Improvements to Onshape - December 10th, 2020

brucebartlett

@AuroraRon @guy_rogel Absolutely agreed.  Product structure view and export which goes across documents, has the ability to add and exclude and can combine and adding into folders would be my highest priority. My heart sinks every time a customer asks for a set of pdf's drawings, it takes 10x longer than it should to get these out. 

janos_horvath

I suggest to turn the theme all green on the GUI or back to blue but this mix is pretty odd.

tony_459

Whoever picked the green might have had a Firefox update waiting for them ;-)

tony_459

Coca-Cola is cool with being a patchwork of styles. Why can't you, PTC? Huh?

They could have rebranded Minute Maid all Coca-Cola-like. Bright red label, outrageous free-flowing font, maybe a pop-up cap for good measure---right on your OJ bottle.

It would have conformed to Coca-Cola style guidelines!

But would it have been better ;-)

michael3424

There was a similar outcry from Alibre users when 3D Systems bought them out and changed the name to Geomagic Design.  Prospective customers said that the name sounded a bit Mickey Mouse.  Geomagic Design died off a year or two later and was bought back by some old Alibre employees who renamed it back to Alibre. 

As a lowly free user, my opinion doesn't count for any thing, but I'd really rather that Onshape/PTC resources be spent on something more tangible and useful to designers than logos.

3dcad

Variables on the fly -- awesome!

Logo .. who cares.. I'm amazed it's still onshape.com with it's own user forum .. could be a lot worse already..

but if you're going to touch the default color scheme, make sure it's introduced in same update with user defined color and have 'old onshape' scheme saved as example.  

MasonU

I have no doubt that PTC has the resources and ability to further elevate the Onshape mission but it seems the logo change could be counter productive to this message. PTC is vocal about not disrupting the physicality of Onshape which signals that they get it and understand its uniqueness. The hurdle I am having a hard time getting over is changing a logo from something that stood for the future of CAD into something that is in line with what I view as the old way of doing CAD. Onshape was different, but now it's the same? The resulting takeaway is confusing and contradictory. The homogeneity of the new PTC mark feels to rewind progress. Onshape's best marketing tool is its community word of mouth. Why would you want to make that community confused about the future when the product has so much growth potential to go still?

Is PTC trying to express that Onshape works well with its other products? But isn't a core value of Onshape that you do not need to use Creo, Windchill, or anything else 99% of the time?

I professionally use a PTC product on a daily basis and have zero association with the corporate PTC logo. If shown a lineup of logos and asked to pick out the PTC one I would be shooting in the dark. For me Onshape, and subsequently its logo, grew to stand for a welcomed fresh breath of air, a one stop shop... the future of CAD! I do acknowledge that my unique experiences do not mean that this is a common sentiment with everyone... That is where doing a bit of research comes in.

Did PTC work with branding professionals on this transition? Did PTC do its research by interviewing any current, new, and potential Onshape users? The visual change of a logo may seem trivial but they often have much larger implications beyond personal preference for one over the other. Search "Tropicana brand fail" to see how the company lost tens-of-millions of dollars in sales in two months along with lasting market share to competitors. This is certainly not the same situation or at the same scale as Onshape still has a lot of upward growth to establish. But it serves as food for thought and a textbook example of the importance of understanding your audience.

Change can be good but it should be strategic and transitioned over time after setting a foundation of trust and value. Companies need to understand that a brand is not just a logo... a brand is predominantly defined by how your customers and customers-to-be feel about you. The logo is one element that should be in line with with your core message.

For what it is worth I am not going anywhere and will continue to use the Onshape service because I see the greater possibilities. I was drawn to Onshape for its accessibility, community, available resources, and its distinction in usability from all of the other dinosaur CAD packages from which I have spent countless hours of my life bending and fighting. Who knows, maybe the PTC familiarity will give potential users who are on the fence the nudge they need to make the leap. Rebranding is a surprisingly tough decision to navigate and should be treated with care. I remain hopeful that PTC is able to get Onshape into the hands of more people and companies. I am just scratching my head a little about how they plan to go about it and what its impact will be on existing customers.

