Sintel the logo!
on May 6th, 2010, by Ton
Hi all,
We’re very proud to present Sintel’s movie logo, created by designer Nick Bueltge! We will work with him on a couple of minor tweaks, like for usage in the various cases on shirts, in the film, and for the dvd.
Making this choice wasn’t simple, there were a lot of good proposals. Personally I liked his design for his elegant and very professional styling. The text and logo are slightly feminine and spiritual, which reflects in the film.
Additional good news: trailer is nearly finished… we keep fighting all kinds of nasty technical issues. It’s good on one hand – it improves blender – but it’s also frustrating… hopefully we have it in the weekend for you! We’ll also blog about every detail in making it. 
For everyone who submitted work: THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE DESIGNS, YOU ALL ROCK!
Here’s the thread with all design proposals.
-Ton-
May 6th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Great choice, there were quite a few other nice ones too though.
Looking forward so much to the trailer, you guys rock!
May 6th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
well… could be better but hopefully the movie will rock more than this logo.
May 6th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
Looks good, I suppose the best choice would be made by the people that know what actually happens in the film.
Waiting for the trailer…
May 6th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
I remember picking that one out as a winner, it simple elegant and very readable good choice.
May 6th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
hi. i like the logo, but i thing this unbalanced.
the top leaves need be bigger than the trunk.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I have to say meh…
It looks noobish compared to the ‘big buck bunny’ one.
Cant wait to see the trailer!
May 6th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
yep. this is the good one
May 6th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
now you have to change blog’s design
May 6th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Well..Definitely would not be my first choice.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
congrats nick! great logo!
May 6th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Nice work every one! I love the efforts going into this film! Keep up the good work. Nice choice on the logo as well.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Too much tracking.
The S is weak.
The T is ugly.
The crossbar of the E is too straight and clean.
The canopy of the tree is lost.
The underline adds nothing.
Too similar to Avatar.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
The best one won. Like someone else wrote the balancing on the tree could be improved the crown is a bit flat.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
I really like it. It’s like it’s rubber stamped or something. Rough around the edges. Like the character models.
May 6th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
I agree with wormwood. And it does looks noobish.
The S should be more curly and defined.
The bottom end of the T is makes it sloppy.
The trunk of the tree catches your eye to much and is not in balance with the crown’s detail.
But of course it’s too easy to criticize, and make nothing myself, so…
May 6th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
where can i report a bug from the render branch? i’d like to report it in the tracker but it is not from main trunk
May 6th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Verry Lord-of-the-Ringsish.
I like.
To all of you guys critiquing the balance of text, and the leaves and trees:
that’s intentional. Medieval, Fantasy, etc. always look like that. LOTOTR anyone? If you’ve read the books, you know.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
mmmmmm
May 6th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Lo que mas me gusta de todo esto es que SINTEL se hace con muchas ganas y también… por amor al arte.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I would have chosen another one, not that this one is bad, just that I thought there were one or two better. But you know your movie best, and what logo suits it.
wo262:
It is not supposed to ready for everyone yet.
the reason the render branch is a separate branch is so other people won’t report bugs
May 6th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
also gotta agree with the most of the negative comments here.
The whole design, rather than being a simple design with some visual punch/cohesion, just seems bland and inconsistent to me. Dont dig the edge quality either. Not that it’s *bad*… im just surprised that this entry was chosen.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
@Simon i read somewhere that we need to contact with renderbranch developers for report bugs directy to them.
May 6th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
Tree of Gondor?
May 6th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
I love it! I saw this one while looking over the contest thread the other day and thought this one stood out from the others. There were a lot of great submissions though, but I really like this one. Great job Nick!
May 6th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
don’t like the voice,
don’t like the logo*,
i fear i’ll don’t like the movie in the end :O
but well… you can’t make everyone happy. and i’m still happy with big buck bunny
I’m looking forward to the trailer, maybe it will make me a little bit happier then i am at the moment ^^
*It’s not bad, but it’s really not my first choice
May 6th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Seriously about this logo winning? Just a poorly designed Papyrus-like font. Not particularly a logo that has been hit with the original stick.
May 6th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Simple, but it does the trick very well!
May 6th, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Too much tracking.
The S is weak.
The T is ugly.
