Re: Semantic Web logos and technology buttons for your consideration

Dear Ian,

on behalf of the SWEO IG, I'd like to express the group's
support for the proposed Semantic Web branding strategy
and the visual elements we saw in the provided document.


My personal feedback: I expect that people will like to use
the SemWeb logo isolated, or in combination with other graphic
elements. I myself for example would love to use the cube as a
stand-alone, inline icon in html, e.g. as an indicator for 
semantically enhanced links or fragments. While I agree that
we should encourage the use of non-modified logos, I think 
it's worth considering a MAY for derived icons or other 
colours. Not sure if that'd be practical or would contradict
W3C comm guidelines, though.


And thanks for the thanks; we thank *you*!

Benji

-- 
Benjamin Nowack
bnowack[at]semsol.com




On 06.09.2007 12:15:57, Ian B. Jacobs wrote:
>Dear SWEO IG and W3C Comm Team,
>
>Starting in June 2007, a small group of people from the SWEO IG
>and the W3C Comm Team met to work on a set of logos as part of
>Semantic Web branding. Led by Benji Nowack, the SWEO IG had
>developed some draft logo designs [1] earlier this year.  Joint
>SWEO/Comm discussions led to refocus the project.  Benji, Susie
>Stephens, Ivan Herman, Marie-Claire Forgue, Fabrice de Comarmond,
>and I met several times over the past few months to develop a set
>of logos to meet the goals identified below.
>
>I am pleased to share with you the results of those discussions:
>  http://www.w3.org/2007/09/draft-swlogos.pdf
>
>On that page you will find:
>
> a) Two Semantic Web logos (one horizontally oriented, one
>    vertically, to be used according to context).
>
> b) An initial set of technology buttons. We anticipate making
>    each technology button available (initially) in five colors, 
>    and to add technologies as needed.
>
>Please give us your feedback (including expressions of support!) on this
>set of logos and buttons. Please send comments by 13 September (end of
>business Boston time) to both the SWEO IG and the Comm Team mailing
>lists.
>
>Although these logos will be public during this review, please do
>not disseminate them more broadly at this time. I hope that we
>can announce logos before the end of September.
>
>I would like to thank Benji for his initial efforts and
>contributions that helped shape the current proposal. Marie-Claire has
>kept us moving forward. Fabrice and his designers have helped us think
>through options and design goals, and provided these attractive logos.
>Susie and Ivan have helped us keep in mind the needs of various
>communities. Thanks to everyone!
>
>Notes on the designs:
>
> 1) The designs prioritize the brands in this order: W3C,
>    Semantic Web, individual technology. We have chosen at this
>    time not to provide logos for Working or Interest Groups;
>    naturally it is possible to use the designs in conjunction
>    with a group name on a Web page, for example.
>
> 2) Our goal is to bring the Semantic Web to a large audience,
>    including a non-technical audience. To this end, until such
>    time as the brand is more recognized, the Semantic Web logos
>    include both the phrase "Semantic Web" and the three-colored
>    cube. Only three sides of the cube are visible, hinting at
>    the RDF triplet via a familiar geometric form. The top
>    of the cube is peeled coyly back, suggesting that something
>    valuable or special is inside, and inviting the viewer to
>    look more closely. 
>
>    We considered at one point reusing the familiar RDF icon [2]
>    and simply reassigning to mean "Semantic Web" more generally.
>    We chose a new visual to avoid confusion, but also because
>    the current design was preferred.
>
> 3) For the technology buttons we had several goals:
>
>    a) The buttons needed to feature both W3C and Semantic Web
>       branding. We accepted that due to size constraints, we
>       would not be able to include the words "Semantic Web"
>       in addition to the three-color cube. We hope that the
>       cube will catch on and will speak for itself.
>
>    b) Web designers want logos to fit into their designs.
>       We have chosen a small number of colors (5) to provide
>       some choice. Perhaps in the future we can imagine enabling
>       or endorsing arbitrary background colors, but at this
>       time we did not want to go that far.
>
>    c) The size for the buttons (80x15 pixels) is one
>       commonly used by Web designers. Note that the PDF file
>       distorts the sizes somewhat; they will be smaller when
>       they appear on their own (in PNG, etc.).
>
>    d) It should be easy to integrate new buttons in the future as
>       other Semantic Web technologies mature.
>
> 4) The logos that the SWEO IG developed [1] include some
>    interesting design elements we would like to reuse in other
>    contexts (but not in the technology buttons). For instance,
>    we discussed using the OWL eyes on T-shirts. The idea would
>    be to create something that is technology-specific but
>    make it work with the proposed elements as well. Thus, the
>    W3C logo and Semantic Web cube would also figure on such
>    a T-shirt. Although Fabrice showed us a T-shirt model as
>    an example of his thoughts, we do not have a T-shirt design
>    plan in place right now. That is something we can turn to
>    once we've deployed the proposed logos and buttons. 
>
>    I would add that I have enjoyed working on this and, if 
>    T-shirts are to follow, I would happily continue this this
>    pattern of a small group bringing design ideas back to the
>    SWEO IG and Comm Team.
>
>Thanks and let us know what you think!
>
>  Ian Jacobs
>
>[1] http://esw.w3.org/topic/SweoIG/TaskForces/Logos
>[2] http://www.w3.org/RDF/icons/rdf_w3c_icon.48
>
>-- 
>Ian Jacobs (ij@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
>Tel:                     +1 718 260-9447

Received on Thursday, 13 September 2007 16:24:22 UTC