Statement about LibreOffice Mascot Project
On Thursday, we came to the conclusion to close voting for the LibreOffice mascot in advance of the planned schedule in December. For a number of reasons, the process has evolved in a direction we were not expecting. When we started, we were looking for a visual image which could represent LibreOffice, a free office suite developed by an international and diverse community of friends, and not for a subject of heated discussions between groups and individuals.
The goal was to select a mascot that could be used by the community (but not as a replacement for the official LibreOffice logo or branding). With the number and the tone of negative comments, however, the current approach does not seem to be working out.
Without doubt, the main fault is on our side, as we started the process without setting clear rules, and then we managed criticism without the usual transparency, in a way which is not coherent with the principles of our community.
The current mascot project will not lead to any decision. A LibreOffice mascot will have to be the expression of the entire LibreOffice community, and not of individuals or groups on either side.
We have made several mistakes, but so did those who wanted to push forward their idea, because they liked one proposal over the others, without getting the necessary consensus. We have learned the lessons and in the future we will set clear rules both for the design and the decision process.
We do apologize for the frustrating experience with contributors who have provided an original artwork, in the true spirit of the community.
During the next couple of weeks, we – the members of TDF, the wider community of contributors to LibreOffice, both within and outside this contest – will discuss what has happened, and look into the different topics. Although we don’t have any specific plan at the current stage we will likely publish another message about the mascot contest around mid-December, with some time to reflect on what has happened.
This is a good decision. Earlier in the Motif design competition, the last date for Submission was announced as “End of July” and Voting for Submissions were started in the “Mid of June”. A Month and a half before the deadline. I couldn’t even submit my entry. I hope such things don’t happen in the future.
“With the number and the tone of negative comments, however, the current approach does not seem to be working out.”
Hmm I wonder why, maybe it’s because the libreoffice team lied to their user base, picked put winners that are objectively worse then many of the entrys and changed the rules to their liking when the contest was almost over. That’s not even mentioning how the finalists were literally based off of copyrighted images and even broke the rules in the case of the penguin. As a user of free software and as a person who has in the past gotten many people to use libreoffice, I will never use libreoffice without a gun to my head unless this is made right which I suspect will not happen. You lost a lot of users and I hope you guys are happy with this.
Obviusly you are right. The only goal of TDF guys was to alienate as many users as possible. That was the reason why they organised the whole competition and that’s the reason why they have been working for for many years…
Oh, wait, no…
Not a question, there were serious organising mistakes regarding this competition. Picking a mascot is a task that everybody feels competent in, even if they are not because everybody can like one. I also had a preferred mascot but I am not an expert of graphics and design so I totally can accept that there are some technical criteria that makes a logo not appropriate for the purposes, even if I absolutely like it.
The organisers made mistakes in not clarifying those criteria in time and later on as well, not communicating those problems with the authors to let them fix the issues.
Why don’t we give the mascot project another chance? If the second attemt happens with clear acceptance conditions and transparent voting system then it still could work.
But at first, everybody should calm down and not assuming the others are mean just because they have different opinion.
Good points @Csongor ,
Just to add; all the entries were evaluated, not based on how the were rendered for the competition, but on whether the *idea* would work out. Because a mascot needs to convey a certain spirit, but also to render well in 2D, in 3D, in different sizes, as a plush toy, as an inflatable, etc…
First of all, a serious filtering had to be done to wedge out all entries that could have copyright problems, those too similar to logos/mascots already in use elsewhere, and those who would be impractical for general uses of mascots.
Ah, it seems the site removes things in angle brackets. Understandable. The last line was meant to say “We chose [a bad mascot] lol.”
Also, if you’re gonna go with the “cockatoo was using the logo ;-))))))” excuse, I’m gonna say that it’s flocking obvious that the mascot and the logo are two distinct parts of the submitted image, displayed together to emphasize that the mascot complements the logo. It would literally take less than 5 plucking seconds for the original author to remove the logo from the submission, and you didn’t ask him to do that?
I’m hereby calling for an act of transparency, give us:
a ) A list of all submissions, their authors and the thumbs up and down they got
b) A list of why each submission was rejected.
c) Whether the authors were asked to resolve the issues and given the chance to resubmit; and whether they did or not.
d) Assuming the above wasn’t done, a proper reflection on if it should have been done, and why hasn’t been done.
There’s, probably, already a fork with Libbie pasted all over it. Cockatoo one would be nice too.
What we really need now – a pack of all submitted to a contest entries, built in a ‘mascot-edition’ LO. Just in case you’re in the mood for some hummingbirds/owls/octopuses/penguins or even 4chan’s ebin ones (those were top notch) – so you could choose which one of them you wanna see at the moment. That’d be a perfect ending for a perfect trainwreck that is happening before our eyes.
As for:
“We have made several mistakes, but so did those who wanted to push forward their idea” – goddamn you, abusers, for abusing our flawed by design easily abusable system, I guess?
P.S. Hopefully all this will somehow ends well (or at least acceptable) for everyone and TDF got some expirience in avoiding poorly designed and, worst of all, poorly comunicated on most of steps competitions.
There’s still the fact that you guys have not published the vote results of the first survey. The claim that Libbie didn’t make it to the next round (according to Heiko Tietze) was met with much doubt by the community.