The crossbar of the E is too straight and clean.
The canopy of the tree is lost.
The underline adds nothing.
+1
my owns proposals needs more tweaking too, by the way.
May 6th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
when will the trailer be out, is there a date to be target on?
May 6th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
I disagree with mostly of ‘against’ comments : this typo not look like Avatar or LOTR, and is not noobish or a “poorly designed Papyrus-like font” to quote last message… Thanks for those who like it and express it.
You have to trust us we made the best choice in regards of the movie. Cause this one have an harmony feeling that reflect the movie as Ton explained on the post.
Btw, the picture Ton posted in this post is a hack I did over a little picture from Nick Bueltge ( the blue logo over the mountains ) cause I didn’t get the vector file to do my presentation at the Comicon in Naples : I enlarged / desaturated / blured / and tweaked the curves to contrast the best… An old trick to enlarge a little black and white logo without having stairs of pixels. The side effect is the loose of some dynamics and some roundish corners. So, the final logo will surely look better. But generally this one give the main idea.
May 6th, 2010 at 7:39 pm
I think it is really cool. All the other versions to me were too busy.
Less is more and this one is a great mix of elegance and clarity.
Can’t wait to see the trailer
May 6th, 2010 at 7:44 pm
@Deevad http://www.nick-bueltge.de/sintel/images/a_13.jpg
http://www.nick-bueltge.de/sintel/
May 6th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Hey,
Congrats, I thought so that this one could be the one, it stands out among the others, it’s simple and a very safe one…
You can’t go wrong with this one
May 6th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
@wo262 :
Thanks for the links
May 6th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
I want to see it on top of website.
May 6th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
i can’t believe you guys chose this one. I think there were two great ones amongst the ones i saw. I definitely wouldn’t have gone for this one, but heh, u guys are the ones choosing!
May 6th, 2010 at 8:44 pm
The font is herculanum i do believe.
I like it, It’s a bit generic, but i think thats a good thing. and normally im not fond of herculanum in caps, reminds me of bad chinese menus and avatar though sintel written in herculanum doesn’t look like avatar so i wouldnt be worried about that (avatar isn’t in herculanum anyway – something a bit less ornate), but in fairness i used a modified papyrus! a good design is one that works and looks good, not one that has so and so font!
Congrats Nick!
May 6th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
From a subjective point of view, I get the woodcut thing but I’m personally not that keen on it. Fair enough, each to their own. From a technical angle however, I think the kerning needs a little attention. The S and the T would benefit from a little bit more refinement too, so that they feel as though they are from the same font family. Criticism meant in a constructive spirit.
May 6th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
Although this is a strict cut from the lower case version of the Herculaneum family, it may need a tiny bit of ‘bending’ to balance out as a self-contained logo. It’s the ‘s’ that feels a little diminished. May not need much, but might make the difference.
May 6th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Deevad, how can you seriously say “this typo not look like Avatar” ?
I may not be identical to Avatar’s logotype set in Papyrus, but it certainly shares a very similar aesthetic, which is made all the more so by being all in capitals and with loose letter spacing.
The font is Monotype’s version of Herculanum by Adrian Frutiger. Unmodified.
May 6th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
i really liked the first version of nick’s proposals.
But, i think that you’re right with the selection; only the team knows what the movie reflect.
Now i want to see the chosen one in a tee, or in the movie trailer…
ps: Congrats to Nick!!
May 6th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
“I may not be identical to Avatar’s logotype set in Papyrus, but it certainly shares a very similar aesthetic, which is made all the more so by being all in capitals and with loose letter spacing.”
I’m really not seeing that:
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/3475/avatarsintellogo.png
I guess they both have 6 letters in the name, and T in the middle, and a serify thing going on, but I find them very distinct from each other.
May 6th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
I think it fits the film well. I was surprised at the amount and quality of submissions, great job everyone, and congrats Nick!
May 6th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Was not trajan the movie font? Did we had any entries with trajan font? Anyway if the creators of the movie like it I trust in there decisions. They know best was is needed on the end. I guess there were a lot of good designs and I’m sure it was not easy…
Regards,
Markus
May 6th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Congrats!
The level of the entries was impressive.
