of people see what I see, that is frankly 
unacceptable to me.

I want people to use W3C, and especially WAI, resources without being 
uncomfortable. As a community, we should aim to include everyone.

At the same time, I should have spoken up earlier. When I got wind of 
the logo a few months ago, I saw the problematic parts immediately. The 
penis and balls, the undefined shape which makes it much harder to 
recognize, and the text that couldn’t be smaller than is needed to 
explain the logo, because the logo is not self-explanatory anymore. 
(Nothing could underline the last point more than the treatment of the 
logo shape on the WAI resources which puts W3C underneath it.) I did not 
speak up because the shortcomings were so obvious to me. I thought 
someone else would certainly do it. I was wrong.

W3C is not Nike or Apple, who can divorce themselves from their names 
and exist as shapes. This will never work. It’s not mainstream enough. 
That is OK.

The change feels unnecessary to me, as the W3C logo with the connected 
W3 and the negative space C had become iconic in its own right. I am 
sure brand recognition was extraordinary. (I have been a huge fan of the 
2022 treatment, which clarified lines. I found that to be a pretty 
successful redesign of a well-known logo.)

It’s true that rebranding always gets a backlash, and any new logo 
would have some backlash. I feel for the team that was involved in the 
project and who I, and others who didn’t speak up earlier, let down.

I don’t have any suggestions for how to address this issue. I think 
the W3C should have better things to do than worry about its logo, and I 
can’t remember that this was even a discussion point at any time 
before the redesign. Yes, the old logo wasn’t exciting (I would not 
agree with this), but at least it wasn’t controversial.

I hope we find a way through this as a community and that the slightly 
icky feeling stops when showing off W3C resources, either because of 
resignation/acceptance of the new logo or because we can address the 
concerns.

👋 Eric




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