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List:       kde-promo
Subject:    Re: [kde-promo] Use new Konqi mascot
From:       Nuno Pinheiro <nuno () oxygen-icons ! org>
Date:       2013-05-26 9:26:49
Message-ID: 1658454.J0zHOBiTLx () localhost ! localdomain
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A Domingo, 26 de Maio de 2013 01:49:56 Aaron J. Seigo escreveu:

Has usual I fully agree with you, specially on the part that it needs 
adaptations. I made this clear during the contest and was kinda of a 
requirement for it to "win" in my opinion...
the most valid thing i see in them is the raw talent of the designer, and that 
brings me to  the reason how come I did not intervene with the designs 
afterwords. 
There is to much Nuno in kde image as it is, I need to steep back and start to 
reinvent myself and see if i can keep up with the times, so I thought its best 
to see what they can make out of it...

This absurd after reaction, only reinforced this.. So its up to you all to do 
it better, note the creator of this is extremely talented and should have no 
difficulty adapting this to what ever, but don't turn this into design by 
committee were design goes to die.     


> On Wednesday, May 22, 2013 01:26:55 Maarten De Meyer wrote:
> > The result is absolutely beautiful and we should start using it more. For
> 
> I've been watching this thread go by and thinking about this proposal off
> and on for the last couple of days. It's a little hard to find the time and
> energy to get personally involved with these things right now as I'm really
> busy with other KDE related things, so I'm very happy and even a little
> inspired to see others stepping up to these matters.
> 
> Here's my feedback and thoughts, do with it as you will:
> 
> 
> I agree that the new mascots are a nice refresh of the old konqi. I won't
> say that they are better, or worse, just different .. they take it in a new
> direction.
> 
> Below are some thoughts ..
> 
> 
> === Readyness of the artwork ===
> 
> They still feel a bit like first draft material, though good first drafts.
> 
> * I love the antlers concept used to differentiate konqi and katies'
> friends. It's a perfect sort of insider knowledge that helps bind community
> together through "shared secrets" (they aren't secret, but you probably
> won't know the meaning unless you're really close to the KDE community ..
> and that's close enough) .. however, I'm not sold on the K's coming out of
> the head of Konqi and Katie. Perhaps it's because the K's on Konqi are
> reversed in direction to Katie's, so on Konqi the one of the left is
> "backwards"? On Katie the antler is smooth and so looks like it belongs on
> her rounded head, while on Konqi they are angular, obviously more
> typographic, and don't feel they belong visually as a result. Yes, I get
> that Konqi's extra bits are sharp .. but maybe too sharp in the case of the
> antlers?
> 
> * The highlight colours (pink and orange) of Konqi and Katie do not seem to
> be taken from the Oxygen colour palette. The greens should work with the
> palette, but probably don't need to be slavishly taken from them .. but the
> highlight colours probably ought to be for continuity.
> 
> * Why the scarf when standing next to the logo?
> 
> * What does Katie have a dress while Konqi (and all the friends) are without
> clothes? Seems discontinuous ...
> 
> Would the authoring artist be up for doing an iteration or two of
> refinements, to really sharpen them?
> 
> 
> === How to introduce them to the community ===
> 
> As we've already found out, not everyone will respond positively to the new
> images. That would be true regardless of what they are :) So introducing the
> new images needs to be done with care and patience.
> 
> I'd suggest going to k-c-d with a well thought out email explaining the
> goals of these new images, set some guidelines as to what kind of feedback
> is useful (to preemptively squash bikeshedding) and spell out a proposed
> timeline for migration to the new images (assuming they are accepted by the
> community at large).
> 
> I might even go so far as the request a presentation on the new mascots be
> made at the KDE e.V. AGM at Akademy and a vote taken there as to whether or
> not to recommend the usage of the new mascots. Yes, this means potentially
> facing rejection of the images, but the truth is that one can not force
> something on the community .. in fact it will more often reject an idea if
> it feels it is being forced upon it. So engage and create consensus.
> 
> It also means we will have to come up with a really clear answer for why we
> need a refresh of Konqi and Katie, what this particular set of images does
> that is positive and a strategy for adoption (timeline and usage)
> 
> 
> === When to start using a new set of images? ===
> 
> I think it makes very little sense to start using these new images with the
> 4.x series. New mascot images screams "new new new", as was already observed
> by the first email in this thread. 4.11 is not new new new. 4.12 won't be
> either.
> 
> Frameworks 5 and Plasma Workspaces 2 will be.
> 
> They represent a new spin on our existing technologies (just like the new
> mascot images are a new spin on our existing mascot imagery) and will make
> the re-branding-means-things-are-not-weldged-together a reality .. which is
> a huge set of progressions. Inroducing new mascot imagery would fit in with
> the theme of improvement imho.
> 
> The other thing to consider is that getting all usages of Konqi/Katie ready
> to be switched over to the new images will not happen in a week or probably
> even a month. It will be much more compelling if the switch is comlete
> rather than piecemeal. This implies starting to work on the various pieces
> (such as the about dialogs) as a project in itself.
> 
> Given both of those things, I would recommend that we roll this out
> (assuming community consensus approval) with Frameworks 5 and Plasma
> Workspaces 2. We make this part of the visual communication that things are
> fresh and new and wonderful.
> 
> (p.s. I question having the mascots at all in the about dialogs. There is
> already a KDE logo in the top left and they add nothing there other than
> create a strange layout with the tabs pushed to the right ... less is more
> .. if they must stay there, I'd suggest they go into the "About KDE" tab so
> at least the layout can be cleaned up with the left edge of the tabs
> aligning with the left side of the KDE logo ...)
> 
> === What do the new mascots communicate? ===
> 
> This is both a fun, but also critically important question. Whatever the
> answer is, this is what we will use the new mascots to say to the public. If
> we say they mean a lighter and more modern focus, that's what will get
> communicated. If we say that they mean a focus on simpler and more
> streamlined, that's what will get communicated.
> 
> We need to know why these new versions have taken the shape they have. This
> means creating a useful fiction, or a story, to go along with them.
> 
> 
> === The implications of moving away from the current mascots graphics ===
> 
> Change is a radical thing. Small changs are a little radical. Big changes
> are more so. This change will be small for most, big for some. They are
> still dragons, they still have the same names, they still represent the
> same project .. so it isn't a complete scrapping of what we have now.
> 
> That needs to be communicated clearly to everyone involved. Also, people
> need to be reminded that this is not a bike shed nor is it a suggestion to
> port kdelibs to vala. ;)
> 
> 
> 
> Ok.. it's nearly 2am now and I've spent a half or so bringing my scattered
> thoughts on this matter into a hopefully semi-coherent email. I'm interested
> in seeing your replies ...

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