Ok, here is one. This is what you get with a phone, waiting for family to exit the dreaded grocery store, LMAO. In other news, one can make stuff on a phone!
That big gear, stylized some is distinctive. On a chip, can't miss it. Like the beanie was.
The text builds on P2, and while this sketch and idea are eally lame, I am trying to illustrate linking art to words to get something relevant that people can build on, identify with.
In this example, it may be known one day as the beast. Fine. Marketing people will take that and run.
They do not need much, but they do need more than P2. That can be anything catchy and fun, positive, resonant.
Remember how the HOT chip sticks in your mind?
That needs to happen with this one, only positive obviously.
Agreed. Put words there, shrink part number. Those who want it will read it, otherwise the words are part of brand awareness, and that is rooted in what the thing being branded is.
That's getting much too fine for a logo, and implies each core has 8io, which is a quite wrong implication.
I do like the idea of getting OCTA - 8 into the graphic somehow, as the 8 actually means something related to the device.
'2' has no relationship to what the device actually does, ( and it is not even a true revision 2 either...)
Stick with clean and simple -- fancy graphics will not increase chip sales. I think it's fair to say that the beanie logo on the P1 may have impeded sales unnecessarily.
@jmg, yeah I thought it too. I had down time, just having fun. And it is a beast.
I am unsure whether art can help, I am quite sure "P2" is not enough. And not speaking to what goes on the chip. Whatever it is, so long as it is unmistakable, it will suffice.
Other references do matter, and some real effort there will pay off.
Call me old fashioned but the modern day trend for random, meaningless, squiggly patterns and blobs dreamt up by graphic designers for logos is really annoying. As is random wobbly fonts.
The problem for me is that they have no connection to the product or the company. They are just random disconnected squiggles and blobs. Could be any company, any product, any graphic designer.
Sometimes these things have a connection and an impact. Like the way the "L"s are done in "Parallax". Who had that idea? A stroke of genius.
Sadly I have no better suggestions. Seems to me that just the "Parallax" thing and "P2" would do. Perhaps with the usual suffix indicating the package type and such.
Ok, here is one. This is what you get with a phone, waiting for family to exit the dreaded grocery store, LMAO. In other news, one can make stuff on a phone!
That big gear, stylized some is distinctive. On a chip, can't miss it. Like the beanie was.
The text builds on P2, and while this sketch and idea are eally lame, I am trying to illustrate linking art to words to get something relevant that people can build on, identify with.
In this example, it may be known one day as the beast. Fine. Marketing people will take that and run.
They do not need much, but they do need more than P2. That can be anything catchy and fun, positive, resonant.
Remember how the HOT chip sticks in your mind?
That needs to happen with this one, only positive obviously.
Perhaps instead of P2 it shold be "P8 - The drive gear for your Microcontroller Project?
While the bold letters "P2" stand out, and while I like them too, they are not a logo. Take my initials for instance "pbj",once again it is not a logo. But now take those three letters, arrange them vertically and horizontally, encircle it, add a +, and presto, you have a logo. (Look at it sideways and you are looking at the guy).
This logo had to be simple as my PCB package only had sans serif font,but the logo is clear and compact.
Since it costs nothing to discuss logos, could we come up with something that is clear, simple compact, and distinctive for the P2?
I notice the Intel sticker on my laptop has a simple "intel" within a freehand style loop, the words "CORE i7" (inside) and distinctive shape and colors. So it doesn't have to be complicated, nor should it be either.
Perhaps instead of P2 it shold be "P8 - The drive gear for your Microcontroller Project?
I prefer something with 8 over 2, as the new-user question will be "why is it called P2 ?"
Of course, some will say the P2 series is not limited to 8 cores,
In this unicode world, there are also choices for the old *
S2 and S3 have worked for the Scribbler series. I don't know why P2 wouldn't work for the Propeller.
But any logo has to be coupled with an extensive ad campaign to gain brand recognition. No logo, however good, will accomplish that by itself.
Keep it simple, and flog it mercilessly in the media. Otherwise, your logo might just as well be a pile of poo.
And, for heaven's sake, keep the part number short. P2X8C4M64P will NOT resonate with anyone! I mean, c'mon, Parallax, it's not like you have to differentiate among a hundred different MCUs. You've got just two!
