For 13 years, John did not feel the need for a pandoc logo, and so it probably did not need one. However, as pandoc reputation increases, its visibility begins to matter.
Whatever we do, pandoc **will have** a logo:
 * Carsten used the reversed pilcrow for its plugin
 * Google and Framasoft (a french association promoting open-source) link pandoc to one of the proposed logo (see attachments).
 * The official website uses the single word "Pandoc" where we can expect a logo
 * Some of us will use "custom" representation to talk about pandoc in slideshows, books, etc.

What I see here is that pandoc existence is spreading around the world, but its identity is not very clear. So John can choose:
* to have a fuzzy identity, letting anyone represent pandoc as he wants (but this as to be stated somewhere) and close this discussion;
* to settle on a logo and ask everyone to use it where it needs to be.

If the choice is to do a dedicated logo, maybe we should focus on use cases (favicon, representation in a diagram, communication, and visibility on the Web, etc.). Either way, it's up to John to define the specs.

Just one more thought. As we stick to vectorized logo (which I think should be one of the specs), this will make it doable in LaTeX (with tikz or something like this) and very suitable for HTML/CSS output (https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/HTML/Multimedia_and_embedding/Adding_vector_graphics_to_the_Web#How_to_include_SVG_code_inside_your_HTML).
Finally, I don't think that having a professionally designed logo is a requirement. Many open-source projects, developed by volunteers, have a logo designed by an amateur, which doesn't make it less recognizable/useful:
https://www.archlinux.org/news/logo-contest-results-and-winner/
http://ctan.math.washington.edu/tex-archive/usergrps/uktug/baskervi/8_1/ltx-logo.tex
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tux_(mascot)
https://www.gnu.org/graphics/heckert_gnu.html
The Ubuntu circle of friends (if I remember well, but do not find a source).

Kind,
Alexis.

Le dim. 19 janv. 2020 à 09:09, 藤原由来 <sky.y.0079-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> a écrit :
I have started this thread but left it for a while. Sorry for my absence and pending work. 

I have two opinions.

## As graphic identity

Again, I wrote why I need a Pandoc logo in the first post:

> The logo strongly represent the existence of Pandoc and briefly show what it is. 
> This will be useful when we make a presentation. 
> To expand Pandoc to the world, the logo will be important. 

For example, the text 'Pandoc' is perfect as symbolic (in string) identity because it is sufficiently identical from other products and says what it is. (pan-document -> universal document converter)

After many proposals (thanks a lot!), I confirmed the text `Pandoc` is still strong as a pseudo-logo symbol in this point. The (reverse) pilcrow symbol might weaken the identity because it could cause missread: "I'm a paragraph."

I think it is difficult to conclude this graphic identity issue. I will propose another point: practical use.

## In practical use

I haven't written enough why I need in practical point. I sometimes feel inconvenient and need a graphic Pandoc logo when:

- finding our user's guide page from many browser tabs (currently its favicon is the browser default)
- making a diagram to explain my publishing workflow: pandoc ->  (rst) -> Sphinx -> Web site
- writing a book that explains Pandoc (I want to use official logo in its cover page!)

'To expand Pandoc to the world' in the first quote implies this usage above actually but I have not explained much.

Then in practical point the *official* logo spec will be:

1. can be square and make favicon for pandoc.org (at least 32×32 px for modern browsers)
2. can be downloaded in pdf (or svg) and png (or jpg) for general graphic design and diagrams
3. [optional] fit for the current website: pandoc.org (not need to an image)
4. seem to be graphically identical in the logo of spec 1-3

For example the rasterize version of the sans serif text 'P' in 32×32 satisfies the spec 1. pdf/png version of the current top page header text 'Pandoc' satisfies the spec 2. Spec 3 is not necessary. Spec 4 is obviously satisfied. This will be minimal set of logo that satisfies the spec.

Alexis' one as jgm mentioned will be satisfies the spec 1-4 and we can filter other existing ideas with the spec.

Thank you for discussion and give cool ideas. 

Regards,
Yuki F


2020年1月19日(日) 8:53 John MacFarlane <jgm-TVLZxgkOlNX2fBVCVOL8/A@public.gmane.org>:

I'm really not sure what to say:  people here seem to want
a logo much more than I do, so I feel a lot of pressure.
But since I don't think we NEED a logo, I'm not going to go
to go for one unless it really looks right.

