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

[Romain d'Alverny]

Woooo \o/

On Wed, Jan 19, 2011 at 02:38, Olivier FAURAX <olivier at faurax.fr> wrote:
> Le 17/01/2011 22:24, Romain d'Alverny a écrit :
> 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/

Yes.

> 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.

Yep. That's a mix for marcom, artwork and council.

>> 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

As for that, I would leave out the colour coding and use
KDE/GNOME/YOUR-CHERISHED-DE labels instead and separate from the
Mageia logo (that is, next to it, or below it). More to the point.

> - 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).

Let's call this our first design option.

> 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).

Hmmm, not in favour of that at this point.

>> 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.

Yep.

>> 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.

Yes, so we can validate it as well. That's why I would prefer us to:
 - start small, with the official and the generic solution for
derivatives; publish those with guidelines and submission/validation
process;
 - start pushing specific derivatives for specific use cases:
   - customized distribution provided/sold by a for-profit company to
its customers;
   - local website/initiative;
   - local event.

> 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)

Ok, great. Wooo... all this would be way more easy in a big room with
a big drawing board, wouldn't it? :-)

Well, further than not being really confident in this option (I'm more
enclined to have the Mageia official and derivative identity to stay
as a signature, and have it not spread too much in a lot of directions
- but that's my take only) I would like too to see if we can have
other design solutions.

Cheers!

Romain