[Mageia-dev] Art, Logo and Branding

Mihai Dobrescu msdobrescu at gmail.com
Thu Sep 23 15:33:54 CEST 2010


Although Ubuntu's target description suits me well, I think, it did not
catch me. Their palette is in colors of my home, but un my top box I need to
have somethinng geek, shiny, cool, sci-fi, strong, aggressive...
That's why I do prefer an orb as logo, because it is so versatile. The
shape,  materials, the symbols. Easy to remember. But I guess it is taken...
Is it?
Ubuntu failed miserably in my case... In look and stability. I think it is
of a good marketing though.
Is the name 'Mageia' immutable? Do you suggest to rename it?

On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 4:00 PM, Graham Lauder <yorick_ at openoffice.org>wrote:

> The artguide and logo guidelines are seriously incomplete and need a lot of
> work.  Free software projects have a history of rushing into branding that
> they will be stuck with for a very long time, from logo to colour scheme to
> pallett.  If it's not thought through and given the consideration it needs,
> it
> can turn into a millstone around the projects neck or a chaotic round of
> ever
> changing looks that confuses the market.
>
> The project needs to get it's branding process it's organised.  Until then
> everything should be fluid, even the name should be seen as a "Working
> Title".
>
> So therefore:
>
> We need to identify our vision,
> Identify the way we want the world to see us.
> We need to identify our target market
> and then come up with a Brand to suit that market.
>
> The brand does not have to be out there until the announcement of the first
> release.
> The brand that is created now, will shackle the Marketing team for all
> time.
> The marketing team will only hang around if the brand is good.  Hackers
> need
> the tools to do their job, if the IDE they are forced to use when making
> code
> is a pile of shit then they'll go elsewhere.  It's the same with marketers,
> give them a good brand and they'll come in droves to be part of it.
>
> Ubuntu's strength was in that initial marketing, targeted at 18 to 35 age
> group with warm a comforting and attractive pallett (Browns Reds and
> Yellows)
> and a slightly zany way of doing things (Warty Warthog and so on)  They
> identified a market of young people of  above average intelligence who were
> not satisfied with the cold clinical professional brand of principal market
> leader.
>
> This group had several advantageous facets to them.
> 1) They were leaders and early adopters of new technology
> 2) They were rebellious to a degree
> 3) They had a very positive view of themselves
> 4) They felt that they deserved to be noticed and that the world should do
> stuff for them.
>
> So Ubuntu's branding is aimed directly at that market and very
> successfully.
>
> The problem that many projects suffer from is that they come up with a
> branding that feels good to their own community, while ignoring the market.
> And make no bones about it, much of the reason that Ubuntu gets lots of
> developers is because of it's wide user base.  That makes it sexy, the
> opportunity to be famous:  "I am part of that.."
>
> Now there is a good argument to be made for going after the same market for
> all of the above reasons.
>
> We can learn some lessons from the way Ubuntu did things.
>
> They leveraged their location, used a local language and traditions to give
> them a name and a story:  Ubuntu = Humanity to Humans and a logo that
> reflects
> and enhances that story.
>
> For me, for this project, I think it's untapped branding strength is in
> it's
> Latin South American Heritage. Connectiva.
>
> Connection,
> Computers are about connecting with others and when the world thinks about
> South America and connecting they think Dance, .. Tango.  If it was my
> project
> in these circumstances I'd be calling it Tango-Linux. The name even
> immediately evokes the branding colours and the pallet, Bold Blacks, Fiery
> Reds  and silvers, the colours of passion.  Tango evokes passion, rebellion
> but at the same time precision and teamwork.
>
> Unfortunately there is already a Tango Linux, not to mention the Tango Icon
> project, but you get the idea.
>
>
> To conclude: my point is that there needs to be much more consideration
> given
> to the branding elements at this point before we start voting on logos and
> the
> like and I would like to see everything up for discussion, name included,
> we
> are brand new, the world is watching, this is our unique opportunity we
> need
> to stamp our mark boldly but with serious consideration of our goals.
>
> Of course the communities desire maybe just to stay as a small minor player
> in
> the desktop universe, but if that's the case this is not the Mandrake I
> knew
> back at 8.0 when It was on every other computer magazine cover CD, and it
> was
> going after the market in a big way, not worrying about the Ubuntus and
> Redhats but out to take down the Redmond machine.  Personally I think that
> spirit is still there.
>
>
> --
> Graham Lauder,
> OpenOffice.org MarCon (Marketing Contact) NZ
> http://marketing.openoffice.org/contacts.html
>
> OpenOffice.org Migration and training Consultant.
>
> INGOTs Assessor Trainer
> (International Grades in Open Technologies)
> www.theingots.org
> _______________________________________________
> Mageia-dev mailing list
> Mageia-dev at mageia.org
> https://www.mageia.org/mailman/listinfo/mageia-dev
>
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