The CentOS Project Corporate Visual Identity
============================================
Alain Reguera Delgado <al@centos.org.cu>
v1.0, Jul 2013
Abstract
--------
The CentOS Project Corporate Identity is the ``persona'' of the
organization known as The CentOS Project. The CentOS Project
Corporate Identity plays a significant role in the way The CentOS
Project, as organization, presents itself to both internal and
external stakeholders. In general terms, The CentOS Project Corporate
Identity expresses the values and ambitions of The CentOS Project
organization, its business, and its characteristics.
The CentOS Project Corporate Identity provides visibility,
recognizability, reputation, structure and identification to The
CentOS Project organization by means of Corporate Design, Corporate
Communication, and Corporate Behavior.
[[corporate_identity]]
.The CentOS Project Corporate Identity
image::corporate.png[alt="The CentOS Project Corporate Identity"]
Corporate Mission
-----------------
The CentOS Project exists to produce The CentOS Distribution, an
Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely
provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux
vendor. The CentOS Distribution conforms fully with the upstream
vendors redistribution policy and aims to be 100% binary compatible.
(The CentOS Distribution mainly changes packages to remove upstream
vendor branding and artwork.).
The CentOS Distribution is developed by a small but growing team of
core developers. In turn the core developers are supported by an
active user community including system administrators, network
administrators, enterprise users, managers, core Linux contributors
and Linux enthusiasts from around the world.
The CentOS Distribution has numerous advantages including: an active
and growing user community, quickly rebuilt, tested, and QA'ed errata
packages, an extensive mirror network, developers who are contactable
and responsive of a reliable Enterprise-class Linux Distribution,
multiple free support avenues including a
http://wiki.centos.org/[Wiki],
http://www.centos.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=8[IRC Chat],
http://lists.centos.org/[Email Lists],
http://www.centos.org/modules/newbb/[Forums], and a dynamic
http://www.centos.org/modules/smartfaq/[FAQ].
Corporate Graphic Design
------------------------
Corporate graphic design is focused on the presentation of corporate
messages with efficiency and efficacy. Corporate graphic design is a
cornerstone of corporate visual identity. When the organization
doesn't take control over the corporate messages it produces, the
organization is letting that area of its identity to the unknown and
the result might be good or not so good, it is hard to know. Even the
organization doesn't take control over its corporate messages they are
always talking about the organization. Taking control of corporate
messages presentation is a decision the organization needs to take by
itself, based on its need of better describe what it is. To work out
the corporate graphic design of an organization it is required to
identify which are the visual manifestations the organization reflects
its existence on.
The CentOS Artwork SIG has identified the following visual
manifestations for The CentOS Project organization:
* GNU/Linux Distribution -- to control the operating system appearance.
* Web environment -- to control the web applications appearance.
* Promotion -- to control the industrial media appearance.
[[centos-brand]]
Corporate Brand
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The corporate brand is the graphical identification of an
organization. The CentOS Artwork SIG uses The CentOS Brand to connect
all the visual manifestations The CentOS Project is made of (e.g.,
GNU/Linux Distributions, Websites, Stationery, etc.) and, this way, it
provides visual recognition among similar projects available on the
Internet.
The CentOS Brand is composed of a graphical component known as The
CentOS Symbol and a typographical component known as The CentOS Type.
When The CentOS Symbol and The CentOS Type are put together, they
create what we know as The CentOS Logo. All the components that make
The CentOS Brand can be used together or separately, considering that,
in hierarchy order, The CentOS Logo is rather preferred than The
CentOS Symbol, as well as The CentOS Symbol is rather preferred than
The CentOS Type alone.
image:corporate-logo-howto.png[corporate-logo-howto.png]
The CentOS Brand must be exactly the same every time it is printed
out, no matter what the medium is. A route to reproduce The CentOS
Brand this way must be used so as to avoid reproduction mistakes of
any kind when final images are branded with it. To prevent such
mistakes, The CentOS Artwork SIG uses configuration files and the
*render* module of *centos-art.sh* script to produce PNG brand images
of different sizes and colors that can be combined later with other
images instead of manipulating The CentOS Brand in SVG format inside
each different design model that requires it. This also grants a
single point of change for all brands already applied on final images.
In this environment, if you make a change to brands SVG files, they
will be propagated to all final images the next time you render them.
The CentOS Symbol is the graphical part of The CentOS Logo. As The
CentOS Logo, The CentOS Symbol is used to ``brand'' images produced by
The CentOS Project and provide visual connection between images so
they can be monolithically recognized as part of The CentOS Project.
