Finally, Red Hat has ditched the ominous figure that has formed part of its logo for more than 20 years.
The decision to remove “shadowman”, as it was affectionately known by the Red Hat team, comes as part of a rebrand of the company’s logo.
While we always found shadowman to conjure up images of secrecy and rather negative undertones, we’re not alone.
“After a recent survey of associates, customers and prospects – many of whom had never even heard of Red Hat – about what feelings, thoughts or impressions the logo evoked in them, it became clear that it was time for a change when words such as ‘sinister’ or ‘secretive’ were mentioned,” Red Hat said in a statement.
That’s as good a reason as any to make a change but the actual design of the logo was also problematic. The firm says that in smaller formats, such as on a smartphone, the logo would render poorly.
After five months the firm settled on a new logo which you can see above. Red Hat decided to keep the red lacrosse hat which we’d argue is the most important element of the old design and well, Red Hat’s name.
“After five months of research, exploration, and brainstorming, the team found an elegant solution that still reflected Red Hat’s core and which could grow with the company. Among the major changes was designing two new open source typefaces for the brand, which could be shared,” the firm concluded.