The W3C has revealed its newly designed a logo for the new generation of the web’s language, HTML - HTML5. Michael Niehling, designer of the logo explains the process of the creation of the logo in an interview with the W3C:
“We start any logo development project with really a pretty standard design process – we research, build a brief, amass keywords, create concept boards, and then we get to sketching. In the concept board phase of the project, a few focal points really stood out to us – stars, sea stars, and archways.
Stars were first on the list as your run-of-the-mill, hand-drawn star has five points and there’s definitely a depth meaning in stars as they relate to the power and potential of HTML5. Stars led us to sea stars: mascot-as-logo is a proven communication tool used in this space before – it lends personality and life to what might otherwise be perceived as dull and technical. Additionally, sea stars are a keystone species – though a quick Wikipedia search would surely provide better background, keystone species hold entire ecosystems together, they shape the world around them, and without them, things start to fall apart. Lastly, ‘keystone species’ led us to the concept of the keystone in an arch – again, though every stone in the arch adds strength to the structure, the arch will not stand without the stabilizing effect of the keystone.
So, hundreds of star, archway and adorable sea star sketches later, we really focused in on the shape of the keystone and (in what seems an obvious evolution) it’s incarnation as a crest, badge or shield. Not only is a keystone is a great metaphor for how HTML5 stands at the center of this current technology movement, but the final design started to take shape simultaneously as a coat of arms and badge of honor we felt captured the spirit and substance of the open web platform and the community surrounding it.”
What do you think of the new logo? Does it do the web language justice?