spreadubuntu team mailing list archive

[Pierre Vorhagen <pvorhagen@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 2010-03-10 at 12:06 -0600, Evan Boldt wrote:
> Looks great!
> 
> 
> I'm not sold on the bottom part - the 'top rated materials' part. It
> doesn't look quite as nice as everything else. I think I want some
> kind of a mixture of the pager at the top with the current design.
> Maybe this time with only one row of materials.
The design of the bottom part can be changed of course, but the idea I'm
trying to get across is that, rather than just show off a series of nice
images, why not present a small selection of "good marketing efforts"
and educate people in marketing at the same time.
Something that says "These materials are good, and this is why: ...",
showing people why and how something is good from a marketing
point-of-view. This would be a joint effort with the marketing team.
Not only would we be a resource for material, but we could then
seriously strive to become Ubuntu's marketing base.

This is, if you want, the other side of SpreadUbuntu. What we've been
focusing on until now is merely what we used to call the DIY section,
why not extend the reach of SU, and integrate the marketing team in the
effort, to set up an Ubuntu Marketing Blog? As well as maintain the blog
with current and past marketing events, the marketing team would select
a couple of top-rated materials every month, with the branding and image
of Ubuntu in mind.
This way, the top half of the site would be completely dedicated to the
DIY section, and in the bottom half, where the "Top rated materials of
the month" is on the mockup, the marketing team would practically and
effectively set the direction for Ubuntu marketing efforts.

> I agree with Paolo about using just the verb in the top navigation,
> except I want it made clear that those links are related to materials.
If you want it, then so be it. ;)
Separating the materials-links from the login-links by a slightly
thicker line would probably do the trick... also, see lower down.

>  It would need some kind of label or something that says that all of
> those links pertain to marketing materials.
> I really like having icons. Perhaps we could make white silhouettes
> (cutouts) of icons and use them in that orange row. Maybe even give it
> an inner shadow.
In my opinion, putting icons in the top bar would not fit into the
design of the new branding.
Just the verb is of course better than adding "materials" at the end,
like I suggested in the other e-mail, but honestly, I don't think it
needs anything else. First-timers are immediately going to focus on the
content of the homepage (where the 4 areas of SU are explained) and once
they've understood that, more guidance will only clutter things up imo.

> The second row of get make translate share looks great, but I think I
> would replace those icons with the current ones. Do we want to turn
> the current icons orange?
Again, why not stay in-line with the new branding?
My suggestion was to make a new set of 4 icons in the same orange style.
(Get, Make, Translate and Share)

> I like how simple it is, but is there any other information we want on
> the page? It doesn't say anything about what SpreadUbuntu is. I don't
> know if its necessary. The information on that screen makes it pretty
> obvious.
Agreed, the SpreadUbuntu site is a site to spread Ubuntu, the short info
next to the icons explains the rest really... and if there is doubt, why
not add a FAQ rather than go about explaining everything in the menus?
Less is more... ;)

> I know that canonical is using it in their template and you just took
> their screenshot, but I'm not a fan of the dots. 
> Am I the only one?
If we, who want to become the central Ubuntu marketing resource, do not
follow the community guidelines about *branding*, who will?

We mustn't forget that Spread Ubuntu is before all a site which should
show the way of Ubuntu marketing to the community marketeers. I'm not a
fan of several things either, but when thinking of what SpreadUbuntu
should look like, following the current look and feel set by Canonical
is a top priority. We shouldn't blindly follow them, as Ubuntu still
belongs to the community. But in terms of marketing, I must admit that I
entirely trust a company that focuses every day, during many hours and
also via professional studies, on actually "spreading Ubuntu".




