A few months ago we changed our logo. Here is what we had to say about it. And our goals and reasoning here still apply. But in our quest to create a cohesive brand we lost sight of something.
The globe is uniquely Sporcle.
When Matt started Sporcle in 2007 the globe was really more of a crystal ball. But over time the logo evolved and the globe really came to life. We started to use the globe on the site (e.g. for ratings). The globe started to work as a stand alone icon. Internally and externally the globe became synonymous with all things Sporcle.
When we designed the new logo we wanted to make things simpler so we could use the logo across platforms and products. We also feel very strongly that our community is essential to Sporcle. We wanted to design something that embodied the globe AND the community that typifies the Sporcle experience. But in doing so, we buried the most iconic thing about our brand. We made it too subtle when what we really needed to do was embrace it.
And mercy did our community let us hear about it. We heard loud and clear people’s feelings on the change. But our job is not to react to people’s feedback. It is to respond to people’s feedback. And there is a huge difference between the two. Responding takes thought. It takes introspection. It takes time. We also need to make decisions that we feel are right for the company even if those decisions can be at odds with user sentiment.
We knew we didn’t want to just put the old logo back. The old logo had issues. The gradient in the globe is very difficult to use across different mediums, colors, and sizes. We changed the font we used in the old logo and that change was definitely the right thing to do. And part of going “all in” on the globe meant that we wanted to extract the globe from the word S P O R C L E and have it stand alone. We wanted the globe to be a beacon in and of itself.
Call this our New Coke moment or Sporcle’s Qwikster. With that, today we are unveiling our new, new logo. We’ve more than restored the globe, we’ve invested in it. We’ve embraced it.
We hope you like it.
