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This site (the main site, not the meta; ok, also the meta) has a weird/silly logo icon:

enter image description here

And it looks even less intelligible as a favicon. I always forget what the tabs with this icon mean. In this question:

Our logo icon makes no sense

Nobody seems to provide a straight answer of why we have this logo.

It also doesn't make sense to put the StackExchange initials on the logo - no other SE site does that AFAICT. Same goes for the heart: Other SE sites are about people who love Macs, or Chemistry, or Cooking or what-not - nothing special about bicycles.SX .

So please change it. It shouldn't be difficult to use some kind of bicycle figure, or a bicycle wheel (I think - I'm not a graphics designer).

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    BTW some answers are here bicycles.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/699 the icon is supposed to evoke an ornate headbadge on the front of a bike frame.
    – Criggie Mod
    Mar 4, 2018 at 5:34
  • Possible duplicate of Our logo icon makes no sense
    – RoboKaren
    Mar 4, 2018 at 19:58
  • @RoboKaren: Not a dupe; the other question wanted explanations of the current icon, I don't care about that and just want it replaced.
    – einpoklum
    Mar 4, 2018 at 20:09
  • Not duplicate, OP is requesting for change, not looking for meaning.
    – DRP
    Feb 28, 2020 at 14:19

5 Answers 5

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It's a head-tube badge and it fits nicely with the graphic design of the site. We should keep it.

A stick bicycle is just patronizing next to the word "bicycles", as if to say "Just in case you don't know what a 'bicycle' is, it's one of these." It also fundamentally misunderstands what a logo is. Car companies don't have pictures of cars as logos, bicycle companies don't have pictures of bicycles as logos, oil companies don't have pictures of oil as logos.

And if the site logo encourages you to ask questions... OK, just kidding.

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  • To me, its a cyan heart inside a grey lidless box with S on one wall, and E around the corner.
    – Criggie Mod
    May 26, 2018 at 3:33
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Here is a public domain image of a bike:

enter image description here

Taken from here; originally, the Dutch government created it and it's used in traffic signs.

I'm not saying this is the best possible option - just an example of a simple usable image to start with

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    I feel this disincentivies drop-bars, and you should always photograph a bike from its Right Hand Side (tongue in cheek)
    – Criggie Mod
    Mar 5, 2018 at 2:45
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    I prefer bicycles with pedals
    – TOOGAM
    Mar 6, 2018 at 2:43
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I suggest the humble stick-rider as inspiration.

From http://moziru.com/images/bike-clipart-stick-man-1.png

This gender-agnostic rider is simply riding - no concession to type of bike frame, nor drops-vs-flats debate. No fashion or helmet statement either other than basic black.

Is this the stencil you see painted on the bike lanes in your area? If not, feel free to add an image of your locale's stickrider.

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    Sorry, it’s so biased towards safety bicycles and I think ordinary bike riders would have a fit. /s
    – RoboKaren
    Mar 4, 2018 at 20:00
  • @RoboKaren: What are safety bicycles?
    – einpoklum
    Mar 4, 2018 at 20:02
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    Damn newfangled inventions that are ruining our sport: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_bicycle
    – RoboKaren
    Mar 4, 2018 at 20:03
  • @RoboKaren: Ah, so that was a joking reference to penny-farthing style bikes as "ordinary". Ok, sorry, I missed that. I thought you were actually opposed...
    – einpoklum
    Mar 4, 2018 at 20:08
  • @Klaster_1 Unicycles generally don't even have head tube badges so the current icon marginalises single-wheel cycles already. If you feel this site doesn't support them well enough. then consider a proposal for two new specialist stacks. Do feel free to make your own suggestion, or to express support for the existing icon too.
    – Criggie Mod
    Mar 24, 2018 at 6:26
  • Edit: just realised RoboKaren already made my first point with safety bicycles hehe, But it implies that we should use the same wheel size front and back! And his position is decidedly sporty! This is going to start a flame war! Or people questioning why we have a stick man sitting on an invisible something, between a pair of spectacles... (but seriously, I know a guy who usually runs a bigger front wheel than back wheel, I'm considering giving it a go too.)
    – user20209
    May 26, 2018 at 0:49
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    Ahh i have it! A crank! I have seen and heard of people running without well... everything, except without cranks, even those running chainless and sprocketless have cranks.... waits for some one to post a video of some bmxer running without cranks... maybe this would work? tate.org.uk/art/images/research/2148_9.jpg
    – user20209
    May 26, 2018 at 0:56
  • @Purr balance bicycles don't have cranks...
    – jhnc
    May 15, 2022 at 21:15
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I don't find the current icon that intuitive either, even though I've read it explained that it's a headbadge. If there are cyclists not quite understanding what it is without explanation, then we shouldn't expect the network at large to realise it either. That said, I do think that it falls on the one who wants a change, to come up with an idea that people like more than the current one.

Some of the most successful icons I can see are the chef's hat of Seasoned Advice, the piggy bank of Personal Finance and Money, and maybe the planet icon of Worldbuilding. They're successful because as someone who isn't active on those sites, I see the icon and have an idea of what it's about even before I examine further. I think ours is less successful on the intuitive-ness scale, but I wouldn't change it unless something was put forward that was up there with the best ones, it needs to be intuitive or there's little point in making any change.

I don't love the thought of making it a straight bicycle logo, but equally, what says 'bicycles' better than an image of one? (That is the question!!) I don't know if the space is really large enough. It's probably a no from me to a bike logo, but I'm open to evaluating ideas put forward.

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  • You make a valid point, but I'm not a graphic designer. I also didn't suggest using a straight-up bicycle image, it was just a "conceptual direction". It could also be a wheel with spokes, or maybe a penny-farthing, or, well, I dunno. Like I said, I'm not the person to design this kind of thing.
    – einpoklum
    Mar 1, 2020 at 20:35
  • I understand, me neither. But even a graphic designer needs to be told a brief, "make us a new logo" isn't sufficient. No-one apathetic to the plea for change is going to offer much
    – Swifty
    Mar 1, 2020 at 21:20
  • See my new answer.
    – einpoklum
    Mar 1, 2020 at 22:07
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Here's a suggestion for the basis of a site icon: A graphical shape for a background, and a pennty-farthing silhouette in the foreground:

enter image description here

Or perhaps:

enter image description here

Note: Found these on Google images, these aren't my designs.

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  • I do really like the style of those graphics, but I expect they would struggle when shrunk all the way down. Do we know how small the small icons in HNQ list are?
    – Swifty
    Apr 4, 2020 at 10:46
  • @Swifty: A capable graphic artist can "pseudo-scale" that to a smaller size, with different elements scaled differently (e.g. spoke width) to maintain visibility. But I'm not that person.
    – einpoklum
    Apr 4, 2020 at 10:54

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