Game console start up screens are embedded deep within the mind of every gamer. Whether it's the familiar tune of the PlayStation 2 or the playful tone of the Nintendo Gamecube, the first moments after powering up your brand makes an impression.
That's why Microsoft worked with ManvsMachine, an award-winning design studio, to craft the boot up logo for the Xbox One. While we are all familiar with the start up screen that was eventually chosen, it could have been much, much different.
The screen that shipped with the console and that is featured in every Xbox advertisement is short and sweet: a white orb swoops into the middle of the screen, spins around to reveal a green "X" and is then followed by the word "Xbox".
But a more experimental logo was also considered, one that involved an always changing, folding "X."
"As a product the Xbox is evolving from purely gaming to become a versatile home entertainment hub," the design studio's website states. "This became the inspiration for the 'morphing X' design, organically folding layers of the logo inside-out and never repeating the exact same form twice."
Check it out below.
It's mesmerising to look at, as the shapes and colors bend and morph into the familiar Xbox logo. The simple sound at the end of the animation is also noticeably different from the tone used in the final product.
Though the morphing X design is certainly beautiful to look at, it's understandable why Microsoft didn't use it. For starters, the morphing X takes far too long to take shape, though it could likely be modified to form faster. Can you imagine having to watch that every time you booted up your Xbox? It's also just too complex. A logo needs to be simple and straightforward, something that the morphing X simply wasn't. Still, it's cool to see what could have been.
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