I’m looking forward to another mascot contest if you decide to do one, but please don’t make the same mistakes again, be more transparent and most important of all, let the community decide. Otherwise this might happen all over again.
I would model it after [Mozilla’s system](https://blog.mozilla.org/opendesign/now-for-the-fun-part/) where the best logos were chosen manually (this prevents uproar from the community when their favorite is removed). This would also a chance for some back and forward with the creators of the best designs so the ideas could be edited if they broke guidelines or need minor edits. They then gave authors an entire blog post to talk about their logo and convince people why it was the right choice. There was no true voting, only comments and feedback.
People are really uninstalling because of a mascot? You gotta be serious.
Also as a regular LibreOffice user I wonder where all these commenters are coming from, never seen so much people commenting here. I guess some of them are no real LibreOffice enthousiaste.
Btw, I also don’t like Libbie, but the mascots in round 2 were a big disappointment.
This is a pleasant surprise, and a good decision.
I hope your future efforts are more fruitful.
I am happy with this decision, and I agree that both sides are to blame.
There is no need anymore to point out where the competition was flawed. I guess everyone knows that, and I am sure the TDF Design Team learned a lot from this experience. Now it’s a part of the community that must calm down.
It is clear that many people wanted Libbie, but I also know from different forums that many of these people just started knowing about the contest after the publication of the finalists, not even being aware of the competition until then. These people were just understandably baffled that Libbie was among the contestants and was less voted than those poorly designed finalists. And yeah, some of them overreacted.
Considering the (flawed) voting system used in the first stage, I actually believe that Libbie could have been less voted than the finalists. After all, we could not compare the designs before giving thumbs up or down. I gave Libbie a thumbs down (I honestly didn’t like it as a mascot for an office suite), but I might have given her a thumbs up if I saw the lack of quality of the other designs beforehand.
About the publication of the results, I am not sure anymore if that would be a good idea. If Libbie is not among the most voted options, Libbie fans just won’t believe it. They will say the data was adulterated or anything like that.
Anyway. I understand some people are mad (especially the designers that feel wronged by the unclear rules), but creating pointless forks and uninstalling LibreOffice just because of a mascot contest (that was cancelled) is not the way to go.
If Libbie had lost fair and square, even the artist himself has said he would not have been upset. As a Libbie fan myself, I feel the same way. The cause for all of this was the unfair treatmeant of any mascot design with merit, including the cockatoo. (Which I liked.) We were given hideously unprofessional designs to vote on in the second round.
That said, I agree this was mishandled. Even if the community had every right to be upset, some of them overreached in their criticism and conspiracy theories holding no water. This was a mascot contest, not anything of serious consequence, such as the net neutrality battle going on right now; getting angry about Libbie is a misdirection of energy. I’m saying this as somebody who adores Libbie very much.
Seeing as the team have admitted their faults and decided to try this again later, I have no hard feelings. Grudges are for the birds. This open apology and transparency was all I wanted. Let’s hope the community overall shares the same sentiment.
As long as the next contest is held with a shred of commonsense, or is a closed panel of judges who contact artists of the submissions for adjustments fitting their criteria, I will have no qualms with who gets the nomination.
I’m at an urban coffee shop eating an avocado-quinoa sushi burrito, sipping on an artisanal espresso and #networking on my MacBook air. Let me tell you gross anime nerds why Libbie was the worst mascot #ever.
There are only four topics that may be discussed in a serious office setting: work, social media, sports, and Game of Thrones. Gay chinese cartoon characters aren’t included in this list of topics. Also, jokes are not permitted. If one of my subordinates were to crack a joke in my presence, I would fire him on the spot. The workplace is a serious affair: you must be committed to the good of the company, and humor is not good for the company.
With regards to personal appearance, there are only two variations: the color of your Oxford (white for the master class, blue for middle-management untermenschen) and the pattern of your tie (nothing too fruity or your ass is on the curb). Any deviation from this should result in immediate dismissal and the ridicule of your betters. The appearance of your cubicle is also important: you are entitled to (1) magnetic desk toy, (1) cut-out Dilbert newspaper strip and up to (2) aesthetically restrained coffee mugs (in addition to any work materials). Any deviation from this should result in security smashing all extraneous possessions (in addition to immediate termination). Every company should have a serious office, not some korean knick knack-filled anime convention.
I am reminded of CS Lewis’ immortal words on adulthood: “Being an adult is waging war on anything even slightly childlike or fun.” Indeed, the ideal worker must be able to identify noncomformity in his peers and beat it back with sanctimonious grandstanding. This is the only to ensure a productive workplace, and the only behavior that I will reward in my underlings.
I would recommend you investigate whether Heiko Tietze had any relationship to any of the entrants. Suggesting several of the designs were beat out, vote-wise, by horizontally-flipped, recolored clip art does not pass the smell test, nor does the seemingly-arbitrary pruning of other entries.
You had an opportunity here, to reach out to the creative types your organization so badly needs, and you squandered it. I am ashamed of the lot, even if you lack the authenticity to have shame in yourselves. Truly disgusting.
You say all that nice stuff of how things could’ve / should’ve / will be better, but you don’t release the actual results, nor the concrete reasons why entries were eliminated. How can you expect to be taken in good faith when you refuse to do anything that could bring transparency to what happened, and put it off for the future?
LibreOffice is the best Office suite in the world, I would not stop using it because of a mascot, and I doubt somebody would do such a stupid thing.