This page is for nominations for the new Wiktionary logo vote. Each proposal should be added under a new section title with a short descriptive name. Logos from the previous vote can be included, and users are encouraged to design new ones. It does not have to be the author of the logo that proposes it, but this is likely to be more common for the newly created ones. The proposal should consist of:
an image that is 135x135 px to be used as the logo
either an image that is 16x16 px to be used as the favicon, or a short description of how such an image could be created.
After a proposal has been added, please abide by the following:
Anyone may comment on or improve any proposal.
The logo in the proposal may be replaced by an improved version of the same logo.
Only one logo should be present in one section. Multiple similar proposals should have multiple sections.
Do not vote on this page.
The proposals on this page should not be modified after 2009-07-31 23:59, voting (in a manner yet to be determined) will then occur.
That's a misstatement. The Greek, Korean, Persian, and others use variations that replace the W in the middle with a character in their own script. 70.112.20.2308:30, 20 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Also, this logo DID NOT win the 2006 vote. There were 108 votes in favor of this logo and 135 votes that were not in favor of this logo. That's by no means a consensus. It isn't even a majority. Once we figure out which logo has the most support, we should have a simple vote that says, this logo is to be adopted yes or no? I can't see reaching a definitive conclusion any other way. If that had been the case last time, it wouldn't have reached any sort of supermajority, and could have very well lost outright, meaning less than half. That's not surprising given how haphazardly the entire process was handled. 70.112.199.13303:03, 31 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Mind you, neither the Wikisource or even, when you really consider it objectively, Wikipedia logos immediately bring to mind the idea of "out of copyright texts" or "an encyclopedia". Yes, they have symbolism, but unless you already know what they are symbolic of, they're just pretty icons (mind you, that's valid for a GREAT many brands. Just try thumbing through a compendium of commercial logos in use and figuring what types of companies use them!). Circeus14:53, 20 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I don't think resembling a dictionary is necessarily necessary. This logo does in fact relate to a dictionary though (i.e., Wiktionary), because all words all made up of letters, the basic building block if you will of language. Overall, this is by far my favourite design. - Epson29108:57, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Respectfully, I disagree. You are right that many languages are commonly written using letter-based writing systems, but whatever the building blocks of language might be, surely they must be in language itself, rather than in writing systems? —RuakhTALK13:47, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
But the lack of resemblance must be compensatede by an aesthetically pleasant design, and the design of this logo isn't good. It doesn't solve the cultural centrism problem (why only 9 scripts? why not other ones?), and the logo and its favicon must be changed for languages with different scripts. -Diego UFCG11:12, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
It won the 2006 vote. And has any of the wiktionaries voted against it? Is somebody aware of a language wiktionary clearly against this logo, after an internal vote? Lmaltier15:26, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
This is my favorite. I do like the IPA image below, but I think it would be nice if all the various languages used a similar theme. Certainly better than what is currently used. -Kslays21:07, 22 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I don’t like this. It’s ugly, IMHO (sorry, author). Certainly worse than what is currently used. I don’t like other logos here either and cannot propose my own. This is very sad. --Vahagn Petrosyan01:09, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Darkdadaah made an interesting point regarding this logo on the mailing list: [...] the logo should identify the project ("hey, it's Wiktionary!") without reference to something else ("hey, it's that dictionary that uses scrabble tiles!"). Notwithstanding the copyright issues some have cried wolf (of which I firmly believe there are not), the logo is a clear reference to scrabble tiles, and that is a problem. Not to mention that involving the letter W makes localisation too complex by itself: the only thing that should ever change is the text below the logo. Circeus04:49, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
No, it's not a clear reference to Scrabble tiles. It's not because somebody has mentioned Scrabble that this logo should be disqualified. These tiles cannot be confused with Scrabble tiles (though they can be confused with tiles from various other games...) Lmaltier21:02, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Who said they could be confused? The point is that they are an obvious reference to them. Anybody who's ever seen a scrabble game in their life would immediately make the association, regardless whether it was intended. Circeus00:12, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I was browsing the French wiktionary and I thought this logo was much better than the English version, in fact I think that this should be the standard for all languages as the Wikipedia logo is for all languages. I think the tiles are neutral and in fact I at first did not think of scrabble (as some suggested one would) but of mah-jongg, and I am not even a player of that game. All this to say that the issue of resemblance to some copyrighted work is not an issue, as many games and products make use of tiles with writing/symbology. In fact, I believe one of the earliest languages, cuneiform, utilized letter-tiles as its basis for writing.
Yeah, but, is that the point? What is it that makes it not just a rehash of the same idea Wikipedia's logo has going on? I mean, if you're going to say that, you may as well consider the two interchangeable, which is not what you want in a logo for an entirely different project. this raven is icy22:17, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
i have to agree with other people it doesn't resemble a dictionary at all It should be a dictionary with wiki in lots of languages on the front but i like it all the same. If it was a translation unit it might just work for me. — The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.132.216.167 (talk) 13:39, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I like how this logo was designed so that each language edition would customize the center tile to represent their own language (their script, actually). This way, every language can claim representation on the logo – unlike the Wikipedia logo with its limited space, or any of the "symbolic" logos that have been proposed. At the same time, the logo remains clearly unified – unlike the original Wiktionary logo, which had different typefaces and layouts for most of its variants.
