Blame Manual/Directories/trunk/Identity.texi

41622d
@subheading Goals
9c6e0d
7f9288
The @file{trunk/Identity} describes what The CentOS Project Corporate
7f9288
Identity is and the components it is made of.
9c6e0d
41622d
@subheading Description
9c6e0d
f4361e
The CentOS Project Corporate Identity is the ``persona'' of the
9c6e0d
organization known as The CentOS Project.  The CentOS Project
41622d
Corporate Identity plays a significant role in the way The CentOS
9c6e0d
Project, as organization, presents itself to both internal and
7f9288
external stakeholders. In general terms, The CentOS Project Corporate
7f9288
Identity expresses the values and ambitions of The CentOS Project
8da57c
organization, its business, and its characteristics.  
9c6e0d
f4361e
The CentOS Project Corporate Identity provides visibility,
06d106
recognizability, reputation, structure and identification to The
06d106
CentOS Project organization by means of @emph{Corporate Design},
06d106
@emph{Corporate Communication}, and @emph{Corporate Behaviour}.
9c6e0d
b0bf66
@image{trunk/Identity/Images/Manual/Corporate/monolithic,450pt,,,jpg}
9c6e0d
41622d
@subsubheading Corporate Mission
7f9288
b0bf66
The CentOS Project exists to provide The CentOS Distribution.
b0bf66
Additionally, The CentOS Project provides The CentOS Web and The
b0bf66
CentOS Showroom to support and promote the existence of The CentOS
b0bf66
Distribution, respectively.
7f9288
41622d
@subsubheading Corporate Design
7f9288
41622d
Corporate design is focused on the effective communication of
41622d
corporate visual messages. Corporate visual messages are all the
41622d
information emitted by a corporation that can be perceived by the
41622d
people through their visual sence (i.e., the human eye).  In order for
41622d
such visual communication to happen, it is required to put the visual
41622d
message on medium available for people to see.  These kind of media
41622d
are know as corporate visual manifestations, since the corporate
41622d
manifests its existence through them using corporate design. 
b0bf66
41622d
The amount of visual manifestations a corporation uses to communicate
41622d
its existence is very specific to each corporation itself. Inside The
41622d
CentOS Project Corporate Identity, considering @emph{The CentOS
41622d
Project Corporate Structure}, @emph{The CentOS Project Corporate
41622d
Mission} and @emph{The CentOS Project Release Schema}, the following
41622d
visual manifestations were defined:
b0bf66
b0bf66
@table @strong 
b0bf66
@item The CentOS Distribution 
b0bf66
568009
The CentOS Distribution visual manifestation exists to cover all
568009
actions related to artwork production and rebranding required by the
568009
The CentOS Distribution (@pxref{Directories trunk Identity Themes
568009
Models Default Distro}) in order to comply with its upstream
568009
redistribution guidelines.
568009
568009
The CentOS Distribution is made of software packages. Inside the
568009
distribution there are packages that make a remarkable use of images
568009
and there are packages that don't use images at all. The CentOS
568009
Distribution visual manifestation gets focused on software packages
568009
that do use images in a remarkable way (e.g., @file{anaconda},
568009
@file{grub}, @file{syslinux}, @file{gdm}, @file{kdm}) and that way,
568009
through images, implements the corporate design in The CentOS
568009
Distribution (i.e., the operating system).
41622d
b0bf66
@item The CentOS Web
b0bf66
6904e9
The CentOS Web visual manifestation exists to support The CentOS
6904e9
Distribution. 
b0bf66
b0bf66
The CentOS Web covers web applications which let The CentOS Project to
b0bf66
manifest its existence on the Internet. Through these web applications
b0bf66
The CentOS Project provides Corporate Communication.  These web
b0bf66
applications are free software and come from different providers which
b0bf66
distribute their work with predefined visual styles.  Frequently,
b0bf66
these predefined visual styles have no visual relation among
b0bf66
themselves and introduce some visual contraditions when they all are
b0bf66
put together.  These visual contraditions need to be removed in order
b0bf66
to comply with The CentOS Project Corporate Structure guidelines.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item The CentOS Showroom
b0bf66
6904e9
The CentOS Showroom visual manifestation exists to promote The CentOS
6904e9
Distribution.
b0bf66
b0bf66
The CentOS Showroom covers industrial production of objects branded by
b0bf66
The CentOS Project (e.g., clothes, stationery and installation media).
b0bf66
These branded objects are for distribution on social events and/or
568009
shops. They provide a way of promotion and a route for
568009
commercialization that may help to aliviate The CentOS Project
568009
expenses (e.g., electrical power, hosting, servers,
568009
full-time-developers, etc.), in a similar way as donations may do.
