I thought the visual of a radius with a line from the center to the circle was a nice visual for the prop. Radii is the plural of radius so the number of cores represent the number of angles for one idea. But radii doesn’t sound good or look good. But Radian does look and sound nice. So if the new series of prop was the Radian series with the Pcore8 variant paying homage to the predecessor that has a nice ring to it. Radian Pcore8 or P8core P4core P16core
Chip,
Grand Master Prop!
Propmau5
Super Parallax Prop 2 Turbo Alpha
The Legend of Prop 2: A link to the past
Deluxe Prop 2
Close Encounters of the Prop 2nd Kind
Other Hip-Hop related Prop2 names:
Grand Master Prop and the Furious 8 Cogs
Propcleus
Propeller Lover
Gucci Prop
2 Live Props!
L.L. Cool Prop
RUN DMProps
Kanye
About T Chap's, radius/radian idea, I like a name with a "story" of sorts behind it or a name that is somehow functional, describing feature(s) of the chip. Although radian is a bit close in sound to Radeon (of graphics card fame), it alludes to the chip's architecture, which could help strike up interest. Hmm...maybe put a 'P' for "Prop" in front of it to differentiate it, as in Pradian or Pradius (sounds a bit like Predator). Hmm, Pradian may be a place name in France, not that that is a game over.
Speaking of place names, Chip's mention of RedBluff seems pretty solid, if a non-functional name is to be chosen. It tells a story by giving the place where the chip was developed. I mean, it sounds at least as good as the lake names Intel comes up for its processors. Or Rocklin and Red Bluff could be combined, somehow, such as RedRock, RedStone, RockBluff. Guess there was a Redstone rocket series back before Gemini, though. The point is, considering that the chip was principally designed by one person (in loose collaboration with forum members and with support/resources from Parallax), it'd make perfect sense to choose a name that is somehow connected to the main designer who carried it to term. That's assuming that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
I know that some of the names I have spewed forth have focused on the Lazy Susan hub streaming aspect. But maybe these days users expect a multi-core chip to have fast access to memory, no matter the exact architecture. So perhaps the 64 smart pins differentiate the chip even more that the Lazy Susan aspect and perhaps more than the fact that the chip has multiple cores (as more and more do these days). So, perhaps something could be done there, name-wise. After all, the flexible functionality those smart pins provide takes up a lot of silicon. Maybe something like PinSmart, PinWise, PinBright or PinFire, etc. could be used. Or something based on Centipede or something else to represent all 64 smart pins would be good. Hmm...how 'bout Sentipin? Yeah, I know, imagination run amuck and the pins aren't smart enough to be considered sentient beings.
Hey, how 'bout something based on the chameleon. That could be really good, as it suggests that the chip can be configured for many interfaces, such as 32 serial channels. Sorry for this stream-of-consciousness rambling, and that name seems too good to not have been suggested already (pardon me for not checking and maybe my sub-conscious is recalling something I read). Oh drat! Just searched and it looks like VSLI uses that already. Figures! But the point stands: a name like that explains and sells the chip. That's what you want the name to do, those and differentiation.
Well then perhaps something related to stem cells, like the progenitor kind. The Progenitor. "Pro" for "Prop" or "professional" and "genitor" for generating stuff. Or a name based on "morph" or "flexi" might work, but what I don't know. Pardon me while I search on "things that morph." Thanks, I'm back. Okay, the first thing that came up was ShapeShifter. Not bad. Wonder if Transformer is taken in the chip area. Anyway, if not something like that, then something based on inventing/creating or solving problems would be good, or, again, something emphasizing the pins. It's a shame that Chameleon is taken. That name is absolutely perfect and so catchy. Okay, one final search: animals like chameleons. Hmm...cuttlefish, some squid, the Cyanea octopus, the peacock flounder (but lets not go there) come up. Well, it looks like I've struck out for now.
He was renowned for his gentleness, though nobody was able ride him for more than 8 seconds. He had a long and illustrious life, for a bull.
A retired teacher here in Red Bluff told me that when he was teaching middle school (7th and 8th grade), they had everyone go into the gym and Red Rock was walked in by his owner so that everyone could see him. Red Rock slipped a little on the tile floor and just started flipping out, his feet were wildly scraping the floor. He started pooping like mad. His owner was trying to calm him down, but Red Rock was completely unglued. The teacher was telling me it was a very dangerous scene, as the kids wanted to exit, but the bull was likely to head for the exit, too. Nobody got hurt, fortunately.
A retired teacher here in Red Bluff told me that when he was teaching middle school (7th and 8th grade), they had everyone go into the gym and Red Rock was walked in by his owner so that everyone could see him. Red Rock slipped a little on the tile floor and just started flipping out, his feet scraping all over the place. He started pooping like mad. His owner was trying to calm him down, but Red Rock was completely unglued. The teacher was telling me it was a very dangerous scene, as the kids wanted to exit, but the bull was likely head for the exit, too. Nobody got hurt, fortunately.