So the existence of variations is controversial, but it doesn't really pose a logistical problem: virtually all Wikipedia editions have their own variations of the Wikipedia logo, since the wordmark and slogan beneath have to be localized anyways. The logo is available as an SVG file, so it can be customized fairly easily (GIMP). I'm not so much wedded to this particular logo; rather, I like the way this logo strikes a balance between localization and unity, and another logo that does it effectively may well have my vote.
I'm glad that the majority of proposals here, including this one, are not literal depictions of a dictionary. Google chose not to use binoculars or a magnifying glass in their logo (as did WebCrawler), BBC News's logo doesn't depict a newspaper, and AT&T's iconic logo doesn't depict any kind of communications device. None of these brands resorted to identifying with a physical device, because that's the quickest way to look outdated. Using a dictionary as our logo would be tantamount to describing ourselves as "a generic word lookup tool", which might be appropriate for many reference websites. But I'm sure Wiktionary's goals are a bit broader than that.
Just make sure no one makes a variant with little numbers in the bottom-right corner of each tile, okay? :^)
I don't like this logo, because a logo displaying only a handful of languages cannot represent all the world's languages. We need something which is impartial to all the world's languages. It's not correct to choose languages based on real or assumed usage statistics. I'd give my vote to a logo which depicts - pictorially - something like a mouth and a callout...--ಕಿರಣ11:32, 8 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
both refer to games (jigsaw puzzle games, and letter tile games)
both include letters in various scripts, in order to insist on the multi-language nature of the project (which is still more important in Wiktionary)
The Wikipedia logo has been very successful, and this is probably the strongest argument for confirming the decision about this logo. Are there arguments against this logo not applying to the Wikipedia logo? Lmaltier13:48, 12 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
I like this one most. It's a simple idea, not cluttered with symbols. The tiles reference games based on words, as Wiktionary is. I don't agree that it is bad, since not representing all the world's languages. If you wan't such a logo you need either to list them all or use a symbol like a globe or a map of the world, which is abused when it comes to representing internationalism. There are maybe more creative ways to picture the humanity as an unity, like the Olympic or Ubuntu logo, but the characters are clear (also aesthetically) and, as I said, keep the climate of dealing with languages. Moreover, I suppose that most of the users don't know what is every single character for the IPA "w". 89.77.178.15417:53, 13 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
IPA tiles
Latest comment: 17 years ago9 comments5 people in discussion
Symbols taken from the International Phonetic Alphabet. The favicon would consist of just the W tile:
Exact same problem as the first replacement: many languages don't have the sound /w/, and the IPA is heavily skewed toward the Latin alphabet (which is, when you think about it, worse than the writing systems choice issues with the first replacement). Circeus04:52, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Very true, but at least we can blame that on the IPA. Alternatively it would be cool to use symbols from phonetic alphabets in various languages, like Chinese bopomofo or the AHD's oo with a line on top. As it is, I don't think it matters if many languages have the sound or not, the symbols are just pretty. DAVilla05:33, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I quite like this as a design, but I can't help feeling it's a little too strong to use as a logo. It doesn't blend in very well when put beside the other project logos and I think it would really stand out on the page. Maybe that's a good thing for some people, but it doesn't work for me. ☸ Moilleadóir☎12:11, 25 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Are you saying the quality must be low on account of poor logos already included, that ours should look as dull as ? Sorry for being negative. In my opinion the best logos are the ones that stand out. Wikipedia. Wikinews. Wikisource even started as . I'd be happy with something a little more symbolic than photographic as long as I could believe the characters to be etched into wood, having if not the texture then the right tone, at least, rather than the color of puke. DAVilla05:33, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Just saying that I think part of our brief is to find something that harmonises with the other project logos to some extent. Where we draw the line between too similar and too different is open for discussion, but if we can't even agree on a general principle like that then this whole exercise is doomed. Perhaps we've moved too quickly onto proposals and should've worked out the general principles of what we want from a logo first.
I don't agree that the other project logos are of low quality. In the case of Wikibooks I think you're confusing dull with simple. For an image that will be shown at different resolutions simple is a huge advantage.
I also don't think that any of the current logos have such radically different designs. The only one that is particularly different (apart from Wiktionary of course) is Wikipedia and even that is still circular. ☸ Moilleadóir☎06:08, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I know the difference. Wikiversity is detailed and Wikiquote is simple, though neither are very colorful. Wikibooks is both simple and dull, and not circular wherever that came from. Anyways we have two full months to not only discuss the principles but also to illustrate them with proposals and variations thereof. Speaking of principles, it appears some higher-ups don't want logos that are too close to the Wikimedia logo. I imagine Wikispecies is the primary impetus for that decision. The last time we voted on a Wiktionary logo, 3 of the 4 finalists said in the titles that the colors would have to be changed. And (possibly because of that) they all lost, by the way. DAVilla17:36, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Even Wikiversity's logo isn't this detailed. These should be simplified to two tones- one shadow tone for the side, like a leathery grey-brown type, and for the normal top tone, a woody [not pukey] brown. This one has potential, but es gibt too much detail and the brown is kinda pukey like the person above said. Contributions/24.167.214.5321:27, 15 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Stone tiles
Latest comment: 17 years ago3 comments3 people in discussion
This logo is for everyone. It's for those who think wood doesn't make a permanent enough logo, or those who are still haunted by childhood memories of Scrabble. It's for those who are so good at word games that they could play a hand stacked with obsolete symbols, or those who don't like a logo concept to be trumped by flashy colors. The favicon would be a single tile etched with W () or whatever other character from the localized Wikipedia favicon.
