On 27 April 2014 18:14, Andy Silva <anditosan1000@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello friends,
Given recent developments in the community about our branding efforts, it is that I write this email.
The openSUSE Conference gave time to the SUSE team to present new ideas and guidelines about branding. The idea behind this presentation was to aid designers and contributors who use our brand to promote our community and distribution. Many of them have to produce print materials on their own and need help with the design.
Up until now, our branding has decreased in strength and as a result, we might end up looking for ideas every time that we need to create materials for the distribution without having a core that guides our thoughts when creating artwork for events, LUGS, etc. Having to deal with such work is hard and slows down the overall progress of our branding efforts.
I wanted to open the discussion about these branding guidelines proposed by the team here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-r_ML-MnMo
Let me start by asking some question in sequence so we can answer in proper thread style
1. Ken and his team showed a new color palette, graphic elements such as a lightbulb and a geeko to use for posters and other print materials to be used as guidelines for future artwork that requires openSUSE branding. Are these branding guidelines going to be published in our wiki? Will they replace or add to the current guidelines placed in the wiki?
As Ken and Zvetlana mentioned in the talk, the guidelines will be published on the web and not the wiki, something like www.opensuse.org/design (*THIS IS NOT CONFIRMED, AND WILL BE ANNOUNCED WHEN READY*) I would imagine that the guidlines that the design team are creating will ultimately replace what we currently have.
2. Ken discussed the possibility of changing our current logo to match more closely the work that SUSE did on their logo to build a stronger brand image. Can you explain more about this idea? What conventions, proposals or extensions do you have in mind about the logo changes?
Currently openSUSE's logo is similar yet different to that of SUSE's. As such openSUSE's brand dilutes that of SUSE's, just like SUSE's brand dilutes that of openSUSE so both parties loose. Re-branding is a long process and isn't a straight forward thing to do. So it will most likely be approached in stages, what Ken and Zvetlana presented is the first baby step.
3. Richard asked during the video about possibly integrating this branding design into the distribution and what that would entail. What are the plans of the team about making branding materials available but at a distribution level? I also heard wallpaper proposals mentioned during the presentation and, if possible, would you share those?
Currently the design team is busy with cleaning up the design aspects for the upcoming SLE12 release, they have started to work on some of the branding aspects for openSUSE though. YaST is getting some needed love. The wallpapers that Ken referred to will be announced once he gets a moment back in NUE.
4. Ken and the team work to help the openSUSE Community work on branding and create materials that will help further us as a brand. What is the relationship that the SUSE Design team has with the community? Ken explained to the audience that they are part of the community and if you can, would you explain how that goes about? How is their team part of the community and what methods do you use to communicate your work with other team members around the world?
Not sure I understand what you're asking. The design team at SUSE are just like any other team at SUSE when it comes to openSUSE. Please take into account that for quite some time, there was just Ken when it came to design - Jakub & Garrett were part but both have left some time ago. Ken has had to focus on $DAYJOB to keep a roof over his head, and didn't have much bandwidth. He has spent the last ~12months building up a team to help not only SUSE's design requirements but also openSUSE's. I can't say how Ken will assign the resources he has, but what I do know is that within his team he has people that have strengths in specific areas so depending what is needed he can try and allocate accordingly. Regards, Andy
5. Miscellaneous questions. Add questions of your own about the branding presentation here...
Andy (anditosan) -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-artwork+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-artwork+owner@opensuse.org
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