7f9288
06d106
@end table
9c6e0d
568009
The visual manifestations above seem to cover all the media required
568009
by The CentOS Project, as organization, to show its existence.
568009
However, other visual manifestations could be added in the future, if
568009
needed, to cover different areas like building, offices, road
568009
transportation and whaterver visual manifestation The CentOS Project
568009
thouches to show its existence.
b0bf66
41622d
@subsubheading Corporate Communication
9c6e0d
f4361e
The CentOS Project Corporate Communication is based on @emph{Community
b0bf66
Communication} and takes place through the following avenues:
9c6e0d
06d106
@itemize
f4361e
@item The CentOS Chat (@code{#centos}, @code{#centos-social},
f4361e
@code{#centos-devel} on irc.freenode.net)
06d106
@item The CentOS Mailing Lists (@url{http://lists.centos.org/}).
06d106
@item The CentOS Forums (@url{http://forums.centos.org/}).
b0bf66
@item The CentOS Wiki (@url{http://wiki.centos.org/}).
568009
@item Social events, interviews, conferences, etc.
06d106
@end itemize
9c6e0d
41622d
@subsubheading Corporate Behaviour
9c6e0d
f4361e
The CentOS Project Corporate Behaviour is based on @emph{Community
b0bf66
Behaviour} which take place on @emph{Corporate Communication}.
9c6e0d
41622d
@subsubheading Corporate Structure
9c6e0d
f4361e
The CentOS Project Corporate Structure is based on a @emph{Monolithic
b0bf66
Corporate Visual Identity Structure}. In this configuration, one
b0bf66
unique name and one unique visual style is used in all visual
b0bf66
manifestation of The CentOS Project.
9c6e0d
f4361e
In a monolithic corporate visual identity structure, internal and
06d106
external stakeholders use to feel a strong sensation of uniformity,
06d106
orientation, and identification with the organization. No matter if
06d106
you are visiting web sites, using the distribution, or acting on
06d106
social events, the one unique name and one unique visual style
06d106
connects them all to say: @emph{Hey! we are all part of The CentOS
06d106
Project}.
06d106
f4361e
Other corporate structures for The CentOS Project have been considered
8da57c
as well. Such is the case of producing one different visual style for
b0bf66
each major release of The CentOS Distribution. This structure isn't
8da57c
inconvenient at all, but some visual contradictions could be
8da57c
introduced if it isn't applied correctly and we need to be aware of
b0bf66
it. To apply it correctly, we need to know what The CentOS Project is
b0bf66
made of.
8da57c
8da57c
The CentOS Project, as organization, is mainly made of (but not
b0bf66
limited to) three visual manifestions: Distribution, Web and Showroom.
b0bf66
Inside the Distribution visual manifestations, The CentOS Project
b0bf66
maintains near to four different major releases of CentOS
b0bf66
Distribution, parallely in time.  However, inside The CentOS Web
b0bf66
visual manifestations, the content is produced for no specific release
b0bf66
information (e.g., there is no a complete web site for each major
b0bf66
release of The CentOS Distribution individually, but one web site to
b0bf66
cover them all). Likewise, the content produced in The CentOS Showroom
b0bf66
is created for no release-specific at all, but for The CentOS Project
b0bf66
in general.
8da57c
8da57c
In order to produce the correct corporate structure for The CentOS
8da57c
Project we need to concider all the visual manifestations The CentOS
8da57c
Project is made of, not just one of them.  If one different visual
8da57c
style is used for each major release of The CentOS Distribution, which
8da57c
one of those different visual styles would be used to cover the
8da57c
remaining visual manifestations The CentOS Project is made of (e.g.,
b0bf66
The CentOS Web and The CentOS Showroom)?
949b9b
f4361e
Probably you are thinking, that's right, but The CentOS Brand connects
949b9b
them all already, why would we need to join them up into the same
949b9b
visual style too, isn't it more work to do, and harder to maintain?
