Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, is identified by a white, incomplete globe-shaped jigsaw puzzle, with each puzzle piece inscribed with a glyph from a different writing system. The mark is officially described as the “puzzle globe,” and it is typically paired with the wordmark “Wikipedia” and the tagline “The Free Encyclopedia.”
Design and History
The puzzle globe concept originated in 2003 through a design competition run among Wikipedia users. Paul Stansifer, then 21 years old, created the initial design that won the contest. David Friedland subsequently improved the design, making the puzzle pieces more subtle with indentations rather than dark lines, and using single characters rather than words, which he felt had cluttered the original. Both Friedland and Stansifer assigned copyrights for the logo to the Wikimedia Foundation. [1] [2]
In late 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation undertook an effort to revise and update the classic puzzle globe. The revised version, introduced in May 2010, remained quite similar to the original but fixed several errors that had been noted in the design. The actual 3D construction of the new mark was carried out by Philip Metschan, a professional 3D animator, art director, and graphic designer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. [3] [4]
The 2010 revision also replaced the Klingon character, which had been visible on the original globe, with an Amharic character. All characters on the revised globe now represent active and growing Wikipedias. [3] [5]
Earlier versions of the logo contained typographic errors. Two characters, one in Japanese and one in Devanagari, the script used in Sanskrit and several modern Indian languages, were meaningless due to minor slips. Friedland, who introduced the errors while refining the design, said the Devanagari error was caused by a computer glitch that swapped the order of two parts of the character, while the Japanese error was simply carelessness. [1]
Meaning and Symbolism
Stansifer described the incomplete jigsaw puzzle as a deliberate statement, noting that Wikipedia was, “as far as I know, the only Web site whose logo is a disclaimer (‘This Web site is a work in progress.’).” [1]
Friedland said he tried to pick characters from a wide range of languages that looked interesting and generally represented a W sound, the first letter of “Wikipedia.” [1]
Typography and Design
The Wikipedia wordmark, with larger case W and A characters, has been widely translated for other language variants since Wikipedia started in 2001. The wordmark alone is considered the most identifiable and clearly understood version of all the official marks representing Wikipedia. [6]
In the 2010 update, the “W” logo began using the typeface Linux Libertine, replacing the original Hoefler typeface, which was a commercial font. [7] The puzzle globe was also recreated in 3D and included even more languages. [8]
The hero version of the puzzle globe shows characters from 18 language sets, including Armenian, Khmer, and Japanese (Katakana). [9]
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