It’s nice that there’s community engagement now, but the Mlem “character” should be somewhat consistent between iterations. Apollo community icons kept it pretty consistent. This is a big departure in the design.
There are a few reasons we switched, but the largest by far was the fact that artist who made our old logo just vanished and didn't leave us the original files for that logo, so iterating on it would first require a total reconstruction of those files. This one is made by one of our core contributors, Sjmarf, and we have the original files so we can adapt it and iterate on it even if he leaves the team.
I suppose that makes sense from a technical standpoint, and I understand where you’re coming from, but what I said about staying close to the Mlem character remains true. It’s a sticky situation.
While a well-rendered character and well-made icon, this new character isn’t very “Mlem”. It’s adorable, and it looks great, but there’s something missing in a visual link to this community. That’s all I’m saying.
You won’t find a single app icon in this world that everyone agrees with and that’s totally fine. It’s okay to have different opinions, and in Mlem there’s enough icons to choose from.