[mapguide-internals] RE: Project Logo for MapGuide

[Trevor Wekel]

Hello everyone,

Here are some thoughts on logo characteristics from some offline conversations I have had over the past few days.  Hopefully this will help to kick start the logo discussion.  Please feel free to comment on any of them.

1.  MapGuide is part of a suite of interoperable code bases which include FDO, CS-Map, Fusion, Maestro, and Fdo2Fdo.  A common theme or replicated logo element may help draw attention to this fact.  An easily recognizable "suite" theme or  element acceptable to all the projects could increase adoption rates across the board.

2.  If a "suite" theme or element is adopted, there should be enough flexibility to allow each project to incorporate the theme/element into their own logos.  For example, a common logo element should occupy less than 50% of the logo real estate and a common theme (colors, stylization) should not be overly restrictive.

3.  Since MapGuide is part of OSGeo, it may be appropriate to incorporate a compass into the logo design.

4.  "Globe" and "geo-centric" designs are already heavily used. A non-traditional logo could stand out more.

5.  Many open source projects use animals as part of their logo (Linux penguin, SUSE lizard, MySQL dolphin, PostgreSQL elephant).  An appropriate animal logo may personify the project.

6.  Simple styles with strong contrast will be easier to reproduce and more "punchy". 


Regards,
Trevor


-----Original Message-----
From: Trevor Wekel 
Sent: June 13, 2010 7:25 PM
To: 'MapGuide Internals Mail List'; 'MapGuide Users Mail List'
Subject: Project Logo for MapGuide

Hello lists,

The PSC would like to create an official project logo for MapGuide Open Source.  Since there are bound to be many thoughts on the subject, we would like to tackle the logo in two phases:


Phase 1 - List discussions on the logo

From now until June 20, please post any preferred characteristics and conceptual ideas you have for the logo to the list.  The following question may help:

What specific logo characteristics would you like to see, and how do they relate back to MapGuide Open Source?


Phase 2 - Logo proposals accepted

If you are willing to take you conceptual ideas to fruition, please submit a logo!  Logos will be accepted from June 20 to July 18.  You can submit your logo to the lists and/or publish it to the RFC (http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc93)

The logo should meet the OSGeo Guidelines (http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Marketing_Artefacts#Logo)
- Recognizable as a 32x32 XPM image
- Recognizable as 48x48 PNG
- Transparent background color (not white)
- Available as an SVG vector for large format printing


The PSC Vote

On July 19th, the PSC will vote to accept one of the submitted logos.  We will consider preferred characteristics and conceptual ideas from Phase 1 when selecting the logo.  At least three logos must be submitted for the vote to occur.


Thank You!