Edit ‘redesigning_betula_logo’ by bouncepaw

Edit ‘redesigning_betula_logo’ (by bouncepaw at 12 Jul 26 13:35 UTC)

Hyphae affected: redesigning_betula_logo

diff --git a/redesigning_betula_logo.myco b/redesigning_betula_logo.myco
index 6a6692f..75c9e7d 100644
--- a/redesigning_betula_logo.myco
+++ b/redesigning_betula_logo.myco
@@ -3,3 +3,3 @@ For the NLNet [[Betula]] grant, I had to redesign the logo. The old one was not
= Approach 1. Generative birch trunk pattern
-For some idea, I had this idea of giving every Betula instance a unique userpic/favicon, which is a randomised birch trunk pattern. Why not make the logo with the same pattern generator? Gotta make the generator first though. Spent some time and ended up with a naïve generator. Here are some generations:
+For some idea, I had this idea of giving every Betula instance a unique userpic/favicon, which is a randomised birch trunk pattern. Why not make the logo with the same pattern generator? Gotta make the generator first though. Spent some time implementing and ended up with a naïve generator. Here are some generations with different parameters:

@@ -12,13 +12,16 @@ https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-05 naive 4.jpg

-That's not quite what I wanted. What if I used Perlin noise for generation?
+That's fun but does not really look like a birch would. What if I used Perlin noise for generation? Looks much more believable!

img grid {
-https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-05 perlin camo.jpg
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-05 perlin.png
+https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-05 perlin camo.jpg {
+ With some parameter combination, the generator could be used to make camo patterns.
+}
}

-This is a very good pattern generator, but it must not be a logo. Devastated from such a big waste of time, went looking for new ideas.
+This is a very good pattern generator, but it must not be a logo. Devastated from such a big waste of time, went looking for new ideas. Maybe I'll revisit this generator in the future though, but definitely not for the logo.

= Approach 2. Branches
-img {
+What if I bent a birch thunk? Found a piece of paper, drew lenticels and played around:
+img grid {
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper 1.jpg
@@ -27,4 +30,2 @@ https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper 3.jpg
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper 4.jpg
-https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper 5.jpg
-https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper full.jpg
}
@@ -32,7 +33,22 @@ https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper full.jpg
img {
-https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 editing birch.png
-https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 raster logo pt serif.png
+https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper 5.jpg { This branch layout is the best! }
+https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-07 paper full.jpg { With text. Drew this on a paper bag. }
+}
+
+Next day went onto digitalising the idea. Instead of drawing the birch anew, took a birch photo and edited it.
+
+img {
+https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 editing birch.png { Process... }
+https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 raster logo pt serif.png { PT Serif composition. }
}

+OK that won't do.
+
= Approach 3. Vector stump
+img {
+https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 vector sketch.png {
+ The old logo was an SVG vector art which I made in text editor. Yes, I made all those Bezier curves by hand. What if I made an SVG again, but in Inkscape this time? This is a quick messy sketch. Hmm that kinda works!
+}
+}
+
img grid {
@@ -40,5 +56,7 @@ https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 vector eb garamond ital
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 vector eb garamond.png
-https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-08 vector sketch.png
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-09 favicon aa.png
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-09 favicon no aa.png
+}
+
+img grid {
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-10 favicon.png
@@ -50,2 +68,4 @@ https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-10 tab comparison.png
= Polishing
+After seeing the logo in use for a couple of days, I thought it should be improved further. I did think of optimising for low-res favicon rendering, but I thought of 32 by 32 pixel images, which Retina displays use. I don't have a Retina screen, and I end up with regular 16 by 16 pixel favicons, and the image is not crisp enough to my taste. And overall some proportions could be improved.
+
img grid {
@@ -56,2 +76,8 @@ https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-12 joinbetula.org.png
https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-12 profile.png
+}
+
+img wide {
+https://bouncepaw.com/img/2026-07 Betula logo/2026-07-12 final.png {
+ This is the final result. I'm quite content.
+}
}
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