> On Wed, Mar 10, 2010 at 9:27 AM, Pierre Vorhagen <pvorhagen@xxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>         Hello,
>         
>         it has been quite a while since I last wrote something to the
>         list, but
>         I have been following SU developments closely. I have a little
>         more time
>         on my hands now, which allows me to come back to a couple of
>         projects...
>         
>         I welcomed the change in branding for Ubuntu with great joy
>         and
>         excitement last week, we are definitely heading in the right
>         direction
>         with the "light" themes and feeling. Sometimes, less is more!
>         
>         At this point, I want to show you an image that I found some
>         time ago. I
>         remembered it whilst reading Evan's email and thinking of
>         possible
>         changes.
>         http://freezedriedwater.com/media/simplicity.png
>         This is exactly what Spread Ubuntu must not fall into if we
>         want it to
>         be a central and productive tool for the community, especially
>         with the
>         new branding.
>         Take Launchpad for instance. The UI is constantly being worked
>         on and,
>         considering the massive amount of new and old features, the
>         interface is
>         a slick, clean working space.
>         
>         
>         Instead of replying to every point, trying to make images
>         clear, I
>         drafted a mockup of what I have in mind on the gimp.
>         http://freezedriedwater.com/media/homepage_mockup1-PierreVorhagen.png
>         
>         Remarks:
>         - 5 elements in my mockup:
>                * Top navigation bar
>                * Marketing campaigns scrollable banners (similar to
>         ubuntu.com)
>                * Explanatory links of the Spread Ubuntu options with
>         icons
>                * A short monthly choice of well-rated materials, with
>         a
>         description as to why they're good, and in need of
>         translation.
>                * Footer -> needs to be modified of course ;)
>         
>         - The Get/Make/Translate/Share icons would be relevant to
>         their meaning,
>         and obviously not these ones, but keeping the same style.
>         
>         - The "Log In" link could be placed next to the "Share
>         materials", in
>         the top navigation bar, and the appearing links (News,
>         Account, Create
>         Content and Log Out) would add themselves to the top bar.
>         There will
>         probably not be enough space, so I suggest removing the word
>         "materials"
>         behind the links, which is quite redundant in my opinion,
>         especially for
>         returning visitors that know the concept.
>         
>         - You will have noticed that right now there is no reserved
>         space for a
>         small description of SU. This can be added at the right of the
>         campaign
>         banners I think, since it doesn't need to be long. And "Read
>         more..."
>         links are great! ;)
>         
>         - The monthly choice of top-rated materials might enable the
>         marketing
>         team to somehow draw Ubuntu-related marketing in a specific
>         direction,
>         reinforcing a unified branding over unrelated local efforts. I
>         think
>         that it's very important to not just offer an exchange
>         platform, but
>         also to show the way marketeers should go. To compare with the
>         business
>         world, marketing is deemed to fail if the marketeers don't
>         follow the
>         company direction. This is why our role as a link between
>         Canonical, the
>         marketing team and the marketeers is essential in my opinion.
>         
>         - If we want to make SU a central marketing resource, and not
>         only a
>         repository, the campaign banners are important. In the same
>         idea, I
>         would suggest that we echo the efforts of LoCo's and LUGs on a
>         "Spread
>         Ubuntu Blog". The posts would appear on the homepage in a
>         dedicated
>         "Marketing Ubuntu " box (which can be under or next to the
>         top-rated
>         box). It's very gratifying to see one's efforts relayed on a
>         somewhat
>         "official" Ubuntu site.
>         
>         
>         I have not yet drafted anything about the materials node, but
>         I think
>         that with the sidebar disappearing, there will be enough space
>         to
>         "un-clutter" everything a little bit, and stay in-line with
>         the new
>         "light" theme. This e-mail already got way too long anyway...
>         
>         Wishing you a nice day,
>         Pierre
>         
>         
>         
>         On Tue, 2010-03-09 at 01:38 +0000, Evan Boldt wrote:
>         > SpreadUbuntu is participating in the new Ubuntu branding. We
>         want to
>         > start some discussion about the new layouts, design, and
>         logo.
>         >
>         > Please take a look at this wiki page:
>         >
>         https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarketingTeam/Projects/SpreadUbuntu/Brand
>         >
>         > Some things to discuss:
>         > New Logo
>         > Check out the current versions. See what you can make out of
>         it. There
>         > is a source file on the wiki.
>         >
>         > Navigation
>         > Where should the navigation be placed?
>         >
>         > The 'primary' navigation (get, make, translate, and share)
>         is on the
>         > left (top for the home page). To match the other websites,
>         it should be
>         > moved to the orange bar at the top, yet the logos and
>         descriptions are
>         > still desirable. What would be the best way to keep them?
>         >
>         > Where should secondary navigation be placed? Currently it is
>         on the left
>         > side only for logged in users. If the primary is moved to
>         the top, the
>         > secondary will be the only thing occupying the left sidebar,
>         which would
>         > be a weird transition from not logged in to logged in.
>         >
>         > Front Page
>         > What improvements can be made to the home page? Is there any
>         information
>         > it needs?
>         >
>         > Is the current layout ideal? Nearly no visitor clicks any of
>         the 'top
>         > rated materials'. Instead, they go for a 'media' or click
>         'get
>         > materials'.
>         >
>         > Font
>         > Browsers with support for @font-face are growing large
>         enough that we
>         > can pick whatever font we want. Do we want to use something
>         like
>         > Liberation Sans for all text?
>         >
>         > Materials Node
>         > This is the layout you see when you click on a material you
>         want, and
>         > you are given the option to download images or source. It
>         displays
>         > information about the material. How can this be brought to
>         the new
>         > style?
>         >
>         > Please make some mockups of what you want to see happen, and
>         add it to
>         > the wiki at the top in the appropriate section.
>         
>         
>         
>         
>         
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