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OO.org Selects Its Own Sea Bird
Elektroschock writes "A new mascot of the OO.org project was announced today: A crazy sea gull. I wonder whether it will help to convince office workers of Open Office. "Andrea [Maggioni]'s contribution is not only beautiful and effective but also illustrates the potential of young people to contribute importantly to real projects under the banner of Free and Open Source Software." Andrea, "whose cheerful drawing, of a fun-looking seagull holding a fish, plays on the "OOo" shorthand of OpenOffice.org"... ehemm, it's a crazy sea gull."
Migration? maybe?
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
Voting is of course closed, but if you'd like to see the other students' submissions, our voting page is still displayed. You can click on the individual images for a larger view.
Also, a minor point of clarification regarding Timothy and Elektroschock's write up -- this is not a mascot for OOo. This is a mascot for OooEdu, the new Schools Project of Open Office.org. Please, read the attached article to learn about what the OOoEdu aims to do, and how you can help. We're an active and devoted community, and there are things you can do to further OOo's acceptance in schools, even if you can't contribute a line of code!
I think I should point that that I believe this mascott is just for the OOoEdu project, not for the OpenOffice.org project as a whole.
Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
Gully says:
"It looks like you're trying to run Microsoft Office via WINE. Would you like me to poop on it for you?"
...from "Finding Nemo", where that seagull picks up our fishy hero.
Oh and there's only one 't' in 'mascot'.
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
1) This is just the mascot for OOOEdu, not OOo.
2) It was a childs drawing, who won a competition.
I think it's quite cute.
Jay | http://oldos.org
Quite frankly, the gull looks slightly... challenged. Not a good image for either open office or for a subprject aimed at schools :)
-naeem
In Brazil the mascot will look like a perverted psychopath with a thing for fish.
thats good to hear, because while it is a nice picture and all. I dont think this is the logo that will get them international respect as an alternative to microsoft office.
However i do applaud them for involving school aged children into this project and their efforts to bring open office to schools. This will not only save schools hundreds of dollars (more like thousands) but also will having children involved with the development of such a product has countless educational value.
I tip my hat to them
30% Troll, 50% Underrated, 10% Interesting
Score:5, Troll
The "OK" sign is another way of referring to the female genetalia in some countries, and is considered obscene, which could be a bit of an impediment to OO use in some countries.
Maybe they should have researched this a bit more...
That's a nice price, sure. But for a girl who's prolly still in high school or maybe even elementary school?
Hate me!
Uhhh.. she's 15. I guess we know why her sister's boyfriend talked her into contributing.
How we know is more important than what we know.
This is pretty much the same reason that Microsoft did away with their upraised middle finger logo.
http://ryand.net/oss/abi/abiantgnomepencil.png
AbiWord Word Processor
(leave off the file name for more images of Abi the Ant)
I recognize people by their sigs. Is that a bad thing?
...then the new company motto:
Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!
ignore the sig
I am a lecturer and tutor in Graphic Design at Monash University. Perhaps I can add some comments on why this winning entry does not communicate well: - Its complex. As a rule of thumb a logo or mascot should be legible when printed out at about 10mm square and run through a fax machine. - Its not cheerful. This bird looks dazed and confused like it has been drinking all weekend. - It devalues the OO.org brand by making it look amateurish not accessible. The quicker open source projects take a leaf out of Firefox's approach to branding and identity the better. If open-source projects are going to have any kind of influence on mainstream software usage (which OpenOffice indeed has the potential to) it really needs to get serious with the way it comes across. Please do judge books by their covers and applications by their icons and mascots. No mascot is better than a bad mascot.
*.02c
True. Does the fish really recongnize it's own mortality, does a fish try to squirm away out of discomfort, instinct, or actual fear of death. Thanks for bringing up the quality of metaphysical discussion here at slashdot, although valid sometimes the paradoxi of soviet russia get a little worn out.
True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.
I don't know. The first thing that I thought was that that seagull looks totally stoned. It's got bloodshot eyes, messed up hair, a zoned out expression, and its fingers look just like they're holding a joint. It's pretty easy to mentally add an enormous smoldering doobie to the image.
The fish has a huge smile on his face and is staring directly at the seagull's virtual joint. He may be anticipating that the seagull is going to be kind enough to give him a puff or two.
Hopefully the seagull doesn't have the munchies.
The problem is, it doesn't matter if it's "just" the mascot for OOOedu -- it reflects on the entire OO.org brand. Unfortunately, it communicates "sloppy, stoned bird," rather than "whimsical kid-friendly software."
The idea of using a kid's drawing is good, but as you see, the results leave you explaining it EVERY TIME ("see.. it was drawn by a kid.. see?). What about incorporating the feedback of kids? What about working with kids to come up with various themes? or having various schools vote on a selection of professional designs?
Cute isn't going to win us (the open source software movement) any battles.
As a professional graphic designer, I'd have to disagree. Moreover, I image most of my colleagues would have opinions similar to the one I am about to voice.
That seagull somewhat works as a mascot (which it is) but not a logo.
Logos need to be simple color pallet . Moreover, logo's need to be scalable and preferably vector based. They should be recognizable at 3/4 squared as well as 4 feet squared. These factors allow one to easily apply a logo to a building, sign, letterhead, etc. Giant complicated bitmap logos are only going to give you problems.
Moreover, simple logos are easier and faster for a human brain to retain. (psychology and sociology are fairly important subjects for graphic designers to understand) People are more likely to gain sense of familiarity and comfortability with a simple logo.
But... anywho... I could go on and on.
Suffice to say, I'm not a big fan of the seagull in it's current state. Mascots can get by with silly complicated forms since they are (usually) not logos. However simplifying their characterization usually increases there ability to gain acceptance.
The seagull is a good start, but it could be cleaned up a bit.
just my 2cents
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
Who's the target here? If kids are making the decision to roll out OO in schools, then by all means go with the demented bird, but if you're trying to sway Principals or MS-happy IT staff, then you might want to choose something that suggests professionalism, reliability, and easy for kids to use.
The retarded bird says unprofessional, flaky, and unattractive.
The competition was surely a great idea to get awareness up amongst kids, but I wouldn't run around with that bird as a letterhead to managers of schools and boards representing schools.
'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'