People say that everyone is a critic. You can observe this firsthand at the Quora knowledge-sharing Web site. Recently, a Quora user took Microsoft to task. This user wasn’t annoyed that Windows 8 was clunky and counter-intuitive. The user wasn’t upset, either, that Internet Explorer didn’t return the best search results. No, this user took Microsoft to task for its shortage of artistic ambition. Yes, you heard right.
Lazy Logos?
This user argues that Microsoft isn’t putting sufficient time into designing artistic, appealing logos. Instead, the user writes, Microsoft is dashing off simplistic, minimalist logos. These logos, the assertion goes, look as if graphics pros dashed them off in five minutes. The user adds that Microsoft has been dumbing down their logos since introducing Windows 8 and Office 2013.
The argument
Of course, not everybody agreed. Many Quora users – a long series of them, actually – logged on to defend Microsoft’s logos. Many asserted they preferred the starker, more simplified look of the new logos, saying that the “less is more” aesthetic comes into play with Microsoft’s new logos.
Simple is Better?
The fans of Microsoft’s new logos might be right. The objective of the icons is to let users understand what program will pop up after they click on a specific icon. And the logos convey this info well. You instantly recognize which icon will open Microsoft Publisher and which will open Microsoft’s new cloud services. And if a logo does that? Then who cares if it’s simple?