Comments
I think this would work better with the oh-so-grey Monobook background than the wooden tiles, but after looking at them both for a while the warmth of the wooden ones is more appealing somehow. The Wiki gods won't let us do backgrounds, will they? Would be good to see how all these designs look in context. ☸ Moilleadóir☎14:58, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
This looks great and at least ties-in with the grey and the characters of the Wikipedia logo. The "Wiki..." projects should all relate to one another. In fact, a professional update to all logos should be considered: not to change the logos per se, but to apply a consistent style and quality.
From what languages are the letters? I could only recognise Kāp from Estrangelo (the above right corner)... Bogorm15:06, 5 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
If you can recognize any of the letters then I've made a mistake. I was trying to use only letters that are archaic or obsolete, either because the language is dead or because the characters are no longer used in that script. I started by looking at Old English texts but you would be surprised how many Latin variants continue to be used in various languages. Tracking down a good mix wasn't an elementary exercise. I believe this restriction eliminates a lot of choice in the matter, making the selection not quite as arbitrary.
The bottom row is Chinese, Greek, and some type of cuniform. The Thai and Korean aren't hard to spot either. There's also an unused IPA symbol, and I don't remember what all the others are. Wait until I can get my computer running again. DAVilla20:33, 7 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Calligraphy
Latest comment: 17 years ago3 comments3 people in discussion
One of the better variations proposed in the first round, though mildly language-centric. I think the idea of playing with the W is good. Circeus14:40, 20 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
The biggest thing I don't like about this logo is it doesn't lend it self well to non Latin languages (ex. Greek, Cyliric (Russian), Arabic, Hebrew, and South/East Asian languages), where the stylized "W" means nothing. Plus every wiki project starts with a "W", why should this logo be used for this one, and how does it connect to its purpose of representing a wiki dictionary? - Epson29108:34, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Looks more like Greek omega than double-yew, and I don't mind that.24.79.79.87
Latest comment: 17 years ago4 comments4 people in discussion
Combination of a design by Yorktown1776 and one by User:Rei-artur made by User:Sannab on a proposal by User:Vildricianus. The favicon would consist of just resizing the logo to 16px, or using only the w-part. /
Yeah, I have that problem with Wikiquote too. The speech bubble is fairly universal, so I'm not sure why they didn't adopt it. DAVilla08:03, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 17 years ago6 comments5 people in discussion
Proposal by User:Happydog. Easily resized for favicon.
Comments
Another from the previous proposal process. Puts the accent on the "speech/language" aspect of Wiktionary. Possibly a good avenue if we toy with the speech bubble part. Circeus14:40, 20 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I like this one much better than Calligraphy, I didn't realize before but yeah, the speech bubble is kinda weird, it may be worthwile to toy with it, but overall it is a nice logo. And, it has something to do with a dictionary, even if it focuses on the language part of it. - Epson29109:01, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I don't think this fits a dictionary. This would be a perfect logo if the project had more audio or spoken parts to it. It just doesn't make me think of a dictionary. --penubag03:48, 22 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
If we start from the (fairly legit IMHO) assumption that the logo should eschew the used of written characters of any sort, how are we to represent the idea of "language" or "words" that is central to this project? 04:53, 23 May 2009 (UTC)
Didn't you just prove the point of why the idea to eschew the use of written characters of any sort is not a legit assumption? I mean, seriously - Wikiversity gets away with the not-language thing because it's not a language-centred project. Similarly, Wikisource has a clever little pun going on, etc. - but this is the one most languagey project. We'd be idiots not to use some sort of writing to represent it. this raven is icy22:13, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I think that maybe if you add some characters to the speech bubble, it might relate more to wiktionary.
Dictionary on a monitor
Latest comment: 17 years ago8 comments7 people in discussion
I haven't decided on what the Favicon would be. Also, note this is an SVG so it will resize to any appropriate size automatically. Note the gold edge and the thumbpoints, similar to a dictionary.
According to Landau, including a thumb index in a dictionary “is strictly a marketing decision,” and they are popular with American buyers, but “to the great relief of British publishers, thumb indexes have never caught on in the UK dictionary market.” (S.I. Landau 2001, Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, 2nd ed.)
