PNG logo for MetaFliter sites? August 5, 2011 7:27 AM   Subscribe

Has anyone made/can someone make higher-resolution logos for MetaFilter and related sites?

Thanks to the new update, my copy of the Fast Dial extension for Firefox finally supports transparency and proper logo-ing. After prettifying my Fast Dial with logos for sites, I've found that there are none available for MetaFilter, Ask MeFi and the rest of the gang on the add-on's site, Userlogos.

The text logo on the top-left of the page should be good enough, but at a resolution of 400x300, with transparent background and PNG. An enlarged/enhanced version of the favicon may also be nice.

I tried googling around, but didn't find any. Is anyone here skilled enough with the Photoshops to make one? I suspect it may end up useful for more than just Fast Dial.
posted by Senza Volto to MetaFilter-Related at 7:27 AM (31 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

You can get a larger version of the logo as an EPS file here. There's no background so you should be able to open that up in Photoshop and save it as a transparent PNG. I think that should work anyway.
posted by pb (staff) at 7:59 AM on August 5, 2011 [4 favorites]


Thanks, it worked like a charm! Are logos for the other sites also available?
posted by Senza Volto at 8:21 AM on August 5, 2011


No, that's all we have in that format. Matt might be able to make up some more at some point in the future. He's the keeper of MetaFilter Identity. But for now that's all we have.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:26 AM on August 5, 2011


Gold Members have vector graphics. And the IMG tag. Sign up for MeFi Gold today!
posted by Eideteker at 9:02 AM on August 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Bootleg t-shirts for everyone!
posted by mintcake! at 9:04 AM on August 5, 2011


I am quite distraught by the kerning.
posted by echo target at 9:07 AM on August 5, 2011


I am quite distraught by the kerning.

I agree. I never understood why MetaFilter is one word but Meta Talk is two.
posted by 2bucksplus at 9:26 AM on August 5, 2011


MeFi Gold was created by the cabal so we'd have more users to look down upon.
posted by eyeballkid at 9:31 AM on August 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Can I link my 4chan gold account with MeFi Gold?
posted by Senza Volto at 10:37 AM on August 5, 2011


I am quite distraught by the kerning.

Metafilter's homely look is part of its brand. Beautiful logo typography and a professional white background made the site make less money, back when Matt tested it out.
posted by killdevil at 10:37 AM on August 5, 2011


MessaFilter: It's the Wabi-Sabi, Stupid.
posted by Eideteker at 11:23 AM on August 5, 2011


Sell MeFi Gold for cash! We offer the highest prices for MeFi Gold coins, flags, favorites, and watches. MeFi Silver also accepted! Call now to speak to our professional buyers.
posted by mbrubeck at 11:45 AM on August 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


Can I link my 4chan gold account with MeFi Gold?

You ever put a portable hole inside a bag of holding?
posted by griphus at 12:03 PM on August 5, 2011


Never put a portable hole inside a bag of holding. Put it in your pocket instead.
posted by octobersurprise at 12:17 PM on August 5, 2011


You ever put a portable hole inside a bag of holding?

Yes. Apparently I comment about it a lot.
posted by Eideteker at 12:52 PM on August 5, 2011


What's keming?
posted by grateful at 1:22 PM on August 5, 2011 [5 favorites]


You can get pretty close if you use Helvetica CY (comes with Macs) and set it to Bold Oblique. The e is wrong but the other letters are OK.

I think the real thing is Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold Oblique, but I don't think that is shipped for free with anything. Macs have Helvetica Neue Condensed Bold but you can't Oblique it — it just changes to non-condensed.
posted by smackfu at 1:36 PM on August 5, 2011


It's Trade Gothic No. 20 Condensed Oblique.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:43 PM on August 5, 2011 [7 favorites]


Wait, professional white background was a thing?

I thought it was just an injoke about people wanting design ponies on a site that most people have come to love just the way it is.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:44 PM on August 5, 2011


Oh, nevermind. I was confused. I checked the wiki. It's a gray thread that is widely remembered.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:51 PM on August 5, 2011


Wait, professional white background was a thing?

Most references to professional white background are referring to the in-joke that started with this thread: The Green Should Be White.

I believe killdevil was referring to an experiment we ran with a new design that happened to have a white background. Matt talked a bit about that experiment in a talk at GEL (which is the video embedded on the about page). In our A/B tests, the old designed performed better.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:51 PM on August 5, 2011 [1 favorite]


The design story starts at 9:47 in that video if you want to skip the rest.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:58 PM on August 5, 2011


I cashed in my MeFi Gold miles and got a lovely coffee maker.
posted by arcticseal at 5:07 PM on August 5, 2011


The thread title says MetaFliter. Is that a Metafilter for people with ultralight airplanes?
posted by IndigoRain at 6:54 PM on August 5, 2011


Wow, I could swear people were saying "professional white background" here well before 2007, but google shows I'm wrong. Is there another semi-jokey phrase people were using for the white-background "plain" theme available in the preferences?
posted by nobody at 4:58 AM on August 6, 2011


I'm a regular reader of Anil's work, and think he's one of the sharpest guys out there when it comes to this here Internet deal, and every time I go back to that thread, I'm so amazed at how bad his read was on thinking that post would go well.
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:24 AM on August 6, 2011


Eideteker: I want you to know that I read the alt text on your hyperlink. I read it.
posted by telegraph at 5:42 PM on August 6, 2011


It's Trade Gothic No. 20 Condensed Oblique.

On the IRL subsite the font used for the name and the slogan are both different than what's on all the other subsites.
posted by churl at 7:15 PM on August 7, 2011


Different font, or just vertically stretched?
posted by smackfu at 8:56 AM on August 8, 2011


Different font.
posted by churl at 11:37 AM on August 8, 2011


I press Ctrl + and Ctrl - to make everything on a website bigger.

Also, consider an extension for Chrome called Stylebot. this allows you to tweak the CSS of any site you visit for your own visit, in any way you'd like.

even if you don't know CSS the basics of using this extension is self explanatory and there is a menu for that.
posted by Hi Dan at 9:28 PM on August 15, 2011


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