On Sun, 21 Dec 2014 22:14:26 -0600
James Gholston <jamesg@...> wrote:

> On 12/21/2014 08:27 PM, Michele Calgaro wrote:
>  > As for what mascot, although the tux_tde_gradient.png looks nice, I 
> would prefer an "original" mascot, something designed by us, not 
> something made up from another distro/DE. Otherwise we would just move 
> from a KDE-related mascot to another project-related mascot.<
> 
> What about a corvid?  I must admit I seemed to have picked the wrong 
> time when I tried to make a push for branding earlier.  Then I got 
> distracted by everything that wasn't TDE.
> 
> Dark gray beak and feathers?  Common crows have some unfortunate 
> connotations, but they're tool users and have very good memories. They 
> also may communicate among each other better than we give them credit for.

There are less common, visually distinctive corvidae that might have less
unfortunate connotations, like the collared crow.  I'd be tempted to suggest
one of the petrels (great distance fliers), but they're in the albatross family,
which has even more unfortunate connotations for English-speakers,
thanks to Coleridge.

> We also might want to think in terms of standardizing on colors and 
> typefaces.  An optimal typeface would have both one or more free 
> versions and an availability from preferably more than one foundry with 
> umpteen variants; optimal colors would have Pantone numbers and ideally 
> cable (textile) and FS-595 (paint) equivalents.

You're not going to find exactly the same font from more than one foundry 
(they can be very similar and based on the same pre-computer typeface, 
but there will be differences in the details, like exact angles and how specific 
pair kernings work).  The number of non-decorative open-source fonts with 
decent Unicode support isn't really all that large--most free fonts are only
free-as-in-beer, not libre, and I see no benefit in standardising on a non-libre
font.

Having Pantone numbers for the logo and mascot colours would be nice,
but unless we're printing something physically on a press that supports spot
colours, it isn't really necessary.  Besides, the only way to get an *accurate*
Pantone colour is with a physical swatchbook--does anyone even have one?
(The "Pantone colours" shown on-screen by Adobe software and the like
are only approximations even on a calibrated monitor.)
 
> After all, at some point we might want a printed manual, logo or mascot 
> hats, et c. 8)

Unless we're going pretty high-end we're likely to end up printing on a
CMYK press anyway.

E. Liddell