Logos: everybody wants one but nobody seems to have any constructive comments. (was Re: Cool Fedora schwag idea)

[Jeremy Hogan]

We should outline the rules as you say, and then have an open contest.
Maybe even a $$ prize. Conversely, Greg could work with RH's stellar
design team to deliver something within whatever guidelines we agree
on. The Shadowman cost what, $500?

In any case, as a stab at some rules/guidelines:

-no Red Hat derivatives (hard to get blessed, harder to differentiate for users)
-Fedora blue (needs a published Pantone, RGB and Hex)
-I like the goat, but I'm twisted, I'd vote against avatars/mascots in general
-very close to being a non-brand (e.g. the less elements there are in
it, the less usage guidelines we need)
-keep the name[tm] and logo[tm] seperate from the lookfeel[tm] (e.g.
don't make people have to hire a lawyer and designer just to legally
debrand or rebrand it for spin offs)
-should evoke the spirit of the product/project somehow (fast moving,
free, maverick, etc)

And/or whatever RH marketing and legal have to say on the matter.

All that said, I like where your FC, FL text based logos are heading.
Simple. Or if we like the goat, a more stylized goat. Or a stylized
Kudzu leaf, or a photo of Seth's birthmark which is shaped like
Greenland.

Or whatever, it's better in the abstract since it will have whatever
meaning we infuse it with, so it doesn't matter if it's as perfect as
the Nike swoop, b/c that *became* the perfect logo for them.

--jeremy

On 6/30/05, Jeff Spaleta <jspaleta at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 6/28/05, Jeremy Katz <katzj at redhat.com> wrote:
> > Come on, how can we do cool pins without a logo?
> 
> 
> Joke mascots aside..... people like to complain about a lack of a
> logo.. but nobody is making a serious attempt at either creating a set
> of design contraints as to what any contributing artist is suppose to
> be aiming for or contributing potential artwork for feedback.
> 
> Scapegoat was my small technical nuke attempt at jump starting
> CONSTRUCTIVE discussion about wtf a logo is actually suppose to look
> like for this project. At the very least i expected to see discussion
> about "scapegoat can't work as a logo.. its too busy for a baseball
> cap or small graphic sizes"
> 
> A logo would be nice.. but until the people who are complaining about
> a lack of one actually pony up some reasonable discussion as to the
> design to guide any artists.. its absolutely POINTLESS to talk about
> it like its something important to get done. So from now on. I expect
> anyone who wants to bring up the subject to aim their comments at
> either specific design points to shoot for... or offering up drafts of
> a logo for review.  If i see another "a logo would be good post"
> without constructive comment to move the discussion forward.. I will
> be doing the mailinglist equivalent of ripping out your spleen.
> 
> So on that note... here is my somewhat less humorous attempt at a
> draft for a reusable logo.
> http://jef.is-a-geek.com/path3079.png
> http://jef.is-a-geek.com/Fedora-Logos.png
> the idea being a re-usable style motif, the path3079.png is more
> stylized example of where i think this can go.  Its rough, but the
> sytle i'm going for here is meant to feel like a blowing flag effect.
> The bottom of the letters are pretty close to the effect I'm going for
> but I need to continue that upward into the top of the letters.
> 
> The idea is you can interchange the C for Core  the E for extras the L
> for legacy  the F for foundation. While keeping the first F nearly the
> same. Should work well on paper materials or even a letterman jacket.
> I'm not sure if this design has space for cross-branding.
> Scapegoat on the other hand... has lots of room for crossbranding via
> another earring.
> 
> Clearly people already have "blue" associated with fedora.  The C is
> red because well... Core is Red hat controlled.   Legacy has a green
> thing going on already. And Extras.. i have no idea wtf to do about
> extras coloring scheming so its a place holder for now.
> 
> -jef"desperately hoping a serious artist makes an attempt at appeasing
> the people who wont shutup about needing a logo"spaleta
> 
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