I think I have seen a similar comment over at the PCLinuxOS forums saying in effect that the penguin logo is not inspiring enough to make people migrate from Windows/Mac. I admit it got me thinking for a while, then I decided I like Tux the way he is. :)
First impressions on First Impression: The black oval beside the logotype looks like a seed of a tropical fruit to me -- I live in the tropics. :) Does it represent a cosmic egg? -- a symbol for the myriad things possible with open source? The universe in a nutshell? Tux viewed from the top? I think the orange parts need a bit more outline so they will stand out when converted to black and white. Andreas Dilger mentioned a some tips that may help. At any rate, you'll find designing The Linux logo a very worthy challenge and will hone your skills for other design problems.
Part of the challenge is that Linus himself has a clear vision of what the logo ought to look like. The cartoonish Tux (Larry Ewing's) is probably the most famous interpretation of Linus' vision. You recall the "Calligraphic Penguin" mascot of PCLinuxOS done by JRangels? I now realize JRangels may have gotten the idea for the brushwork penguin from Linus himself.
OK, some say those penguins are rather childish. But the penguin already has a "brand recall" that would be hard to dislodge even with Linus' blessing. Funny thing is, artists can't help being involved in the making of mythology. I'd say these three images are the "Holy Trinity" of mass computing right now: The Paternalistic (even Fascist-like) Windows; the Venus-like Apple; and Anarchic (Prometheus/Loki) Penguin. [Having said that, wow -- I never thought of it that way until now -- the Father, the Mother, and the Child archetypes. :) ]
Their lines and curves even remind us of the ideas they represent: The crossed negative spaces in the Windows emblem: "You may only pass this way" -- its Vista incarnation is even more reminiscent of Hitler's perverted swastika than before; Apple's art-directed sexy curves (no "straight" line there ;) ); and Tux's lumpy shape -- curves and lines abruptly ending where they may -- the effect is, as they say it here in my place, "pangmasa" -- belonging to the masses.
Windows and Apple represent control; Tux represents freedom and unencumbered, child-like experimentation. Windows and Apple both represent corporations -- the staid and the chic -- The Architect's Matrix where plugged-in battery people dream away, and the Oracle's cozy, teahouse womb (still part of the matrix prison) for would be The Ones . I wouldn't call Tux "Neo." He's more like Agent Smith's benevolent brother (GPLed software has been called viral before -- and Agent Smith also called humans viruses. Tux therefore represents that impish, (pro)creative part of humanity that Ubuntu's "General Patronage" emblem won't carry. And I think I got carried away there. ;)
Aside from Tux the other well-known Linux logos are those of distros -- here the designer has been free to design what he thinks best represents his distro. RedHat, Xandros, Mandrake, Ubuntu, Mepis, Linspire -- each has its own distinctive look and feel; each has its own audience. I feel good about PCLinuxOS's Blue Ring -- played right, it can make it there alongside the biggies (in performance it already is). :)
We're working on the graphics for the PCLinuxOS 2009 version now -- named N1PPT -- in memory of one of the pillars of the PCLinuxOS IRC who has moved on.
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