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Re: New logo gone vectorised. (SVG format)




Ian Lance Taylor wrote:

Vladius <boxforsr@inbox.ru> writes:



I've made a vector variant of the new logo. Hope You'll like
it. It has not been finished to the end yet but should represent the
idea clearly. Post Your comments, please. I've attached it to the
message because SVG format is not heavyweight and I think that it
shouldn't annoy anybody.



I do think that you need to pay attention to the people who are asking you to clearly state the goals of the logo, and to explain why your logo fits those goals better. The goals have to be stated in terms which are not related to the artwork, but to the gcc organization. If you have trouble doing this, then recruit somebody else to the effort to do it for you.

If you present a better drawing of the current logo, then people might
be happy to adopt it.  But since you are presenting a different logo,
you need to explain why it is better.  You need to explain this not in
terms of being a better picture, but in terms of better representing
the gcc project.

There is no reason for you to continue submitting pictures absent this
rationale.  If your goal is to get a new logo adopted, then I strongly
urge you to take a big step back and start by convincing people that a
new logo is needed, and to describe what the new logo should do for
the project.  You are putting the cart before the horse.  This is in
general no different from any other contribution to gcc.


When I personally look at your current logo, I don't see anything relevant to gcc. It could be for any GNU project--and there are many many GNU projects, some of which could probably use a new logo even more than gcc does. Also, a simple picture of a gnu head has long been the logo for the GNU project as a whole (e.g., www.gnu.org).

The current gcc logo doesn't have much to do with compilers, but at
least it has a connection to the history of gcc: the EGCS fork which
turned into the current gcc.


I am not a logo designer, so take the following with a big grain of salt. When I think about logos for gcc, I would focus more on the compiler aspect than the GNU aspect. gcc is just one of many GNU projects, but it is the only GNU compiler. So some ideas of mine would be:

   * A machine with a crank turning C code into assembler code.
     Perhaps a stylized gnu on the machine.

   * A play on the well-known dragon book:
         http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0201100886/qid=1105543334/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-2501470-4412062?v=glance&s=books
     with perhaps a gnu defeating the dragon (personally I prefer the
     picture on the first edition, but I couldn't find that online).

   * A visual joke on the compiler structure, with
     C/C++/Java/Ada/Fortran growing into trees, with the leaves being
     RTL or perhaps just assembler code.

   * A representation of the key role the compiler plays in the free
     software ideaverse, with ideas being transformed into ones and
     zeroes, or some other representation of executable code.

Naturally I need to give not just a new logo, but an argument for
changing the existing one.  The argument I would give is that the
current logo is essentially an old joke.  The EGCS fork is old history
to many people currently working on the compiler, and for them the
current logo is basically meaningless.  So perhaps it is time for a
new logo which is more focused on the current compiler rather than the
old history.

The hypothetical new logo should represent the compiler. It should
ideally represent what the compiler does, and what it aspires to do,
albeit perhaps in highly symbolized form. It should be recognizable,
look good in several different sizes on computer screens, look good in
black and white, look good on a T-shirt or a book cover. It should
inspire people and give them confidence. It should feed the hungry
and creatCe world peace. It should be only 1K. That is what I would
like to see in a logo.


Oughhh . Thank You, thank You, thank You!!! =) You've explained everything so clear to me. I really apreciate that You've spent Your free time on writing such a good letter.
I really think You are right about representing compilation process! But unfortunatly I'm not sure that people here will accept it =( Could You please help me persuade everybody? You speak English better and can help me to communicate with people here. Oh, pleeeeeaz!!! Our thoughts about current logo do have much in common. Your ideas about new logo seem to be good and clear. Maybe You could even help me with some webspace to store pictures, since some people hav bad connections and it is hard for them to upload raster images. I'm waiting for Your answear!!!



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