i agree with LazyBadger.
Personally i dont like animal mascots for programs at all.the recognize-worth isnt that big as for a well-designed logo.take a look at the real big companies i.e microsoft, google, cocacola, nike, ebay a.s.o.none of them got an animal in their logo.
"for me" that animal things always got a taste of "fringe group" stuff or alternative software.and i dont think XOOPS should be that way.
its like here in germany with hockey teams all got a name like u.s. sports teams, i.e. tigers or blackhawks a.s.o.
in my opinion XOOPS should be more "professional" as to go for that "child-toy" taste, like lazybadger said.

on that point i wanna drop out some small crtitism to the XOOPS team.i dont like the methode you menage things like that.instead of discussing things inside the community it just goes "we want that and we do it like that.
there was a tread depending on XOOPS logo a few weeks ago and the result was exactly the same.it seems for me that all depending on grafical things are managed "behind the scene".I thought Philou was that man who is responsibly to that topic but it seems like he knows the same like me.
sure its your business but i dont think its the best way in a community relating project.
that is just my opinion, please dont feel attacked or insulted.maybe the PR team gets a real ground on working together with artists on things like that.

a) I'm also not a big fan of the 'animal-theme'

b) I do believe this should be discussed openly, yes it takes more time, yes there is a lot of repetition, but either this is open or closed! As well as there is always someting new in every thread.

If you start having the decisions and discussion going on behind closed doors, rumours start, the project is no longer a 'community effort', which takes away the XOOPSfeeling, the idea of XOOPStopia, where we all work together and contribute according to our skills. Yes there is trolling, but the way we deal with this as a community, is a sign of our maturity. That's why your criticism is appreciated, which doesn't mean that others have to agree.

c) I like the robot man best, as Japan is world leader regarding robotics, and the 'birthplace' of XOOPS. Further it is rather neutral. Also it allows for easy integration into logo.

d) The artwork provided by Herves friend is great, but I'm not convinced, that it would be a suitable concept to addapt for XOOPS. XOOPS has (currently) a toy-like-feeling as it is, and I believe we want to move a little away from this

e) There is a difference between 'logo' and 'mascot'. I believe XOOPS the name is suficient for a logo, and that we don't have to step into the shoes of others, and follow this hype of 'identity via abstract symbol'. You mentioned Germany, don't you feel reminded of other symbols, when the abstract use of geometry takes over? I do!

The addition of a mascot though, should be helpfull for recognition purposes. XOOPS is an effort of XOOPStopia, yes, we unite the young and the old, the incompetent and the professional. You can use XOOPS if you know nothing about web development, or you can use it at a professional level.

We are different, so why follow all the others. I know people will hate me for saying this, but Mambo has one of these non-expressional logos, let's not follow them in that direction!


My 5 cents...

You would think people would get tired of them but actually it is quite the reverse when it comes to animal mascots. The some of the most memorable logos and companies have a mascot of some type, usually with an animal association. Those that do not have them struggle against waining popularity and pour millions in to ad campaigns to maintain a certain level of public notice. In the recent 20 year history of corporate marketing there have been companies that have dropped their mascot and lost the public eye because of it. This has happened through a buy out or aquisition where the new company tries to establish a new hold and fails. One of the largest being exxon corporations decision to drop the "tiger in your tank". Texaco lost on "the man who wears the star". Jack-in-the-box's attempt to kill the clown. The last two are not animal mascots but they were the competition of the time. The exxon tiger was more famous even given the fact that they never really made the tiger an official mascot and killed it as soon as they got the chance.

There have been attempts by large corporations to adopt animal mascots but they have failed. Microsofts attempt to get the butterfly for MSN to work has not caught but they keep trying because they can see the benefits.

There are true winners when it comes to animal mascots. Ferraris mustang, Fords Mustang, Lamborghinis Bull. Shell oil is another winner for animal mascots, they have successfully merged the mascot into thier corporate logo. Shell Oil has even gone through the trouble of patenting their graphics contours for the logo after paying a great deal money to have it perfected so that it crosses time periods and never has to be changed again. I am quite sure that Coca Cola and others would adopt a memorable mascot if they could build the proper association to it. In all likelyhood their new mascot would be an animal of some sort.

We as humans for some reason put a lot of trust and belief in animal association. Native Americans have something called spirit guides I believe which are animals. Everyone even those that do not believe in horoscopes has had some contact with the animals of the zodiac. Astroglogy apart, astronomers of ancient have chosen to name the constellations after animals and other items. But the animal associations are the most memorable and popular.

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More exactly - it's absolutely different thing (identitites, if we'll speak in professional slang). Logo may include mascot, may not - they are separate artwork, used for different tasks
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Why, hate for true is bad manners...
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From other side this flower is unique and easy identificable as "Mambo" without additional hints

This question was stated in the Marketing & Communications topis as well, here it is again

Which 3 keywords do you think should match with xoops?

Our mascot should match with our desired identity and keywords.

Martijn

We never did this behind closed doors. This discussion itself shows that it's extremely difficult to come to a consensus on something as individual as taste in design. Let alone the expression of a concept tied to XOOPS in something artful. These two combined plead for a process of design proposals that will be put to the community for voting, each proposal with a clear explanation of it's concept and application.

But since people seem to think that making this a public project, I'm open for suggestions. So here's what I say we do:

In the next 4 weeks, the XOOPS Foundation invites everyone to propose a design for a mascot for the exclusive use by XOOPS project and Foundation, for the benefit of promoting the XOOPS.org project, the system and the community.

The mascot designs must conform to the following criteria:
- Express the artists view on what 'XOOPS' stands for;
- Explain in detail how this concept is concieved, and what it stands for;
- Usable for promotion activities for XOOPS.org and it's partners (the local support sites);
- All rights should be licensed to the XOOPS Foundation (read carefully: licensed, not transferred);
- Contain a detailed description of how it should be used;
- Should be usable without being combined with the logo;
- Should be usable in various situations, on various media.

We will then ask a jury to look at the proposals, and have a public vote on this as well.

So, designers, give us your view on what a mascot should look like!

Herko

some like the animal theme
some like the robot theme
some... fringe theme...

best of all worlds.


animalrobot - also known as beasties / aka / beastwars ( transformers).

yes i know i am probably going to get deluged with

but you know what - ya cant please everyone.

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Could this be used as an offical call-for-design by our local support site?

of course

Herko

Inspired by Jason's realistic comments

...after mystical animal, technical, spiritual era...

Humain - World - Xoops

Back to essential, ordering it... at least being ergonomic and minimalist!