The Next Microsoft

[CS85]

I think that a3uge makes a great point, and I'd like to see some of the designer ass-kickers around here throw some concepts together.

[vmd9]

I think that a3uge makes a great point, and I'd like to see some of the designer ass-kickers around here throw some concepts together.

Are you implying that bashing a poorly executed Microsoft concept, means we are bad designers?

[andrewharrington]

I think that a3uge makes a great point, and I'd like to see some of the designer ass-kickers around here throw some concepts together.

Are you implying that bashing a poorly executed Microsoft concept, means we are bad designers?

A bit cynical? Why can't he seriously wonder what some of the better designers around here would do? (I think he is genuine, by the way)

[vmd9]

I think that a3uge makes a great point, and I'd like to see some of the designer ass-kickers around here throw some concepts together.

Are you implying that bashing a poorly executed Microsoft concept, means we are bad designers?

A bit cynical? Why can't he seriously wonder what some of the better designers around here would do? (I think he is genuine, by the way)

I believe that there are plenty of very talented people around here that can do much better. Personally the reason I don't post concepts is because I just don't have the time anymore. I've tried a few, and get a few teams done and run out of time. It's tough to work on something if it won't benefit me financially in return.

[BrandMooreArt]

i agree with most points made in this thread, but guys this is STUDENT WORK here. he carried out a full brand identity project on his own and executed an idea really well. even though that idea is where his inexperience shows. as an identity, i think this is really nice. he's far ahead of the curve coming out of school. is it right for the brand and showcasing their attributes and promises? i think we all agree no. but i'd give this kid an A for identity work, even if its average marks in corporate branding. and still, its more coherent and organized than Microsoft right now, like a3uge pointed out

[CS85]

I think that a3uge makes a great point, and I'd like to see some of the designer ass-kickers around here throw some concepts together.

Are you implying that bashing a poorly executed Microsoft concept, means we are bad designers?

A bit cynical? Why can't he seriously wonder what some of the better designers around here would do? (I think he is genuine, by the way)

I believe that there are plenty of very talented people around here that can do much better. Personally the reason I don't post concepts is because I just don't have the time anymore. I've tried a few, and get a few teams done and run out of time. It's tough to work on something if it won't benefit me financially in return.

Whoa whoa, folks. Let me explain myself.

I actually liked the original contents of the thread - I said so earlier, as you can read here.

What I was trying to say was that I agree with the statement that microsoft, for such a huge company, has no brand consolidation. My point being is that we have some incredibly talented designers here, new and old members alike, who could take the tree of microsoft products (including microsoft itself) and do an awesome rebranding.

That's all. Maybe an idea for a concept thread or something.

[a3uge]

I'm not sure what the guidelines behind the project were, and if they were given the choice of which company to 'rebrand', but I personally think the smartest idea for Microsoft would be to build off the Windows logo, use Metro, and start thinking 'enterprise' rather than fragmented software solutions.

Not sure what direction Microsoft is headed. What is Windows? Is it just an operating system? What products get branded as 'Windows'? Why were their phones branded as 'Windows Phones' while their tablets are being branded as 'Microsoft Surface'? What does 'Zune' mean now? Does that only refer to the physical product? Is it more like iTunes or Google Music? Who decided on the name 'Google Drive'? Wait... that last one isn't a Microsoft question.

Let's think about Google for a second. What product does Google have that Microsoft doesn't have? Sure there's some differences, but they both put out relatively the same products. Google's strength with a growing product base was that it was always seamless and connected through a common interface. Microsoft? Well, you'd get to your Word, Excel, Mail in different applications all though your OS, then fire up a web browser to use MSN.com, and maybe navigate to Bing.com to search for some stuff. By design, Microsoft is already fragmented and is caught in a pickle. They CANT switch to pure web-based applications because they have to sell you the idea that you NEED a dedicated high-powered application to do word processing, or open your emails. Microsoft's products may have the same outcome as Google's, but their business structure is entirely different.

What would I do if I were Microsoft?

MSN and Bing would become consolidated to just 'bing.com', and the MSN homepage would behave similarly to iGoogle.

I would have the same Metro - pastel - boxed design for every product possible. XBox's interface would look similar to Windows 8 and their phones. I would release a new base OS every 4 years (major release) and keep incremental the release number. I would get back to having the manufacturer creating phones and tablets, and slapping the Windows brand into the OS. I would increment the release number by .5 every two years and release a big phones/tablet on a 2-year cycle. I would call Internet Explorer bizarre codenames until it had a change to catch up.

I don't think the Office suite necessarily needs to match logo-wise with the rest of the company, but each product should have the same look and feel as the OS and the web front ends.

[andrewharrington]

I think that a3uge makes a great point, and I'd like to see some of the designer ass-kickers around here throw some concepts together.

Are you implying that bashing a poorly executed Microsoft concept, means we are bad designers?

A bit cynical? Why can't he seriously wonder what some of the better designers around here would do? (I think he is genuine, by the way)

I believe that there are plenty of very talented people around here that can do much better. Personally the reason I don't post concepts is because I just don't have the time anymore. I've tried a few, and get a few teams done and run out of time. It's tough to work on something if it won't benefit me financially in return.

Which is fine. You're totally missing the point. You went off the deep end as if he called you an envious hack just because you weren't hot on the kid's work. In actuality, he never implied that you were a bad designer because you were 'bashing a poorly-executed mMicrosoft concept.' He made an honest statement saying he'd hypothetically like to see what some of the better designers around here could do with this project, knowing that we have some great designers here who could provide some interesting and unique takes on it.

[CS85]

Correct.