The trouble with the number 8 is that it is not descriptive but it does evoke an 8-bit CPU in my mind, think STM8, Z8, H8/xxx, HCS08, etc
I don't have a problem with the part number, even the Z8 had a longer part number to describe and thereby specify the part (Z84C4006PEG). The part number is no more prominent than the batch markings etc.
It's the big bold equivalent of "Z8" that really needs to be a logo. Of course we will always call it P2 even if the part number(s) are long so as to describe and specify the part, and even if we called it something different, still we would just say "P2" just as we say "Prop" for the P8X32A.
The trouble with the number 8 is that it is not descriptive but it does evoke an 8-bit CPU in my mind, think STM8, Z8, H8/xxx, HCS08, etc
True (and there are also STC8, EFM8, all of them 8-bit MCUs)
- but at least '8' relates to something - does P8C better help connect the dots that 8 is 8-Cores ?
Avoid depending upon the digit 8 to convey 8 cores, it won't work. It worked for 32-bits and 64-bits, but you can't go back to a simple 8.
As a suggestion and by way of example you can use a word instead like "Octo" but maybe the Greek form "OKTO". Of course that is no need to say P anything then, just OKTO. (I understand that we could have samples of OKTO in Oktober? Maybe we can celebrate with our own Oktoberfest )
Avoid depending upon the digit 8 to convey 8 cores, it won't work. It worked for 32-bits and 64-bits, but you can't go back to a simple 8.
As a suggestion and by way of example you can use a word instead like "Octo" but maybe the Greek form "OKTO". Of course that is no need to say P anything then, just OKTO. (I understand that we could have samples of OKTO in Oktober? Maybe we can celebrate with our own Oktoberfest )
Yes, I had mused about octo/octa et al, but that fits less well to the purely hypothetical future props, of who-knows-how-many cores.
Of course a future prop could well choose to stay with 8 cores, but make them asymmetric. In many uses, cores will be Smart-Pin-Servers, and not really need all that spare silicon ...
eg The cordic already gives a slower, shared resource, so expensive-in-silicon opcodes could off load to there, becoming slower but shared.
S2 and S3 have worked for the Scribbler series. I don't know why P2 wouldn't work for the Propeller.
But any logo has to be coupled with an extensive ad campaign to gain brand recognition. No logo, however good, will accomplish that by itself.
-Phil
And perhaps the most famous example of simplicity: BASIC Stamp 1 and BASIC Stamp 2. The big part numbers were for the individual PBASIC interpreter chips.
"To do a logo right, there needs to be some statements that position the product and that can drive, support the art."
So the original P2 logo design is great, simple, bold and memorable - all well and good. It goes on the IC chip itself, but not necessarily on the packaging label, ad copy or marketing. who else but us "insiders" really know anything about "P2" - it means little to anyone that uses a Arduino Uno, Nano, Beagle Bone, or any of those other chips.
The packaging, ad copy and marketing needs to use a good "shop" name - thinking "Super8"(way over used), "Merlin8" or just "Merlin" Something along these lines would be a great start, most proper names are now used anyway, so some distinguishing feature(s) would be needed to help P2 be differentiated in the market place.
Along that line, I like the Tiny Tutorials being promoted for the P1. Simple. short, educational, (but not domineering tech-wise), and easy on the eyes & pocket book. We "can-do" this project using the Prop, mentality. Great!
I like the gear because it encapsulates and focus you on the "P2" brand while showing 8 parts (the teeth) and the gear itself is a symbol of Work/Function/Coordination.
As for "8" being misinterpreted as "8-bit", I simply don't think this will happen.
Well, Oakley stylized an "O" for theirs. Sgi did same, but that was arguably crappy. I have a fun poster, one of those hand drawn, "look at us a cool company", peeps doing fun stuff, sketches of cool hardware, and the best: those three letters drawn on the marketing persons Smile! (That sketch was good too. Everyone knew exactly who she was.) Many were very sore at seeing this get replaced:
That poster got out the door and did more for the brand than the letters ever did. Anyway, plenty of examples of type as Brand out there. Work "P2" and see what comes!
Light stylizing on "P2" could make a logo. But, it has to be cool to work, or it is the sgi thing again. All they did was pick a funky font with a very odd, like, "seriously?" type "g" in it.