Theo_R

Have to say that this update is a miss for me.
The logo is far from an improvement.
The whole brand was a consistent graphic approach to UI, fonts and colors. The color palette was tied throughout all the complimentary shade of blue, light blue, orange and grey. The font choices were similarly cohesive through all menus. This was everywhere in the platform. Tropicana definitely came to mind as well.
Unfortunately I think this disruption and distraction from everything we should be focused on.

paul_bunnell

I get it - you pay a bunch of money to acquire a company and you at least want to put your logo on it.

But man does it clash.

AuroraRon

Bad rebrands happen all the time. Do a google search for "Rebranding Disasters" with lots of excellent examples.  

Kraft Foods, The Gap, Mastercard, Pepsi, BP, Radio Shack and many others suffered from rebranding.   

Ryan_McClelland

I wonder if PTC realizes many people use OnShape because the hate Creo? This logo looks like it is from the 2000's. I hope this is not the first of many top down changes.

corey_mcguire

Two types of people.

1. "On the fly variables?! NEAT!"
2. "New logo, BAD!!!!"

MichaelPascoe

I would like to thank everyone who participated in this peaceful protest regarding the original Onshape branding. The turn out was much more successful than I imagined it would be.

#PalletOfBricks
#Type2

  

tony_459

Onshape will always be blue to me

KC_onshape

Love the addition of on-the-fly variables!
Agree with many other commenters though about not loving the new logo. So much of the rest of the UI and style of Onshape is in the same blue as the old logo, so the green of the new logo looks really off and out of place. The blue is much more pleasant IMO, so I hope they don't change the whole Onshape color scheme to match the new logo...

(Also FYI if anyone at Onshape reads these comments, the logo is still the old blue one on the mini-logos of safari tabs.)

MBartlett21

I like the on-the-fly variable creation ( ), but not the new logo ( )

tony_459

It's not just the logo, mind you.

It's also the font, the bold typeface, the blue and white contrast... the circles where aggressive sharp hexagons now are...

It's the whole look of Onshape. It's very cohesive, simple, inviting, just pleasant. It's strange they would just change it.

MichaelPascoe

tony_459 said:

It's not just the logo, mind you.

It's also the font, the bold typeface, the blue and white contrast... the circles where aggressive sharp hexagons now are...

It's the whole look of Onshape. It's very cohesive, simple, inviting, just pleasant. It's strange they would just change it.

Tony has a great point.

tony_459

Oh.

I notice Onshape is the only product in the PTC CAD portfolio not named Creo [___].

Everybody, allow me to introduce Creo Cloud

You heard it here first.

john_mcclary

That's not even funny

  

nick_lumb

I echo the comments about both creating variables on the fly and the logo!

Green is my favourite colour and I still don't think the logo works; if Onshape blue replaced the green that would at least belong in the rest of Onshape's colour scheme!

Absolutely thrilled with creating variable from within a sketch or extrude   I joined Onshape in October 2015 and requested this in the November; I am one very happy bunny!  (slightly bemused at my own choice of words however!)

wayne_sauder

Is this a new icon? And speaking of in context does anyone know of a way to figure out which context when there are multiple? 

john_mcclary

You should get in the habit of naming your context when you create them. Otherwise you will need to go to the part studio and do some detective work 

wayne_sauder

I realize naming them would be a good idea and would probably help me some, however, I think it would be nice if when a sketch or something referenced a context, Onshape would also provide the in context info.   

john_reich

The logo looks more like a Recycle symbol then a logo for a 3D modeling software

brucebartlett

1 week in and I think the logo has grown on me, or at least I've grown used to it. Even with the new logo, I am still loving the many and varied improvements over old workflows and looking forward to more coming in with these seamless updates. 

Diego_Camilo

I had been scared when I entered the login page

robertconleysr

I would like to know when sheet metal is getting a makeover. I need features like lances, louvers, etc. in order to make a full switch from SolidWorks. I've been asking for these features for the past year, might have to rethink CAD packages when renewal comes due.