So I don't mind the thumb index, but it probably doesn't speak to everyone. To resemble a big dictionary at the micro-scale, the type on the book pages should probably be arranged in two or three columns without line spaces, rather than in evenly-spaced paragraphs. —MichaelZ. 2009-05-22 18:26 z18:26, 22 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Well, hopefully people more competent will refine the logos at later points in the process. Not even all of them are in .svg to begin with. Circeus04:55, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
How about a big and heavy dictionary that is portrayed as easy to pick or carry or some other ease associated with it to emphasize the fact how easily available and easy to use Wiktionary is. 98.216.7.3607:44, 5 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Current design
Latest comment: 17 years ago10 comments10 people in discussion
Also, Favicon is identical to Wikipedia's.24.79.79.87
Indeed. It's a mess to localize, and various little things (i.e. pronunciation in en:) are always causing trouble. Plus the logo itself cannot exist separately from the name/slogan, which removes any usefulness of having a logo in the first place: you cannot use the logo without using a specific language. Circeus21:32, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Very clever, but I think you just proved the point. Those are all stylized, one is only two letters and two are single words. They are also never localized. How can you possibly compare that to a jumble of 10+ words that will be different in each language anyway? We're looking for a logo, not an essay. If it's too diffuse to use as a favicon then there's a good chance it's not a good logo. ☸ Moilleadóir☎17:40, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Agreed. And “Wiktionary” is not a great name to use internationally (note that these companies no longer call themselves Daiwa Kogyo, General Motors, or Standard Oil), and unless you think Wikisłownik, Βικιλεξικό, Вікісловник, and a dozen other projects that have already rejected this logo will rename themselves “Wiktionary,” then this logo is hopeless. —MichaelZ. 2009-05-24 19:09 z
Furthermore, the RP-centric nature of even the English version of this logo, while not overtly offensive, is pretty annoying. It's not just that dictionary has four syllables to me, or to my continent. It has four syllables to a lot of people (including, I'm pretty sure, many ESL students). It's just not very diplomatic. I think this logo is basically dead in the water anyway, it doesn't seem like anyone wants it, but I think it's important to realise why specifically we don't want this, even for en.wiktionary. A slight tangent now, forgive me - That reason, however, is not because other projects' names are different. Wikipedia has been quite all right creating new logos (although many of them are poorly rendered) for projects named Uiquipedia and so forth, which is my number one rebuttal for the idea that the W, by itself, is ethnocentric: If anyone else wants to use a different symbol, they will. W is just what is most semantically appropriate for English - and a host of other languages. this raven is icy22:08, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Question: Where did this one come from? Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing that as the logo, without the stuff in the background or the green pronuncer etc. on the bottom. Gus Polly17:18, 5 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
I see I'm clearly in the minority, but I have always liked this logo (or whatever petty people like to call it). So my vote/!vote/contribution to the discussion is to keep this one. (Although I do agree that the RP is a tad grating). ÷seresin22:52, 10 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Schematic dictionary entry
Latest comment: 17 years ago5 comments4 people in discussion
The favicon would consist of just the paragraph mark.
Comments
This one's an oddball that came to me. It's a very rough representation (I'm no logo designer), but the concept, that of a schematic dictionary entry (as opposed to one with actual text), should be relatively straightforward. Circeus21:20, 21 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I like the concept of a schematic entry of a dictionary, but not this design in particular. It might have a certain continuity with the "current logo" above, with horizontal lines instead of words, but it should be still more schematic to use it as logo, and better with some colors. --Vriullop09:43, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I'm not going to pretend the proposal is very good. As I note, I'm no designer. I'm hoping some people will be able to build on it. Circeus00:09, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
But this looks more like an encyclopedia entry. Usually dictionaries don't have images (as I'm assuming that grey square is). Also, I'm not sure how anyone would be able to make this look professional.69.230.79.10201:33, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 17 years ago19 comments15 people in discussion
The square brackets "[[ ]]" refer to the wiki-syntax link that connects the user to other parts of a wiki-dictionary. When these brackets are connected with dotted lines, it appears to be an open book, or dictionary. They are connected with a dotted line rather than a solid one because the content of Wiktionary is open. The directed arrows coming out of a circle are inspired by the Wikimedia Commons Logo and refer to collaborative and the always expanding nature of wikis.
I'm a bit meh at it. Yes it's a very nice logo, but it just doesn't ring much as a logo specifically for Wiktionary. It could be the logo of just about any of the Wikimedia projects. Circeus04:38, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
And seriously, the tile logos need to go into one of the places where things go to die. Sorry to the projects that use it, but I really don't like it and I will raise holy hell before the ENGLISH Wiktionary adopts anything of the like. --Neskaya17:24, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I don't know why you said that here - it's not like this logo is any better, other than in how it services your need for a different kind of graphic design. I second Circeus; there's nothing that makes this a Wiktionary logo and not just a Wiki-stuff logo. In fact, this is basically just the same as the Mediawiki logo, without the media part, and I never liked that logo either. I'd support it as a logo for some other general Wiki thing, but not for Wiktionary. this raven is icy21:53, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I'm not talking about the other logos, I'm talking about this logo, and you're wrong, most of them do have elements that are specifically thought for wiktionary, this one has no association that are unique in referring to a dictionary or even just language. Circeus00:08, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I think that this looks more like a representation of a monitor or TV screen than anything else. The arrows do work as a representation of growth or expansion, but perhaps more in the “pushing the boundaries” or “innovating” sense, which is probably not meaningful for Wiktionary. Also, I agree with sentiments that it is too similar to the MediaWiki logo or applies to broadly to wikis in general. —195.194.50.312:09, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
God forbid that we'd give people the impression that any innovation was happening on a wiktionary. No, no boundaries being pushed here...oh wait, every word in every language... ☸ Moilleadóir☎14:03, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
The major issue is not that the symbolism is inappropriate, it's that the symbolism could applies to any WikiMedia projects. The new should have some element(s) that applies specifically to Wiktionary, but this one doesn't. Circeus16:13, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
At least this one is as unbiased as it gets. Not eurocentric, US centric, or doesn't contain any overly vague concrete representation of a dictionary. --penubag10:33, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
The text 'Wiktionary, the free dictionary', is currently a part of the logo: None of the other wiki-projects do that: They all have a clean logo, with the text underneath, and this text can then be translated and localised. To fit in with the other logos, it would hav to be made a little longer. (A small detail, but it's the small stuff that most often is annoying...) V8509:15, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I lovvvve it, but I like the one on the alternate page with the red circle and green arrows better. Also, why is "ionary" in a different colour? Also the "o" is out of line it seems. Contributions/24.167.214.5321:33, 15 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Thanks for noticing those errors, I have fixed them. If you bypass your cache, you'll see the new version. The reason the red circle/ green arrows wasn't used is because the rules state to not use WMF colors, which those are.--penubag00:08, 16 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Wiktionary user + speech bubble + at sign
Latest comment: 17 years ago5 comments5 people in discussion
These logos are just sketches. I would be grateful if someone improve them.
