Plus, yeah, I'm standing by my first reaction that it looks, if not like crap, than kind of random. It doesn't really communicate anything on its own. A bystander won't see it and think "this is a currency symbol." Which I would think Bitcoin proponents would want!
Guess why?
Designers of currency symbols have silently agreed to use two bars to mean just that: "this symbol represents a currency". So the B with two bars, for Bitcoin, is perfect.
The real solution (that may need a website too, to advertise it to the masses, least not the peeps @ HN) is obviously to agree on some free unicode slot to occupy and to get font designers to incorporate this two bar 'B' into existing fonts, in this slot.
That is not correct. There was not a transition from "two vertical bars" to "one vertical bar" [1]. Please document yourself before posting.
I did not talk about the history. I talked about a typographical design trend that pertains to currency symbols. Also not that better typefaces sometimes have both versions on the $ sign. One and two strokes. The default is admittedly still the single bar one though.
Expert discussion re. the one bar/two bar $ sign, that could be an interesting read: http://www.typophile.com/node/17976
"Ƀ (U+0243) is a unicode character used as a "capitalized alternate symbol for the voiced bilabial fricative in Americanist phonetic notation"
| Well, without hitting up the Google I
| have no idea how to type that B-with-a-line-through
| it, either.
1) Despite creating an actual style guide for the logo, including recommended usage, the proposal IMO lacks serious attention to typographic detail, the one thing a currency logo actually needs. None of the examples look particularly great: the type is misaligned, the text dominates the B logo in practically every badge.
2) The Wikimedia-linked B is much better designed as a shape, has the right weight, but the tacky coin presentation completely ruins it.
Someone needs to take approach 1 to proposal 2 and we'll all be better for it.
Edit: nevermind, someone already did: http://forrst.com/posts/Rebranding_of_Bitcoin-Ft5
* Supported by most widely-used fonts.
* Easy to pronounce, one syllable
* Has mainstream connotations (bitcoins sounds like a nerd thing)
* Could use the lowercase phi for a more granular denomination maybePlus, aside from the appropriateness of the symbol, it also conveys the digital element of the currency - it'd be more "on brand" if I was in marketing!
I think that the lowercase phi as a lower denomination is an excellent extension of the idea.
Additionally, the sign you suggest is closer to a Cifrão than a dollar sign as it has two vertical bars. Unfortunately it's common for people to arbitrarily use two vertical strokes on a dollar. If this were to happen with the Bitcoin, then there would be confusion with the Thai Baht (฿).
Instead, use a horizontal stroke and the ambiguity is removed. The symbol doesn't have any close matches in current use or in Wikipedia's 'historical' section.