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Branding Mozilla: Towards Mozilla 2.0
sgarrity writes "I've written some recommendations for the branding and visual identity of the Mozilla Foundation's project and product line. I argue that the Mozilla Project should adopt a simple, strong, consistent visual identity for the Mozilla products including consistent icons across applications that mesh with the host operating system. Read Branding Mozilla: Towards Mozilla 2.0 and let us know what you think."
Mozilla could use a good branding and marketing scheme to take part of the browser market for IE.
GeneralKael -- Slacker Extraordinaire
The main reason you'd want to brand is to leave an imprint in the mind of somebody who's a potential consumer. People who are already using Mozilla probably won't be affected by the presence or absence of branding -- it's likely been branded enough for them. Unifying it might mean dropping the dinosaur connotations or the magical bird connotations, one for the other. But really, at this point, why bother?
Unless this is going to be part of a bigger marketing strategy by Netscape or AOL or whoever...?
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Bleah! Heh heh heh... BLEAH BLEAH!!! Ha ha ha ha...
Unfortunately, workalikes are going to make consistency difficult.
:) Make it an option to gently 'replace' IE and Outlook Express. Replace the shortcuts, import favorites, e-mails, and contacts by default. Import Server Settings, proxies, the whole nine yards.
Actually, Camino is really the only workalike left around. By workalike I mean is built from the same source code base, customized. I guess my terminology isn't very good here.
Standarize icons and names. Make them visually appealing. Make the default styles blend in with the OS/Window Manager.
I have to laugh, one example was of the two Mozilla apps placed prominently on the Start Menu right where IE and Outlook Express are by default. Is this an option in a full installer? If not, put it there.
Then people like myself, who run an ISP can standardize on Mozilla and when I send my installers out I can have them install the app. Even better, have a custom installer file so I can add in OUR servers and make them default in the Mail application.
Now no matter what platform my installers run into, they can install my Mozilla package and have the right settings. Minimalistic training required.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
The server is getting pounded now, so it's tough to see the examples, but the icons and look for the Mozilla applications have always bugged me.
The Mozilla Thunderbird icon is nice in that it finally represents something related to the purpose of the application, but I find it too subtle in a lot of ways. Especially on a small Windows toolbar, where it looks a lot like a slipcase.
A visual facelift would be wonderful, though. Maybe get the Cute guy to work on it a bit... he's already proven himself competent, and having one person working on all the art wouldn't be a bad thing at all.
...isn't it?
Shouldn't this kind of efforts be aimed at the consumer projects forked off mozilla and not on mozilla itself? IMHO mozilla should be about robust technology.
Maybe a nice comfy chair. Everyone like those.
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
branding is a great idea; however, it's an all-or-nothing game. Mozilla must either commit 100% to developing brand identity or not commit at all. Consistency in branding communicates something deeper to the public: a consistent brand image communicates [whether true or not] consistency in the entity itself. It shows that the entity has a common goal toward which they are working. When people see the brand's logos, they immediately recognize it as familiar. In order for Mozilla to be successful (which I hope / know it will be), the public must be able to identify it as one specific piece of software (or software package). For example, when people see a Mozilla icon/logo, I should be able to say, "oh, that's THE Mozilla." They shouldn't need to wonder, "hmmm... that looks kinda like a Mozilla icon I saw a long time ago, but I'm not sure." Consistent branding works: just think of the logos/icons for all of the following entities: Nike; Microsoft; Coca-Cola; Pepsi; AOL.
Given the current mechanics of software distribution and product awareness, I'd argue that a bundling approach to the Mozilla suite/browser would be more effective than looking for a replacement of the red lizard and the like. The lizard is dead; long live the lizard!
As long as I can smash all the bars up in one small line. There is nothing more that I hate than having 15 bars covering half the screen with jumbo icons such that I cannot even see the page I'm wanting to look at.
I have File-Help, the back, forward, stop, and refresh buttons (all with no text & small icons) address bar(no idiotic go button to click), and google way off to the right to stop the popups. One line and the rest of the screen is web page.
Something along those lines is what I want from Mozilla, without having to create my own theme to get it. And since it's so small and inconspicuous it can be in black and white with icons drawn in mspaint freehand with a mouse.
Perhaps I'm just missing something here (like the images from the article), but who gives a crap about what Mozilla looks like when it's very easy to make your own or modify a theme? The whole point of Open Source is "Do What You Want", not "Do what they let you".
Using the word "brand" of course raises my anti-marketing hackles, but that's just me.
Anything is possible given time and money.
