Hi :)
I hate to break it to you bud but you are not an outsider! You joined
the club in your first post and probably even before that.
It is good to hear a different point of view particularly if it's likely
to open our eyes a bit to the way at least some (probably loads of) real
outsiders might view us.
Regards from
Tom :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Kingswells Computercraft <support@kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk>
*To:* Florian Monfort <florian.monfort@gmail.com>
*Cc:* design@global.libreoffice.org; marketing@global.libreoffice.org
*Sent:* Thursday, 1 November 2012, 0:46
*Subject:* [libreoffice-marketing] Re: LibreOffice Icon
Hello Florian,
It is the main LO icon I'm talking about; it's not so much what's
wrong with it, so much as what it lacks - as I stated in my original
message:
> I am writing to you today to plead with you to change the main
program
> icon currently in use for LibreOffice as I believe it is seriously
> underwhelming!
> As an icon for the Document Foundation it says it all to me -
clear, > simple, document. However, considering it as the "flag" or
> "packaging" for LibreOffice, it is (IMHO) far too bland:
>
> • It is not easy to pick out among hordes of other icons
> • It lacks colour and warmth, is not striking or eye-catching
> • It says nothing about the elegance and sophistication of
LibreOffice
> • It doesn't inspire confidence.
I must admit I am only used to seeing it on Windows systems - even
the "blank" default icon in Windows (any version) has more character
to it than the current LibreOffice icon!
I appreciate that the individual programs within LO have more
colourful icons, with embellishments particular to that app, but
when installing on Windows systems the option to have a desktop icon
is only the main icon, the Document Foundation icon. As I said
before, I think this icon is fine for the Document Foundation, but
LO I think needs much more. In terms of marketing, it is almost as
if the wrapper for the product were blank! Imagine if this were a
magazine on a table in a waiting room - would you pick up a blank
sheet of paper, or one of the more recognisable covers, e.g.
National Geographic, Time, or Reader's Digest?
Take as examples of other programs, Firefox and Thunderbird - easily
recognisable icons to a wide audience, but the organisation behind
it, Mozilla, has a completely different icon, and probably also much
more obscure to most people.
As a mainstream user, and one who wishes only the best for LO, I am
concerned that LO has a difficult uphill struggle ahead of it in
order to gain the recognition from the general public (and therefore
the survivability) that it deserves. It is really unfortunate that
in the split from Oracle, they retained the recognition (and even
kudos) gained over all the previous years of work on OOo. As I see
it, LO has, in the eyes of the general populous, been "divorced"
from its heritage, and to all intents and purposes (to the
uninitiated) looks like a newcomer on the scene! I believe that LO
needs and deserves a beautiful icon for the main program, which says
something about the elegance and sophistication which lies within.
This would also serve to foster the "brand image" of LO in the eyes
of the general public (as opposed to the brand of the Document
Foundation).
I can appreciate too, that to many of you guys and girls within the
Document Foundation community it may be difficult to understand what
I'm getting at; maybe being so close and intimately involved in the
whole project means it is not easy to step back and see it in the
same way an outsider does. I think it is fair to say that Linux (in
many of its flavours) suffers from a "club members only" sort of
image, which has probably done a lot to stifle its uptake by the
general public, and I fear that LO may slip into a similar
category. That would be a great pity indeed. I hope that perhaps
my perspective may be of use to you in this regard, and give an
"outsider" view that you may otherwise find difficult to attain.
Best Regards,
Alistair Bain
Kingswells Computercraft
Aberdeen, Scotland
On 31/10/2012 15:06, Florian Monfort wrote:
> I actually think the logo is pretty good.
>
> - The absence of vivid colors makes it easy to adapt to any
platform design
> standard.
> - Simple shape makes it easy to recognize.
>
> What problem is it that you identify with the current logo ?
>
> Cheers
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 3:56 PM, Kingswells Computercraft <
> support@kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk
<mailto:support@kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk>> wrote:
>
>> Dear LibreOffice teams,
>>
>> My apologies if you have already got my message (below) - I
tried sending
>> it a few days ago, but only seem to have succeeded in subscribing to
>> mailing lists!
