[IAEP] Branding and mascot (Was: Re: Color combos for the logo)

[Bert Freudenberg]

On 05.12.2008, at 13:30, Tomeu Vizoso wrote:

> On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 1:17 PM, Jameson Quinn  
> <jameson.quinn at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think that Sugarlabs can do better at branding in general. A good  
>> branding
>> presence has related logos for the organization and for the  
>> product; color
>> swatches, 4 or 5 at a time (not just 2-by-2; including greys, we  
>> have at
>> most 3 at a time); a decorative font; and more workaday serif and  
>> sans-serif
>> fonts chosen to go well with the decorative font.
>>
>> I'm not saying we need all of this tomorrow, but that should be the
>> direction we're heading. Think, for instance, of the excellent  
>> branding of
>> the Obama campaign, which AFAIK was completely available to the  
>> grassroots
>> and nevertheless (in a totally content-free regard) kicked the  
>> pants off of
>> McCain's more-centralized campaign.
>>
>> Immediate action items:
>>
>> 1. I really think the svg should be up in a public place, as well as
>> (references for) the font (is that the ubuntu font, or other?).
>>
>> 2. We need a logo for sugar, as opposed to sugar labs and OLPC. The  
>> XO dude
>> is inevitably going to have associations with OLPC which might turn  
>> off
>> other hardware vendors. I guess the obvious option would be the  
>> "sugar" part
>> of the sugarlabs logo.
>>
>> 3. Personally, I'd love a mascot too; kids like cuddly. My initial
>> brainstorms:
>>
>> associated with sugar?
>> Pollinators (nectar)
>> Hummingbirds (too western-hemisphere)
>> Bats (anything nocturnal is culturally dangerous, but I love 'em)
>> Bees (good possibility)
>> flies (yuck)
>> ants (has good community associations)
>> gingerbread man (cute, but a little too gendered and shrek-y)
>> bears (too generic)
>> sugarcane fieldworker (yeah, right)
>>
>> I just googled and OMG WE HAVE A WINNER as far as I am concerned.  
>> That is
>> cute beyond words and it is called a "sugar glider". I'd never  
>> heard of that
>> name even though my mom's Australian but it is beyond my wildest  
>> dreams.
>>
>> What do other people think?
>
> Looks like we indeed have a winner, yeah ;)


It is very cute indeed.

I googled a bit and could not find obvious software-related uses as  
mascot. Other uses include

2004 Commonwealth Youth Games mascot:
http://bendigo2004.thecgf.com/About_the_Games/The_Mascot/

Disney fanclub mascot:
http://www.magicalmountain.net/shandy-the-sugar-glider/shandy-the-sugar-glider.aspx

An Australian environmental association:
http://www.oxleycreekcatchment.org.au/our_partners.html

AOL Kids cartoon:
http://kids.aol.com/KOL/2/CartoonsAndComics/Archive/super-gliders

Trivia: the modern German name "Kurzkopfgleitbeutler" sounds quite  
funny, although it doesn't mention Sugar anymore, whereas the famous  
zoologist Alfred Brehm called it "Zuckereichhorn":
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Zuckereichhorn_brehm.png

- Bert -