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I haven't seen anybody asking this. I just went to check some statistics about the Retrocomputing site and one of them featured a cloud of StackExchange sites, each one with its logo with a size relative to the size of the community. Of course, RC is still small, and it currently wears the default speech ballon logo.

So is there a defined procedure to design/propose a logo for the site? Has the site to reach a specific size? How does all this work?

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This is question 6 of the seven essential meta questions of every beta. I get the impression Stack Exchange (the company) takes care of it, but if we come up with our own exceptional site design and/or logo, they'd use that instead. A site only gets its own look-and-feel when it exits beta though, and that can take a very long time.

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While it is true that no site gets an official logo or theme until it is graduated, there is another way for the enthusiastic.

Over on the Anime & Manga site, they have taken matters into their own hand. This site has started the process of graduation but hasn't completed it yet. Remember that graduation takes a while, it isn't an instant pressing of a button by the SE staff.

They've created a mechanism amongst themselves, using CSS, to provide personal themes. See:
https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/q/4038

So, if you wish to create your own, unofficial, appearance for the site, you may wish to have a look. Let us know how you get on.

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So as we've hit our 1 year anniversary recently, which inspired me to create a little, and I actually came up with a logo and a couple of CSS themes. I'm probably putting the cart before the horse (need us to get through "beta" before we can change anything), but I was just messing around and came up with these. Examples below; larger images linked in the titles:

Green-Screen theme:

Retrocomputing Green Screen theme

CGA theme:

Retrocomputing CGA theme

They're not "done" by any means; I was just doing some brainstorming. And since the original question was about logos, I spent some time GIMPing (as opposed to "Photoshopping") an old image of a TRS-80 model 4 to get the logo that I used.

Let me know what you all think.

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  • These are great! Thanks for creating and sharing these styles. Perhaps you could add them to Stylish (Firefox extension and userstyle repository). Commented May 10, 2017 at 15:35
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    I don't think either style would be seriously considered. There's a reason why we don't use green screen monitors and constant-width fonts (at least not exclusively) any more. Look at the Arqade site design to see how you can mix in some retro while still keeping the site easy to read. Commented May 12, 2017 at 3:31
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    On the other hand, some such elements can be used effectively; see Unix & Linux for one example. That said, a CGA color scheme on white background would probably be horrible for any vision-impaired visitors, and once the novelty wears off, probably tiring for regulars as well. But I agree with @wizzwizz4's suggestion to add these to Stylish for those people who fancy the look. Commented May 15, 2017 at 11:51
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Well, as i want to stay here for a little longer, i've decided to waste 10 minutes and contribute a little bit. enter image description here I know, i know. The text looks terrible on a solid white background, but it'll look awesome once the background is something else. As I currently have some more free time to spare, I'm going to do a little CSS theme tweak. Once it will be ready, I'll probably post it in right here.

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I'm a bit unease with using a specific computer or computer style as a logo, as this feels less inclusive. I'd rather live with the RC badge than go that way.

One Idea might be using a classic floppy (8"/5.25") style icon, as that's something still recognizable by todays viewers as well as beeing something truly retro. We all started when Floppies where still floppy didn't we?

It's not only classic, but also quite simple in shape, thus easy to scale. By using only 1 (2) colours, it can be integrated ino next to any colour scheme.

Quick example: Quick 2 Colour Example

Ofc, this can be much improved using more different colours/grayscale - and maybe even droping the text in favour for just lines - like 8" labels had.

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  • Err, actually some of us started before floppy disks were invented. Otherwise, this is a good idea. Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 12:02
  • @Chenmunka Well, my first contact to computers was via punch cards, but I'm not old enough to have done much prior to the advent of floppies. In 1969 I was more interested in geting thru a school day without too much work than thinking about pogramming. And when I started to raly work with computers in 1977, floppies where already state of the art, especially for small systems. Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 12:19
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    A fellow veteran then! I only beat you by a couple of years. First dabble in programming 1967, first serious programming 1974. Commented Aug 25, 2017 at 12:30

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