I like the gear because it encapsulates and focus you on the "P2" brand while showing 8 parts (the teeth) and the gear itself is a symbol of Work/Function/Coordination.
A benefit of the gear image, is it brings in the OCTA nature
In Peter's P2 DOCs there is already a 8-sided gear, that could be used as an outline-guide for the chip branding.
ie just render that centre 'gear' image, in Black/white ?
If we zoom back a little, to a big market picture, the P2 core itself is not going to be a strong sales point. Once you work in any HLL, the core is even more hidden.
It is the 8 Cores, and the 64 Smart Pin cells that really set the chip aside from others.
A few comments:
1) No offense to those with forum accounts, but is the logo intended to appease forumistas or entice potential users with clear, branded literature, websites, and other logo resident material as they are inspired to step in to the Parallax realm? In my opinion, the marketing of the P2 needs to be way beyond the forums. The forums will obviously be a springboard for usage, but I highly doubt Parallax can recover costs with forum only sales.
2) If going with a logo, is there an intent to trademark? The guidelines for trademarks actually offer some insightful tips to protecting your brand, that also help with making a smart logo. https://www.uspto.gov/trademark
3) Of all the suggestions, I like potatohead's simple gear logo. Plain, simple and defining. Minimal fluff for the professionals, but Prop Core based for the true Parallax fans.
4) Do not worry about the long MPN. Heck, for a buffer IC, a valid MPN is "74LVC3G34DP,125". Or a Silicon Labs Gecko chip example of "EFM32GG330F1024G-E-QFN64R"
It would be interesting to know what percentage of P1 total sales are to small qty buyers, what percentage goes in to Parallax products (FLiP, S3, etc), and what percentage goes to "volume" customers. I am on the low end; my largest single P1 order was 28 QFNs for the first build of my M44D40+ modules.
I agree with JonnyMac, especially as it regards the beanie.
As a branding exercise, this one is close to following that old definition of insanity.
Approaching this similarly as someone would for branding Skype, Facebook, etc is plain dumb.
This is a strategic chance to get a 're-do' or mulligan and avoid a 7lot of the baggage of the Propeller 1.
Intel has the I7, AMD has Ryzen, ARM has Cortex, Microchip has PIC, so why in the heck would anyone think of branding their newest product as Version 2!, P2xyz32garghs1.....?
Worrying about fonts, dots vs dashes, etc is being penny-wise and pound foolish methinks.
For all the time and money spent on this project, why not get someone from the Bay Area who knows branding, and get them to come in for a couple days and brainstorm out some out of the box ideas.
Of course, that would mean some people would have give buy-in to that, and it might rub some ego's wrong.
This is Chip and Ken's baby, so that might be hard to come to grips with.
However once you get over that sticking point, a world of possibilities would open up.
Heck, off the cuff Parallax Synapse is an attention grabber, 8 core 32 bit, 64 SmartPins, IoT, blah blah.
Gee, its a shame its impossible the Prop2 can't somehow do BlockChain so that could be added into the buzzword salad....
I really think going the easy way and just making it the P2 is going to simply be met by any and everyone as 'oh that thing, guess they updated it somehow' sort of reception.
Stick with clean and simple -- fancy graphics will not increase chip sales. I think it's fair to say that the beanie logo on the P1 may have impeded sales unnecessarily.
Comments
That big gear, stylized some is distinctive. On a chip, can't miss it. Like the beanie was.
The text builds on P2, and while this sketch and idea are eally lame, I am trying to illustrate linking art to words to get something relevant that people can build on, identify with.
In this example, it may be known one day as the beast. Fine. Marketing people will take that and run.
They do not need much, but they do need more than P2. That can be anything catchy and fun, positive, resonant.
Remember how the HOT chip sticks in your mind?
That needs to happen with this one, only positive obviously.
-Phil
That's getting much too fine for a logo, and implies each core has 8io, which is a quite wrong implication.
I do like the idea of getting OCTA - 8 into the graphic somehow, as the 8 actually means something related to the device.
'2' has no relationship to what the device actually does, ( and it is not even a true revision 2 either...)
I am unsure whether art can help, I am quite sure "P2" is not enough. And not speaking to what goes on the chip. Whatever it is, so long as it is unmistakable, it will suffice.