>>
>> From my message below, you can see I believe it is essential
that the
>> LibreOffice main icon be replaced by one that aids in the
recognition and
>> identity of LibreOffice, which I believe the current one icon
fails to do.
>> From some of the messages I've seen since subscribing (especially
>> marketing), it now seems to me that it is crucial that the icon
is replaced.
>> I would suggest that the following are essential requirements of
the main
>> icon for LibreOffice:
>>
>> a) colourful and eye-catching, i.e. an attractive "wrapper".
>> b) equals (or at least hints at) the sophistication of the
program.
>> c) something that aids with "brand" recognition.
>>
>> I'm sure it is (and will continue to be) an uphill struggle to
achieve the
>> recognition that Apache OpenOffice has automatically inherited
from its
>> predecessor. Without an icon that helps to achieve this, I
could see a day
>> when LibreOffice disappears into obscurity, and that would be a
great pity.
>> It wouldn't be the first time a great product has failed, not
because it
>> was unworthy, but it didn't have the recognition (and therefore the
>> following) necessary to carry it forward.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Alistair Bain
>> Kingswells Computercraft
>> Aberdeen, Scotland
>>
>>
>> -------- Original Message --------
>> Subject: Re: LibreOffice Icon
>> Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:50:31 +0200
>> From: Florian Effenberger
<floeff@documentfoundation.org <mailto:floeff@documentfoundation.org>**>
>> Organisation: The Document Foundation
>> To: Kingswells Computercraft
<support@**kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk<support@kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk
<mailto:support@kingswellscomputercraft.co.uk>>
>>>
>> CC: info@documentfoundation.org <mailto:info@documentfoundation.org>
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> thank you very much for your feedback and interest in
LibreOffice! The
>> topic you raise fits very well for our design team, and I strongly
>> propose you get in touch with them directly.
>>
>> All information as well as the official mailing list is available at
>>
http://www.libreoffice.org/**get-involved/ux-visual-**designers/<http://www.libreoffice.org/get-involved/ux-visual-designers/>
>>
>> Thanks again,
>> Florian
>>
>> Kingswells Computercraft wrote on 2012-10-11 10:41:
>>
>>> Dear Document Foundation,
>>>
>>> First, thank you so much for LibreOffice! I have been a user since
>>> OpenOffice.org version 1.1.2, and I have recommended it to many
friends
>>> and customers over the years. I recognise LibreOffice to be the
>>> legitimate successor to the earlier OpenOffice.org, and believe
it to be
>>> a better suite than the Oracle/Apache's version (I used both until
>>> recently).
>>>
>>> I am writing to you today to plead with you to change the main
program
>>> icon currently in use for LibreOffice as I believe it is seriously
>>> underwhelming! As an icon for the Document Foundation it says
it all to
>>> me - clear, simple, document. However, considering it as the
"flag" or
>>> "packaging" for LibreOffice, it is far too bland:
>>>
>>> • It is not easy to pick out among hordes of other icons
>>> • It lacks colour and warmth, is not striking or eye-catching
>>> • It says nothing about the elegance and sophistication of
LibreOffice
>>> • It doesn't inspire confidence.
>>>
>>> In my experience I often introduce LibreOffice as an alternative to
>>> Microsoft Office to people who have never heard of it before.
To these
>>> new users, the desktop icon is the "shop window" for the
application,
>>> and it is frankly uninspiring! I have considered replacing the
desktop
>>> icon with another (third party) icon, but I am aware that this
breaches
>>> your guidelines about branding & icon usage, so I don't want to
do that.
>>>
>>> Please, please change the icon for something that does the
application
>>> justice.
>>>
>>>
>>> Best Regards,
>>> Alistair Bain
>>> Kingswells Computercraft
>>> Aberdeen, Scotland
>>>
>>
>> --
>> Florian Effenberger, Chairman of the Board (Vorstandsvorsitzender)
>> Tel: +49 8341 99660880 | Mobile: +49 151 14424108
>> The Document Foundation, Zimmerstr. 69, 10117 Berlin, Germany
>> Gemeinnützige rechtsfähige Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts
>> Legal details:
http://www.documentfoundation.**org/imprint<http://www.documentfoundation.org/imprint>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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