2012/10/25 Graham Lauder <g.a.lau...@gmail.com> > On Thu, Oct 25, 2012 at 9:46 AM, RGB ES <rgb.m...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > Nobody made Michael Acevedo the official artist, but a mailing list > vote > > > approved his logo as the Apache OpenOffice logo for the 3.4.x series > (at > > > that time, we believed that the version after 3.4.x would be 4.x). So, > > > again: for 3.4 and all official communication in 3.4 the reference logo > > is > > > that one, and not something that is 95% similar to it or that tweaks > > > colors/fonts. We must be consistent. This is the reason why we cannot > use > > > your SVG version now. > > > > > > But it is understood, as Graham wrote, that this is a temporary > solution. > > > For future releases we are free to adopt any new logo, having a > > similarity > > > to the current one anywhere between 0% and 100%, and since we are not > > under > > > pressure at the moment we can explore possibilities for a full > > rebranding: > > > logo, site, palette, icons... If we go for a full rebranding, it is > good > > to > > > make it coincident with the 4.0 release since it would be easier to > > > communicate and less suspicious to users. > > > > > > > +1. > > > > 4.0 is the time for a full rebranding, not before. Of course we need to > > start with this sooner than later, but IMO it is not urgent. > > > > Regards > > Ricardo > > > > Disagree completely, a rebrand is not a trivial matter, that can be knocked > up in a weekend. We are marketing a consumer space product and therefore a > lot of preparation needs to be done including researching our endusers. >
I'm not saying that rebranding is a trivial matter: I'm just saying that 4.0 is the time for rebranding and not before. As Kevin noted, we can go on for now just updating what we have but of course we need to have everything in place before 4.0 is released. And the best way to have everything in place at the right time is to start *right now*... but without making a storm on a teacup: Usually, the "sense of urgency" goes against "good creativity". I too want a "shiny and new package", and I prefer to have everything ready with plenty of time as you do. We fully agree on this. Let's see Kevin's (and other's!) proposal. Regards Ricardo > > Right now the Marketing, Art and UX people in the project are a miniscule > in number. It has been difficult to inspire people to join the project > because it was seen as "same old, same old". A whole lot of developers > trying desperately not to change anything right down to keeping the old > Oracle Logo. Whether this impression is right or wrong is not the point, > to get people excited we need to get moving on the process so that people > can see that there is something in the project worth putting some work > into. > > Rob asked an excellent question some time back "Where are the next 100 > million users coming from" I've asked the same question myself in the > past, as have others. Ian Lynch took the bull by the horns and took it to > the educationalists in the US and schools in the EU, Drew (IIRC, my memory > is rubbish correct me if I'm wrong) went after Librarians. There are other > avenues but at the end of the day we need the consumers talking about the > product. > > Joe Brockmeier did a session on Marketing OSS at LCA a few years back, I > asked him the same question or at least a variation on the theme. His > short answer was "You've got almost a monopoly in the Linux space, so what > the hell are you doing here? But in any case you have get the great > unwashed to talk about it, and to do that give 'em something shiny and > new." > > We have something shiny and new! Now what we have to do is package it like > it is shiny and new and that is not something that you do in five minutes. > I would rather be ready months early for the launch of 4.0 than have a last > minute panic that ends in a half baked result. We want people talking > about the new brand not sniggering about a lost opportunity. > > The 4.0 branding will define this project and the product for years to come > and should therefore be done with an effort that reflects that > responsibility. The next 100 million will thank us for the effort or stay > away in droves if we look as if we didn't bother too much. > > Cheers > GL > > > > > > > > > > > > > Regards, > > > Andrea. > > > > > >