Other references do matter, and some real effort there will pay off.
Call me old fashioned but the modern day trend for random, meaningless, squiggly patterns and blobs dreamt up by graphic designers for logos is really annoying. As is random wobbly fonts.
The problem for me is that they have no connection to the product or the company. They are just random disconnected squiggles and blobs. Could be any company, any product, any graphic designer.
Sometimes these things have a connection and an impact. Like the way the "L"s are done in "Parallax". Who had that idea? A stroke of genius.
Sadly I have no better suggestions. Seems to me that just the "Parallax" thing and "P2" would do. Perhaps with the usual suffix indicating the package type and such.
Perhaps instead of P2 it shold be "P8 - The drive gear for your Microcontroller Project?
This logo had to be simple as my PCB package only had sans serif font,but the logo is clear and compact.
Since it costs nothing to discuss logos, could we come up with something that is clear, simple compact, and distinctive for the P2?
I notice the Intel sticker on my laptop has a simple "intel" within a freehand style loop, the words "CORE i7" (inside) and distinctive shape and colors. So it doesn't have to be complicated, nor should it be either.
EDIT: Here is a simple P2 logo - but it doesn't maximize the area available for it on the chip package.
I've created a page where I will paste images of different logos.
I prefer something with 8 over 2, as the new-user question will be "why is it called P2 ?"
Of course, some will say the P2 series is not limited to 8 cores,
In this unicode world, there are also choices for the old *
eg : U+274A gives this
P❊8
http://xahlee.info/comp/unicode_stars.html
hmm ? clipped that
try a repeat for google search test later : P❊8 P❊8 P❊8 P❊8 P❊8 P❊8 P❊8
retry paste:
But any logo has to be coupled with an extensive ad campaign to gain brand recognition. No logo, however good, will accomplish that by itself.
Keep it simple, and flog it mercilessly in the media. Otherwise, your logo might just as well be a pile of poo.
And, for heaven's sake, keep the part number short. P2X8C4M64P will NOT resonate with anyone! I mean, c'mon, Parallax, it's not like you have to differentiate among a hundred different MCUs. You've got just two!
-Phil
8 cores
8 * 8 Pinjas (= pin ninjas)
8 * 8 * 8 kB RAM
8 years gestation
Numerologists would agree
I don't have a problem with the part number, even the Z8 had a longer part number to describe and thereby specify the part (Z84C4006PEG). The part number is no more prominent than the batch markings etc.
It's the big bold equivalent of "Z8" that really needs to be a logo. Of course we will always call it P2 even if the part number(s) are long so as to describe and specify the part, and even if we called it something different, still we would just say "P2" just as we say "Prop" for the P8X32A.
- but at least '8' relates to something - does P8C better help connect the dots that 8 is 8-Cores ?
As a suggestion and by way of example you can use a word instead like "Octo" but maybe the Greek form "OKTO". Of course that is no need to say P anything then, just OKTO. (I understand that we could have samples of OKTO in Oktober?
Yes, I had mused about octo/octa et al, but that fits less well to the purely hypothetical future props, of who-knows-how-many cores.
Of course a future prop could well choose to stay with 8 cores, but make them asymmetric. In many uses, cores will be Smart-Pin-Servers, and not really need all that spare silicon ...
eg The cordic already gives a slower, shared resource, so expensive-in-silicon opcodes could off load to there, becoming slower but shared.
Should we end up with another (see? Needs a name that isn't just P2) ...beast, that is a wonderful problem to have.
Beasties
And perhaps the most famous example of simplicity: BASIC Stamp 1 and BASIC Stamp 2. The big part numbers were for the individual PBASIC interpreter chips.
Ken Gracey
So the original P2 logo design is great, simple, bold and memorable - all well and good. It goes on the IC chip itself, but not necessarily on the packaging label, ad copy or marketing. who else but us "insiders" really know anything about "P2" - it means little to anyone that uses a Arduino Uno, Nano, Beagle Bone, or any of those other chips.
The packaging, ad copy and marketing needs to use a good "shop" name - thinking "Super8"(way over used), "Merlin8" or just "Merlin" Something along these lines would be a great start, most proper names are now used anyway, so some distinguishing feature(s) would be needed to help P2 be differentiated in the market place.