@Heater: Yep, it's certainly has a story behind it. Hmm...funny how a couple of names that I have mused about have been associated with excrement. Oh well. Actually, "RedRock" sounds impactful, despite the story (300+ failed attempts to ride him and, well, poo). Maybe Parallax could pull up stakes and move to Utah considering that state's scenery.
Okay, let me see if I can redeem myself. Perhaps a name based on "canvas," as the chip lets one do so much with it, like a BlankCanvas or a CleanSlate, which involves rock. Guess CleanSlate has a double meaning: a medium for scrawling on and a break from the past. But the P2 is more of a continuation of the P1 than a break. I do like the sound of "slate," though, and slates are metamorphic rock types. There's also the color slate blue. Gee...I've moved from RedRock to SlateBlue. Chip, now that we're all gathered 'round, tell us again the story about SlateBlue the Ox (and use the funny voices).
Those logos seem clever and return us to the original topic (logo instead of name, though they're related).
Just took a look at the images again in Chip's original post and noticed something kind of interesting about the second/middle image in the first row (the one where the '2' overlaps with the 'P' to form sort of three flower petals for the overlap). If the '2' were modified (less protrusion at the upper-left and a less steep slope for the middle), the overlap would resemble an aircraft propeller with three blades (it'd be a propeller rather than a beanie). That might make for a fairly compelling/cool logo for the second Propeller chip. And perhaps the propeller=overlap could be colored in in some versions to make it stand out even more. Anyway, if considering this, we might call this the "Propeller version" of the logo.
I think a main reason that those 12 logos didn't go over so well in comparison to the already existing P2 logo was that the existing logo is so bold in comparison, seeing how it uses a white fill instead of just an outline stroke. If doing that for the Propeller version, I guess the aircraft propeller would end up black, which might not work out as well. As such, I might go with the unfilled outline font, but maybe make the stroke a bit thicker and make the logo wider to fill the chip better (unless adding movie sprockets or something similar on the sides). By the way, for those 12 logos, my favorites are R1C2 (the overlapped one referenced above) and the more organic/curvy looking one in R3C2.
As for modifying the overlapped logo in R1C2, I thought about trying to work something up, but my desktop computer with some drawing software is down (on the fritz), as it is continually restarting on booting. I had the problem a few weeks ago and replaced the CPU cooler due to bad mounts which appeared to solve the problem, but the problem came back after a couple weeks. It's an older PC, but most of my work is on it, so I hope I can get it back up again. Maybe I need a new power supply. Hope it's not the MoBo or CPU. Anyway, even if it were working, I'm not sure if my drawing skill would be good enough to make a convincing aircraft propeller out of an overlapped 'P' and '2.' By the way, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the asymmetry of the R1C2 logo, but if it better resembled an aircraft propeller, it could be quite clever as a P2 logo.
We might say P2Fire. But, uncomfortable connotations. Chip in Red Bluff lives too close to the Carr Fire just 31 miles north outside Redding.
Gee, they had a fire tornado there! That's some wicked stuff, as you can tell from the audio.
I'll resist the temptation to suggest "FireNado" as the name for the P2, despite the fire and spin elements. Besides, it sounds a bit like "Fire NATO," something a certain someone who twitters around in a large white house might say.
Surprisingly, when I originally typed "FireNado" with a capital 'N', it was autocorrected to "Firenado," so apparently "firenado" is a word.
Seriously, God's speed to you folks in NorCal staying away from that beast.
The first thing to do before creating any logo is to define one's primary market. That will determine which direction the logo designer should take in appealing to that market. Here are some examples of logos directed toward certain market segments:
(BTW, the first two sentences above are completely serious. Absent a marketing focus, you're just wasting your time with logo design.)
I agree with you of course about the market which is why we might have more than one "logo". Perhaps even dressing chips with stickers fr certain markets where these parts are the showpiece,
I didn't much like it because I thought that when I went from Basic Stamp to Propeller that I was becoming more professional, but the beanie hat took something away from that.
But, Parallax made a bunch of P1 chips with no beanie and I think they didn't sell as well...
On the other hand, P1 and P2 have more power than some other MCUs, so maybe the beanie hat is OK...
Hey! I think I have an new user icon... Wonder how that happened...
The beanie is the iconic symbolism of the Propeller. It does have a propeller on it after all. And it is widely recognised as a symbol of some kind of nerdy genius. A perfect fit.
There seems to be a view that the beanie logo is somehow not "professional" enough for the new Propeller. But that need not be so. Here is how:
Looking at the DIP 40 Propeller chip sitting on my desk I see that the beanie logo already looks quite sophisticated. It is not set at any jaunty angle and it does not have any kiddie colours.