User alone
Favicon
They show a person (any Wiktionary user) inside his/her own speech bubble, meaning the (s)he is talking about his/her own universe. At the same time, the form of the bubble resembles an @, to emphatize that Wiktionary is an electronic dictionary. We can also interpet the circular arrow as that our knowledge always has feedback, due to the collaborative nature of the wikis. I haven't decided the final colors yet. -Diego UFCG12:05, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Comments
I've split this proposal into two seperate ones in accordance with the rules at the top of this page. (Multiple logos in one proposal can lead to skewing the voting; while I much prefer the one without the monitor, if I voted for this proposal I would give equal support to both.) Conrad.Irwin12:37, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Ooooh ooooh ooooh. In all seriousness though, I like this one even more than the other one that I said I liked. I highly prefer the gray colourscheme to anything with bright colours. This is influenced by the fact that I have a processing disability, and reducing unnecessary use of bright colours helps me to still be able to work on the project that I enjoy. Again, I like the one without the monitor, but either of these are highly preferable to anything else that I have seen so far. --Neskaya17:27, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
This has great possibilities. How about just an at sign with the end of its tail curled down into a pointer. It becomes its own speech bubble. It would be more typographical a literal sketch of a person. It also includes the letter A, from alpha, the original first letter of any alphabet (not all-encompassing, but pretty universally understood as an important first for written language). —MichaelZ. 2009-05-24 19:16 z
The @ symbolism is great, but the only time that symbol is used on the internet is for email suits. Although a great logo for a mailing service, not good for representing a computer system, let alone a dictionary. --penubag08:58, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Once it has colours, it will fit in well with the other logos, I envision the head to be the same dot as Commons, the line around it blue, and the torso meta-green (but that's just my suggestion). Again: Wiktionary should not be a part of the logo, none of the other logos have the name of the project in the logo, it's just text beneath, which can be localised, the same should apply to Wiktionary. Also, the line around is not even, right after the little curl pointing in as a speech bubble, it should immediately become a circle, and not have a little straight line there... V8509:19, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Wiktionary user with monitor + speech bubble + at sign
Latest comment: 17 years ago4 comments4 people in discussion
User with monitor
Favicon
A slight variation on the theme above, also by -Diego UFCG.
Comments
Okay, so here's what I want: The monitor is given more prevalence and full of glyphs (stacked on top of each other, Kindle logo style, not given personal real estate like everything else we've seen). The curlicue is given either a smooth style or the rougher thing going on at its starting point (personally I dislike the whole "Everything is smooth!" fad), and its arrow is turned into the lower half of the pointer on a speech bubble so the whole thing more accurately represents the letter a as was mentioned in the previous proposal. I'd show what I'm talking about but the juxtaposition of my geekiness and homosexual tendencies has unfortunately not lent itself to the pursuance of graphic design skills. Anyway, I think this is the best idea so far, either with or without the monitor. I stand by what I said before about using some sort of written language to represent this project, and that's why I'm trying to take advantage of the monitor as a space to contextualise that without being ethnocentric. Honestly, if any one project should use written language, it should be this one, and not Wikipedia. this raven is icy22:30, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
But like you seconded to the comment above, this doesn't relate to Witionary but for any Wikimedia project. --penubag23:41, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Without considering whether this logo and the one without the monitor are any good in their own right, I think that they are incoherent with the other existing WikiMedia project logos. This is probably because they contain fewer colours and are set at a lower contrast against the background in comparison to the other logos. I do not think that this is necessarily a bad thing, but I think that the other logos would need to be modified to keep in line with it. —195.194.50.312:23, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
This is a speech baloon, because Wiktionary is about languages. It has inward and outward arrows to mean that in Wiktionary anyone can acquire (reading) and provide (editing) knowledge. -Diego UFCG12:05, 23 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I can't see the colour things on this. However, I'm noting that anything with bright colours is incredibly detrimental to me trying to use the computer, due to some sensory issues that I have. They're pretty and squee in real life, but if there's bright colours where they don't need to be on the web page, it makes it harder for me to use. A lot harder. --Neskaya17:31, 24 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
The speech balloon resembles a hand for me, a C-shape holding one of the arrows between thumb and forefinger. I like your symbolism (acquire and provide knowledge) with your arrows, but sadly I can't understand that's what the arrows are about at first sight. Which direction are they going to? Maybe arrows that loop onto themselves (like the recycle logo) would work better to convey that, as we build from our own edits. --Icqgirl03:10, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Horrible logo. No mercy. I created an account just to post this. Looks like "Web 0.5" and no where near something like "Web 2.5". Rough edges, contrasting colors. Tekboi06:34, 29 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Stylised magnifying glass
Latest comment: 17 years ago10 comments6 people in discussion
I like this precisely because it's abstract. The task of representing everybody's idea of a dictionary (is it a book? no it's a website, etc., etc. ad infinitum) as well as catering for many different languages is probably an impossible one. A logo does not have to directly represent the item that it's branding. How many people's computers look like apples? And yet, Apple has an instantly recognisable and very effective logo.
