Concerns Regarding Pyra Branding

[Fzero]

True say about the consoles and historically how they've been marketed in diferring countries... I guess that has always been a marketing thing, going with what's likely to appeal [sell] in that country.


Like the Famicom with its red and gold scheme in Japan, then grey tones in other countries. Never really looked asto the "why" but i guess they thought would sell better.


Although costly and likely not viable for that reason, it'd be good if Pyra could come in a variety of flavours.


The LED logo emblazoned version for gamers, and then a more muted plain black version aimed for the more business/desktop application users.


[bit stereotype yeah, sure some gamers want plain and vice versa, but..]


With plans being open people could make their case however they want, but not as easy as buying it that way.

 

[comradekingu]

I think intrinsically you communicate a lot of confidence in making a matte gray or black version for reasons laptop use is different from gaming. That makes it a prospect which its much easier to grasp.

TL;DR a professional version means the pyra is viable for professional use just as much as a non-organic logo means it it is viable for those people.

 

[rygD]

The LED logo emblazoned version for gamers, and then a more muted plain black version aimed for the more business/desktop application users. [bit stereotype yeah, sure some gamers want plain and vice versa, but..]

If I had my pick I would go with a "boring" black or dark colored case with either the other logo that just barely lost, or an indicator strip or something in place of the logo.  Or maybe the LEDs in the same locations as the Pandora, or along the edge of the lid so they can be seen from both side.

Anyway, getting back to the discussion, as I understand it the Famicom/NES differences were because the Famicom colors were significant to the guy in charge of Nintendo at the time, and they didn't want the NES to resemble consoles of the past to avoid the negative associations related to the video game crash.  As for other regional marketing, that is sometimes related to what would appeal in a particular country (there are some really...let's say "interesting", Game Boy ads from the UK, I think it was), but I think other times there may be some stuff going on behind the scenes.  iQue is a company that comes to mind for this.  I don't really know much about them, so I can't really speak much on why they even exist.  I know some countries get screwed over, in a sense, through the lack of things like Club Nintendo or Virtual Console/eShop.  I feel like GOG.com exists because of something related to currency exchange rates (or maybe it was piracy, I don't remember), but again, this is less about marketing/logos/ads.

I think I was trying to agree with comradekingu.  I guess I got lost somewhere along the way.

 

[comradekingu]

One does not simply agree with comradekingu.

It seems people are pointing at eachother, those wanting an official opinion point to ED, when he for the most part left it to community decision. Then you have those who are unhappy with the decisions, be it the mixed nature of going halfway with an executive decision and halfway with a popular one.

The naming used this method, and albeit of course not everyones favourite, seems to have gone down very well, and most importantly doesnt turn people away.

If one follows the "less options is more choice" rationale, it has some merit in manufacture. The model T ford was simple and available in black and black only. It was industrially produced, but this was at a time when coachbuilders were around. The pyra is definately one of those rather than a mass produced commodity.

Contrary to the Henry Ford way of thinking, a selection of different colours is not only wanted, it is expected to be the better option, all things considered.

While the silver gray or black pandora wasnt for everyone, it is no hard dealbreaker as long as the stock one isnt too crazy, and those arent.

The visual design-language is what you base your initial impression on, so that is important. Left without a choice on the graphical side i think the pyra will suffer economically.

I think the current selection/variation of lid design is a bit crazy, compared to option 2, which was a more bland and meaningless pick.

To those that are at home with option 1, its a very specially catered and crafted thing for them, but its just for them. It excludes a huge number of people.

And for it to be for everyone, and still make good on the prospect of being niche, it has to play on more strings.

With how things have developed, the laptop side and portable audio, photography side is now viable. I think something that speaks more to this demographic is warranted.

And by that i mean more units sold, which is a net benefit to supporters of any one option.

There are many ready to go solutions that work in this manner which are also very popular within the existing community.

Think about it, the most popular handheld clamshell device is the nintendo nds, available in a seemingly endless range of options. Yet all the people that have one were able to pick. Or they get all of them, which isnt bad.

Pentax does the same thing with their cameras, and they arent the market leader. Nor is it a japanese company, and they are still very popular for this reason in what can be considered the home screen of the game console.

 

[bzar]

One does not simply agree with comradekingu.

This seems like a useful quote
Maybe the Pyra variant of Debian could have one of the proposed logos inspired by the Pyra logo?

 

[comradekingu]

Coming to agreement with myself is a challenge, but a reasonable one at that.

Unsure what you mean, but i think it was good that the debian maelstrom type logo didnt win by a small margin.

It is more bland, and thus hypotetically more accepted, but i think that would be a design-by-community pick, and mostly one that was not something else, rather than its own.

For the lid design it almost has to ambigramatical, that is the pattern my brain accepts, and the strong design-by-community winner.

Same thing with something that _is_ dragonbox - pyra in some sense, rather than something merely visual which for case of argument could be used for something else.

Even a alupanda has enough going for it to be a viable popular opinion. Its hard to tell how much of that is down to the default pandora case being prone to breaking, but i certainly want an alupyra.

 

[Fzero]

Snap-on lids could be a nice thing.

If the Pyra lid was hinged onto the main part of the device, and that lid had the LED showing on it.

Bundled in the box with your purchase would be the 'stock' snap-on lid, which had the cutout Pyra logo [as we've seen in the models from ED].

...But you could also buy from dragonbox, a variety of other snap-on lids, so you literally snap this onto the main lid, no removing hinge or LCD cables and such... just simple snap-on like the old Nokia mobile facias of the 90's.

Could then offer some alternative logos, which would still benefit from the LED shining through.

Could offer some plain solid colours, including a plain solid matte black one, with no logo whatsoever, for those who want a plain looking box.

Would open up for a lot of customisation

 

[comradekingu]

I think thats when it becomes a gimmick, ala nvidia sheild. It could be a replacable part of the lid, with all lids sporting a default cutout size.

That would however require the removable negative space parts and the translucent plastic be glued together, which is mechanical complexity and potential delamination.

If there are too many options it loses the official nature. Much like a white window in a graphics editor doesnt always make for amazing results given some time clicking and grinning.

I think the cutout on the lid is laser cut rather than a part of the injection molding. I could be wrong, but ED said it was a question of funding to provide alternate designs.

Edit: I came to understand what B-zar meant above:

So if there are more choices, then they could all remain thematically similar. So as to have it be a constructive symbiosis rather than a destructive clash where one is opposed to the other. That way you also tune into the brand identity idea.

I think if all things logo/lid or design wise are ambigramatical it would be neat. Then you could do more obscure references too here and there, since its a theme that is expected.

Also for the colours to be similar is a kind of scheme. Like how pastel colours are all similar but different. A standard deviation from websafe colours.

We havent touched on colour, but ive seen those vocal about it often say that colours are too strong for them.

So not bright white light, but more yellow. Not strong red, but more blood red and so on.

Like the last three avatars, minus the haloween-green.

Truth be told im bad at colours, but ive always liked gray, black and red together. Those are all colours from the fire realm of things. Add white to the mix and you have the standard set of often used colours without it mismatching.

 

[rygD]

The model T ford was simple and available in black and black only.

 Supposedly it was originally available in several colors.  Black was not one of them.

As for colors for the Pyra, I would also be ok with the lime green that comradekingu seems confused about above (halloween green?), but I think black, vanatablack and clear offer enough colors to keep everyone happy.

 

[sswam]

EDIT: I've removed the original badge and attached my formal suggestion.

The upper logo in your suggestion is indeed much better than the current version of the Pyra logo. Thank-you.