Then a vision of Leonardo Da Vincie's helicopter came into my mind. I'm sure you can spot the similarities.
So there we have it. The solution is to make the beanie look more professional. Reduce it to a line drawing. A very technical looking diagram of a beanie.
I'm sure if such an image is professional enough for Leonardo it's OK for the propeller.
Varied opinions on the beanie. I don’t like the beanie hat with propeller on top. Seems cute and hobby and toyish me. Recently a client that has some limited experience with electronics asked me which processor I used in my product that he was buying. I said the Propeller. He said “oh yeah it’s that maker space micro, so you’re into the maker space?” I said “no it’s a very serious chip with 8 cores bla bla bla”. I don’t like trying to bolster the perception that I’m using a hobby micro. That beanie hat in my opinion contributes to the toy image.
However just the other day I was watching a Da Vinci show that had tons of his drawings. I considered the name “Da Vinci” to even be a great name for the chip. And the heli- drawing does conjur up a familiar(to many techs) and nice non-toy imagery.
Unfortunately the beanie has to go. There are too many professionals who, wrongly I might add, see the beanie as some form of non-professional logo.
For those old enough, the Apple was thought of as hobbyist / non-professional in the beginning. It wasn't until a number of accountants found that the Apple ][ and VisiCalc (or was it SuperCalc) was superior to mini and mainframe software.
Comments
The opposite of P2HOT
Other Hip-Hop related Prop2 names:
Grand Master Prop and the Furious 8 Cogs
Propcleus
Propeller Lover
Gucci Prop
2 Live Props!
L.L. Cool Prop
RUN DMProps
Kanye
Speaking of place names, Chip's mention of RedBluff seems pretty solid, if a non-functional name is to be chosen. It tells a story by giving the place where the chip was developed. I mean, it sounds at least as good as the lake names Intel comes up for its processors. Or Rocklin and Red Bluff could be combined, somehow, such as RedRock, RedStone, RockBluff. Guess there was a Redstone rocket series back before Gemini, though. The point is, considering that the chip was principally designed by one person (in loose collaboration with forum members and with support/resources from Parallax), it'd make perfect sense to choose a name that is somehow connected to the main designer who carried it to term. That's assuming that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
I know that some of the names I have spewed forth have focused on the Lazy Susan hub streaming aspect. But maybe these days users expect a multi-core chip to have fast access to memory, no matter the exact architecture. So perhaps the 64 smart pins differentiate the chip even more that the Lazy Susan aspect and perhaps more than the fact that the chip has multiple cores (as more and more do these days). So, perhaps something could be done there, name-wise. After all, the flexible functionality those smart pins provide takes up a lot of silicon. Maybe something like PinSmart, PinWise, PinBright or PinFire, etc. could be used. Or something based on Centipede or something else to represent all 64 smart pins would be good. Hmm...how 'bout Sentipin? Yeah, I know, imagination run amuck and the pins aren't smart enough to be considered sentient beings.
Hey, how 'bout something based on the chameleon. That could be really good, as it suggests that the chip can be configured for many interfaces, such as 32 serial channels. Sorry for this stream-of-consciousness rambling, and that name seems too good to not have been suggested already (pardon me for not checking and maybe my sub-conscious is recalling something I read). Oh drat! Just searched and it looks like VSLI uses that already. Figures! But the point stands: a name like that explains and sells the chip. That's what you want the name to do, those and differentiation.
Well then perhaps something related to stem cells, like the progenitor kind. The Progenitor. "Pro" for "Prop" or "professional" and "genitor" for generating stuff. Or a name based on "morph" or "flexi" might work, but what I don't know. Pardon me while I search on "things that morph." Thanks, I'm back. Okay, the first thing that came up was ShapeShifter. Not bad. Wonder if Transformer is taken in the chip area. Anyway, if not something like that, then something based on inventing/creating or solving problems would be good, or, again, something emphasizing the pins. It's a shame that Chameleon is taken. That name is absolutely perfect and so catchy. Okay, one final search: animals like chameleons. Hmm...cuttlefish, some squid, the Cyanea octopus, the peacock flounder (but lets not go there) come up. Well, it looks like I've struck out for now.
Actually, there was a famous rodeo bull that lived in Red Bluff that was named Red Rock:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rock_(bull)
He was renowned for his gentleness, though nobody was able ride him for more than 8 seconds. He had a long and illustrious life, for a bull.
A retired teacher here in Red Bluff told me that when he was teaching middle school (7th and 8th grade), they had everyone go into the gym and Red Rock was walked in by his owner so that everyone could see him. Red Rock slipped a little on the tile floor and just started flipping out, his feet were wildly scraping the floor. He started pooping like mad. His owner was trying to calm him down, but Red Rock was completely unglued. The teacher was telling me it was a very dangerous scene, as the kids wanted to exit, but the bull was likely to head for the exit, too. Nobody got hurt, fortunately.
