RIDDLE ME THIS, RIDDLE ME THAT: If someone understands what the hell Adam Siegel means with those fumes (the dot on the “i”), give me a ring. How can smokes, swirling up in the air, symbolize either the wisdom of crowds or the prediction markets? And why those dull and pale colors, perfectly suited for a funeral procession, only?

Chris F. Masse May 7th, 2008

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4 Responses to “RIDDLE ME THIS, RIDDLE ME THAT: If someone understands what the hell Adam Siegel means with those fumes (the dot on the “i”), give me a ring. How can smokes, swirling up in the air, symbolize either the wisdom of crowds or the prediction markets? And why those dull and pale colors, perfectly suited for a funeral procession, only?”

  1. # Michael GibersonNo Gravataron 07 May 2008 at 9:54 am

    I saw the smokey swirls as suggestive of dialog balloons such as you might see in the comics, the overlapping of them suggesting multiple voices.  The shape also vaguely suggested question marks to me.
    .
    Overall, I wasn’t immediately struck dumb by the obvious brilliance of the new marks, but then I wouldn’t say I was crazy about the old ‘game pieces’ logo either.

  2. # Chris HibbertNo Gravataron 07 May 2008 at 10:08 am

    They’re supposed to be speech bubbles, like in a cartoon, so the metaphor is that the market is a conversation.  Now, whether they are speech bubbles or smoke rings, you’d still expect the tails to point to the source, but these are disembodied.  That’s the part I don’t get.  :-)

  3. # Chris F. MasseNo Gravataron 07 May 2008 at 11:27 am

    @Michael Giberson:
    1. Dialog balloons, OK. But what does it to do with the wisdom of crowds or the prediction markets? James Surowiecki said that what is important is the mechanism that allows a collective verdict. That’s what a logo should convey: the mechanism that generates accurate predictions. A verbal dialog is not the market mechanism we are entertaining, here.
    2. The old logo was colorful.

  4. # Chris F. MasseNo Gravataron 07 May 2008 at 11:37 am

    @Chris Hibbert: Speech bubbles, OK,. That logo conveys the idea of a conversation, OK, but nowhere does it hints at the market (or any other wisdom -of-crowds mechanism). Talking and dialogging do not deliver accurate predictions. A collective verdict should be delivered by a mechanism. That mechanism should be drawn in a logo. The BetFair logo conveys the buying (”backing”) and selling (”laying”). The NewsFutures logo somewhat resembles a market chart —although you need to drink a lot of Emile’s French wine to be able to imagine that.
    -
    Any prediction market firm’s logo that you like, folks?
    -

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