I ought to qualify what I mean by timely. The way I see it, Extreme Makeover:Quark Edition™ is timely, but only insofar as the context they are working in…that is to say, considering they haven’t upgraded thier image along with the application, and given that the release of V7 is contiually intimated as being ‘imminent’, time was ripe for an updating of thier image. Better late, as they say, than never.

That was so well done, I was actually googling typewherehouse before I realized what an idiot I am.

Beautiful. You have the press release tone down so well that I almost believed you at first. By the end I was laughing out loud.

DENVER - September 16, 2005 - There’s yet another new symbol of the friendly new Quark. In addition to the new logo announced late last week Quark has selected a new font for use in the application menus and user manuals for it’s upcoming Quark 7.0 release.

“Quark has undergone many changes, starting with our innovative new logo,” said acting president Linda Chase. “We are proud to follow that success up with the selection of a new font to further identify and solidify the Quark brand in the hearts and minds of our customers.”

Quark Funnies
In support of the launch of Quark’s new brand identity, TypeWhereHouse Inc., the global authority on fonts and the leading font foundry for the design industry, has redubbed “Comic Sans” as “Quark Funnies.”

According to Beatrice Wiseman, executive director of the TypeWhereHouse Font Institute, renowned font psychologist, and author of thirty-five books on fonts, “Comic Sans was the perfect choice for an innovative company such as Quark. This font, based on the lettering in daily comic strips and monthly comic books alike is a perfect symbol for the new Quark in the eyes of it’s many customers, critics and supporters. As a joke in it’s field.”

Beatrice went on, “Comic Sans just screamed Quark to me. I was looking for something that would take Quark in a completely new direction — a font that was friendly and inviting, while also being exciting and dynamic and further something that would clearly and solidly identify Quark in the market. “The more I looked at the font, the more it came to represent so many things that Quark has gone through: rejuvenation, growth, and rebirth and finally to it’s status now as a joke in it’s own industry. It just seemed to work.”

I see and acknowledge your point. Quark is late off the blocks in a great many ways, from upgrading to Mac OS X to finally versioning up the application.

I ought to qualify what I mean by timely. The way I see it, Extreme Makeover:Quark Edition™ is timely, but only insofar as the context they are working in…that is to say, considering they haven’t upgraded thier image along with the application, and given that the release of V7 is contiually intimated as being ‘imminent’, time was ripe for an updating of thier image. Better late, as they say, than never.

In the greater context of the last few years of design software developments, though, they are very late on this image update, and in that wise I quite agree with you.

The next version of Quark is going to have to be more than an equal of InDesign, it is going to have to be light years ahead of it. Otherwise, Quark is burnt toast. It’s already toast, it will be BURNT toast.

I have heard many people saying they are making the switch from Quark to InDesign, yet I heard none saying they are switching from InDesign to Quark.

Visitors to Quark’s web site yesterday got a bit of a surprise. Quark has changed its logo, changed its web site and, well, that’s about it. Everything else is the same. Except that, as reported on MetaFilter, Quark’s new logo looks just like the one for The Scottish Arts Council.

http://www.scottisharts.org.uk/

Your comment comes up with a valid point.

There are, I think, two ways to look on Quark, as they defend their turf and thier remaining market share against Adobe. One way is by what they announce and what they produce. The other way is by how they announce.

Quark wants to appeal to designers. Designers (just for the sake of saying this-I’m sure I don’t need to tell you this) are seen as a hip, “with-it” group, in tune with fashion in some essential way. If your image is seen as dated, your credibility suffers and there is an air of tiredness about you.

Quark’s graphic presentation, up until now, struck me as quiet, composed, and “same”. The graphic treatment was one they had been using for years, and was doing so at the time they were hinting at exciting new features and acknowledging the challenge of InDesign. I think they were looking for a relevant, edgy angle–that’s why we had the Postcards.

The Postcards missed the mark, remarkably. My take on this is that they have, if not learned the lesson of the error of the message, at least learned the lesson of dialing it back a bit. This new presentation works on the cool and hip level. I, who have announced by bias more than once, find it appealing and refreshing.

Of course, public face is one thing. Now they have to follow up with actual results. Whenever XPress V7 is rolled out (whenever that may be), it’s got to be a credible contender against InDesign. No matter what it offers, those offerings have got to not only hang on to the waverers (those thinking of moving to Adobe), and not only make its loyal customers feel justified in maintaining thier investment, but also make satisfied InDesign refugees from Quark think twice about that decision.

A rebranding such as this makes it more doable for Quark. But they still have to deliver on the promise that is V7.

This new look may turn out to be lipstick on a pig, or it may turn out to be the jewelry on a beauty queen. That depends on V7. but as a design evolution it, in and of itself, is a breath of fresh air to Quark’s look, timely and needed.

Bill