Total Commander

The storage medium known as the 3½ inch floppy diskette was introduced to the world circa 1982, 30 years ago. Its capacity was 720 KB, later increased to 1.44 MB (one point four four megabytes..).
A graphic of a 3½" floppy has been used with Total Commander since its inception, I believe; certainly as long as I can remember, from the days of version 1.x.
I'm thinking that it's now time to update TC's graphic, icon, if not to something more contemporary, then to something at least ...new.
My first suggestion is for a red, white and blue design (as per the present colours) incorporating TC's two vertical panels, the Swiss/Red Cross's red and white cross, and the UN's floral wreath, surrounding.
Just a thought... FYI.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28939497@N08/8178815694/
It's big. Imagine it small.
(Psd available, if interested)

Just listen...

I don't know why some people are so into changing logos. I get it when the product or company changes significantly and they want to reflect that. But that doesn't seem to be the case with TC (and I'm very happy about that).

Btw, make a black variant of that image/logo and I'm pretty sure some funeral home will take it. ;)

Vochomurka,
+++

I don't understand too why we need to change TC symbol. Someone within this board stated that it would be almost the same like Mercedes or Toyota change their emblems...

Vochomurka,
you hit the point

TC has ever been rock stable for me since I get used of floppy disks and the icon represents exactly this.

No need to change a famous sign ...

Even the Android version is using the disk logo, although Android never had access to floppy disks.

So far there haven't been any complaints, so why change it?

I agree, TC's floppy icon shouldn't be changed to something else, it's an essential symbol of the software.

Some repolishing or "facelift" would be nice though - e.g. the edges of the current icon are very sharp, and i think some other improvements could been made to the logo which could make it even better & newish.

Needless to say, most of the softwares / brands are changing their logos to a 'bit' new, refreshed one (even TC did it couple of times back in time, just like IE, Winamp etc...) from time to time. Why not refresh TC's icon a bit?

It would also be really nice to have TC's icon (embedded in the executable) in 256x256, 128x128, 64x64 etc size, just like most of the softwares have nowadays. Currently it doesn't looks so good if the desktop view is set to "Large icons" (eg. on Win7) [or in case it is drag&dropped to RocketDock, or some other quick launcher].

Image: There are quite pretty icons out there nowadays...

Bluestar,

the edges of the current icon are very sharp

Too late to do anything about that. Apple already has a patent.

Roman

Bluestar wrote:I agree, TC's floppy icon shouldn't be changed to something else, it's an essential symbol of the software.

Some repolishing or "facelift" would be nice though - e.g. the edges of the current icon are very sharp, and i think some other improvements could been made to the logo which could make it even better & newish.

Needless to say, most of the softwares / brands are changing their logos to a 'bit' new, refreshed one (even TC did it couple of times back in time, just like IE, Winamp etc...) from time to time. Why not refresh TC's icon a bit?

It would also be really nice to have TC's icon (embedded in the executable) in 256x256, 128x128, 64x64 etc size, just like most of the softwares have nowadays. Currently it doesn't looks so good if the desktop view is set to "Large icons" (eg. on Win7) [or in case it is drag&dropped to RocketDock, or some other quick launcher].

Image:
There are quite pretty icons out there nowadays...

Totally agree with this, it was mentioned and requested quite a few times unfortunately, but still no 256x256 icon. The current icon is made by StickyNomad, and I tried contacting the person, but I haven't got any reply. Topic here: http://ghisler.ch/board/viewtopic.php?t=12388

Also take a look at the Total Commander for Android Google Play Store page. The icon look a bit pixelated, compared to Skype, Winamp or any other Android app page image. I'm sure many of you will disagree with me, but oh well...

ghisler(Author) wrote:Even the Android version is using the disk logo, although Android never had access to floppy disks. [indeed]

So far there haven't been any complaints, so why change it? [not so much a complaint, but there's one..]

