[advocacy-discuss] Logo/Mascot Continued...

[Donal McMullan]

On 10 Jul 2007, at 02:40, Casper.Dik at Sun.COM wrote:

>
> Oh that jack; well, I am not convinced yet that we need a mascot or  
> that
> the spokesperson and mascot need to be one and the same.
>
> Does the mascot need a catchy name with some relevance to OpenSolaris
> (Solar Bear, or Solar Flare)?  Can it be an inanimate object?
>
>
> Casper

On that note:

Consider one explanation for the traditional architecture of banks;  
the marble columns and engraved-in-stone branding encouraged the  
public to trust that their money would be safer in the bank than  
under the mattress. I guess it worked. I think one of the most  
important values I'd like any new branding to communicate, is the  
commitment to resilience, (many kinds of) stability, dependability.  
Animal mascots don't do that for me (so far).

How important does the list think that value is?
What other values do we want to communicate?

Just to mix things up a bit - I've been impressed lately with some of  
the stuff I've seen that plays on traditional symbols of power and  
authority. The Ellsworth Bikes' shield device:
http://www.ellsworthride.com/PrivacyPolicy.htm

Foo Fighters' "In your Honor" crest
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/imageviewer.asp? 
ean=828766803822&MICTID=29

Heraldic shields:
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/hobbies/collecting/ 
antiquities/2780992_heraldic_shield.php?id=2780992
http://www.zumiez.com/zshop/productenlargement.aspx? 
OrganizationID=1467&DepartmentID=3&ShopByBrand=True&ProductID=55539

So - let's think outside the "animal mascot" box. We can look  
elsewhere for iconography that punches the buttons we want to hit,  
but I really think we need to agree on a short list (5 or 10) of what  
those buttons are. This shouldn't be too hard, right? :)

Thanks

Donal