[Mageia-dev] Art, Logo and Branding

[Peter Watson]

On Thursday 23 September 2010 14:00:22 Graham Lauder 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.

A large number of the posts on these forums have really been about 
fairly trivial issues compared with this one.

Graham's contribution is thoughtful and serious and if taken up now 
could have a fundamental impact or otherwise on the succces of this 
distribution.

Now we really need someone with marketing expertise to drive this 
issue forward.

Question is WHO?

Peter Watson
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