[Mageia-artwork] brand/logo management, official/derivative

[Olivier FAURAX]

Le 17/01/2011 22:24, Romain d'Alverny a écrit :
> Hi there,
> 
> before posting this to the -discuss list (and later on on the web page
> as soon as we have final versions), here is a point founders discussed
> about the Mageia brand and logo management (regarding official and
> community derivative uses). Your input is welcome.
> 
> We (founders) want to have a separate identity for:
>  - what is officially released by the Mageia project as such,
>  - and what is released as derivative work from the Mageia project
> (being ISOs or other things).

As an example, look at the difference between the former
ubuntu/canonical logos.
http://www.ivankristianto.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ubuntu-logo217.gif
http://www.webactus.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/687px-Canonical_logo.png

The whole thing has been redesigned since, and it's worth reading :
http://design.canonical.com/the-toolkit/ubuntu-brand-guidelines/
For example, they defines colors (orange, grey, white and
aubergine/purple), and they use it differently for ubuntu (orange on
white, highlight in purple) and canonical (aubergine on grey, highlight
in orange).

I definitely need someone who can choose colors like that.

> We already have the official Mageia logo (waiting for
> refinements/discussions yet, another separate mail), designed by
> Olivier. We would like, if possible, to have the Mageia
> derivative/community logo based on the official, so there is an
> obvious connection, yet difference between the two.

An idea to be refined :
- color the cauldron body with a color representing the desktop (or
purpose) : blue for KDE, red for GNOME, and so on, the border being
untouchable black
- let the top 3 bubbles color and the "eia" letters color chosen by the
group, "mag" being untouchable black

So the logo will have a untouchable part, and a "use your colors" part.
I think that every group can choose a set of 3 colors to represent
themselves (it's not a flag or something like that).

I'll try to make a sketch of that idea.

Something to discuss : would we be open to replace one of the last
letter ? For example, the Paris User Group replacing the i of mageia
with an effeil tower ? (I would be ok, as it's in the 3 final letters).

> Why set two logos? We don't want to have the official Mageia identity
> face misuses or be diluted - there will be guidelines to prevent that
> of course, but we still prefer to keep some tighter control over the
> logo usage.
> 
> So to allow/ease derivative/community uses, we need to setup a
> dedicated logo (still with important guidelines/purposes to follow).
> There are several use cases that should be facilitated with that:
>  - derivative/customized distribution release,
>  - local communities events,
>  - communities web sites.

Note that this can be combinated e.g. you need a logo for the KDE liveCD
from the Italian group.

> In short, that would make:
>  - official Mageia.Org brand/logo (the one chosen a few days ago) =>
> strict guidelines, for Mageia.Org official releases only (and quotes)
>  - Mageia community derivated identity (for local
> communities/projects/initiatives that are tied to Mageia but not
> necessarily officially managed) => strict guidelines too, but for
> community/derivative uses
>  - case by case management for further logos, with required approval
> from the artwork team and validation from council or board.
>  - exclusive source distribution from Mageia.org website (or dedicated
> Mageia.org artwork website).
> 
> What's your take on this?

It's ok for me.
You might also start a list of communities to see if our process can
provide a logo for each of them. It would be better to do it for them
rather than waiting for them to design their own logo, by the way.

Oh, and finally, I've got it :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ofaurax/5368859836/
(I did it quickly with random colors, I hope you'll get the idea)

Have a nice... night
-- 
Olivier FAURAX, http://ofaurax.free.fr/
Pour les images vectorielles (logos, schémas), utilisez Inkscape :
http://www.inkscape.org/?lang=fr