Recently Aaron Seigo wrote about the need to build a brand identity
shared by the Free/Open Source projects dedicated to the final user.
http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2009/06/building-brand-together.htmlI want to propose a complementary approach to his suggestion for
public awareness of the FLOSS ecosystem. In addition to have end-user
projects share some visual elements, I intend to create a recognizable
logo that represents the movement for open culture and free software.
I want to get a bit of the mindshare by which a bitten Apple and a
coloured Flag nowadays represent computing for the common user.
For the FLOSS ecosystem to adopt such a logo, it must be something
that reflects its particular nature about sharing and reusing work. My
idea is to create a META-logo, a basic structure used as a decorator
to be combined with the logos of the most popular FLOSS projects. See
link below for some examples.
Motivation
The motivation for this branding effort, as explained by Aaron, is
that building a brand identity within a project (such as the KDE
Oxygen looks) gets diluted, as the different projects are not
recognised as pertaining to "the same thing" by the mainstream public.
So in order to build a public awareness of the FLOSS ecosystem, some
common elements (icons, wallpapers, decorators...) need to be designed
and shared.
If projects adopt the meta-logo, users will notice the same decorator
used by all the logos in those projects and will reflect their common
origin as Free software. Notice that the meta-logo is not supposed to
replace the original project logos, is meant to be used only in places
where it makes sense to advocacy the FLOSS culture (for example in
user manual and tutorials, screenshots for new releases of
distributions, or in GUI elements available in all interfaces - Start
menu, About dialog...)
Visual description
My initial proposition can be found here at kde-look:
http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=106948Be aware that I'm not an artist. I present that logo here for the
community to analyze, criticise, deconstruct and rebuild it into
something that can achieve that ambitious goal to become a
recognizable brand for the FLOSS movement.
The inspiration for the basic form of the logo is the Compiz/Beryl
Rotating Cube. I've chosen it because it's a visual landmark of the
modern FLOSS desktops, it already has some traction as a popular icon,
and because I wanted the meta-logo decorator shape to work well as a
container. This allows to use it as a basic shape to combine with the
logos of the projects who agree to use it.
The shape is a white cube without borders placed on a black horizontal
strip, with the FOSS (or FLOSS) word under it in a bold face. When
used on a white background only the horizontal strip is seen, hinting
the cube as a negative space. The whole shape of the cube is seen when
placed on a coloured background.
After some initial tweaking, I'm satisfied enough with the logo form
to present it to you as a starting point for some real artists to work
on. IMHO the negative space over the black strip creates an
interesting black shape, somehow resembling the simplicity of the
"just-do-it" Nike logo.
Usage as a meta-logo
In its basic form, when not combined with the logo for other projects,
the FLOSS logo contains a wireframe of the cube edges. This wireframe
element is then dropped to leave space for the "guest" logo when
combining them. At the previous URL you can see several examples of
the meta-logo at work, both in its original cube form and combined
with some logos from popular projects (the particular example projects
I've chosen provide some variety of different outlines and colors).
I've posted two screenshots, one using a white background and the
other using a light-grey background where the cube borders are
noticeable.
Which are exactly the ideas being branded?
That's up to you to decide if you take the challenge; for me,
Free/Libre Open Source Software includes this expectations about the
final "experience":
-respect for my privacy. The software won't collect unnecessary data
about its users, and there well be prominent disclosure for all
information that will be collected.
-there will be ports (or at lest clones) of the popular products to
all the major platforms.
-the project will be integrated and available at the distro repositories.
-it can be safely and legally shared in non commercial settings
without having to check lawyers.
-there will be a knowledgeable and involved community.
-will support open formats. Project oriented towards interoperability.
Community
I've already posted an early version of the logo to the kde-usability
list, wanting to get some feedback both about the form and the
initiative for a meta-logo. Their feedback included some doubts about
projects wanting to merge their finished logos with this meta-logo
decorator.
Some people also mentioned that the original design resembled too much a badge:
(see the terrible:
http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=106826&tan=30405219). I've lightened it since then to address this later concern, that's
why the current form plays with the negative space.
Now I ask to the artists list:
What do you think of the whole proposal and concept of a meta-logo?
What other ideas would you use to represent the concepts represented
by the logo?
What do you think of the specific realization using the Compiz cube?
How would you improve the visual appearance of my initial design?
What other shapes would you use as decoration for a meta-logo?
I'm posting this message both to the [kde-promo] and [kde-artists]
lists, as it includes concerns of both them. And because Aaron did it
too :-)
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