Change icon from the blue "Google Chrome" icon to something more unique to Ungoogled-Chromium (and less "Googley")?

[GalacticSun]

Just a suggestion...
Thanks and keep up the good work.

[PF4Public]

Related: #759

[NukeThief]

LOVE IT!

[jstkdng]

maybe putting a U on the middle of the chromium icon.
Edit: rough example, i'm not the best at using gimp

[VIPVF]

23

[Rexadev]

I hate the 6 - 6 - * icon

[Eloston]

I consider changing the icon to be rebranding the browser. I historically disagreed with rebranding because I think it sends a wrong message about what ungoogled-chromium is. However, I do see the value in adding some small indications that the browser is ungoogled-chromium and not Chromium.

I would be willing to have an option for (not require!) ungoogled-chromium builds to include small changes of this manner. Perhaps these changes would be suitable for contrib?

[jstkdng]

Well, at least shortcut icons can be changed when packaging, dunno if icons that appear inside chromium can, like the one in the about chromium page

or chromium://version

Otherwise, icons could be uploaded to the contrib repo, might need someone to polish them first though.

[GalacticSun]

Was actually thinking something a bit more of a departure from the logo entirely - something entirely original, something that captures the spirit of the project instead of still being derivitive.

[PF4Public]

entirely original

But this project is a derivative in a large part.

[GalacticSun]

entirely original

But this project is a derivative in a large part.

The decision to remove Google's code was original. I was referring to honouring that, instead of the original project.

[jvzr]

In the spirit of Elaston's comments (I hope), I had a very quick try at making an icon that's very obviously "Chromium", and still subtly "not Google".. I'm no visual designer so I'm sure somebody else will have a better idea

(I was first looking into turning the center circle into another shape, like a octagon, but it looked clunky and would probably be lost at small sizes. Then I followed jstkdng's idea of including a "U" somehow)

[dioxias]

big fan of this design. unsure how it would be with regards to being a similar logo to chromium (legally wise), but this is the icon i use for my shortcuts for ungoogled

[sakkamade]

...something entirely original, something that captures the spirit of the project instead of still being derivitive.

For entirely original icon this project must have the entierly original name.

On my opinion the furthest changes could take a place - modify original chromium icon.
Well, I like the chromium icon, so I think change the colors would be enough.

Edit: Aw.. Haven't notice

Related: #759

Then yeah, makes sense...

[jstkdng]

@jvzr
I like your design, though, that U is really subtle. What if you removed the center shape and had a giant U instead, like how you have now, but remove the upper border from the circle and just have a white border representing the U, also extending the shadows.

[u9000-Nine]

I've actually been thinking about this since I installed ungoogled-chromium a few months ago. I agree with @roshiajin-kunai that it should be green. It's clearly different and clearly chromium, just like the project. The chromium icon is a light blue, which is one of the three main colors we see (RGB) (over simplification); a light green is distinct from a light blue yet also RGB and recongnizably similar. It'd be interesting to see, perhaps, how a light green version of @jvzr 's design, which also incorporates the U, would look.

[jvzr]

@jstkdng That was my original exploration but it didn't work at all, in my opinion:

@u9000-Nine Something like that? (I tried to be faithful to Chrome's original green hues)

[johannesrld]

I Disagree with the choice of green (people might confuse it with bromite) but the general idea is really nice, maybe burgundy or purple would be better?

[networkException]

👍 for purple (maybe something like this?)

[johannesrld]

yeah that looks nice

[dreaddr]

Maybe once a name has been chosen for the project, then focus on a new logo? The project is becoming more and more popular by the day and will probably get Google's attention sooner than later.

[Tchoor]

UnGoogled Chromium Free Icon - Download and Use


UnGoogled Chromium Free Icon - Download

[PF4Public]

The second one is kind of interesting :)

[dreaddr]

I agree, the second one has a unique look to it

[kgwooo]

Where is the icon that come with this version? I mean the square with rounded corners ico, btw. The folder to be precise!

[kgwooo]

Taken care of...Thanks for your efforts, eloston!

[Tchoor]

Where is the icon that come with this version? I mean the square with rounded corners ico, btw. The folder to be precise!

All icons are inside .exe file itself

[ghost]

this is ungoogled chromium. its a lightweight approach to removing google web service dependency, not removing chromium. does the chromium icon in any way impair privacy, control, or transparency?

