@frederik-f, absolutely - am I just making a pull request, or should I have a go at making the icons (as per the linked design guide) and do a PR to get them added?
1 Like
Thank you very much! This is what I have feared. Iām going to remove the icon now until we have a proper ābrandingā solution, like the one @jaggers had for the settings icon.
@jaggers you would need to add icons for every folder. I donāt know how he does it exactly but I he has SVGs and then exports them as PNGs into every folder from 48@2, 48, ā¦ 16@2 and so on with the proper size. But the smaller icons have bigger outlines. Itās lot to do but totally doable 
There is no such logo I think so you would need to create the svg
3 Likes
No probs, I will crack on with it
2 Likes
Hm I am struggling if the settings app is really such a good idea.
Maybe the idea with the gnome-software is better.
There are already ādoubleā icons for gnome software and software updater already:
I really donāt think using File Manager orSsettings app is a good use of the ubuntu logo, it should give access to the system.
Maybe all those attempts show that we should put an hold on the idea to have the logo by default for ubuntu 18.10, focus on the rest of the theme and think about it again for next cycle, wdyt?
8 Likes
The software store could be a place that fits.
But yes we are maybe crossing the border of madness and despair 
When I look to the past posts in here I think that the general opinion is quiet torn. Some people are ok without the logo others are not. 
The activities thing just doesnāt work at the moment
Cursor comes from Suru Icon set
Okay, I know this is kinda late, but why not just let the ubuntu icon be for a welcome app? Itād be simple, not confuse other applications, and be a simple way to brand that would get out of the way when the user removes it. itād also provide functionality without serving as a core system thing.
It could show off the new theme, how to use snaps, have a link to the discourse, have a list of credits and contributors, etc.
IMO, it would make the most sense to have it be a webpage that opens in your default browser, instead of its own welcome app. That way it could easily be changed per version, have a news feed, etc.
1 Like
@taciturasa, a logo that linked to some kind of welcome/documentation/webpage/help would be better than not having one at all IMOā¦ but my feeling was that it would then only be useful for novices. Established users would soon have to choose between removing it (and losing the logo/branding) or keeping it and wasting space on the launcher for a button they never used. That was why my preference was to find something that most users would click on occasionally forever, like File Manager, settings or software.
However, I think a welcome/documentation/webpage/help button is a fair solution, and probably uncontroversial in terms of the meaning of the icon (because you click on it to find out about Ubuntu). And at least people then have the option of keeping a logo at the top of their launcher, even if they never click on it!
āIt should give access to the system.ā
Ideally I agree, and that was my logic for suggesting File Managerā¦ itās the app that corresponds most closely to being a view of the whole system. I actually think Ubuntu logo = File Manager is slightly more logical than Ubuntu logo = app grid?
One thing Windows users are used to is having two buttons (at least) that take you to File Manager: one for File Manager and one for Documents, with the latter just being a shortcut to the Documents folder in File Manager. Likewise, I wonder if the Ubuntu logo could take you to the Home directory and the current File Manager icon could take you to Documents?
1 Like
We have a proverb: If it work, do not touch.
Why change UX from previous versions? UX should remain unchanged from version to version. Remember Windows 8 without the Start button and with the shutdown button in a hidden place.
This is however something not Theme releated. It is up to Desktop team to develop such solution
2 Likes
In any case, I can still make the icon at different sizes, and then itās there if you can think of something to use it for
2 Likes
Oh, I might have itā¦ here is a second idea we could consider/mock up.
Instead of making a circle of friends the logo for a prominent system icon, incorporate the circle of friends into one (that otherwise keeps its symbolic meaning) and have it at the top of the launcher by default.
E.g., if you choose file manager, maybe the icon for that becomes a folder with a circle of friends on it.
If you choose settings, maybe the logo for that would be a circle of friends with a ring of cogās teeth framing it.
If you choose software centre, maybe the logo for that would be a shopping bag with a circle of friends on it. Whichever default icon works best with a circle of friends can go on top of the launcher.
In these cases, the Ubuntu logo would have to be smaller than Unity 7, but not necessarily smaller than the recent Activities position, and this means you can put the Ubuntu logo at the top of the launcher without deviating from upstream or compromising the symbolic language of the icon in question.
Worth mocking up, do you think? Iām happy to.
3 Likes
I was just about proposing this too. 
+1 for mockups!
Maybe incorporating the folder icon into a full squircle (ditching the ear in the background) and adding the Circle of Friends as a watermark would be a good fit.
=> Ubuntu logo on Ubuntu orange is perfect for branding, but the icon is still highly and intuitively recognizable as file manager as folders appear in the very same style within Files/Nautilus.
2 Likes
Brilliant, Iām free tonight so will try to do some mockups - no point perfecting one icon design in several different sizes till weāve seen/discussed some mockups and decided which (if any!) is most popular.
1 Like
I really have to say, I am NOT a fan of forcing the branding onto another unrelated app. If there ends up being branding, I would really rather like it to either be
A) In a sensible position, like to open the overview
B) Easily disableable and not interrupting my workflow, like a welcome screen
I really donāt like the idea of interrupting and confusing peopleās workflows just for the sake of a little more branding. People know what system theyāre using already; while branding can be fun and exciting, it can also be annoying and aggravating to have it marr parts of your system.
3 Likes
Consider also that we are not providing third party app icons just because we donāt want to interfere with their branding, then the same would go with GNOME apps. I am not sure Nautilus or other projects will be happy to be branded this way.
2 Likes
@c-lobrano, IMO I think itās a bit different for system apps like the file manager.
In desktop convention, I think an icon can represent the app to be launched, or the file/files/folder to be opened.
For instance: an icon that opens a picture in your image viewer app is often a thumbnail of that image, rather than symbolic of the viewer app itself.
An icon that opens your music folder in the file manager app often has musical notes. Itās not mandatory for the icons to incorporate the logo/branding of the image viewer or file manager app, because those are system apps that stay in the background. The icon is free to focus on the file or folder to be viewed or explored.
By the same token, if youāre going to click an icon to explore your installation of Ubuntu, I (personally!) think itās āfair gameā for it to include an Ubuntu logo. If a shortcut to āMusicā can be a folder with musical notesā¦ canāt a āHomeā shortcut have a circle of friends?
Also, it seems to me like the system apps arenāt trying to push their own competing branding? If you hover on the Nautilus icon, it just says āFilesā. I actually keep forgetting itās called Nautilus and call it āFile Managerā for that reason I think this is deliberate, because theyāre system apps. Presumably thatās why they can have generic Suru icons, focussed on the tasks they perform (files, music, etc.), rather than their own brands or mascots or whatever. They donāt even have Gnome branding (for instance: the icon for the Gnome music app just says āMusicā).
I think the least controversial (but not my favourite) option would be to make a Settings app that combines the Ubuntu logo with the settings cog. Settings isnāt really an app as suchā¦ itās just the settings for the desktop. If youāre using Ubuntu, itās perfectly reasonable for the settings icon to convey the meaning āUbuntu settingsā.
4 Likes
E.g., would something like this offend the Nautilus devs, as a shortcut to your āHomeā directory opened in Nautilus:
(Donāt panic immediately if you donāt like the design, itās just a quick mock-up of suggestion #1!).
1 Like
Or maybe with more classic Ubuntu colours:
5 Likes