Firstly, I think that they name "Derby" is a reference to racing, which implies that the product is fast. This is a good association. However, most entries seem to be based on that fact that "derby" *could* also refer to a type of hat that most people have absolutely no knowledge of. I don't see how this allusion to obscure trivia is useful to the project. Besides that, there are already major, successful open-source projects using hat logos (Red Hat and Fedora). Therefore, I believe that the hat logos are all fundamentally unhelpful, regardless of their impressive artistic merits.
Secondly, it seems like this logo idea was just conceived a very short time ago. The next version of Derby won't be released for some time. I don't understand why these kinds of marketing decisions cannot be deferred to a time closer to the release date. Since there is no pressing need for a logo, I think that it makes sense to wait for a really spectacular submission, even if it doesn't happen immediately.
Thirdly, I think that you would get a much broader (and potentially better) set of submissions if this was announced in forums that are oriented towards graphic design. Just like I wouldn't ask the population of a woodworking convention to design lingerie, I don't think it is a good idea to ask a mailing list consisting almost exclusively of programmers to create artwork.
Finally, I don't understand why every project needs to have a logo in the first place. Out of the following databases, how many of them have a logo that made enough of an impression on you that you could sketch it: SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, Firebird, PostgreSQL, MySQL, HSQL? Furthermore, none of the API's that I use on a regular basis have any logo worth noting.
- Brian
On 12/2/05, David W. Van Couvering <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This is a vote for choosing a logo for Apache Derby.
Rules of engagement:
- Please vote for one and only one logo.
- Respond to both derby-dev and derby-all and put an X to the logo of
your choice
- Please vote only once. Multiple votes by the same person will be
discarded.
- The vote will follow DB project guidelines at
http://db.apache.org/decisions.html . Anyone can cast a vote, but only
committers have binding votes.
- Only entries submitted to the JIRA item DERBY-297 will be considered.
- The list of logos is officially frozen to those on this ballot. Logos
added later will not be considered in the vote.
- If no logo has more than 50% of the votes, there will be a runoff vote
of the top three vote getters.
- Voting closes at 12:00 noon Pacific Standard Time (GMT-8) on
Wednesday, December 7
=========================
Logo candidates (place an X by your choice).
1. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12320870/DerbyLogo_Hat_option1.jpg
2. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12321016/DerbyLogo_Hat_option2.jpg
3. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12321017/DerbyLogo_Hat_option3.jpg
4. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12320873/DerbyLogo_text.jpg
5. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12310607/andrew-derbyhat1.jpg
6. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12310608/andrew-derbyhat2.jpg
7. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12310614/andrew-derbyknight1.jpg
8. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12310615/andrew-derbyknight2.jpg
9. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/20155/derby4.jpg
10. [ ] (these all belong together...)
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12321022/derby_logo_only.jpg
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12321023/derby_with_text.jpg
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12321055/roger_full_showcase.jpg
11. [ ]
http://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/attachment/12320752/derbyhatlogo-lettersaligned.png
