I was wondering.. when did the boing ball started to be adopted as an Amiga logo, and who was responsible for the crime? Did it happen because the "A" and/or "rainbow check" are still trademarks of one of those shell companies who bought the remnants of Commodore?

I am the first to say there is no such thing as objective judgment and everything is subjective, but the boing ball is close to be an exception. It's blatantly atrocious, violates all established rules of good taste design, and - well - there's a reason. It was NEVER intended as a logo or else.

@resle

I like the boingball more then the checkmark

@resle

1996 when escom took over.

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@resle

Actually there are 2 black&white boingball trademarks as well.
Both abandoned by Amiga Inc. in 2002.

"checkmark" ownership will be determined after the massive lawsuits are resolved, perhaps in a year or two.

the "A", I'd need a picture of.

Also "After Commodore went into liquidation the Boing Ball became a symbol of the Amiga philosophy and power before it was tainted by Commodore."
So, it wasn't just about design.

#6

Last edited by number6 on 16-Jun-2013 at 12:21 AM.

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Checkmark is my all time favourite with Boingball a close second

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@number6

Quote:

after the massive lawsuits are resolved, perhaps in a year or two

Can you elaborate on that please?

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@scabit

Quote:

Can you elaborate on that please?

I do what I can to keep the on-topic thread updated when new information is published.

Nedfield

#6

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@resle

AFAIK they didnt own rights to the checkmark logo and Amiga Technologies couldnt invent anything on their own so they chose the boing ball. To me the checkmark is always the symbol of Amiga.

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@itix

Actually they choose the beehive, which later turned out to be the logo for Ron Hubbard/Dianetics/Scientology. Ergo they scrapped it.

http://www.jeacle.ie/pub/articles/newlogo/

The "wordmark" was next and described same link.

#6

Last edited by number6 on 16-Jun-2013 at 06:46 AM.

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@itix

Quote:

AFAIK they didnt own rights to the checkmark logo and Amiga Technologies couldnt invent anything on their own so they chose the boing ball. To me the checkmark is always the symbol of Amiga.

While I do understand A and Checkmark sentiments, seeing them on friends A500 and my beloved A1200 and OS 3.1 manuals, as well as on many games, BoingBall was fully introduced with AmigaOS 3.5. Which is, after real Commodore death.

Subseqently it has been used to promote PowerPC AmigaOne series and AmigaOS 4 alongside unofficial A1 logo which never lived up.

What is important at present situation is that BoingBall and AmigaOne can be used by Hyperion and partners, while Checkmark and A / Amiga logos were last abused by CommodoreUSA and remain in legal limbo.

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Amiga history guide sums up how the boing ball became amiga logo
http://www.amigahistory.co.uk/boingball.html

I like the boing ball logo more because of the story behind how it came about and I think it was the demo that made commodore buy it so it quite an important part of Amiga history.

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@amigang

As visual symbol, its adorable

Quote:

When Gateway 2000 bought the Amiga technology and patents they were searching for a recognisable symbol for the Amiga and came across the Boing ball. The design was rendered in 3D and a light source was added. For the second time in the Amigas history the Boing Ball became the official Amiga logo. New Boing Demo So it would seem that the Amiga has come full circle. While they can never create the same community or excitement of the original Amiga, they have attempted to go back to their philosophical roots by breaking away from the past. Many existing Amigans consider it a betrayal of the Amiga name, but as they have made it clear many times. Amiga Inc. own all rights to the Amiga and can do anything they like with it, without the permission of the community.

Quote:

- After Escom went into liquidation the Amiga was bought by Gateway who also wanted to add their own original slant on the Amiga. After examining numerous images of the Amigas past they settled on the use of the Boing Ball, from the first Amiga demo. After 13 years, the Boing Ball became the official logo, finally banishing the ghost of the Amiga checkmark. The Amiga wordmark was incorporated into the design, symbolizing a rebirth of the original Amiga ideals and a combination with the new. The curved line below the Boing Ball creates a certain sense of motion as well as creating an unconscious smile to the image (as shown by the Mac logo, many feel that the smiling face invites non-computer users to use the machine). As a contrast the original boing ball is shown, taken from the AMosaic web browser, that shows how the image has gained a modern edge through the adoption of light source and a gradient on the red. It almost seems as if the Amiga has come full circle, recreating the original ideas and feelings associated with the Amiga before Commodore, Escom, and VisCorp. The Boing ball has changed from an impressive demo to a representation of the whole Amiga philosophy.

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@resle

Quote:

I was wondering.. when did the boing ball started to be adopted as an Amiga logo, and who was responsible for the crime?

The BoingBall logo is *much* older than you might think.

While Commodore dropped the idea and replaced it with their own logo I know at least one production run of some "rebel" developers from the german Commodore section in Braunschweig who decorated their Amiga 3000T systems with really nice boing ball logos (full 3D design, no cheapo sticker stuff...). Sadly enough I hadn't the money to buy one after some of them selled their systems after the closure of Commodore Braunschweig in the 90's...might be a collectable nowadays...

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@resle

I love the nominally, I think it's a great symbol

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Thanks everyone for the links and explanations. A great story. Yet I still think it's all but a logo, albeit having been adopted as one :)

I mean, Jesus Christ...

Last edited by resle on 16-Jun-2013 at 09:25 AM.

@number6

Quote:

Also "After Commodore went into liquidation the Boing Ball became a symbol of the Amiga philosophy and power before it was tainted by Commodore." So, it wasn't just about design.

cmon, this is only a marketing speech, in particular to justify logo change. they (escom, at) also changed the type, perhaps for the same reason why they couldnt use the checkmark anymore. and they massively advertized it as "more modern", while it only was way more amateurish (one only needs to compare for instance genuine and escom a1200 stickers). whatever they did, they spoiled it, whether technically or other. no wonder none wanted to buy anything from them.

btw boing ball may have been a great demo but it isnt usable as a logo. its graphically too complicated, striking recognizable logos have to be simple. one should be able to draw them with a finger in the sand. and also seeing an image of a beach ball who d think of an advanced computer?

@resle:
yeah, thats how it looks, there are simply no skilled designers in charge.

Last edited by wawa on 16-Jun-2013 at 09:28 AM.

@wawa


Quote:

its graphically too complicated,

It's ball with checks on it's hardly complex.

Quote:

and also seeing an image of a beach ball who d think of an advanced computer?

I don't know, but seeing an image of an apple who think of a major pop band from the 60s?

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@broadblues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Xv8NsnVPs

I belive that one explains it so nicely!

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@vox

so why has commodore not chosen boing ball for amiga logo from the very start instead of the checkmark? is that another ill decision one can blame on them, even if amiga has nevertheless initially been pretty successful even with such an inferior design to identify with? why has boing ball been introduced as a logo after all went already down the drain and as such is associated exclusively with third party companies defeated attempts to take advantage of or revive what was left of once legendary computer standard? please, think of it for a while.