So far I've gotten three responses to my idea for a UBL logo, all of them private. Perhaps people are afraid of hurting my feelings. They shouldn't be.

Response number one:

Well, ellipses are a fairly common design element... But maybe I should try circles.

Response number two:

In other words, it looks like a sign of authority. That's what I think we want.

Response number three:

Good idea! So good, in fact, that I had to rethink this.

Color would be a critical factor in the visual effect of such a simple symbol as I proposed. But color doesn't work across media. Imagine the UBL logo on a draft specification (which is probably where we'll care about it most). As soon as someone prints it out, the color is gone. This does not mean that a simple design is out, but it does mean that it won't have the help of color in getting across the whole set of associations.

I went back and looked at the logos of the international standards bodies with which we want to be associated (especially ISO and the UN) and was inspired to try a different approach in an attempt to design something that would look good when used in conjunction with them. The result is appended below. Please unzip this into a directory, point a web browser at the file index.htm, and tell me what you think. You can also access this at

http://oasis-open.org/committees/ubl/msc/200202/logo/ver020/

Bear in mind that if we're going to use a logo at all, we should start with the draft specifications that we intend to make public in a couple of weeks.

Please be candid in your comments and please make your comments to the list so that I don't have to play go-between in facilitating this discussion while I'm traveling this week. If people have alternatives in mind, it would be good to see examples.

Jon