Simply using a logo as the logo for wiktionaries will make it the symbol for wiktionaries. We just have to choose one we can all accept. ☸ Moilleadóir☎07:26, 25 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I went through all the images in this page, looking at only one thing, the favicon list. Which allowed me to analyze what place the proposed logos had compared to all the other logos. This is the only logo clean enough to be a part of WIKIMEDIA. One thing must be noted though, the text below the logo must be removed from the favicon. Tekboi06:46, 29 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I just took this from here, just a variation that never had a version without text. I've made one now.
Did you decide this one fits in based on colour or on shape? There seems to be some confusion about how similar to the others the logo should be. People have pointed to a document about the Foundation logo (which only talks about that logo and its use) as though it said something about how new logos should be different but I can't see it. So, it's possible someone may demand the colours be changed. ☸ Moilleadóir☎01:46, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I actually like the concept of a magnifying glass the best. But IMHO this one is stylized a little bit too much to the degree that it no longer resembles a magnifying glass, so maybe make it less abstract - and the colors changed as well. Wyvernoid05:24, 31 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I think it's meant to represent something like this rather than a glass with a handle. I think a magnifying glass with a handle would probably be a huge waste of space and wouldn't be clear at icon resolution at all, but hey why not put a proposal together if you think it's a good idea? ☸ Moilleadóir☎11:45, 31 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Actually something can be put under the magnifying glass so there is something under the handle too, and in this way no space is wasted (like the two pictures on the right). Also maybe look at this website (it's in Chinese but doesn't matter), there's an icon at the left top corner which pretty much describes my idea, and the favicon is clear enough. Why don't I put up a proposal? Well my image handling skills aren't that good... but maybe I'll try. Wyvernoid05:29, 1 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
I love this logo, mainly because it is so abstract and still suggestive. I don't want a logo that takes focus away from the page, like the wooden tiles do imo. Also, it doesn't have to be a magnifying glass; it bears resemblance to a hard disk as well, and I wouldn't be too surprised if they found one of these inscribed on a cave wall by palaeolithic humans as a depiction of a sun or an eye. I see this ambiguity as an enormous advantage. wikt:User:Hymyly20:50, 15 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Different enough from Meta? Not sure, but a globe is one way of emphasising the international nature of the project. I started out with some more detailed globes, but I'm a bit unsure about their licences and a stylised globe prevents arguments about whose country's on top. ☸ Moilleadóir☎08:19, 25 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
So is Meta is a mapping project? Or is it the magnifying glass that makes you think that? That's our dilemma though isn't it? What does represent a wiktionary? If you say a book, someone else will say "But it's a website". If you suggest text or a character, someone will say "But that doesn't include my language". ☸ Moilleadóir☎02:30, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I like the magnifying glass. Maybe with a stylized book instead of a globe. Bob Burkhardt 13:01, 29 May 2009 (UTC) It might be worth devoting more room to the handle. Instead of a point a rounded grip of some sort so the whole has the shape of a lop-sided double bubble with a smooth connection in the middle. Bob Burkhardt13:27, 29 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I'm not sure I can picture what you mean, but it sounds like a different proposal. I like the simplicity of this shape and although it looks like there's lots of room in the large size, you have to consider the icon as well. I also really like that it ends in a point! ☸ Moilleadóir☎02:29, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 17 years ago8 comments4 people in discussion
A variation of Rei-artur's magnifying glass incorporating cuneiform character U 𒌋 (U+1230B), chosen mainly for its shape. Not a totally neutral choice of symbol, but going for a very early form of writing might bring us closer to something universal.
There are many other interesting shapes to choose from e.g. AN 𒀭 (U+1202D), ERIN2 𒂟 (U+1209F), HAL 𒄬 (U+1212C), IDIM 𒅂 (U+12142), KUR 𒆳 (U+121B3). ☸ Moilleadóir☎05:59, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I like this proposal a lot, particularly the 𒌋 version (the others are more complicated, this is simple - though I might flip the character so that it points forwards instead of backwards). I've edited this proposal to contain one image, to follow the rules at the top. Conrad.Irwin20:57, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I think we're still in a kind of brainstorming phase really. Maybe it would've been better to start with a page with themes and variations on the understanding that concrete single proposals would have to be put on a new page for voting. Actually it would've been best to start with a discussion in general terms of what we want out of a logo, like you would do if you were employing a designer.
On the question of logos with or without titles, I think it would be better if we could see every proposal in both forms since that's what we'll see in the end. They're hardly different versions, just different parts of the design. Surely someone will complain that they didn't vote for that font.
