XUNET logo - dual bus

XUNET Logos

c. 1988

XUNET was the "eXperimental University NETwork" research project sponsored by AT&T Bell Labs Research, Murray Hill, NJ.  It started in 1987.  Primary university participants were the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The XUNET was a Datakit-style network.  The previous generations included (1) Research Datakit, (2) Production Datakit, and (3) Research Hyperkit.  The NCON "iNtelligent CONnector" could also be classified with this technology.  The XUNET switch architecture has a dual-bus.  Each feature module "card" has a to-switch and from-switch bus.  The switch module "card" maps an input port on a feature module to an output port on a/another feature module.

The following are some of my logo designs for XUNET.  Click on an image for a larger version.


level  slant  stagger  vert mirror

The name element is the obvious starting place.  The connected letters attempt to pull in the network element.  The slant is more readable, the stagger is interesting and nicely compact.  The last design is a vertical mirror for an attempt at symmetry, but it is plainly unreadable.

level node  slant node  stagger node  vert mirror node
The addition of nodes emphasizes the network element and improves readability, a little.  But the overall esthetics are not pleasing.

dual bus  dual bus arrows  dual bus x arrows
The "dual bus" architecture of the switch is the foundation for these designs, giving clear significance to the logo.  The added arrows are just too messy, even when limited to the "X" switch module.  The left-most design was the eventual winner of the logo design contest.  It was used for documents and t-shirts.

T-shirt logo T-shirt back T-shirt front


NoBell Home - gjm - last update 1/3/2004, created - 5/30/2002