I also like the use of the dragon wing on another one of Nick’s picture:
http://www.nick-bueltge.de/sintel/images/a_06.jpg
I hope the concept gets used in the posters!
May 6th, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Having looked through all of the logo submissions, I’m curious which logo the people who don’t like this one prefer. I saw very few that could compete.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
I like this one, because I can actually read what it says…
May 6th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
I see a viking ship and a tree. I am afraid I don’t get it, not that it matters.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
wait, which avatar?
http://avatarthelastairbenderepisodes.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/avatarlogo.jpg
http://newteevee.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/avatar-movie-poster.jpg
May 6th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
it is so beautiful! well done!
May 6th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
I really liked this logo. It has a nice primitive look to it, which I believe will fit the final movie.
May 6th, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Ok, that definitely was one of the best
And I guess, you know, what you do, as you know the whole movie, already.
May 7th, 2010 at 12:02 am
It’s a good one, but shouldn’t there at least be a hint that there is a canopy on top? To me it looks like a dead tree now.
May 7th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Maybe foliage is a better word
May 7th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Oh no, too bad! this is the right one:
http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9505/sintel.png
(top left one)
May 7th, 2010 at 12:55 am
good work nick!
congratulations!!!!
May 7th, 2010 at 1:05 am
I happen to absolutely love Nick’s submission! Congratulations mate!
May 7th, 2010 at 1:16 am
I think the logo fits, and I like to think it’s because I have a better feel for the movie and its tone than others.
May 7th, 2010 at 1:19 am
Oh, I forgot to add, OMFGOORAH! Trailer on the weekend!!!!!
May 7th, 2010 at 2:19 am
Cant wait for trailer! It’ll be awesome
May 7th, 2010 at 3:22 am
I like the text…
nice simple and readable.
I really dislike the tree.
May 7th, 2010 at 4:48 am
Congratulations Nick!^^ – for me as long as simple and readable it’s just a-OK (i’m second that -^0^), i hope the “tweak” that you mean is for the tree, somehow i feel a hollow,emptyness and uncomplete in there,
now trailer’s time! ^0^ (dont forget links for the slow internet speed plz)
May 7th, 2010 at 5:27 am
Doesn’t look like avatar? Man I must be missing something. When I sit back and squint at this image – as one does to evaluate these types of things …
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/3475/avatarsintellogo.png
The similarity in aesthetic seems punch you in the face obvious. I don’t really have a problem with that… its just weird that some see it and some don’t I guess.
Oh, and yah, high excitement for the trailer!
May 7th, 2010 at 6:17 am
because this thread has not enough comments, I second this emotion. The logo……..Rocks. Almost as hard as Durian and the Blender Foundation + Ton.
May 7th, 2010 at 6:43 am
Wow. There’s a lot of negativity here! Almost makes me glad mine wasn’t chosen.
Congrats Nick. That’s awesome.
May 7th, 2010 at 8:07 am
reminds me a lot Avatar movie logo on tipography , but is readable. Congrats nick.i have to see integrated on the movie
May 7th, 2010 at 9:05 am
Congratulations!
May 7th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Nice. But I’m a little disturbed by the too obvious symmetry of the tree.
Maybe something can be done to break it a little bit?
May 7th, 2010 at 10:10 am
I like it. The font looks sanskrit inspired. I am surprised at the amount of negative feedback about this..
May 7th, 2010 at 10:19 am
I agree in breaking the symmetry on the tree in the upper part.
Great logo.
May 7th, 2010 at 10:37 am
Congrats Nick.
Competition was fun
Maybe some of the crits can be looked into, especially the constructive ones
Otherwise, the team ultimately knows the story they want to tell, and the design that moves them the best should be trusted to be the right design.
May 7th, 2010 at 10:54 am
I must agree the font does resemble the Avatar one though.
though it shouldnt matter, right?
May 7th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Actually come to think of it.. it look great on the t-shirt from that link.
imagin how it will be on the trailer.
it goes without saying that the rest of the logos were amazing and must have gaven the durian team a hard time when choosing best one.
im excited and cant wait…..
May 7th, 2010 at 11:53 am
The emblem looks like a mushroom cloud. Is this movie about nuclear war?
May 7th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Not my first choice… but it looks great.