If you flip this one it will look a little like a 'play' symbol...not that there's anything wrong with that. Think I've decided I like one of the others better now (so I'll give it its own section) but this one might need a little tweaking too. It's looking a little thin. ☸ Moilleadóir☎23:37, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I also embrace the idea, cuneiform signs are fascinating. It would be marvellous to have one of them as logo, especially U or EME. Bogorm15:26, 5 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Yes please! I know I'll probably get ignored for not having an account on here but this is really great! Also, I do not think it looks backwards. — 98.64.9.22101:00, 9 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Stylised magnifying glass + cuneiform ERIN2/ERIM
Latest comment: 17 years ago3 comments3 people in discussion
Rei-artur's magnifying glass plus cuneiform character ERIN2 𒂟 (U+1209F). This one seems nicely ambiguous to me; sometimes it looks a bit like a lightning bolt, sometimes like a representation of wikilinking, sometimes like vegetation.
Your criterion seems to be that whatever's chosen should be something instantly recognizable and totally understandable to everyone with only one meaning. That's not going to happen.
To me it's enough that a logo looks good, is simple and recognizable enough to identify us at icon size and that it has a justification/explanation that is appropriate and discoverable even if not immediately obvious to everyone. ☸ Moilleadóir☎02:02, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
To me, the favicon should just be the golf tees. Maybe a bit Anglo-centric, but those four golf tees could be seen to be a W cut into two pieces that have then been stacked ontop of each other.... ;-) V8509:23, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Speech bubble + Globe
Latest comment: 17 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion
Like all the speech bubble logos, when you see this in the lineup of Wikimedia logos I expect this to be the logo for Wikiquote. Wiktionary is about language, not just speech. Thryduulf (en.wikt,en.wp,commons) 07:35, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
It's been a while since my dictionary came in the scroll format. Maybe with a clipart-style book (blank pages, same colours) would be better? V8509:47, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Speech bubble + schwa
Latest comment: 17 years ago11 comments6 people in discussion
Yes, it's IPA and yes, you could argue it's Euro-centric. I'd prefer not to use any writing at all, but to some people IPA does suggest info about languages and perhaps dictionaries. ☸ Moilleadóir☎08:44, 25 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Of all the logos on this page at the time of writing, this is the only one that says to me “dictionary”. The speech bubble works because dictionaries document language, which can be spoken. IPA symbols, to me, instantly imply “dictionary” or “encyclopedia”. Not only that, but, from my point of view as a native English speaker, they are visually consistent with the Wikipedia logo and its non-English glyphs. Such glyphs have a strong connection to reference sources for me, since that is the only place I am likely to encounter them. However, this does seem fairly Euro-centric and hard to internationalise. But, then again, surely it is in the very nature of a dictionary to mean different things to people who speak different languages, and to be thought of in terms of the language it is written for. (Which is perhaps where the tile and IPA tile logos could shine, by having features of many languages.) —195.194.50.312:43, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I'm not sure why the two posters above say it's Eurocentric. Do only European languages use the sound ə?—msh210℠17:31, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
No, if fact there are a couple of non-European languages that use schwa as a regular letter in their alphabet, but it is just a flipped Roman letter. ☸ Moilleadóir☎02:01, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Of the proposals I've seen so far, this is the only one that I actually like. That said, it does make me think of someone not knowing a word, and saying əːː while trying to think of it :-) .—msh210℠17:23, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
not knowing a word, and saying əːː Really I chose it as a familiar IPA char, but that did also cross my mind...the sound you make before reaching for the dictionary. ☸ Moilleadóir☎02:01, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Nice color, everything is good except the bubble, it's not a speech, neither a quote, try to find what is that thing that should be there--LogicBloke18:06, 1 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
I like it; IPA gives the feel of a dictionary entry, and the speech bubble reinforces the concept of language. Clean and simple, like other wiki projects. Euro-centric perhaps, but I feel that other language wiktionaries could replace the schwa with an appropriate symbol for their own writing system; I don't think that would substantially alter the feel of the logo. My only suggestion for improvement would be to consider incorporating more Wikimedia colours. —Spudtater13:57, 11 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
I think it's great. It doesn't matter if it's Eurocentric because this is a European language. If they ever put it on another, non-European language Wiktionary, they can change it to on of their characters. Do you think the Korean discussion boards worry about being Koreocentric or Asiacentric? Doubt it. Contributions/24.167.214.5321:55, 15 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Ok, I figured it out. Someone should put link to instructions on how to upload for those who are not wiki saavy. — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rdquarles (talk) 21:04, 26 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Glad you got there. It took me a bit of figuring out too. Please don't just copy big blocks of text though. You keep copying my signature which makes it look like I'm saying what you're saying.
Put four tildes like this ~~~~ after your comment to sign it
Logo proposals must have copyright assigned to the Wikimedia Foundation...
Done. Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it and am so sorry about the signatures. Hope you have a great day! Ralph03:06, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I'm not particularly for or against using a book, but I know some people will say that a website is a different thing. What I do have a problem with is using a W in the logo itself. While there are quite a few (European?) languages where the translation for Wiktionary starts with W, there are many where it doesn't (e.g. Irish: Vicífhoclóir, Chinese: 维基词典, Greek: Βικιλεξικό, Russian: Викисловарь). ☸ Moilleadóir☎04:38, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
It just reproduce the major issue with the original logo: that the logo cannot be used without a specific language marking it, unlike every single other WM project, which are language-independent. Circeus19:40, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 17 years ago10 comments8 people in discussion
This is a hand drawn concept by me-as you can see I'm no artist! The idea is that the puzzle pieces are all the same size & we have enough of them to cover all of the main languages & no preference is shown to any of them, which should negate the issues with other alphabets. The letters I have drawn are either made up or borrowed from the globe so obviously not the ones we would want. Localisations of Wiktionary could change the top words "Wiktionary The Free Dictionary" to their language. In terms of colour-it doesn't really need that much colour I think, but that can obviously be open to debate. For the favicon, either a small book or a little puzzle piece with the letter of the localisation-in most cases a W. If anyone thinks this is any good, could you be so kind as to mock a computer version up for me & others to look at? Hope you guys like it! Dottydotdot11:16, 27 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Looks good to me too! I heard a transient poster once say that it makes no sense to him that we don't just use the Wikipedia logo itself, as it has enormous brand power. Here we can keep that power while still having a different logo for the different project. A great idea I think, but I'm also no artist, so we'll have to wait for someone else to step in. -Oreo Priest13:59, 28 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I think it would be a dreadful idea to use the Wikipedia logo itself and not a very good idea to just copy bits of it. They are very different projects (especially the English ones) and we shouldn't be confusing them like we do now with the identical favicons.
