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Well established Stack Exchange sites, like Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User and Programmers all have their own logo, and I think this helps give them more of an 'identity'.

Does anyone have any suggestions, concepts or ideas?

7 Answers 7

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Why not do in a calligraphic style?

漢

I think one character is all we really need. More refinement can go into it to express it's own unique style.

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  • Simple, but I like it. The 'brush stroke' effect is a nice touch
    – Cocowalla
    Dec 14, 2011 at 17:52
  • Nice, maybe in a red-golden palette as most chinese signs
    – Petruza
    Dec 21, 2011 at 21:08
  • I almost used this character for the "sketchy beta" logo.. but decided not to show any bias :)
    – Jin
    Dec 25, 2011 at 7:27
  • 3
    Now that I think of it, isn't this the Japanese version (kan)? I'm pretty sure the traditional chinese version has the vertical strokes of the grass top part united in a U form.
    – Petruza
    Jan 28, 2012 at 13:04
  • Yes, in Chinese, the top right is 廿.
    – dROOOze
    Aug 22, 2019 at 14:21
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The site will get its logo and design when it comes out of beta. And I am sure SE's designer Jin Yang will do a good job coming up with a design when the time comes.

I think improving the site with quality questions and answers and get more traffic in, so it will graduate sooner is the priority right now. None of the language & usage sites seem to be doing particularly well (except English).


That being said, I have only one request: Please don't make the site too red. I am sure Jin won't do that, but just in case...

I think a calligraphic style like Krazer suggests in his/her answer will do just fine.

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  • 1
    I agree that promotion is important, but didn't see the harm in discussing other aspects
    – Cocowalla
    Dec 17, 2011 at 16:11
  • @Cocowalla Yeah, you are right. I just think this should be a little lower on the priority list.
    – Orion
    Dec 17, 2011 at 16:14
  • yes, I agree with you
    – Cocowalla
    Dec 17, 2011 at 16:31
  • you like red? will do!
    – Jin
    Dec 25, 2011 at 7:26
  • It may be a while until this site graduates. But I always appreciate it when the community starts the design discussion early, so when the time comes I'd have a list of ideas.
    – Jin
    Dec 25, 2011 at 7:29
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I just came across this online seal generator.

As a simple concept, what about selecting some text (i.e. 中文 as suggested by Mr Shiny and New), and using something like this generates? A few samples:

enter image description here

enter image description here

enter image description here

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  • Ah yes, seals. Illegible script, Top-to-bottom, RTL word order. But, also, appropriate. Dec 14, 2011 at 15:31
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    Yes, it's true that very few would be able to read the old Chinese script on the first 2, but I think they still represent a symbol that many people would associate with China.
    – Cocowalla
    Dec 14, 2011 at 17:51
  • +1 for first one
    – jsj
    Dec 15, 2011 at 2:54
  • this is what I have in mind for final logo, with 漢.
    – Jin
    Dec 25, 2011 at 7:28
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I wasn't expecting this topic to be opened now, since it's very early. But nothing denies us from discussing about it. :D

When I think about China, something that often comes to my mind is the dragon. I think most people identify China with that. I'm not sure this can be applied to the language too, just giving an idea... :)

What about these too? Not a picture but a sketch/simplification of them would do the trick...enter image description here

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  • 'dragon' is the first thing that came to my mind too, but maybe that has something to do with my profile picture :)
    – Cocowalla
    Dec 14, 2011 at 14:30
  • @Cocowalla eheh I noticed your gravatar, but "dragon" is pretty much screaming "chinese!" from each letter... :D
    – Alenanno
    Dec 14, 2011 at 14:32
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I'm going to suggest this because it's the most obvious thing to suggest:

中文

Just take those characters, print them in a nice font, and fit them into a square. Or, since Chinese characters are usually square anyway, any one of these:

Characters relating to China/Chinese people:

中 华 唐 汉

Characters relating to language:

字 文 话 语 言

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  • 1
    In such case, I'd suggest only 中, since it's usually associated with China, or 中文.
    – Alenanno
    Dec 14, 2011 at 15:24
  • @Alenanno: 华, 唐, and 汉 are all words used to describe China or Chinese people too, and are less cliche than 中. Dec 14, 2011 at 15:27
  • I wouldn't say it's cliche. Among the meanings of 中, there's also "China", so it's not cliche, it's just its meaning.
    – Alenanno
    Dec 14, 2011 at 15:28
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    @Alenanno: what I mean is, it gets used as a logo quite often, for obvious reasons. Our logo should be distinguishable from the multitude of other Chinese-language websites. Dec 14, 2011 at 15:29
  • That is a good point. In that case, I agree with you.
    – Alenanno
    Dec 14, 2011 at 15:30
  • 1
    唐茶's logo may be a very good lead. They deliver very well formatted chinese book as iOS app
    – Alex Chen
    Dec 14, 2011 at 15:57
  • @Alenanno: Should we be wary of associating it too much with China (as in the country)? - Main reason is, my impression is this SE is about the language, Chinese; many other countries other than China use the language. Also, would a logo with Simplified characters potentially deter new comers who are learning Traditional?
    – pyko
    Dec 20, 2011 at 3:30
  • @pyko: My personal view on simplified characters is that you can't argue with a billion people who are all using simplified. Any student these days who is learning Mandarin needs to learn simplified at some point, and should not be too dismayed when a logo uses simplified. Anyway, they still won't be able to properly read most questions and answers in simplified. Dec 20, 2011 at 13:27
  • @Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 - agree with you re learning simplified at some point (I was initially taught traditional and intend on learning to read/write traditional, but have started to learn to read simplified). What I mean is there are so many "Learn Chinese" sites which cater for simplified only - if the SE logo uses simplified, it may give a wrong impression (since this is a Chinese language site for both traditional and simplified)
    – pyko
    Dec 21, 2011 at 0:12
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The current logo is Cn, I suggest to use zh as the logo, since it is the ISO 639-1 code of the Chinese languages. In my opinion, this is the most correct and concise logo.

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Why not this one? enter image description here

like @Krazer said, we only need one simple symbol. That would do it, but you will have to resize it.

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