[ghost]

lol its a very bad idea

i think that although the chormium icon is copyrighted, ungoogled chromium is not a product devired from chromium, it is chromium itself, but slightly modified, so it can be called the way it is and have the icon it has.

[u9000-Nine]

ungoogled chromium is not a product devired from chromium, it is chromium itself, but slightly modified, so it can be called the way it is and have the icon it has.

Hence why it should have an icon similar to the chromium itself, but slightly modified.

[ghost]

i mean that, despite the copyright, the original chromium icon and name can be used in ungoogled chromium.
im kind of responding to #738:

Chromium's license says:

//    * Neither the name of Google Inc. nor the names of its
// contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
// this software without specific prior written permission.

Hence why it should have an icon similar to the chromium itself, but slightly modified.

so, why? unlike other chromium forks that have their own visions of a web browser, ungoogled-chromium is essentially a drop-in replacement for chromium. ungoogled-chromium retains the default chromium experience as closely as possible.
different icon is not something terrible, it just goes against the goals of ungoogling.

[u9000-Nine]

so, why? […]

Having a slightly different icon is useful simply for avaoiding collisions with actual chromium

[ghost]

[PF4Public]

Is it a pirate eye patch? :D

[ghost]

yes it is

[calhix]

Any way we can move forward with a vote?

[NukeThief]

i made this icon in photopea:

[domenicocozzolino]

I would consider this one: it's the latest Chromium logo but it has an anti-Google sign in the middle. Did this idea turn out good?

[networkException]

definitely the best version of that I've seen so far

[calhix]

Agreed, I vote this one.

[igonro]

I think that the icon change should only change the color palette.

It is quite easy to generate different icons with different colors using this link. I also use color palettes based on 1 color. The way I do it is:

1. I take a color that I like
2. I introduce it in this web
3. I take 4 colors with different lightness (usually from 35% to 80% for high contrast, and 50% to 80% for light contrast).

Here you have some examples:

• Dark High Contrast
  
• Dark Light Contrast
  
• Green High Contrast
  
• Green Light Contrast
  
• Magenta High Contrast
  
• Magenta Light Contrast
  
• Orangish High Contrast
  
• Orangish Light Contrast
  
• Dark Blue High Contrast
  
• Dark Blue Light Contrast
  
• Purple High Contrast
  
• Purple Light Contrast
  
• Slate Blue High Contrast
  
• Slate Blue Light Contrast
  
• Turquoise High Contrast
  
• Turquoise Light Contrast
  

[PF4Public]

I liked the grey version! Others may bear unnecessary resemblances.

[u9000-Nine]

I love the black one, but since we’re just changing the color pallet we also need to consider the difference in contrast between this and the chromium logo. Unfortunately, the black and grey ones do not have a sufficient difference (the others might, but I have only tested these two so far).

What if we also changed it so the lines spin in the opposite direction? That would have the same visual effect as just changing the color pallet, but it would still make the difference clear to color blind users.

[PF4Public]

What if we also changed it so the lines spin in the opposite direction? That would have the same visual effect as just changing the color pallet, but it would still make the difference clear to color blind users.

That might be indeed a subtle, but differentiating feature :)

Come to think of it, all these manipulations result in a differing icon, but could still be considered as infringing on Google's Chrome/Chromium logo :(

[u9000-Nine]

Come to think of it, all these manipulations result in a differing icon, but could still be considered as infringing on Google's Chrome/Chromium logo :(

I doubt it; I think this is sufficiently different to avoid conflating the two, and the license doesn’t mention anything about trademarks (which doesn’t nessicarily mean anything, but still). Also we currently use the same logo, so a different one should be more than fine. Though I am not a copyright lawyer (and this is not legal advice).

[u9000-Nine]

@PF4Public which do you think?

[PF4Public]

Why would you ask me? I don't have a "deciding" voice anyway.

[u9000-Nine]

I thought you had a deciding vote because you have the Maintainer tag and I did not realize the size of the project.

[PF4Public]

ungoogled-chromium is no longer a one-man project, it is more of a community effort.

[igonro]

CC: @PF4Public @Eloston @GalacticSun @jvzr @jstkdng @sakkamade @networkException @Quetzaal @Tchoor @NukeThief

OK, guys. Let's discuss! If we keep procrastinating on this and the rename, we will never move forward.

Maybe you think that these changes are not important enough, or maybe there are other issues to prioritize so this shouldn't be discussed now.

