Opinion BY Armin

April Fools: Google Chrome’s Broken Image Icon Heals Broken Hearts

First used in 1994 with the beta release of Netscape, the “broken image” icon has become a staple of web browsing. In this Quora question, Netscape’s original UI designer gives credit to Marsh Chamberlin of DataGlyph for creating the first, literally-iconic rendition of a shattered frame containing a sphere, pyramid, and cube. Since then, some browsers have used variations of the theme while others, like Safari, have gone with their own idea like a question mark for Apple’s own browser. Until earlier this year, Google’s Chrome browser had been using its own take on the original but one thing we know is that you can’t contain Google to the status quo. A new broken image icon has started appearing across users’ Chrome browser this year and since we’ve covered Google’s favicon, not once but twice, I thought it would be relevant to cover this minor yet significant change.

Continue reading this entry

Opinion BY Armin

Futurebrand’s Future Looks Fuzzy

Established in 1999, Futurebrand is a global brand consultancy — “built on an inimitable focus on innovation and the future” for added pizzaz in their own description — with 26 offices in 18 countries and is part of McCann Worldgroup. Most recently Futurebrand redesigned the American Airlines and Fiji Airways identities and were in charge of deploying the Look of the Games at the London Olympics. They first gained attention in 2003 when they redesigned the UPS logo. This week they introduced a new identity for themselves along with new positioning, “We are the creative future company.”

Continue reading this entry

Opinion BY Armin

Pixelated Education

Established in 1955 in Victoria, BC, Canada, Royal Roads University (RRU) is a small, public university with about 2,500 students who study through a blend of on-site and online education to gain doctorate, graduate and undergraduate degrees. Perhaps RRU’s biggest claim to fame is its photogenic Hatley Castle, which doubled as Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in two X-Men films. Back in June, RRU introduced a new identity designed by Canadian marketing agency Cossette.

Continue reading this entry

Opinion BY Armin

From Paper to Snooze

A supplier of all kinds of papers, office supplies, and packaging solutions for businesses, Domtar Distribution Group, part of Domtar, was established in 2004 to encompass four different companies — RIS The Paper House, Buntin Reid The Paper House, JBR La Maison du Papier, and The Paper House — that had collectively been providing paper since 1843 in the U.S. and Canada. This past February they announced a name change to Ariva and a new logo. A slightly snoozy video on the home page, bottom left, explains the new name (something about “arriving” although not fully convincing) and gives you a look into the exciting world of paper distribution.

Continue reading this entry

A B-Side BY Armin

Symantec

In August 2010, Symantec announced it would acquire Verisign, known to the consumer as that little check mark at the bottom of a credit card online form that gives you relative peace of mind that some douchebag is not going to steal your info and go to the Bahamas. Symantec dropped its marble icon and adopted the pixelated checkmark.

Press release.

Thanks to Graham Lee for the tip.