[Sugar-devel] idea for Sugar slogan and name

[Bryan Berry]

On Sun, 2009-01-11 at 15:11 +0000, imm wrote:
> On 11 Jan 2009, at 9:34, Tomeu Vizoso wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 20:13, Bryan Berry <bryan at olenepal.org> wrote:
> >> I came up w/ an idea that would help us market Sugar to the general
> >> public. We need a slogan expresses what Sugar allows kids to do, its
> >> purpose, and puts a positive image in the minds of most people.
> 
> > What about "Sugar: a playground where kids learn and play"?
> 
> [My opinions carry no weight, please feel free to ignore my following  
> ramblings.]
> 
> Bryan suggests that Sugar could benefit from a slogan to sum up its  
> role for a general audience. This seems, to me, to be a very good  
> idea. His initial suggestions are:-
> 
> "Sugarland: Where Kids Learn and Play" and "Playground: Where Kids  
> Learn and Play"
> 
> Then, Tomeu responded with:-
> 
> "Sugar: a playground where kids learn and play"
> 
> Which I think has the merit of emphasising "Sugar", rather than  
> possibly confusing people by introducing new terms "Sugarland" and  
> (not obviously related) "Playground".

Sugar is still unknown to the vast majority of people in the US or
anywhere else. They won't be confused by the name change. Our relatively
small but dedicated band of enthusiasts could handle the name change w/
ease.


> However, Pol comments that the repetition of the word "play" in this  
> phrase sounds clumsy, which I guess is a Bad Thing for a slogan...
> 
> For my part, I am uneasy about the use of the word "kids", as it  
> seems to be of variable meaning...
> In particular, I recall working with a group of, well, "kids", who  
> actively disliked any "adult" use of the word "kids" and viewed it is  
> patronising and negative. Different groups of adults seems to have  
> similarly variant meanings attached to the word. What it means  
> depends on who says it, and to whom. Tricky. I would rather not use it.

I see your perspective but the word "kid" has different connotations for
me. I often think that adults - referring to chronologically mature
human beings - take themselves too seriously and are less inquisitive
than kids. I see the reference to "kids" as a positive one and not
patronizing.

I think "kids" in its general use is more effective than "Where people
learn and play" or "Where chronologically young people learn and play"

> So, I'd suggest:-
> 
> "Sugar: A Place to Learn and Play" or perhaps "Sugar: A Place to Play  
> and Learn"
> 
> I like the second form better. I think that ending on "learn" seems  
> (to me, at least) to emphasise that aspect of its function. The first  
> form seems to flow better though. Maybe that's just me.

I like having "Learn" before "Play" because a lot of people
unfortunately feel "Play" is a frivolous concept. We know better as our
concept of "learning" in SugarLand involves a whole lot of play :)

-- 
Bryan W. Berry
Technology Director
OLE Nepal, http://www.olenepal.org