The CentOS Symbol must be exactly the same every time it is printed
out and a route to reproduce it in such a way must be available so as
to avoid reproduction mistakes when images are branded with it.
The CentOS Type is the typographical part of The CentOS Logo. The
CentOS Type is used to ``brand'' images produce by The CentOS Project
and provide visual connection between images so they can be
monolithically recognized as part of The CentOS Project. The CentOS
Type alone provides less recognition than The CentOS Logo and The
CentOS Symbol. Frequently, The CentOS Type is used to advert the major
release of CentOS Distribution on the first images shown as part of
Distribution installation process. The CentOS Symbol and any release
information printed out with it must have exactly the same proportions
every time they are printed out.
Corporate Fonts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The CentOS Artwork SIG uses the following font files in their
corporate graphic designs:
image:corporate-fonts.png[corporate-fonts.png]
Corporate Colors
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In addition to colors used in The CentOS Symbol (9ccd2aff, 932279ff,
262577ff, efa724ff) and The CentOS Default Background Color
(204c8dff), The CentOS Artwork SIG uses the following colors in their
corporate graphic designs:
image:../corporate-colors.png[corporate-colors.png]
Artistic motifs have not any limitation in the number of colors used.
If you are a graphic designer creating artistic motifs for The CentOS
Project, feel free to take your creativeness at its limit by creating
color-full artistic motifs. For final bootup images which require a
reduced number of colors, create palette of colors for them with the
appropriate number of colors and let the *render* module of
*centos-art.sh* script to do the rest.
[[centos-clothes]]
Corporate Clothes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The CentOS clothes identify the The CentOS Project representative
people at public presentations.
image:../corporate-clothes-head.png[corporate-clothes-cap.png]
image:../corporate-clothes-torso.png[corporate-clothes-shirt.png]
[[corporate-themes]]
Corporate Themes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The CentOS themes organize visual styles for all the visual
manifestation The CentOS Project is made of. In order to automate the
process of rendering images based on customizable patterns, themes
have been divided into ``design models'', ``localization files,'' and
``artistic motifs.''
image:corporate-themes.png[corporate-themes.png]
[[corporate-themes-models]]
Design Models
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Design models are compressed SVG files created with Inkscape. They
describe the image files used to implement the CentOS project visual
manifestations. For example, in the specific case of CentOS
distribution, each final image you want to re-brand has a design model
associated used to set the final image dimensions, whether or not it
has round borders, and what background to use on it. Design models
are created once and rarely modified through time. They are only
modified if the visual manifestation they refer to changes or needs to
be tuned up.
[[corporate-themes-l10n]]
Localization Files
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Localization files provide localization for messages inside design
models. For example, if you decide to use slide images in CentOS
installer, you need to create one design model for each slide image
you want to produce in English language. Then, using *locale* module,
you create PO files for each design model you have. PO files are
created using the current language information of your terminal (e.g.,
see value of +LANG+ variable). Then you use the *locale* module again
to edit the PO files and provide string translations from English to
your preferred language. Once translations are on the PO files, you
use the *render* module to produce images for your preferred language,
based on the artistic motif you initiate rendition for and the related
design models set in the rendition configuration file.
[[corporate-themes-motifs]]
Artistic Motifs
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Artistic motifs are PNG images holding the look and feel of each
design model available. One important characteristic of artistic
motifs is preserving one unique visual style for all the PNG images
they are made of. Artistic motifs aren't limited in number. It is
possible to have several artistic motifs and produce final images for
all of them using one single set of design models. Artistic motifs
give plenty of room for graphic designers' creativeness. As
convention, artistic motifs are conceived without any specific brand
information on them. The brand information is set using brand images
later, when final images are produced.
[[corporate-communication]]
Corporate Communication
-----------------------
The CentOS Project corporate communication is focused on the effective
propagation of corporate messages. Propagation of corporate messages
is closely related to the media the organization uses as vehicle to
distribute its corporate messages.
The CentOS Project corporate communication takes place through the
following visual manifestations:
The CentOS Distribution
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This visual manifestation communicates its existence through software
packages. There are packages that make a remarkable use of images,
packages that make a moderate use of images, and packages that don't
use images at all. This visual manifestation is focused on providing
The CentOS Project images required by software packages that do use
images in a remarkable way, specially those holding the upstream brand
(e.g., _anaconda_, _grub_, _syslinux_, _gdm_, _kdebase_).
- The Community Enterprise Operating System itself (communicates the
essence of The CentOS Project existence.).
- Release Schema (Lifetime) and all the stuff related (e.g., Release
Notes, Documentation, Erratas, etc.).
