Thanks to Helen for making me realise the mess I'd made.
I'm not about rebranding Firebird, or replacing the main logo.

I was only after a 'gloat' graphic that fitted in with the other open-source
ones.

Many thanks to those who contributed more graphics! I've put them on the
page as well!

Also, I've clarified the reason for this quest on the page.
It'll make sense when you see it...

http://www.aims.com.au/nigel/fb/

Big apologies to the management of Firebird for causing a storm in a teacup.


-----Original Message-----
From: Helen Borrie [mailto:helebor@...]
Sent: Wednesday, 2 July 2003 10:52
To: Firebird-general@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Firebird-general] Logo work stops...


At 12:19 AM 2/07/2003 +0100, Artur wrote:

>More info about this subject:
>
> > > I don't like the image of the bird as it is now. It's old. I vote for

a

> > > change.

A change of logo is not proposed - so there isn't anything to vote about.

>This is call 'evolution'. Firebird is a strong project, with a
> > > strong history. Changing the logo will not change our history, it will
>just
> > > make it more 'cool', more 'new Milenniun', and son on.
> >
> > As long as the new logo is in sync with the name "firebird" (as in the
> > phoenix bird/creature) itself (and as long as it's more cool :-), I'm

in.

>
>Bjoern point me out this web site:
>
>http://www.soell.ch/firebird/logos.htm
>
>This images have a great resolution. I like the bird as it is here. And I
>like this colors. The yellow turning orange is great here. And this
>lettering of the word 'Firebird'! Uau!

<sigh>
Artur, maybe it's a good time to relax and consider that we have been using
Markus' graphics for about 2 years now. We even adapted them for the
FirebirdSQL Foundation pages. http://www.firebirdsql.org/ff/foundation/

In the past few days, I've observed a proposal (from Nigel Weeks) for
people to use a "gloat" graphic that he designed as part of a look-alike
set that he did for a bunch of products that his company distributes in its
software. He invited others to use it. Apart from the misnaming -
FirebirdSQL (the name of the Foundation) instead of Firebird (the name of
the product) I thought his graphic was dull and out of character.

My response was to offer a couple that were more in keeping with our brand
image - one that was sympathetic to Nigel's own generic design and one that
used the (official) Markus Soell logo. (I've done a couple more since
then, too).

Myself, I don't especially like the font and colours which Pavel uses on
the Firebird website (and which IBPhoenix reduced, shadowed and offered as
a gloat logo for community use). I think Pavel probably did this one
too. I think he told me that the font came from Corel Draw.

But the current Firebird logo - regardless of whether it is brick-red, or
variegated, or black on white, IS our official logo. It's an important
part of our brand image and there has been NO movement from within the
project to change it. More than that, it is used on books currently in
print (see the two Japanese titles on the Publications pages at IBPhoenix)
and will be used in the cover graphics of my forthcoming book.

The psd files that we currently have from Markus are reasonably scalable,
but there is a problem when making the white background transparent. You
get "sparkle" effects from the dithering of the edges. It gets worse as
the image size scales down. Last year IBPhoenix paid for the logo to be
redrawn and re-vectored by a professional artist, to make it available for
use with high-resolution print media. It has been used on the two Japanese
books.

>So, this was my "evolution": keep the bird, with this colors and this type
>of letter.
>
>[ But new ideas should always be welcome, without any restrictions of

shape,

>color, etc ]
>
> :-)

Personally, I don't think the official logo is stale or unsuitable and I'm
baffled as to why Artur thinks it's necessary to get a new one. There is
no reason to change it and doing so would break a good and developing
pattern of usage. I do think, however, that the Gil Sans typeface is
cleaner than the fancy chisel font that Pavel likes.

Reality check - this started out as a proposal for a new gloat logo and it
seems to be turning into a brand image revolution. Let's be clear - this
initiative doesn't so far have any sanction from within the Firebird
project.

>About changing the logo: yes, I know that changing a brands face it's quite
>difficult. But changes could be done at a specific time, and a new version
>(1.5) could be the time to a new look.
>At the time we will have
>announcements, it will be easy to change our image to a new one. Marketing
>is target to new people, that's why companies change logo's from time to
>time.

I disagree totally. We're not a company - we are an open source community
with an established brand image that recent events have shown us is
vulnerable to unscrupulous abuse. (Go and Google "Firebird" right now and
see what I'm talking about...) Markus' logo design is simple, distinctive
and liked by the members of the project.

Keep this thread on the topic of gloat images and you'll be doing something
positive, realistic and relevant to need.

Helen



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