Interestingly, I had requested a press kit or at least press-ready logos for Mozilla awhile back for inclusion in a presentation I'm writing. Got a quick response saying it sounded feasible, but nothing since. I ended up scouring the web and finding a lizard picture but it wasn't the best quality for the resolution I need.
... send out a press release along with a link to the press kit. Heck, if you can get a contribution pool (I think wire releases are something like $100), make a press release each time a major release occurs.
If Mozilla had a full press kit explaining the project and including press-ready logos I think they'd see more coverage (and more serious coverage) of their package in the mainstream press.
Additionally, it is quite inexpensive to send out a press release over the newswires. When the Thunderbird/Firebird products are 1.0'ed (or 2.0'ed)
It won't make front page headlines, but it would be alot better than the current situation.
It is more productive to voice thoughtful opinions (reply) than to judge (moderate) others.
so the linux penguin is "shining shi*t and calling it gold" ?? An entity's identity _is_ its brand. Your post seems to convey that a consistent identity is not important as long as you're playing 'a different game' than the other guy. If that's the case, why do we need jerseys (i.e., all team members wear the same uniform, therefore projecting the same image) in sports? can't they all just wear whatever the hell they want?
... choosing a logo that isn't an obvious rip off of the logo of the Toronto Raptors. Uncanny similarity, don't you think?
I'm shocked and awed that the Raptors haven't filed a suit against them yet.
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
Branding goes hand-in-hand with a large marketing strategy designed to get that brand into the mind of the consumer. How does Mozilla accomplish this, exactly?
At the moment, they don't, but this is precisely what needs to be done. Brand the image and increase the word-of-mouth.
But it doesn't have to be. Anyone contributor with some free time can do simple things that would help -- common icons, logos, etc. The entire image doesn't need to be reworked, but small things can be.
But how many people out there, if you were to ask them what a little green chameleon makes them think of, would say Suse?
The same applied to all logos out there at one point. McDonald's? Nike? MS Windows? Obviously, only someone familiar with the company will identify the logo. But make that logo something memorable (or easier to remember, in any case), and more people will want to find out what it is.
I hear what you're saying, but I can't see how this would be a bad idea outright for the Moz team.
I strongly disagree with you.
Mozilla has replaced my browser, and the browser of all my friends (all ten of them! woo!) and relatives because of one simple fact: it's faster.
Mozilla will never die because it is not some company that lives off of profits. I believe that even if no donations are made to the MF, the applications shall continue to prosper and thrive in the open-source and practical communities.
Plain and simple: Mozilla roxors.
Insert clever one liner here.
How about:
Popup blocking (you got that one right)
Spam filtering (hoo-yeah!)
Virus protection (due to non-braindead security model)
Keyword searches (if a few were configured by default [like Google and Amazon], people would LOVE this feature)
Unfortunately, most people don't know what CSS is, much less care whether their browser is 100% compliant. Most people think that the standards should conform to the browser-- after all, most people use IE anyway, right?
And tabbed browsing, while a killer feature, isn't going to excite as many people as you might think. People are used to multiple windows. They're used to Alt+Tab. They won't see the advantage of tabs until they actually use it. We're not targeting developers here, we're targeting the home market.
Yes, they actually do.
...is not the fact that Branding is shining shit and calling it gold ...is not the fact that they chose a cool fire-breathing lizard that may or may not infringe on the copyright of a certain cool fire breathing guy in a rubber suit ....is not if people are GOING to get confused ...IS the fact that people already ARE confused.
/. reader that is having an issue with "their internet."
How many times have you tried to help someone who isn't a
To the overwhelming majority of the uninitiated, MSIE IS the internet. Outlook Express IS email.
These are the people that do not install programs they just bought from CompUSA, but "I got this disk and I downloaded it and the goddamn thing keeps asking me where to put the thing! I don't care, I just want it to work!"
These are the people that think they need to install the software each and every time they want to use it.
These are the people that wind up with automatic 1-900 dialers in their Start Menu.
These are the people we need to sit down with one at a fucking time and teach them - gently - the difference between their PC and their TV.
The Mozilla organization should first and foremost worry about keeping their product top-notch and let themselves get widespread like theyre doing already.
How did I find out about mozilla? A friend told me about it, showed me where to get it, and I got rid of Opera. I've shown it to a half dozen people over the past year and they all use it as their primary browser.
Interesting side note - 5 of these 6 people were ASTOUNDED at the fact that they could also use the mozilla mail client; that they were ALLOWED to use mozilla as their mail client, and nobody could force them otherwise. Yes, I'll probably create a few more pro-bono tech support calls for myself, but thats time I'm more than willing to donate to educate my "family."