949b9b
f4361e
Harder to maintain, more work to do, probably. Specially when you
f4361e
consider that The CentOS Project has proven stability and consistency
b0bf66
through time and, that, certainly, didn't come through swinging
b0bf66
magical wands or something but hardly working out to automate tasks
b0bf66
and providing maintainance through time. Said that, we consider that
568009
The CentOS Project Corporate Structure must be consequent with such
8da57c
stability and consistency tradition. It is true that The CentOS Brand
8da57c
does connect all the visual manifestations it is present on, but that
f4361e
connection would be stronger if one unique visual style backups it.
f4361e
In fact, whatever thing you do to strength the visual connection among
f4361e
The CentOS Project visual manifestations would be very good in favor
f4361e
of The CentOS Project recognition.
06d106
06d106
Obviously, having just one visual style in all visual manifestations
949b9b
for eternity would be a very boring thing and would give the idea of a
949b9b
visually dead project. So, there is no problem on creating a brand new
949b9b
visual style for each new major release of The CentOS Distribution, in
568009
order to refresh The CentOS Distribution visual style; the problem
568009
itself is in not propagating the brand new visual style created for
568009
the new release of The CentOS Distribution to all other visual
568009
manifestations The CentOS Project is made of, in a way The CentOS
568009
Project could be recognized no matter what visual manifestation be in
568009
front of us. Such lack of uniformity is what introduces the visual
568009
contradition we are precisely trying to solve by mean of themes
568009
production in the CentOS Artwork Repository.
9c6e0d
41622d
@subheading Usage
9c6e0d
b0bf66
The @file{trunk/Identity} directory structure organizes most files
b0bf66
used to build and implement The CentOS Project Corporate Identity. In
b0bf66
that sake, the following work lines are available:
8da57c
b0bf66
@table @strong
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Brushes
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides brushes for GIMP. When you prepare the
b0bf66
repository, brushes in this location are made available immediatly for
b0bf66
you to use in the ``Brushes'' panel of GIMP.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Brushes}, for more
b0bf66
information.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Fonts
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides the typography information required by all
b0bf66
different visual manifestations of The CentOS Project. When you
b0bf66
prepare the repository, fonts in this location are made available
b0bf66
immediatly for you to use in GIMP and Inkscape.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Fonts}, for more information.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Images
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides output location for final images that don't
b0bf66
need to use background images (e.g., brands, icons, illustrations,
b0bf66
etc.).
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Images}, for more information.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Models
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides design models for final images that don't need
b0bf66
to use background images (e.g., brands, icons, illustrations, etc.).
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Models}, for more information.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Palettes 
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides palettes of colors for GIMP and Inkscape. When
b0bf66
you prepare the repository, palettes of colors in this location are
b0bf66
made available immediatly for you to use in the ``Palettes'' panel of
b0bf66
GIMP and Inkscape.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Palettes}, for more information.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Patterns
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides patterns for GIMP. When you prepare the
b0bf66
repository, patterns in this location are made available immediatly
b0bf66
for you to use in the ``Patterns'' panel of GIMP.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Patterns}, for more information.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Themes
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides theme design models and theme artistic motifs
b0bf66
for The CentOS Project. If you are interested in creating brand new
b0bf66
visual styles for The CentOS Project this is the place for you.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Themes}, for more information.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@item Webenv
b0bf66
b0bf66
This work line provides the HTML/XHTML and CSS standard definitions
b0bf66
used by The CentOS Web visual manifestation. If you are a web
b0bf66
developer and plan to improve The CentOS Web visual manifestation,
b0bf66
then the files in this location may result very useful to you.
b0bf66
b0bf66
@xref{Directories trunk Identity Webenv}, for more information.
b0bf66
@end table
9c6e0d
41622d
@subheading See also
9c6e0d
06d106
See @url{http://en.wikipedia.org/Corporate_identity} (and related
f4361e
links), for general information on Corporate Identity. 
949b9b
8da57c
Specially useful has been, and still is, the book @emph{Corporate
568009
Identity} by Wally Olins (1989). This book provides many of the
568009
conceptual ideas we've used as base to build The CentOS Artwork
568009
Repository.