Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:59:00 -0500 From: Louis LeBlanc <FreeBSD@keyslapper.net> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Please don't change Beastie to another crap logo such asNetBSD!!! Message-ID: <20050210155900.GD89175@keyslapper.net> In-Reply-To: <1905317067.20050210103050@wanadoo.fr> References: <200502092223.01650.algould@datawok.com> <LOBBIFDAGNMAMLGJJCKNKEFGFAAA.tedm@toybox.placo.com> <1905317067.20050210103050@wanadoo.fr>
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--6sX45UoQRIJXqkqR Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On 02/10/05 10:30 AM, Anthony Atkielski sat at the `puter and typed: > Ted Mittelstaedt writes: >=20 > > And, I am also concerned about the historical revisionists who > > are claiming FreeBSD never had a logo. That is hogwash. >=20 > Where can I see the logo? >=20 > > Nobody ever said that FreeBSD lacked a logo until after a few days ago > > when this ill-conceived competition was leaked - because everyone knew > > the logo was Beastie. >=20 > That's not a logo. Just about every image I've seen of Beastie has been > different, so it's not a logo, it's a character associated with the > brand (like Mickey Mouse). Logos are simple and instantly recognizable; > they do not mutate from one presentation to the next. Most open-source > projects don't have logos; even Linux lacks a proper logo (one could > probably be made from the popular penguin character, but I haven't seen > any examples). >=20 > Red Hat, however, _does_ have a logo. >=20 > > Yes I understand that some commercial consultants and such have had > > problems due to the logo being a devil image. >=20 > Logos need to be as neutral as possible, since they will be very widely > used and very heavily imprinted in customers' minds. They must not > conjure up thoughts of anything except the brand they represent. Neutrality is purely objective in this case (and many others). Uninformed neutrality can be highly inflammatory. Beastie is only considered inflammatory to those uninformed fundamentalists who haven't been satisfied beating down every other freedom in this country and need someone or something else to pick on. Next they'll be burning books and witches again. Sorry, getting a little OT, but there it is. > > This logo competition is childish - 99% of the > > FreeBSD community members are not graphic artists and couldn't draw > > their way out of a paper bag ... >=20 > That's why I figured I'd try my hand at it; see >=20 > http://perso.wanadoo.fr/anthony.atkielski/FreeBSDLogo1.jpg I'm afraid I don't care for it. The heart is a bit hokey, and, as already mentioned by Ted, if you ditch that and make an honest to goodness daemon tail, it'll stand half a chance to be adopted in some degree by the community. > It meets the technical criteria for a logo; the aesthetic aspect is an > open question. Those technical criteria were NOT drawn out in community fashion. They forgot one very important thing: The logo must be historically significant. That bit about not offending anyone is bullshit plain and simple. I for one think this whole PC movement is bull. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for peoples right to live their lives, but the PC movement should have died exactly two days after it started. > This logo concept uses ITC Garamond Bold (traditionally associated with > FreeBSD and the BSDs generally) as the typeface for the logotype, thus > retaining a link with prior generations of BSD (and showing kinship with > other versions of BSD, such as NetBSD). I've adjusted the spacing of the > logotype to tighten up the characters a bit. Doesn't someone else own that font? > The squared oval surrounding the logotype represents continuous > operation. The figure at the lower right is both a heart (representing > the fondness that FreeBSD users have for the operating system) and, in > conjunction with the oval, a symbolic pointed tail--an indirect > reference to the original Beastie. The gold color for the oval > represents reliability; the red color of the rest of logo again is an > indirect reference to the original (red) Beastie. >=20 > The simplicity of the logo makes it inexpensive to print on paper (it > can be printed monochrome or with simple two-color offset, or with > process offset). There are no complex halftones or shadings or fine > details that might be difficult to print or might become muddy or fuzzy > when resizing the logo for display. >=20 > The spot colors used are Pantone 144 CVU (gold) and Pantone 187 CVU > (red). These can be easily converted to CMYK, RGB, grayscale, etc., as > required. >=20 > > However I decided that I would be willing to take the financial impact > > on a personal basis of losing a few sales to people who are so blinded > > by their idea of religion that they wouldn't touch a book with an > > image of a devil on the cover - because the FreeBSD devil image has a > > historical significance to FreeBSD that is important. >=20 > Actually, I think the devil aspect has little impact on public > perception of FreeBSD. It's having a cute little cartoon mascot in > sneakers that has the real impact--it implies that FreeBSD is a toy for > kids, not a serious product for professionals and corporations. A more > serious image of Beastie should be considered for these venues. And in > any case, this mascot is distinct from a logo. The image used on your > book is not a logo. And this is still wrong. As mentioned at least one million times on this very list in the years I've been here, it's NOT a devil. It's a daemon. Now the fundies have the FreeBSD community using the wrong word. And for the record, those sneakers don't mean anything like a toy. They are for speed. Isn't that the focus of the FreeBSD project? NetBSD is supposed to run on anything, OpenBSD is supposed to be secure, FreeBSD is supposed to be as fast as possible. If you can find something that is still historically significant, doesn't use text (as mentioned by Ted, text logos are BORING) and still manages to appeal to the current FreeBSD community, then good for you. Maybe it will happen. Nonetheless, I agree with Ted. This should have started in the open, not in the background. Most of the FreeBSD community are NOT graphic artists, so this contest is just a sham to make us *think* we're part of the process. I have only one reason to keep Beastie that has anything to do with the fact that I just plain like him. And that's the reason. I just plain like Beastie. I have *lots* of reasons I think Beastie should stay that have nothing whatsoever to do with that fact. I'm sure I'm not the only one. If those reasons weren't political and sociological in nature, and therefore probably a little too far OT, I'd voice them here in a heartbeat. I am refraining, but I'll certainly keep voicing my opposition. Lou --=20 Louis LeBlanc FreeBSD-at-keyslapper-DOT-net Fully Funded Hobbyist, KeySlapper Extrordinaire :) Please send off-list email to: leblanc at keyslapper d.t net Key fingerprint =3D C5E7 4762 F071 CE3B ED51 4FB8 AF85 A2FE 80C8 D9A2 It is impossible to travel faster than light, and certainly not desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off. -- Woody Allen --6sX45UoQRIJXqkqR Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQFCC4TEr4Wi/oDI2aIRAh7LAJ4hwn92ldr2ubZkl3zw20V27KD9XQCgk/O4 iTQJ1y7gZaGXR0LJurLFOGg= =R3IH -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --6sX45UoQRIJXqkqR--
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