The CentOS Web
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This visual manifestation communicates its existence through web
applications. These web applications are free software and come from
different providers which distribute their work with predefined visual
styles. Frequently, these predefined visual styles have no visual
relation among themselves and introduce some visual contradictions
when they all are put together. Removing these visual contradictions
is object of work for this visual manifestation.
- The CentOS Chat.
- The CentOS Mailing Lists.
- The CentOS Forums.
- The CentOS Wiki.
- Special Interest Groups (SIGs).
- Social Events, Interviews, Conferences, etc.
- The extensive network of mirrors available for downloading ISO files
as well as RPMs and SRPMs used to build them up in different
architectures.
The CentOS Showroom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This visual manifestation communicates its existence through
production of industrial objects carrying The CentOS Brand. These
branded objects are directed to be distributed on social events and/or
shops. They provide a way of promotion and commercialization that may
help to reduce The CentOS Project expenses (e.g., electrical power,
hosting, servers, full-time-developers, etc.), in a similar way as
donations may do.
- Stationery (e.g., Posters, Stickers, CD Lables and Sleeves).
- Clothes (e.g., Shirts, T-shirts, Pullovers, Caps).
- Installation media (e.g., CDs, DVD, Pen-drives).
Corporate Behavior
-------------------
The CentOS Project corporate behavior is focused on the effective
interaction of each member involved in the organization (e.g., core
developers, community members, etc.). It is related to ethics and
politics used to do the things inside the organization. It is related
to the sense of direction chosen by the organization and the way the
organization projects itself to achieve it.
The CentOS Project corporate behavior is based on a meritocracy (the
more you do the more you are allowed to do).
Corporate Structure
-------------------
The CentOS Project corporate structure is based on a Monolithic
Corporate Visual Identity Structure. In this configuration, one unique
name and one unique visual style is used in all visual manifestation
The CentOS Project is made of.
In a monolithic corporate visual identity structure, internal and
external stakeholders use to feel a strong sensation of uniformity,
orientation, and identification with the organization. No matter if
you are visiting web sites, using the distribution, or acting on
social events, the one unique name and one unique visual style
connects them all to say: Hey! we are all part of The CentOS Project.
Other corporate structures for The CentOS Project have been considered
as well. Such is the case of producing one different visual style for
each major release of The CentOS Distribution. This structure isn't
inconvenient at all, but some visual contradictions could be
introduced if it isn't applied correctly and we need to be aware of
it. To apply it correctly, we need to know what The CentOS Project is
made of.
The CentOS Project, as organization, is mainly made of (but not
limited to) three visual manifestations: The CentOS Distribution, The
CentOS Web and The CentOS Showroom. Inside The CentOS Distribution
visual manifestations, The CentOS Project maintains near to four
different major releases of The CentOS Distribution, in parallel.
However, inside The CentOS Web visual manifestations, the content is
produced for no specific release information (e.g., there is no a
complete web site for each major release of The CentOS Distribution
individually, but one web site to cover them all). Likewise, the
content produced in The CentOS Showroom is industrially created for no
specific release, but The CentOS Project in general.
In order to produce the The CentOS Project Monolithic Corporate Visual
Identity Structure correctly, we need to consider all the visual
manifestations The CentOS Project is made of, not just one of them.
If one different visual style is implemented for each major release of
The CentOS Distribution, which one of those different visual styles
would be used to cover the remaining visual manifestations The CentOS
Project is made of (e.g., The CentOS Web and The CentOS Showroom)?
Probably you are thinking: yes, I see your point, but The CentOS Brand
connects them all already, why would we need to join them up into the
same visual style too, isn't it more work to do, and harder to
maintain? It is true that The CentOS Brand does connect all the
visual manifestations it is present on, but that connection is even
stronger if one unique visual style backups it. In fact, whatever
thing you do to strength the visual connection among The CentOS
Project visual manifestations would be very good in favor of The
CentOS Project recognition.
Having just one visual style in all visual manifestations for eternity
would be a very boring thing and would give the idea of a visually
out-of-date project. So, there is no problem on creating new visual
styles for each new major release of The CentOS Distribution, in order
to refresh The CentOS Distribution visual style; the problem itself is
in not propagating the new visual style created for the new release of
The CentOS Distribution to all other visual manifestations The CentOS
Project is made of, in a way The CentOS Project could be recognized no
matter what visual manifestation be in front of us. Such lack of
uniformity is what introduces the visual contradiction The CentOS
Artwork SIG is precisely trying to solve by mean of automating the
production of corporate themes inside The CentOS Artwork Repository.
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