The Joomla! Forum ™

Just some observations about the rationale for having a brand manual and set of rules in using the logo:

...

The same with Xerox: they don't want you to write, "I needed 10 copies, so I xeroxed them"; they want "I needed 10 copies, so I made them on a Xerox-brand photocopier." Same deal with Xerox's lawyers sending warning letters to publishers.

In the Open Source world -- where we all agree that we all share the code, anybody and everybody can have it and use it any way they want, except to resell it as their own brand -- the only thing of any tangible value is the brand name (and in the United States, anyway, that is carried on the books only as "goodwill," a non-tangible asset).

The Joomla logo, logotype and slogan are the main assets of the Open Source Matters Foundation. The license to use those assets has been developed to prevent a situation like the one we just went through. For example, let's take a hypothetical company called Orim -- it decides to remarket Joomla with ASP and support services. The Orim folks put on their web site, "We're the true and only makers of Joomla -- those Open Source guys are full of bull. Get your Orim Joomla here -- don't buy it from anybody else and for goodness sakes, don't try to install it yourself -- your hair and teeth will all fall out."

At this juncture, the Open Source Matters Foundation can haul Orim into court (in Orim's jurisdiction) and make them stop -- and, perhaps even compensate OSMF for its troubles (certainly legal fees, if not punitive damages).

As part of its defense, OSMF is going to submit as Exhibit A the latest edition of the Joomla Brand Manual. So the document -- and following its rules precisely -- benefits the entire community, because we all share in the purity of the Joomla trademark.

Not altering the Joomla logo is your way of supporting the Open Source community in general and the OSMF/Joomla community specifically.

Don't hassle the Core Team about the rules -- they're in place to make Joomla (and by extension, you) more successful.

\dmc

PS: I just ran this note through the forum's spell checker and it flagged "kleenex" with a lower-case "k." It didn't flag xexrox, though. ;-) ...

"That old Mambo site? I Joomla'd it just this morning."

\dmc

"After I Joomla your site it will be much easier to maintain and expand with new features."

"After Joomlaing the project, it became clear that the new team was fabulious!"

joom - la (ing | ed)
1. To make a website easier and more powerful in less time than other web technologies
2. To recreate a project in a way that it gains mommentum and improves

ant.  Mambo

1. To dance and spin while while little is done.  Opposite of joomla

Could you be a little more specific... this is a very broad comment and I don’t have any idea what your refereing to.

It is a pathetic thing to do, we might aswell not even put a logo on the site with the amount of restrictions , i think this is a stupid move by joomla, i wasn’t very pleased with some things but this is becoming worse. We should be able to put it on backgrounds that are tinted and use it in our own designs. The fact that we should respect it is true however, it is the morality of a person to judge what is right and wrong. Say if i wanted to base something on the joomla logo  in my work for my ict diploma ,in the uk i would like to make some nice graphics with it. Well i cannot. Ever sort out better freedoms, or i will just make my own idea of what mambo should be turned into, as it is becomign annoying...

It is a pathetic thing to do, we might aswell not even put a logo on the site with the amount of restrictions , i think this is a stupid move by joomla, i wasn't very pleased with some things but this is becoming worse. We should be able to put it on backgrounds that are tinted and use it in our own designs. The fact that we should respect it is true however, it is the morality of a person to judge what is right and wrong. Say if i wanted to base something on the joomla logo  in my work for my ict diploma ,in the uk i would like to make some nice graphics with it. Well i cannot. Ever sort out better freedoms, or i will just make my own idea of what mambo should be turned into, as it is becomign annoying...

Love the logo (I voted for it myself), Brand Manual is excellent and well done.

Tagline?

Blechhh!

Says absolutely nothing about the product.  Great name for the organization, but unsuitable for a tagline.

as some of our users were starting to ask things like "who is more restrictive, Miro or OSM", no freedom at all, why all this legal stuff etc etc, and this would help to clear some points..?

I tend to agree... I love the logo, and I certainly agree with the sentiment of the tagline, but it seems designed to speak to those who are part of the Open Source community rather than the many end users (think small-med-large companies) for whom that may or may not mean anything or be of importance. I think that from a marketing perspective we'd want something a little more geared towards the benefits of Joomla!

I've read carefully the Joomla brand manual and felt it very strict :
If you really want to apply it, many of sites have their name based on joomla : Joomla Ressource, Joomla Radio, Planet Joomla, Joomlactive are some of them (http://www.joomla.org/content/blogcategory/21/36/). Will they have to re-design their logo?

I ask this question because I'm in this case(see my logo below). This choice has a history that began before this summer but I didn't have published my site yet. When I kew this the tragedy with Miro, I decided to wait for the knew name to take a decision. So, "come on mambo" project became "come on Joomla!".
I thought it was the best moment for a new site to come if many others would have to change their name. That why I bought "comeonjoomla" name with 4 domain extensions.
But now, if I want to conform with the rules, I must have the 2 logo in my banner. And I don't want to give up my logo because it is the choice of my members (and i love it). The small bird represent a user and the big is our community. I just want "Joomla" to be side by side with my big bird but it's not allowed : the Joomla logo MUST appear before the word 'Joomla' ! (it's one of the rules)

So, what do you suggest?

1. First choice during the official logo contest.
2. 2nd version when the winner has been announced.
3. What it should look like if your rules are applied.

... So you shouldn't use the Joomla! text as it appears in the offical Joomla! logo without the image in front, but your #1 variation with "come on Joomla!" with the jbird is fine. This is your own logo, your own image, your own font, it does not affect the official logo at all....

well, we should be able to use or not use the logo whenever we want with these stupid rules placed on the logo, as basically, i cannot fit the logo on my site as, i haven't got enough room, look at those media wiki logo's it is stupid for it to not be larger than an inch. What is the point in joomla being opensource when the logo isn't. They should scrap it and only accept opensource logo's...

I'm sorry for shouting, but it pains me to see people be so ungrateful for all the hard work these guys have put in! 

Lighten up and RTFM!

The books says the logo is not copyright free. OK, but, who owns the copyright? What is the proper citation? What kind of copyright is it?

MMMM Vintage 2005 whine... my favorite...

Logos and slogans aren't copyrighted, their trademarked. The Open Source Matters Foundation owns the trademark (or, to probably be more accurate, the OSMF has applied for or will soon apply for trademark status on the logo and slogan in a variety of countries).

\dmc

The Open Source Matters Foundation

Thank you to all the people involved in creating this new logo, however, I think the brand guide is too greatly infringing upon our use of the logo.  IMHO, the brand guide limits our freedom to adapt the logo to our particular needs.  I don't see the need to require the background to be one of the Joomla colors, or have a specified minimum margin around the logo when used anywhere.  All these restrictions in the brand guide are too particular and insignificant in the bigger picture.  I am starting to worry about a Joomla developers takeover/monopoly against a section of the community.

Joomla is a great piece of open source software, but the brand guide doesn't fit very well into the openness of the project.

I am starting to worry about a Joomla developers takeover/monopoly against a section of the community.

Hi,
i dont understand the pdf.

Is my site "Joomla User Group Berlin" illegal? 

http://www.jug-berlin.de

I take the Logo: "Symbol Color" and another backgroundcolor.
(Page 18 of pdf: The logo should never be...placed on any color background  )
Regards
Karin