May 7th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Definitely a wrong choice, it reminds me of a logo, and those things resemble letters, and if I look closely the upper part is like a tree. There are logos, letters and trees in many movies, can’t you be more creative?
*sarcasm off*
Who cares of Avatar? Sintel will rock!
And yes, I also like the logo, congrats Nick!
May 7th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
you had some good designs there, nick http://www.nick-bueltge.de/sintel/
May 7th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Wow I can’t believe all this negativity. Makes me wonder if they could have done a better job
and on the avatar thing, the fonts are similar but its not like someone will glance at it quick and think avatar. In my thoughts the tree does look a bit too symmetrical, and that could use a bit of tweaking, but other than that great job. The right one was definitely picked.
May 7th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Congratulations nick, it’s a nice logo.
My only critic is about the tree, is not so good.. I mean, it lacks foliage!? Where are the leaves gone?
But I think you could have done that to break the horrible tree resemblance with the nuclear mushroom it originally has…
From Deevad:
“Btw, the picture Ton posted in this post is a hack I did over a little picture from Nick Bueltge ( the blue logo over the mountains ) cause I didn’t get the vector file to do my presentation at the Comicon in Naples ”
Are you serious?!
Have you guys really choosen the logo before april the 30?! And let another week logo submission?
And about your conference in Naples, can we see a video of the event? I’ve searched the web but I found nothing as for now…
Thanks
May 7th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Hi – thanks a lot for your positive feedback – very nice to read. I’ll keep on working on it in detail – bringing it to a strong, spiritual and functional final version. Once again – thanks
Best regards, Nick
May 7th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Looks good!
That one also got my eye from all the submissions.
The sintel logo should be a little more extravagant imho though
May 7th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
enter the blog’s COLOSSUS 3D we’re making a feature film with the blender ….. the blog is: http://colossus3d.blogspot.com/
May 7th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I like this:
SVN commit 3060: Credits for the trailer. (colin)
May 7th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Where ‘s the trailer ?
Why not Debian Stable instead of Ubuntu ?
May 8th, 2010 at 12:28 am
oh yh the new Ubuntu lucis lynx 10.04 lts is out. better have blender already installed.
May 8th, 2010 at 5:30 am
Good choice!!
(tree of Gondor…xD)
May 8th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Congratulations Nick and The Blender Team. Actually I would have chosen the same as you guys, this one was my prefer, simple but strong.
May 8th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
@shinobi :
“Are you serious?!
Have you guys really choosen the logo before april the 30?! And let another week logo submission?”
Hi Shinobi
Not really ‘choosen’ at this date. During my conferences at Comicon it was only the one I choose personally to have a good look in my presentation.
I’m glad the team was also happy with my personal choice a week after.
For the video of the event, still have no news. Surely soon
May 8th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Actually I guess which logo they (or the community) would have chosen – the comments would be pretty much the same – because it is very natural that (of a big number of people) some like it an some don’t.
OMG … can’t wait for the trailer anymore…it will be SO awesome
May 8th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
I really like it, and good job to Nick! Don’t let the haters get to you. I do agree about the canopy/leaves being a bit small, but really great, clean design over all. Great job!
May 9th, 2010 at 1:32 am
I hate the tree…. who’s idea was it to put that in the logo anyways?!
Here is a (much)better version:
http://www.pasteall.org/pic/show.php?id=3187
The simple text can stay, I like it being readable.
May 9th, 2010 at 1:39 am
thanks to wdesigner_br for inspiring me.
my proposed image is a derivative of this one
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4802/ideia02.jpg
May 9th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Thank you, Deevad, keep us informed about conference videos
May 10th, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Sintel the lunch box!
Sintel the coloring book!
Sintel the flame thrower!
May 13th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
I too don’t get the tree thingy…I gathered it is a story about Sintel looking for her pet dragon no? The logo does invoke a medieval fantasy vibe, but unless there is an important flora that figures into the story, otherwise my humble opinion is that it does not fit, thematically speaking.
That is of course just my 2 cents and let me say you guys are doing a superb job!
May 21st, 2010 at 3:32 am
Really, it’s too much Avatar! It wouldn’t work!
June 4th, 2010 at 11:38 pm
The tree is a symbol in the film, i think of the city or something similar. Yes there is no important flora in the film, according to what we know, but the symbol occours various times