VisualEditor is the rich-text editing interface developed by the Wikimedia Foundation for MediaWiki-based projects such as Wikipedia. Its logo, an SVG wordmark created in 2012, identifies the project across Wikimedia Foundation Engineering communications and the MediaWiki software interface.
Design and History
The VisualEditor logo was created by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2012, according to the file description on Wikimedia Commons, which lists the author as the Wikimedia Foundation and the date as 2012.[1] The file description identifies the mark as the “Logo of the Visual Editor project, Wikimedia Foundation Engineering.”[2]
The logo was introduced during the development phase of the VisualEditor project, which the Wikimedia Foundation pursued in partnership with Wikia (now Fandom).[3] The tool was designed to allow users to edit wiki pages without learning wiki markup, showing a “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) preview of changes.[3] VisualEditor became the default editor for logged-in users on the English-language Wikipedia in July 2013.[3]
The wordmark has remained in continuous use since its 2012 creation, appearing on Wikimedia project pages and in the MediaWiki extension interface. The SVG file is 641 × 225 pixels.[4]
Typography and Design
The logo’s file description on Wikimedia Commons explicitly documents the typeface used: “Font used is Gill Sans.”[2] The wordmark renders the project name in two colors, with the word “Visual” appearing in one color and “Editor” in another, as visible in the SVG file itself.[1]
No official documentation has been located that assigns specific symbolic meaning to the logo’s color choices or explains a design rationale beyond the basic identification of the project and its typeface. The logo is a trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation and is subject to the foundation’s trademark policy and visual identity guidelines.[5]
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