Re: Logo discussion

On 5/17/07, Andrew Whitworth <[email protected]> wrote:
Florence had written:
> >Whether we argue that one solution is best or not good for public
> >perception, it is interesting to see that those who created and voted
> >logos, naturally chose to "look" similar to WMF logo. And that saying
> >"please change the colors" basically put a stop to any decision.
>
> I would tend to see a different cause and effect pattern to this. The logo,
> when it was voted on originally, had been created by the artist using WMF
> colors. If it had been known at the beginning that the WMF colors were
> unacceptable, the artist would not have chosen those colors for his design,
> the voting process would have proceeded as was stated in the "rules" of the
> discussion, and we would have a logo right now. If the discussion has
> stalled, It's not because people are trying to make a logo that is a
> derivative of the WMF logo, it's because the process has hit a bump and
> nobody stepped up to clarify what to do next. This is precisely why I want
> to talk to you, Anthere, on this mailing list about this subject: because
> you are an authority figure who could step in and say "this is what we do
> now", even if that something is as simple as another round of votes.


Logos have always been a matter for each project to sort out, so it's
not up to Florence to wave a magic wand over or kickstart this
discussion - it's up to the community.

Funnily enough, in Wikiversity's case, we voted and decided on a logo
- *then* it was suggested that it wasn't a good idea to have WMF logos
all or mostly the same colour (i.e. blue), and it was the subsequent
colour *differentiation* phase which was never really resolved.

What I think Florence is saying is that perhaps we should be thinking
about project logos/taglines/names as a joined-up Wikimedia-wide
discussion - in contrast to what has been done before. However, there
should be nothing stopping the Wikibooks community from reviving the
unresolved vote (if that's how the community feel about it), and
perhaps, in the process, think through some of the issues that have
been raised during this "branding" discussion that the Wikibooks
community find compelling for them, and their place within the
Wikimedia movement.

Cormac