So "Red Rock" it is then.
Okay, let me see if I can redeem myself. Perhaps a name based on "canvas," as the chip lets one do so much with it, like a BlankCanvas or a CleanSlate, which involves rock. Guess CleanSlate has a double meaning: a medium for scrawling on and a break from the past. But the P2 is more of a continuation of the P1 than a break. I do like the sound of "slate," though, and slates are metamorphic rock types. There's also the color slate blue. Gee...I've moved from RedRock to SlateBlue. Chip, now that we're all gathered 'round, tell us again the story about SlateBlue the Ox (and use the funny voices).
Red Rock as nick is nice, too.
Just took a look at the images again in Chip's original post and noticed something kind of interesting about the second/middle image in the first row (the one where the '2' overlaps with the 'P' to form sort of three flower petals for the overlap). If the '2' were modified (less protrusion at the upper-left and a less steep slope for the middle), the overlap would resemble an aircraft propeller with three blades (it'd be a propeller rather than a beanie). That might make for a fairly compelling/cool logo for the second Propeller chip. And perhaps the propeller=overlap could be colored in in some versions to make it stand out even more. Anyway, if considering this, we might call this the "Propeller version" of the logo.
I think a main reason that those 12 logos didn't go over so well in comparison to the already existing P2 logo was that the existing logo is so bold in comparison, seeing how it uses a white fill instead of just an outline stroke. If doing that for the Propeller version, I guess the aircraft propeller would end up black, which might not work out as well. As such, I might go with the unfilled outline font, but maybe make the stroke a bit thicker and make the logo wider to fill the chip better (unless adding movie sprockets or something similar on the sides). By the way, for those 12 logos, my favorites are R1C2 (the overlapped one referenced above) and the more organic/curvy looking one in R3C2.
As for modifying the overlapped logo in R1C2, I thought about trying to work something up, but my desktop computer with some drawing software is down (on the fritz), as it is continually restarting on booting. I had the problem a few weeks ago and replaced the CPU cooler due to bad mounts which appeared to solve the problem, but the problem came back after a couple weeks. It's an older PC, but most of my work is on it, so I hope I can get it back up again. Maybe I need a new power supply. Hope it's not the MoBo or CPU. Anyway, even if it were working, I'm not sure if my drawing skill would be good enough to make a convincing aircraft propeller out of an overlapped 'P' and '2.' By the way, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the asymmetry of the R1C2 logo, but if it better resembled an aircraft propeller, it could be quite clever as a P2 logo.
I'll resist the temptation to suggest "FireNado" as the name for the P2, despite the fire and spin elements. Besides, it sounds a bit like "Fire NATO," something a certain someone who twitters around in a large white house might say.
Surprisingly, when I originally typed "FireNado" with a capital 'N', it was autocorrected to "Firenado," so apparently "firenado" is a word.
Seriously, God's speed to you folks in NorCal staying away from that beast.
Then everyone can use a black marker to put on their own logo
(BTW, the first two sentences above are completely serious. Absent a marketing focus, you're just wasting your time with logo design.)
-Phil
I agree with you of course about the market which is why we might have more than one "logo". Perhaps even dressing chips with stickers fr certain markets where these parts are the showpiece,
Bad karma...
-Phil
Now legs with the hat.
;-)
But, Parallax made a bunch of P1 chips with no beanie and I think they didn't sell as well...
On the other hand, P1 and P2 have more power than some other MCUs, so maybe the beanie hat is OK...
Hey! I think I have an new user icon... Wonder how that happened...
The beanie is the iconic symbolism of the Propeller. It does have a propeller on it after all. And it is widely recognised as a symbol of some kind of nerdy genius. A perfect fit.
There seems to be a view that the beanie logo is somehow not "professional" enough for the new Propeller. But that need not be so. Here is how:
Looking at the DIP 40 Propeller chip sitting on my desk I see that the beanie logo already looks quite sophisticated. It is not set at any jaunty angle and it does not have any kiddie colours.
Then a vision of Leonardo Da Vincie's helicopter came into my mind. I'm sure you can spot the similarities.
So there we have it. The solution is to make the beanie look more professional. Reduce it to a line drawing. A very technical looking diagram of a beanie.
I'm sure if such an image is professional enough for Leonardo it's OK for the propeller.
However just the other day I was watching a Da Vinci show that had tons of his drawings. I considered the name “Da Vinci” to even be a great name for the chip. And the heli- drawing does conjur up a familiar(to many techs) and nice non-toy imagery.
For those old enough, the Apple was thought of as hobbyist / non-professional in the beginning. It wasn't until a number of accountants found that the Apple ][ and VisiCalc (or was it SuperCalc) was superior to mini and mainframe software.