New FreeBSD Logo Contest to Close on June 30

xbsd writes "The Official FreeBSD Logo Contest is closing on June 30, 2005. As of June 23 they have received 429 compliant submissions, but if you got the skills you still have a few hours left to submit a proposal. Now, is it time for F/OSS projects to follow NetBSD and get a more polished (or as some would say, 'corporate') public image?"

Comments

Suddenly Everyone is an Art Critic

[Picass0]

Sometimes programmers should stick to programming. When they attempt to use corporate logos as the yardstick by which good art is measured, they only show that they need to get out more often.

Why should a corporate looking logo have greater value to a FOSS project than a whimsical cartoon? The BSD 'Beastie' logo is recognized worldwide, making it more successful than 99% of the logos that companies paid big money for.

We, as users and developers of FOSS, find much of the corporate attitude distasteful. Yet the FreeBSD group now seeks some official looking sterile abstract icon so they can show everyone their software is "Pro"?

Suddenly it's the FreeBSD 'hippies' that need to take the stick out of their ass. Go take an art class and relax.

As a graphic designer, let me speak from experience - Corporate art sucks.

Beastie isn't going anywhere.

[ulib]

From the Fine Article:

Q. Please save Beastie!

A. Beastie will continue to represent the FreeBSD Project as our mascot. We won't kill Beastie. The closest logo-like thing that we have now is shown below, and we are looking for other options to be used like there. The new logo design may or may not include Beastie, or even a stylized representation. Again, Beastie is still alive!

There are times when you want to present yourself with a logo, not with an image of the mascot. That's how I understood it, and to me it makes a lot of sense.

--
Requiem for the FUD

Some Suggestions

[fuzzybunny]

Here are a few to please corporate marketing, sales and management types (yes, they're work safe):

http://prague.tv/galleries/funny-pics7/freebsd.jpg -- Remember, sometimes less is more.

http://www.nrg4u.com/freebsd/baby-doll-1-small.jpg (yeah yeah, I know, but they could learn a thing or two from them)

http://intdata.homeip.net/img/freeBSD-girl.jpg (mmh, amazing how many critical pieces of infrastructure are held together by duct tape)

Redundant components: http://tinyurl.com/a2uhp

One for the marketing department: http://www.servepath.com/images/better_devil_250x2 80.jpg

One to compensate for corporate randomness: http://images-jp.amazon.com/images/P/483990930X.09 .LZZZZZZZ.jpg (what is it about Japanese graphics that just screams "weird!"?)

And finally of course, http://homepage.tinet.ie/~cullenm/2dart/regi.jpg (just to piss off the zealots)

Ok, of course I'm single-minded, but seriously, folks, stick to working on the (fantastic) OS, let the sysadmins smuggle it into the enterprise like they've been doing for years :)

Re:Long live Beastie

[nbritton]

Here are a few reasons why we need a logo...

1. Beastie is generic, it's associated with all of the BSDs and not specific to FreeBSD.
2. We don't have a logo. Beastie is not, and never was, the logo for FreeBSD.
3. Copyright and Trademark issues, Marshall McKusick holds all rights to him.
4. Beastie is too complex, economically, for print media.

Let me say again... Beastie is NOT being booted from FreeBSD and no, we did not cave into the demands of right-wing religious people. This is all about branding, marketing, and PR. And you could use the mozilla project as a case study of some of the positive side effects this could have for us.

Re:Copyright?

[StonedRat]

Copyright doesn't work like patents. If you created it independently with no knowledge of the other similar logo then you haven't violated copyright. Although i think it is possible to violate trademarks in that manner.