But I do think that the image, branding, name... are importants. For example, I've been using Ungoogled Chromium for the last few months (less than a year) just because I didn't find anything about this browser before and I'm a person quite concerned about privacy and FOSS projects (at least for the last 4 years). I even heard of LibreWolf before Ungoogled Chromium. I think in my case the problem was that probably I read about Ungoogled Chromium, but I thought it was a Chromium extension or something like that, instead of a fork of Chromium.

Maybe if Ungoogled Chromium changes its name to something different, and with a complete different logo, people will start noticing this project more and more. ( Also this could be good for SEO(?) )

Another thing: Why isn't there an option to donate or sponsor this project on GitHub? I know that it is intended to be a community project, but with some contributions maybe the organization would have a paid Github plan for free (and in the future maybe more things: a simple cloud server, a domain...).

Base suggestion

Chromium is named after the element No. 24 of the periodic table. And a lot of browsers kinda followed this: Vanadium, Iridium, Thorium, Bromite...

If there isn't any other preferred proposal, I suggest doing the same. Just choose a element of the periodic table that is possible to write and pronounce (let's exclude Rutherfordium, Molybdenum, Darmstadtium...).

A few suggestions

Copper Browser

The icon has copper-like colors.

Oxygen Browser

The icon in this case was meant to mimic copper oxidation, so maybe Oxygen or Copper could fit.

Osmium Browser

Osmium element has bluish-gray color, so I think this icon would fit.

Goldium Browser

Idk, gold-like colors, gold-like name.

Neon Browser

Uranium Browser

Other considerations

I think that we shouldn't take the Black / Dark gray palette, because Vanadium Browser on GrapheneOS already does that, so it could be confusing.

Also before choosing a new name search for "X browser" in order to check if exists already a browser with this name (if the browser is a death project or a project with very little interest I think it wouldn't be a problem at all).

[u9000-Nine]

I totally agree with the urgency. I do not care which color pallet we go for nor the name for that matter, however if we are just changing the colors I would once again like to bring up the issue of accessibility, and urge that we also change the directions of the lines (see my image above).

Besides that, I would like to say that I am totally willing to host the site (feel free to email/PM me for details if y’all (project leaders) think that’s a good idea).

[PF4Public]

OK, guys. Let's discuss!

Is there anything left to discuss?

let's exclude […] Darmstadtium..

Are you antidarmstadtiumist?

[GalacticSun]

Well, by starting this thread, I actually meant coming up a different icon entirely, not just different colours. Anyone creative enough to come up with a completely different design for the icon?

Some suggestions might be a sextant (https://dribbble.com/tags/sextant), a telescope (https://dribbble.com/tags/telescope), binoculars (https://dribbble.com/tags/binoculars), etc... anything other than that toilet-flush-swirl thing...

[tomasz1986]

Honestly, I think that drastically changing the icon of a program that is already widely used isn't usually the best idea. For instance, the browser may be installed on non-tech-savvy family members' or friends' computers. If the icon changes with an update completely, they will have zero idea what has happened and where their browser has gone. Just speaking from experience - familiarity in such cases is super important.

Changing just the colour would be much less dramatic of a change though.

[GalacticSun]

If you're talking about changing the Google Chrome icon, perhaps, but even Google changes things like this and people adapt just fine. You couldn't change any software at all if people adhered to your reasoning, I'm afraid. For example, have you ever used iOS? Apple ruthlessly changes the usability, design, and interaction flows of it all the time, and sometimes in infuriating and confusing ways, yet people adapt (even if begrudgingly - but that's the price of using OS'es like iOS). And the vast majority of iOS users are not even very computer literate.

And Ungoogled Chromium is a browser that tends to attract more than just novices. I'd argue that the users of this browser are people who know why they installed it over regular Google Chrome in the first place and will be well aware of something as simple as an icon change. And those who don't end up being aware of the change will likely have someone who recommended the browser in the first place who could point out such a minor change. Besides, the location and name of the program won't change, only the icon. It will have a tiny, if any, impact on users.

But, I guess it's in the hands of the project leads anyway, I just offered this thread as a suggestion.

[tomasz1986]

Besides, the location and name of the program won't change, only the icon. It will have a tiny, if any, impact on users.

To tell the truth, my experience says the opposite. I mean, there's a reason, e.g. why Microsoft in their first iteration of Edge made its icon look extremely similar to Internet Explorer (so that those users would assume it's the same browser, and that's what they actually did assume). Google does change things, of course, but when it comes to Chrome/Chromium specifically, the browser's overall look and feel has been almost exactly the same for 15 years now, with only minor tweaks here and there, and the average user likes and appreciates that. People in general, and especially those who're not really tech literate, don't like changes or are simply afraid of them 😉.