Along that line, I like the Tiny Tutorials being promoted for the P1. Simple. short, educational, (but not domineering tech-wise), and easy on the eyes & pocket book. We "can-do" this project using the Prop, mentality. Great!
I like these two, especially the last one.
I like the gear because it encapsulates and focus you on the "P2" brand while showing 8 parts (the teeth) and the gear itself is a symbol of Work/Function/Coordination.
As for "8" being misinterpreted as "8-bit", I simply don't think this will happen.
j
Well, Oakley stylized an "O" for theirs. Sgi did same, but that was arguably crappy. I have a fun poster, one of those hand drawn, "look at us a cool company", peeps doing fun stuff, sketches of cool hardware, and the best: those three letters drawn on the marketing persons Smile! (That sketch was good too. Everyone knew exactly who she was.) Many were very sore at seeing this get replaced:
That poster got out the door and did more for the brand than the letters ever did. Anyway, plenty of examples of type as Brand out there. Work "P2" and see what comes!
Light stylizing on "P2" could make a logo. But, it has to be cool to work, or it is the sgi thing again. All they did was pick a funky font with a very odd, like, "seriously?" type "g" in it.
I favor the thick P2 myself. Beastly.
A benefit of the gear image, is it brings in the OCTA nature
In Peter's P2 DOCs there is already a 8-sided gear, that could be used as an outline-guide for the chip branding.
ie just render that centre 'gear' image, in Black/white ?
If we zoom back a little, to a big market picture, the P2 core itself is not going to be a strong sales point. Once you work in any HLL, the core is even more hidden.
It is the 8 Cores, and the 64 Smart Pin cells that really set the chip aside from others.
I agree the risk of confusion is reduced, if the 8 appears with an OCTA symbol. A bold P8C in the gear centre here would work well ?
1) No offense to those with forum accounts, but is the logo intended to appease forumistas or entice potential users with clear, branded literature, websites, and other logo resident material as they are inspired to step in to the Parallax realm? In my opinion, the marketing of the P2 needs to be way beyond the forums. The forums will obviously be a springboard for usage, but I highly doubt Parallax can recover costs with forum only sales.
2) If going with a logo, is there an intent to trademark? The guidelines for trademarks actually offer some insightful tips to protecting your brand, that also help with making a smart logo. https://www.uspto.gov/trademark
3) Of all the suggestions, I like potatohead's simple gear logo. Plain, simple and defining. Minimal fluff for the professionals, but Prop Core based for the true Parallax fans.
4) Do not worry about the long MPN. Heck, for a buffer IC, a valid MPN is "74LVC3G34DP,125". Or a Silicon Labs Gecko chip example of "EFM32GG330F1024G-E-QFN64R"
It would be interesting to know what percentage of P1 total sales are to small qty buyers, what percentage goes in to Parallax products (FLiP, S3, etc), and what percentage goes to "volume" customers. I am on the low end; my largest single P1 order was 28 QFNs for the first build of my M44D40+ modules.
I agree with JonnyMac, especially as it regards the beanie.
As a branding exercise, this one is close to following that old definition of insanity.
Approaching this similarly as someone would for branding Skype, Facebook, etc is plain dumb.
This is a strategic chance to get a 're-do' or mulligan and avoid a 7lot of the baggage of the Propeller 1.
Intel has the I7, AMD has Ryzen, ARM has Cortex, Microchip has PIC, so why in the heck would anyone think of branding their newest product as Version 2!, P2xyz32garghs1.....?
Worrying about fonts, dots vs dashes, etc is being penny-wise and pound foolish methinks.
For all the time and money spent on this project, why not get someone from the Bay Area who knows branding, and get them to come in for a couple days and brainstorm out some out of the box ideas.
Of course, that would mean some people would have give buy-in to that, and it might rub some ego's wrong.
This is Chip and Ken's baby, so that might be hard to come to grips with.
However once you get over that sticking point, a world of possibilities would open up.
Heck, off the cuff Parallax Synapse is an attention grabber, 8 core 32 bit, 64 SmartPins, IoT, blah blah.
Gee, its a shame its impossible the Prop2 can't somehow do BlockChain so that could be added into the buzzword salad....
I really think going the easy way and just making it the P2 is going to simply be met by any and everyone as 'oh that thing, guess they updated it somehow' sort of reception.