Goals
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The trunk/Identity/Models/Brands directory organizes The CentOS Brand design models.

Description
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The CentOS Brand provides the one unique name or trademark that connects The CentOS Project with their products (e.g., GNU/Linux distribution, web sites, stationery, etc.).

The CentOS Project uses The CentOS Brand inside its GNU/Linux enterprise distributions, web sites, and promotions stuff to connect them all visually and this way committing the monolithic visual structure where one unique name and one unique visual style is used in all visual manifestations.

Symbol
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At the moment of writting these lines, I haven't found any reference about the author who worked out The CentOS Symbol and the concept behind its design.  That information would be useful as motivation source.  The CentOS Symbol is the visual representation of that the CentOS Community is working for, it would be very nice to have that information available somewhere.  Until then, all we can do is giving interpretations about it.

I will take the adventure of describing my personal interpretation about The CentOS Symbol design and the concept behind it.  This interpretation is not definite, nor a final concept. Certainly, this interpretation may have nothing in common with the one used by the author of The CentOS Symbol. The ideas written in this section may change in the future in the sake of reaching a better interpretation of The CentOS Symbol for the CentOS community to stand on.

The first thing, in order to interpret The CentOS Symbol, is to know what is the mission of The CentOS Project and feel a deep compromise with it.  Later on, take a look to The CentOS Symbol and try to identify each component its design is based on. If you take a careful look at it you'll find that The CentOS Symbol is based on squares, arrows and four different colors.

The square is a geometrical figure that has four parallel sides of equal dimensions. The equal dimensions brings the idea of justice among all parts involved. That is, each part is in harmony one another. This kind of harmony could be verified at simple sight, or you can take a rule and messure each side to see that they have the same dimensions.  As long as we can verify this harmony is true, it starts to be a fact of reason that we can rely on.

In a second state, the CentOS symbol is built of four identical 90 degree squares filled with unique colors. The squares provide reason based pragmatic facts. The colors provide emotions. So, in this design state we could say that different emotions are controlled by the same pragmatic reasons.

In a third state, the 90 degree set of squares is duplicated to create a new set of squares. In this new set of squares fill colors were removed and the whole squares set was rotated 45 degree.  At this point eight arrows, pointing the outside, are immediatly visible. Emotions are so strong that they found a way to expand themselves out of 90 degree pragmatic reasons.  But reason evolves with changes and takes new forms ---the 45 degree squares set--- to let flow off the emotions' nature, and thus, uses that enormous expansion force to create an infinite loop of common benefits, still controlled by the reason of pragmatic facts.

At this point The CentOS Symbol has been completed.

Typography
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The CentOS Brand is the main visual representation of The CentOS Project so the typography used in it must be the same always, no matter where it be shown. It also has to be clear enough to dismiss any confussion between similar typefaces (e.g., the number one (1) sometimes is confuesed with the letter el (l) or letter ai (i)).

As convenction, the word CentOS uses Denmark typography as base, both for the word CentOS and the phrase Community Enterprise Operating System. The phrase size of CentOS logo is half the size in poits the word CentOS has and it below CentOS word and aligned with it on the left.  The distance between CentOS word and phrase Community Enterprise Operating System have the size in points the phrase has.

When the CentOS release brand is built, use Denmark typography for the release number. The release number size is two times larger (in height) than default CentOS word. The separation between release number and CentOS word is twice the size in points of separation between CentOS word and phrase Community Enterprise Operating System.

Type of mark
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Another component inside The CentOS Brand to consider is the type of mark it is.  Is it a Trademark or a Registered mark?

The Trademark symbol (™) specifies that The CentOS Brand must be consider a product brand, even it is not a registered one. The trademark symbol uses DejaVu LGC Sans Regular typography. The trademark symbol is aligned right-top on the outter side of CentOS word. The trademark symbol must not exceed haf the distance, in points, between CentOS word and the release number on its right.

The Registered symbol (®) would be very convenient for the CentOS Project and its community, however, the registration may involve monetary cost. To make The CentOS Brand a register trademark prevents legal complications in the market place of brands. It grants the consistency, through time, of The CentOS Project corporate visual identity.

     Note The information about trademarks and corporate identity is my personal interpretation of http://en.wikipedia.org/Corporate_identity and http://en.wikipedia.org/Trademark description. If you have practical experiences with these affairs, please serve yourself to improve this section with your reasons.

Usage
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  * ...

See also
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  * Directories trunk Identity Models

  * Directories trunk Identity

  * Directories trunk