Most of us judge books by their covers. It’s really just a matter of degree than anything else. You can be all cover, some cover, a little cover, and so on and so forth. Yet, with the rise of a full-on economy of online services that require some visual uniqueness to distinguish one from the other, there inevitably surface many similarities. Almost too many. One commonality is the speech bubble.
You’ve seen them everywhere, even if you haven’t quite noticed their existence. Ordinariness can do that. IM services show them. As do media providers. Networking sites, mobile or otherwise, are known to sport their share. We thought we’d point some out to see what your take might be on the sameness - or at least the variations on that simple, popular trait. These are in no particular order. If you’ve got extras we’ve missed, you know where to post ‘em, and be sure to share you thoughts on the trend.
AIM - As an instant messaging service, AOL's AIM icon is fitting, to say the least. No harm, no foul.
Google Talk - Ditto.
Meebo - This is one stellar use of a bubble trail.
VideoEgg - This headlines a video advertising network. Whether it's a speech bubble or a thought bubble, I can't quite make out the reasoning behind it. Sure looks good, but does it look appropriate? Again, does it matter?
YouLicense - A music licensing warehouse. It's hard to say whether that's a bubble or one of them Google Maps-type pins with a big 'C' inside.
Imeem - Music networking with subtle play on user talk. I have to say I'm fond of this one.
Technorati - Might be a stretch to incorporate a speech bubble, but it is what it is. Technorati is blog search and blog cataloguing at its core. Maybe it's communicative by virtue of the millions of blogs and bloggers it sifts through on a daily basis.
3jam - This company introduced the SuperText in June. The bubble most definitely passes go.
Bluepulse - Mobile messaging service. I'm cool with the bubble play. You cool?
Piczo - A website builder introduced some years ago, the logo might be due for a bit of a refresh simply for freshness's sake.
Angie’s List - The bubble is so small that it's pretty much unrecognizable. If you're like me, you first noticed Angie marketing the heck out of her list on NPR. No relation to that list by that guy Craig, from what I gather.
Posty - Multi-microblogging message manufacturer. Perfectly acceptable.
Pownce - One micro-blogging service with one icon wrapped in one speech bubble. Also perfectly acceptable.
Twitter - The guys behind this one have gone and popularized the reverse bubble. (Take a look at the homepage.) Everything but the logo. Rebels. If they've contributed anything to modern Web design, it's that hard-edged triangle that tells you where to talk - just so long as you keep your speech to 140 characters or less. Gotta love 'em.
Slate - Who’s to say Slate will continue to sport that big header bubble after a new design launches next week? We'll just have to wait and see. Whatever the case, that one that's up there right now may well be the largest of non-functional bubbles yet. Non-functional in a conversational fashion, anyhow. Not that the bubbles above or below on this list are so special.
Real Networks - That's right, Real Networks. What an oldie. And the verdict is still out on whether it's a goodie. I find it necessary at times, but not all that enjoyable, sadly. Hey, at least they're taking the fight to the MPAA. Even though that fight isn't very helpful to Joe "DRM-hating" Consumer. Here's to a classic logo!
ClubMom - An online community for moms. Who's got anything against that? You love your mom? I love mine. Logo is simple and straightforward. Woot.
Scrapblog - "Share digital scrapbooks" is the pitch. We last spoke about them in August. I can't quite get a grip on the logo, but neither does it bug me. The service behind the name is snazzy, so I'll go ahead and give it a thumbs up anyway.
CoComment - Does that count as a bubble? I'm not so sure. I want to believe it does, because it would make sense to connote some form of communication there. An extra big of flair couldn't hurt.
BubbleShare - Photo sharing made simple. My verdict on this speech/thought bubble: not a fan.
Yedda - A so-called knowledge community based out of Israel. Thought bubble is approved.
WooThemes - Premium WordPress Themes is the subtext. How about...no?
Skype - Just one big cloudy bubble. Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.
BooRah - Location-based food and restaurant reviews. It's a humorous design, as you can see.
Loud3r - A little bit of PopURLs, a little bit of Alltop. And a big, ostentatious, look-at-me logo. With a '3' in place of an 'E' for extra hipness.
