[CentOS-devel] Distribution Artwork and logos.

[Alain Reguera Delgado]

On 8/12/14, Jim Perrin <jperrin at centos.org> wrote:
> Recently we've had some requests from the community as to how they could
> contribute various pieces of design, artwork or wallpaper.
>
> In order to make it more convenient for such contributions, I've moved
> the legacy artwork git instance to
> https://git.centos.org/summary/sig-core!artwork-archive.git. This should
> be considered legacy and reference only.

Yes. But, for the record, this work is not dead. I continue developing
it under very difficult circumstances, so the reason of my apparent
absence.

The main goal of this work is to provide a framework for The CentOS
Community to produce The CentOS Project visual identity with a single
command based on their own artistic motifs and specifications. This is
necessary in order to automate the process of consistently releasing
one unique visual identity for The CentOS Project each time a new
major release of CentOS distribution is published.

Jim, if possible, I would like to have this site available for pushing
recent changes in case it be possible for me to do so, at some point.

> To facilitate new artwork contributions, I've created
> https://github.com/CentOS/Artwork which will be mirrored at
> https://git.centos.org/summary/sig-core!Artwork.git
>
> This will be the authoritative repository for logos, branding, design,
> etc. It will also allow contributors to submit pull requests for their
> contributions, such as backgrounds and other creative artwork.

Nice.

> Right now, both these repositories are bare because we need to have a
> bit of a discussion around the layout within them. I don't claim to be
> an artist in any sense of the term, so I'm not going to dictate a
> structure that might impede the work from people who actually know what
> they're doing.
>
> The two possible layouts I have in mind are:
>
> 1. exploded directory structure for the various source tarballs related
> to distro artwork such as centos-logos.
>
> 2. Named directory structures for the various image types.
> logos/{svg,png}, desktop/<resolution>/png, etc.
>
> Comments, suggestions and pull requests are very much welcomed from
> those of you with artistic tendencies.

I would suggest a layout to cover The CentOS Project visual identity,
not just The CentOS distribution visual manifestation which is just
one part of The CentOS Project visual identity.

Presently, I am trying to implement a layout where there are "design
models", "artistic motifs" and "automation scripts". In such a layout:

- The CentOS Project provides design models (SVG files mainly) to
define The CentOS Project visual manifestations (e.g., branding,
distribution, marketing, etc.).

- The CentOS Community provides artistic motifs to define the visual
style of visual manifestations (e.g., PNG images mainly).

- The CentOS Project provides automation scripts to automate the
process of combining design models and artistic motifs arbitrarily
into final images for final release (e.g., Tar.gz, RPM, etc.).

In this layout, we try to avoid the inclusion of binary files as much
as possible. Instead, we try to render them from their source files.
Nevertheless, when we create design models for src.rpm packages, we
include the content exactly as it is and remove any binary file that
can be rebuilt from source files in the repository. In this context,
if there is any binary file that don't need to be rebuild (e.g., it
doesn't have any brand or artistic motif) it remains untouched.

Basically, the layout would look as follows:

./
|-- Models/
|   `-- ${VISUAL_MANIFESTATION}
`-- Scripts/

To produce final images for final release, the repository would be
available for installation through RPM. This make design models and
automation scripts available in your workstation. At this point, you
use automation scripts to prepare a working directory which is use, in
turn, to store the artistic motifs and the final content you release.

Design models and automation scripts are under version control but
artistic motifs aren't. To share artistic motifs, we could use the
CentOS wiki or other public site online useful to share images.

Suggestions and comments are very much appreciated.

Regards,
al.