Basically, they sould stop wasting their time with this. Redo the website for the stupids, and get back to writing good software, and let the rest of us evangelize. Its not like they're trying to MAKE ALL THE MONEY or something.
or ARE THEY?!?
[random thoughts]
Branding. What the hell are they going to do, set up a paypal account and use that cash to buy TV spots.
Maybe that just need to call the 2.0 release "Mozilla... Optimized!"
God forbid Mozilla goes for-profit. There will be rioting in the pipes
[/random thoughts]
s'wut i sed.
One item that I did not see mentioned specifically but was marginally addresses was simple icon consistancy within an app. This applies to the Windows version as well in the latest distributions that I have seen. The icons used on the panel (in gnome, I forget what Windows and KDE call it) are not the same as the icons that are distributed for the app itself. Right now on debian I am still getting a dragon in the red star for icon used in the Gnome menu, but the panel is using the split with an M on the upper left and a Netscape style ship wheel to the lower left. I could live with any consistancy, and perhaps it will need some help from the package builders. If I had a choice I would probably like something like the M used for the browser on OSX, but anything clean, recognizable, and consistant would be good.
like g-a-r-y, only different
Here is a reason why Linden Hall School has chosen Mozilla lately - Windows XP Home. Why? Well we use ISA with authentication as our proxy server. This enables access to various age/class groups to the Internet. The problem is - in order for there to be pass-through authentication your OS has to be a member of the MS Domain.
This never used to be an issue until XP Home. XP Home can't be joined to the domain - so all these girls that come here get a never-ending request box for authentication whenever they attempt to use their XP Home-installed home computers.
It's not that MS couldn't make this work for us (caching domain authenticated logins) - it's that they don't want to. Proof? Mozilla doesn't have a problem caching this information one time. All a student has to do is fill in the info once, check the 'save password' option, and they're good to go. IE can't do this. If you use anything that includes an MS domain authentication, it will conveniently forget it.
My only wish is that I could get Moz to default to that authentication in 'options' so that the student wouldn't even have to push the 'enter' key.
Again, thanks Moz devs!
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
I think you are right about non-geeks not wanting a hole lot of change. So configure mozilla to behave more or less like IE, and your girlfriend wont know the difference. Except in time she will get used to not having annoying pops all over the place. I think you are making a big mistake by letting her in on the secrets of cookies and - perhaps - giving her a confusing interface, which doesnt look like the one she knows. If she is anything like my girlfriend (or my father or most my non-geek friends) she just wants the damn thing to work and be able to use it. And now, please. Mozilla should do what apple has done with Safari. Almost no buttons, a stylish and simple design. And it doesnt default to an absolute geek-page (even containing the unholy word "compiled"). Geeks are good people. But they tend to design programs like they want them, and not how their girlfriends want them. And mozilla is definately designed by geeks :-)
I replaced IE with Mozilla on my roomate's computer without his knowledge. I used an IE skin and disabled the Mozilla splash screen. He has noticed that he has stopped getting advertisement and software installation pop-ups/pop-unders, but he doesn't know or care why. He just thinks he's lucky.
Over a month now and he has no idea he's not using IE anymore. I was expecting him to notice within a few hours.
This was supposed to be a prank.
Right off the bat, from reading the headline, this article seems to miss the point. When looking to the future, Mozilla Firebird should be the focus. Firebird will eventually lose the controversial name and be simply 'Mozilla Browser.' This, along with Thunderbird (soon to be 'Mozilla Mail') are really the future of Mozilla much more than the old Mozilla suite which is reaching 2.0.
Here's the Mozilla branding road map. Lets hope Mozilla sticks to this plan. I really think it is the best route for future development.
the mozilla logo designer was a huge Raptors fan, and thus was so inspired. I think you're just trying to grab attention with controversial statements.
The red dinosaur design was adopted to satirize the supposed communist nature of open source.
This is the original post by Jamie announcing the open-sourcing of Mozilla. Communism joke from the beginning. Hehe. This is the first appearence of the red lizard, which he credits to Shepard Fairey of BLK/MRKT, who has done, among other commercial ventures, the whole wacky Andre the Giant has a posse/OBEY thing.
This one was a freebee. If you think it looks suspiciously like the Raptors logo, then he's to blame. But have you looked at the two side by side? Moz has a more imposing profile with cool scales down his neck, while the Raptors dino is sleeker, with a different profile. Clearly Fairey chose to depict Mozilla the Lizard in that industrial-looking, side profile as is the harsh, contrasting style that he uses in all his works.
Moreover, how is looking like the Raptors logo supposed to somehow make Mozilla better?
Have they ever won a playoff title? (I jest, I jest)
Stop trying to cover your ass.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON