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m-labs / artiq

A leading-edge control system for quantum information experiments
https://m-labs.hk/artiq
GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0
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new logo looks like a bicycle crank #426

Closed dhslichter closed 8 years ago

dhslichter commented 8 years ago

How about making the wrench open-ended instead of a closed circle? :)

image

jordens commented 8 years ago

2812_0

jordens commented 8 years ago

+1 to the next logo (3.0) actually being bicycle-themed.

dhslichter commented 8 years ago

The wrench you show is indeed a wrench, but I will just say that every person in the lab I have showed the new logo to so far (approx 5 people) has first thought it was a bike crank. Just FWIW.

Will the logo change with every major version? @r-srinivas has pointed out that the current logos do not reflect the modern understanding of atomic structure ;)

jordens commented 8 years ago

The perceptual bias towards recognizing bicycle parts in everything could be a simple Boulderism. And even if it is in fact a bicycle crank, would that be a bug or a feature?

I guess the logos can very well mirror the progression towards better tools. Ideas and comments welcome.

Can there ever be a correct visualization of (the modern understanding of) atomic structure? Or do we all know or suspect that this is impossible?

There are certainly cases where even a known-to-be-incomplete and maybe not even fully correct visualization of quantum mechanics leads to correct and even uncovers better results than would otherwise be obtained: https://www.scienceathome.org/games/quantum-moves/game http://www.nature.com/news/human-mind-excels-at-quantum-physics-computer-game-1.19725

sbourdeauducq commented 8 years ago

@r-srinivas has pointed out that the current logos do not reflect the modern understanding of atomic structure ;)

I'm well aware of this problem and had told the graphics designer. I had showed her this poster but she could not make something nice out of it. And to echo what Robert said, please show me quantum physics related artwork that is good and scientifically accurate - a lot of it is either woo-woo a la Deepak Chopra or ugly modern "art".

We could drop the atom altogether, but the "nucleus and electron ellipses" is still what best evokes science, even if it is not accurate.

r-srinivas commented 8 years ago

If you want to be a little more abstract you could maybe have a wrench superimposed on a psi letter. A pspanner, if you will.

dhslichter commented 8 years ago

I was actually being facetious about the atomic structure -- this symbol of the ellipses definitely has its own meaning as a representation of science, regardless of what electron orbitals actually "look" like.

I think the bicycle crank recognition has some Boulder element, but it also has to do with the fact that the wrench has a tapered width and box ends instead of open ends. Either way, I don't have any problem if the logo stays this way. I am just about to order a run of new crates and I put the new logo on them :)