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Hey malgorithms, this is great! I check the Keybase website every month or so for updates and discovered yesterday that there's a new logo, replacing the old thieving dog/ferret/raccoon with what appears to be a person's head with their hair in a bun holding a key. Can you give some background on the thinking behind this logo redesign? (Sorry it's not a question about chat, per say)

discuss

malgorithms|9 years ago

we knew we needed a logo redesign no matter what; the old didn't scale well. The new one looks good at small sizes - say in a menubar or as a small icon. Of course that's just an opinion, but our team is happy with it. In old displays (think 72dpi), our new one isn't perfect, but most devices in the future will be high dpi.

As for brand messaging: the thieving kangarooster was suggestive of spy-like activity, which was playful but many people thought it sent the wrong message.

I personally like the message of the key in the hair...I mean I haven't thought it through in some deep way, but it's sort of like seeing a pencil in someone's hair: it's suggestive about their personality, and a pencil is an easy-to-use tool. A key in there feels good like that, like you can just grab it and use it easily. But that's just my own personal, previously unshared, take on why I like it.

andyeskridge|9 years ago

I don't know for sure, but my assumption is that she is 'Alice'[0] which is a common name used when explaining cryptography

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_and_Bob

felideon|9 years ago

And apparently Alice looks like Pebbles (Flinstones)! A key in her hair sounds like a good place to keep. Visible yet on her person at all times.

accountface|9 years ago

Looks like it's a bit more friendly than some creepo raccoon

Nadya|9 years ago

Not only that - but a "thieving raccoon" helps reinforce the mistaken belief that crypto is only for criminals. While I don't think that had a "serious" effect or that people would read so heavily into a logo - it never sat well with me. While I didn't notice the logo change until the GP post pointed it out, I like the new one better.

compuguy|9 years ago

I kinda liked the raccoon...

plttn|9 years ago

I always thought it was a dog.

Huh.