Goodbye, Shadowman: Red Hat changes its logo
Found on ZD Net on Sunday, 12 May 2019
Decades ago, Red Hat came up with its iconic logo: Shadowman. Times change, however, and so do Linux companies.
Tim Yeaton, Red Hat executive vice president and chief marketing officer, explained: "An early 2017 survey had revealed that people saw Shadowman as 'Sinister. Secretive. Evil. Sneaky.' These respondents might not have known anything about Red Hat, but they did believe that man lurking in the shadows didn't immediately inspire their trust. In their survey responses, they wondered who he was and what he was doing in the logo."
It's a logo, nothing more. Not everything has to succumb to marketing research. Those who are remotely familiar with Linux know the logo; there is no reason that every cake-baking grandmother across the street has a happy day when looking at it.