Re: Use new Konqi mascot

On Wednesday, May 22, 2013 01:26:55 Maarten De Meyer wrote:
> The result is absolutely beautiful and we should start using it more. For

I've been watching this thread go by and thinking about this proposal off and 
on for the last couple of days. It's a little hard to find the time and energy 
to get personally involved with these things right now as I'm really busy with 
other KDE related things, so I'm very happy and even a little inspired to see 
others stepping up to these matters.

Here's my feedback and thoughts, do with it as you will:


I agree that the new mascots are a nice refresh of the old konqi. I won't say 
that they are better, or worse, just different .. they take it in a new 
direction.

Below are some thoughts ..


=== Readyness of the artwork ===

They still feel a bit like first draft material, though good first drafts. 

* I love the antlers concept used to differentiate konqi and katies' friends. 
It's a perfect sort of insider knowledge that helps bind community together 
through "shared secrets" (they aren't secret, but you probably won't know the 
meaning unless you're really close to the KDE community .. and that's close 
enough) .. however, I'm not sold on the K's coming out of the head of Konqi 
and Katie. Perhaps it's because the K's on Konqi are reversed in direction to 
Katie's, so on Konqi the one of the left is "backwards"? On Katie the antler 
is smooth and so looks like it belongs on her rounded head, while on Konqi 
they are angular, obviously more typographic, and don't feel they belong 
visually as a result. Yes, I get that Konqi's extra bits are sharp .. but 
maybe too sharp in the case of the antlers?

* The highlight colours (pink and orange) of Konqi and Katie do not seem to be 
taken from the Oxygen colour palette. The greens should work with the palette, 
but probably don't need to be slavishly taken from them .. but the highlight 
colours probably ought to be for continuity.

* Why the scarf when standing next to the logo?

* What does Katie have a dress while Konqi (and all the friends) are without 
clothes? Seems discontinuous ...

Would the authoring artist be up for doing an iteration or two of refinements, 
to really sharpen them?


=== How to introduce them to the community ===

As we've already found out, not everyone will respond positively to the new 
images. That would be true regardless of what they are :) So introducing the 
new images needs to be done with care and patience.

I'd suggest going to k-c-d with a well thought out email explaining the goals 
of these new images, set some guidelines as to what kind of feedback is useful 
(to preemptively squash bikeshedding) and spell out a proposed timeline for 
migration to the new images (assuming they are accepted by the community at 
large).

I might even go so far as the request a presentation on the new mascots be 
made at the KDE e.V. AGM at Akademy and a vote taken there as to whether or 
not to recommend the usage of the new mascots. Yes, this means potentially 
facing rejection of the images, but the truth is that one can not force 
something on the community .. in fact it will more often reject an idea if it 
feels it is being forced upon it. So engage and create consensus.

It also means we will have to come up with a really clear answer for why we 
need a refresh of Konqi and Katie, what this particular set of images does 
that is positive and a strategy for adoption (timeline and usage)


=== When to start using a new set of images? ===

I think it makes very little sense to start using these new images with the 
4.x series. New mascot images screams "new new new", as was already observed 
by the first email in this thread. 4.11 is not new new new. 4.12 won't be 
either.

Frameworks 5 and Plasma Workspaces 2 will be.

They represent a new spin on our existing technologies (just like the new 
mascot images are a new spin on our existing mascot imagery) and will make the 
re-branding-means-things-are-not-weldged-together a reality .. which is a huge 
set of progressions. Inroducing new mascot imagery would fit in with the theme 
of improvement imho.

The other thing to consider is that getting all usages of Konqi/Katie ready to 
be switched over to the new images will not happen in a week or probably even 
a month. It will be much more compelling if the switch is comlete rather than 
piecemeal. This implies starting to work on the various pieces (such as the 
about dialogs) as a project in itself.

Given both of those things, I would recommend that we roll this out (assuming 
community consensus approval) with Frameworks 5 and Plasma Workspaces 2. We 
make this part of the visual communication that things are fresh and new and 
wonderful.

(p.s. I question having the mascots at all in the about dialogs. There is 
already a KDE logo in the top left and they add nothing there other than 
create a strange layout with the tabs pushed to the right ... less is more .. 
if they must stay there, I'd suggest they go into the "About KDE" tab so at 
least the layout can be cleaned up with the left edge of the tabs aligning 
with the left side of the KDE logo ...)

=== What do the new mascots communicate? ===

This is both a fun, but also critically important question. Whatever the 
answer is, this is what we will use the new mascots to say to the public. If 
we say they mean a lighter and more modern focus, that's what will get 
communicated. If we say that they mean a focus on simpler and more 
streamlined, that's what will get communicated.

We need to know why these new versions have taken the shape they have. This 
means creating a useful fiction, or a story, to go along with them.


=== The implications of moving away from the current mascots graphics ===

Change is a radical thing. Small changs are a little radical. Big changes are 
more so. This change will be small for most, big for some. They are still 
dragons, they still have the same names, they still represent the same project 
.. so it isn't a complete scrapping of what we have now.

That needs to be communicated clearly to everyone involved. Also, people need 
to be reminded that this is not a bike shed nor is it a suggestion to port 
kdelibs to vala. ;)



Ok.. it's nearly 2am now and I've spent a half or so bringing my scattered 
thoughts on this matter into a hopefully semi-coherent email. I'm interested 
in seeing your replies ...

-- 
Aaron J. Seigo


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