Why change?
Because the current symbol doesn't mean anything to many more people than those it means something to.
This is essentially a managerial question. Author Ghisler, I suspect that you're a far better programmer than you are an advertising executive. The most important words in promotion and marketing are 'free' and 'new'.
If you're interested in having TC perceived as a modern, relevant, progressive, effective, tech utility, then from, time to time - certainly more often than every 20 years - it needs a 'perception refresh'.
I'm assuming that as well as continuing to serve your dedicated band of (one-time-purchase) users, you want to develop it as a commercial enterprise. That's a premise.
By continuing with a vaguely understood floppy diskette icon you are dragging perception back into the Dark Ages, IMHO.
Just consider the semiotics of a floppy symbol to someone scanning available programs. What does a floppy diskette image say to someone new about the author's stance and the program's likely capabilities?
Not a rhetorical question. I leave it for your consideration...

BTW, the thread's title is plural - Suggestions. I invite other creatives to contribute.

What Phred says is - sorry being so plain - utter BULLSHIT
Would Audi, Mercedes, BMW or Jaguar go and change their symbol?
no they wont? does it matter that people in the future not (may) know what a disk is? no it doesnt - its a symbol for the tc and tc is known under that symbol and changing that would only lead to confusion.

Just because YOU, Pred, dont like it it hasnt to be changed for all...
If you dont wanna see it anymore use another custom iconlibrary but STOP tryin to persuade Chris to Change the Symbol that stands for TC...

I'd say, author is pretty clear about not trying to triumph over Bill Gates' fortune. I mean, free upgrades, it's not the way to get super-rich. Although in a way, I'm sure it does bring some extra money, because with such fair licence, who could resist. But once the whole world buys one, it's the end. Not that it would be a bad score. :)

Making TC more attractive to new users, even if we're talking about just the first impression created by logo/icon, is not bad thing. But will it really help to change one symbol which "doesn't mean anything" to some other doing the same? I don't think so. But perhaps if I ever see one capturing the whole coolness of TC, it could change my mind.

Phred wrote:The most important words in promotion and marketing are 'free' and 'new'.

And does it make happy customers? We have a lot of new same or even worse than old and surprisingly expensive free. What's so cool about just new anyway? Nothing, really. If it was new and better, that would be a different story. People often think that new includes better and it might sound like reasonable assumption, otherwise what would be the reason to create it, right? Unfortunately, it's not true.

Phred,

The most important words in promotion and marketing are 'free' and 'new'.

Actually, this month it is "disrupting the marketplace".

Roman

TC would be more appealing to new users if:
1) it wasn't such a pain to configure - "advanced" functionality.
2) The Main Menu was reorganized to expose more of TC's built-in functionality.
3) The ToolBar/ButtonBar had a few drop-down's for similar functions that currently take up multiple icons. And other icons were inserted that did useful things.
4) MultiMedia/Archive settings were configured out of the box.
---> Most other FileManagers have 7Zip/Zip/Rar handling without having to F-around with obtuse things like MultiArc
---> Most other FileManagers that have custom-Columns have either the Built-in Explorer columns, or handling for Image/Video/and more.
5) Many of the other File-managers I've looked at lately - even when missing huge-swaths of features that TC has are starting to provide internal support for Junctions/Symlinks/etc.

The DISK ICON is TC's LOGO. _L_O_G_O_

Whether or not it has any intrinsic meaning beyond that is pretty irrelevant. The colours and general design IS the logo.

Yes, Balderstrom, what you say is indeed very true - functionality could be much more streamlined.
I'm just trying to get a foot in the door.
And, okay, a floppy diskette IS the logo, but logos change, you know? Check on the evolution of Royal Dutch Shell plc's logo. And indeed, Coca Cola's. Biggies. They change to suit the times.
Ah: Windows.
Are we 'confused'?

HAL 9plagiarist: you're issuing me with imperatives to stop issuing imperatives to author Ghisler? How very bellicose of you..