Insights from the openSUSE Logo Contest
The past few weeks have been an exciting time for the openSUSE Project as discussions about the visual identity of the project offers a glimpse into people’s various views about the project and its brand identity.
The recent conclusion of the openSUSE logos contest has sparked extensive discussions among both members actively engaged in the openSUSE Project and those participating in it.
Our logo contest has provided us with a wealth of creative input and diverse perspectives that lay a strong foundation for deliberations on the future direction for the project.
The contest provided a voice for the many who aren’t as vocal as some about selecting a new logo. While there were some who were vocal on various platforms, the contest gave openSUSE Project members an opportunity to gauge how the broader community perceives the project.
LWN comments: DeMaio: Insights from the openSUSE Logo Contest
Some Tumbleweed weekly updates:
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openSUSE Tumbleweed – Review of the week 2023/50
Dear Tumbleweed users and hackers,
Full steam ahead to the end of the year. It seems nothing makes Tumbleweed slow down. The number of requests coming in keeps being high and you had the chance to upgrade your machine 7 times this week.
The seven snapshots (1207…1213) of this week brought you these changes:
- KDE Plasma 5.27.10
- KDE Gear 23.08.4
- Late-comers of GNOME 45.2 (i.e mutter)
- Tar 1.35
- util-linux 2.39.3
- Mozilla Firefox 120.0.1
- Linux kernel 6.6.6
LWN coverage (no paywall anymore):
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Logo and trademark issues for openSUSE
A contest for new logos for the openSUSE project and for four separate distributions of it, Tumbleweed, Leap, Slowroll, and Kalpa, has turned into a bit of an uproar in that community. A vote has been held on the candidates and winners have been announced, but some are questioning why there is a need to change the existing logo (the "Geeko" chameleon) at all. In addition, there are questions about whether the new logo will be trademarked (as previous ones have been)—and how many years that will take.
The logo-design contest was meant to try to foster a single unified "look" that meshes well with the existing logos for the MicroOS, Leap Micro, and Aeon distributions. Tumbleweed and Leap have existing logos that share the look, but there have been some ""visibility and recognition issues"" with Tumbleweed's; Leap was added into the mix in case the community thought it should change. Unifying the look will ""strengthen the visual identity of the openSUSE brand and make it discernible and cohesive"". The guideline in the contest announcement said that logos should be ""designed with simple shapes and lines for uniqueness and interest, typically as empty outlines, although the possibility of using fill is not excluded"". A look through the submissions will show multiple examples of what is meant.