Re: [libreoffice-marketing] Invite a pro graphic artist to contribute logo/icon design [was: Conference call tomorrow]

Hi David,

I'd like to add a +1 to Graham's points in relation to past
experiences. I'm not against inviting others to participate, but I am
concerned about the mandate(s) that such invitations might imply for
reasons I'll outline below.

On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 9:07 PM, David Nelson <commerce@traduction.biz> wrote:
> Hi Graham, :-)
>
> On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 15:12, Graham Lauder <yorick_@openoffice.org> wrote:
> > I would oppose this in the strongest possible terms, when that has been done
> > in the past, the artist, disappears after taking the glory and they are never
> > seen again.  The art project became almost irrelevant because contributions
> > were confined to birthday cakes and the occasional brochure and all of the
> > high profile work went to the corporate staff or contractors hired by
> > corporate partners.  if they feel strong enough about contributing they will
> > join the community and contribute like the rest of us without the so called
> > "generosity" of doing it "pro bono".
> >
> > We have the chance to build up the art project again by giving people
> > meaningful projects, don't let's screw that up by bringing in "fly by
> > nighters".  Longstanding contribution to the project should be prerequisite.
>
> If I got a green light from you guys to go talent-scouting for graphic
> artists, I'd certainly prefer to bring home long-term recruits rather
> than occasional contributors. That being said, some of the
> highly-talented graphic artists out there might not have the time or
> inclination to get involved on a permanent basis.
>
> Yet, IMHO, it would be sad to refuse freely-contributed work of major
> value to this community-owned project simply because the person or
> people are not long-standing "club members"...

No one is saying that to contribute to the project, one has to be a
long standing 'club member'. Or even that they have to stay for X
weeks/months after their contribution. But repeated one-time
contributions are unsustainable and damaging, and that was kind of the
norm in OOo's Art project. Contributions that introduce large
inconsistencies in branding are particularly problematic and
unhelpful.

LibreOffice needs a broad (big picture) strategy to ensure consistency
and recognition across various instances of its branding (icons,
splash screen, etc.). We can't do that unless there is a certain
amount of continuity in the contributions and contributors. The
branding is going to develop over a longer period of time, and
LibreOffice is going to need people who keep that broad strategy in
mind so that, through the end-products of contributors, users
experience a congruent design strategy as they use the LibreOffice
application(s). OOo has had numerous problems with inconsistent
branding in the past and LibreOffice can avoid those mistakes from the
beginning. I hope we can have a collaborative, co-operative and
iterative design process when it comes to defining LibreOffice's
branding. IMO, anyone coming in to contribute artwork needs to keep
that in mind.

Regards,
Ivan.

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