I actually think this one by Alexis is pretty nice, though
now it has been accused of amateurism. Well, I'm not a graphic
designer, so I wouldn't know. But I like it better than the other
proposals of reverse pilcrows in boxes.

I do think that it makes sense, if we have a logo, to have
the canonical version be a particular vector image, and not
just, say, a reverse pilcrow typeset any old way. That's not a
logo, it's just a symbol.


Alexis BRENON <brenon.alexis-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> writes:

> I agree that it doesn't have to be a real/specific font.
> In the beginning, the idea was to be able to insert the logo without
> relying on a "premade" image.
> But as we can see, using the chosen pilcrow as a letter inside a word
> doesn't feel well.
> Moreover, as it is a manually reversed pilcrow, it can't be easily added to
> all formats.
> In my opinion, designing a "pictural" logo would let us more room to make a
> good one, and would better fit the use cases (like the one showcased by
> @allefeld).
>
> From this idea, I made a variant of the Vollkorn pilcrow taking some ideas
> from the whole conversation.
> John seems to like to see the "pi" letter as well as a "D", and most of us
> agree on using something looking like a "P".
> So I separated the bowl from the vertical lines bringing some advantages:
> * The "pi" and the "D" are more visible (I can still do more works on the
> upper junction to make the "pi" more evident -- adding some curve similar
> to the left one, making some offset overlap to highlight the separation,
> etc.)
> * We keep a "P" shape related to the first letter of "Pandoc"
> * It is not a "simple" pilcrow anymore, so decrease the risk of confusion
> from the users.
>
> Using a box around is a good idea making it stands as "I am a logo".
> However, a simple square or diamond doesn't bring much meaning.
> I used an ISO A4 page symbol which was often used in the previous logo
> propositions.
> One more time, some more work can be done here, like using a letter-sized
> page (which would make it more squarish).
>
> [image: logo_512.png]
>
> What do you think about this compromised: starting from a well-designed
> pilcrow and customizing it to make it looks like a logo.
>
> Kind.
>
> Le mar. 14 janv. 2020 à 21:46, BPJ <melroch-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> a écrit :
>
>> Does it necessarily have to be a specific font? I doubt people will care
>> about such details as long as the general look is the expected one, the
>> pilcrow, a box (the idea of a square rotated 45 degrees, i.e. a lozenge,
>> seems a good one to me BTW) and the expected general color in a color
>> document. OTOH if the font is the "right" one but other details are wrong,
>> like a non-reversed pilcrow, a circle instead of a box or the wrong color
>> the "right" font doesn't help.  Most people who aren't font nerds (I used
>> to be one when I was younger actually) won't notice any font differences
>> less gross than filled vs. not filled, w/o a "leg" or sans vs. serif.
>>
>>
>> Den tors 9 jan. 2020 18:52allefeld <c_a-1KBjaw7Xf1+zQB+pC5nmwQ@public.gmane.org> skrev:
>>
>>> I did have the concern expressed above that the reversed Pilcrow
>>>> in a box e.g. in an editor menu looks like it should create a new
>>>> paragraph,
>>>
>>>
>>> I wouldn't be too concerned about that. The Pilcrow is familiar as an
>>> end-of-paragraph symbol, but I have never seen an editor that uses it to
>>> stand for "create paragraph".
>>>
>>> Apparently there is a Pilcrow button in MS Word, but that stands for
>>> "show hidden formatting".
>>>
>>> For my own package, I think that the documentation
>>>   https://github.com/allefeld/atom-pandoc-pdf#toolbar-buttons
>>> should make it completely clear.
>>>
>>> And once the symbol is used on the Pandoc website, users will
>>> automatically start associating it with Pandoc.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> and isn't obviously recognizable as a logo.
>>>>
>>>
>>> A properly designed logo would certainly be nice. A while ago there was a
>>> comment from a designer on the repo offering to design a logo. I left a
>>> comment, maybe he chimes in.
>>>
>>> But I would propose that for the moment we just settle on a font, and
>>> leave possible further logo design for the future.
>>>
>>> And that would mean that you, John, have to decide which font it is
>>> supposed to be. :)
>>>
>>> C
>>>
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