Here's Griffy! Your all-round opensource mascot.
Reasoning:
I still think lots of animals representing all of the popular FOSS around is the way to go. The 'Zoo' part of the name just sticks and with the right graphic makes a hard impact on the memory.
With the coming of the ADOdb layer for all the db systems that are represented by animals (Heck you could even work in the MSN butterfly for MS products). The possible plug-ins to browsers and other software that use animals as mascots this is a natural marketing gimick. Even O'reilly would be pushing 'Zoo'ps as they are known for their animal covers.
The graphic does not have to be distinct for certain animals like my drawing. But an outline or silhouette would be perfect.
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.
Promotional charateristics and usage:
Griffy would be used in the same manner as the Monster.com !monster. It is an additional graphic that individualizes and serves as a reminder of the name. Griffy's similarities to other opensource project mascots are subtile. He is lovable, tough and cunning, looking like a highschool or collegiate mascot he can be used for cool marketing and sales products like cap, tee-shirts and jackets.
Now I just need help with his finished design. I am not a professional artist ;)