Edit: Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the icon with its familiarity and recognisability has often much more importance for the end user than developers typically give it credit for.

[igonro]

I agree with @tomasz1986.

But it could be possible that a new branding (name and icon) is chosen, and then keep the old name and icon for several weeks, but opening a tab on the browser (first time they update it) telling the user "Ungoogled Chromium will be rebranded to X with a new icon" (and showing the new icon). This way users would now that they are using Ungoogled Chromium and that it will be rebranded in a future update.

The issue is that I don't think if someone will come up with a new icon. So for me changing the color is OK. (It is possible to later change it to a more different icon with the same palette, as Microsoft has done with Edge).

[GalacticSun]

Well, I wouldn't underestimate users like that, tomasz, and I, too, speak from experience. There would be zero innovation in the software world if your logic was correct, I'm afraid. It's a fear-based approach not to change anything, and an icon is hardly a big change. People will understand and likely even embrace it considering the spirit of this project. Changing the icon serves as a further move away from Google, which is the nature of this entire project in the first place.

Perhaps put this to a vote with a wider sampling somewhere, or even give people the option to change it from within the program.

And as for someone actually coming up with a new icon or not, igonro, it might be worthwhile to make an actual effort first before arbitrarily deciding that nobody will, like posting a request on a design website like dribble, etc, and properly solicit tangible ideas from a larger group of designers.

[NukeThief]

I think that changing the name to be a different element is a nice idea, but i don't agree on keeping the chrome-like icon. I think that a unique icon will be better than a recolored chrome icon.

[PF4Public]

Let me summarize both discussions (name-changing and icon-changing) so that we are all on the same page and avoid reiterating things again and again:

• There is no solid agreement on the new name (this obstacle could be overcame by arbitrary decree)
• There is no agreement on the new icon either (this obstacle could be overcame by arbitrary decree)
• Changing anything touches so many parts so there is some kind of resistance and motivation not to do anything
• Changing anything suggests some work to be done so there is some kind of resistance and motivation not to do anything
• The probability of Google suing ungoogled-chromium is on the scale from small to non-existing

So to sum up: if something works, don't fix it unless anything from the above put in motion, no amount of complaining, arguing, persuasion succeeds.

[GalacticSun]

This thread was only about changing the icon, not the name. I think that's a different issue deserving of its own thread.

I'd suggest, actually, to keep things simple:

• Put this icon change question to a vote/poll with a wider audience.

• And also solicit new tangible icon ideas at design websites and forums.

The point of this thread was to generate initial interest by others who want to change the icon from the original Google toilet-bowl-swirl icon.

[u9000-Nine]

Okay, why not we create a poll somewhere (mailing list? notification?) where users can vote on the top 5ish icons from this list, and then we can be done with this. There is clearly a lot of sentiment of “let’s vote now” throughout the years, and I don’t think that if we continue discussing it we’ll get anywhere. (It’s impossible to please everybody, so let’s just find something most people can agree on.)

Here are what I think are the proposed icons that are most likely to be approved:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Since many of these are similar, we should probably use ranked voting. (Also, it seems we’re totally fine to use / derive from the chromium logo.)

[GalacticSun]

I recommend putting it out to a larger group of designers first to get more icons before voting on anything.

There's no point in rushing this, it's worth taking time to solicit more icons to get it right.

[u9000-Nine]

I’m not 100% opposed to commissioning a few designs first, but if we do that I think we should put a time limit on it. With all due respect GlacticSun, I think two and a half years is enough time before sending out a poll.

[GalacticSun]

Well, Github isn't really the place to solicit polls on designs or designs themselves since it is made up of a limited set of people, most of whom are developers. That's why it languished for so long.

I'll leave this in the hands of a project leader or someone else who wants to get this done and take the initiative to solicit a larger group of people than the handful in this thread. I've switched to LibreWolf, anyway, to be honest.

Good luck!

[u9000-Nine]

If I were to make a quick poll somewhere (not google forms), would you guys (maintainers) be willing to send it out somehow to the users? It’d be sad to see this years-long discussion fall flat right at the end just because OP’s done.

[SecularSteve]

They might've been onto something.

Here's my idea for the new logo proposal:

ZIP contains the SVG and PNG.

ungoogled chromium new.zip

[PF4Public]

Bears a slight similarity to Poké Ball :D