You're also adding to the burden of localization if you want the favicon localized too. For some scripts it may not be practical at that size anyway. Surely the point of having a logo is that it serves as a unifying symbol. If the icon has to be changed for different projects wouldn't this be undermined? ☸ Moilleadóir☎02:22, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Sorry to say that, but to me it just looks like a children drawing. When I first saw that I thought it was not meant serious, but since it is listed here, I guess You mean it. IMHO it is not even close to a logo and even less to a professional one. Best regards, --birdy geimfyglið(:> )=|18:22, 7 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
If you would read the above you'll note that the creator intended it as a concept and excused her artwork. I'm sure if it were drawn properly then it would look more like a logo. DAVilla17:57, 10 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 17 years ago11 comments9 people in discussion
This logo was created by User:Stephane8888 last time around. It fits in quite well with the other Wikimedia logos: circular shape, same colours, even that 'dot' in the middle. The dot represents the head of a person consulting a dictionary. I have chosen to use two different logos here: One as the logo and for sister site links, and another (completely circular one) for the faveicon, this could of course be changed so that they are completely identical. V8512:02, 30 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
I think that's the wrong question. No one has come up with any way of representing the specificity of a wiktionary. No matter what you try it can be challenged as wiktionary is fairly unique and isn't even necessarily formatted the same way across different language versions. It's a person reading a book. That's close enough. If we say it's a dictionary then it is a dictionary. Sure it would be nice if we could come up with something that would say Wiktionary to everyone, but I think that's quite unlikely so the constant questioning about representation on this page is not very productive. Good to aim for, but it seems rather picky in this case.
A much more pertinent criticism is the colours. There was a late problem last time about logos being too similar in colour or shape to the Foundation logo and both the Wikispecies logo and the Incubator logo have come in for similar criticism. Put next to the others I think this logo does look quite similar . Something like changing the centre dot to black and maybe changing the colour of the 'arms' would probably be enough. ☸ Moilleadóir☎06:10, 31 May 2009 (UTC)Reply
Not when it has the word Wiktionary underneath and the link takes them to Wiktonary it won't! I think this is a feeble criticism. If it is extended to its logical conclusion then should be just outlaw all books right now? ☸ Moilleadóir☎05:59, 5 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
This is excellent but the surrounding blue arm is a too thick to blend in better with the rest of Wikimedia Foundation's project's icons. BYJoeyfjj11:23, 9 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Latest comment: 17 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
Just some simple book logo I created with Inkscape. I am an absolute novice at drawing stuff like this, this is after all my first time doing this. It probably needs recoloring. What do you think? -Retro0006407:41, 6 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Comments
I think there is a problem with the proportions and perspective and the logo on the book (if it is to be a book) does not fit the perspective. Personally, I do not like it at all, sorry (also the colouring), best regards, --birdy geimfyglið(:> )=|18:10, 7 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
Index finger logo
Latest comment: 17 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Sorry I don't have the skills to make a graphic-worthy version, but it's a concept that just occured to me as natural reading this discussion. It seems natural because most people use an index finger to aid reading a dictionary, and I think the ideogram could unmistakebly depict the process of looking up a dictionary entry. Dinum09:44, 11 June 2009 (UTC)Reply
? Sorry for being negative. In my opinion the best logos are the ones that stand out. Wikipedia. Wikinews. Wikisource even started as 
. I'd be happy with something a little more symbolic than photographic as long as I could believe the characters to be etched into wood, having if not the texture then the right tone, at least, rather than the color of puke. DAVilla 05:33, 26 May 2009 (UTC)
) or whatever other character from the localized Wikipedia favicon.
/
I haven't decided on what the Favicon would be. Also, note this is an SVG so it will resize to any appropriate size automatically. Note the gold edge and the thumbpoints, similar to a dictionary.
.
). Thryduulf (en.wikt,en.wp,commons) 07:33, 26 May 2009 (UTC)
(EME), 
(IDIM), 
(KUR), 
(AN), 
(HAL) — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Bogorm (talk) 15:06, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
and both the Wikispecies logo 
and the Incubator logo 
have come in for similar criticism. Put next to the others I think this logo does look quite similar 
and maybe changing the colour of the 'arms' 
would probably be enough. ☸ Moilleadóir ☎ 06:10, 31 May 2009 (UTC)
.svg){kind=link}
BY Joeyfjj 11:23, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
Support --Oren neu dag 21:35, 11 June 2009 (UTC)
