Closed Bug 1050935 Opened 10 years ago Closed 9 years ago

Sam Spratt poster concept approval

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(Marketing :: Design, task)

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(Not tracked)

RESOLVED FIXED

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(Reporter: gustavo, Assigned: jbalaco)

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(9 files)

From Treehouse:

Here is the write up of the concept that Sam and I are kicking around. I think it expresses our concept well. The rough sketch is just that....rough. We will be diving into the composition in more detail as part of the visual development stage - as soon as we get approval for the concept.

They need feedback rather soon to meet production deadline.
In general I do like the superhero concept, and I like the "antiqued" color scheme. I would recommend one of the larger figures be female.

On the words at the top, I might suggest a few more to choose the final words from (those don't seem quite right yet -- "Truth Transparency Security Speed").

Words:
Trust
Open
Protect (or Protector)
Opportunity

Or possibly even just: "Doing Good is Part of our Code"
There's also the words from Mitchell's Summit speech:
https://twitter.com/lisbonne/status/386166597359915009

- Knowable, interoperable, ours.
- Know more, do more, do better.
So far we have:

One of the large figure to be female.
The words: "Truth Transparency Security Speed", do not quite work for Mozilla.
Better to use: Trust, Open, Protect (or Protector), Opportunity, Knowable, interoperable, ours, Know more, do more, do better or Doing Good is Part of our Code.

Any other comments, before we share this feedback with Treehouse?
Hmm, my previous comments seem have disappeared from the bug.

I like this direction quite a bit. I definitely think were on the right track here by following the styling of Alex Ross and Incredibles. I do agree with Andrea's comments though and would like to see the heroes captured with more equal sizing. 

Is Sam considering creating a background scene, or is the idea to keep this clean and focused primarily on the heroes?
I'd either use openness, innovation & opportunity or "Doing good is part of our Code." 

Consistent with language we've repeatedly used in the past.

Thanks.
-ME
It looks in the sketch that each of the characters represents one of the words at the top. If that's the case, will it be problematic to go from four words down to three?

Either way, I think "Doing good is part of our code" is a strong fit for this kind of visual and would recommend that one.

I love the concept, by the way, and really excited to see it develop. Thanks.
This is a bit different idea for the text. What about a Six Million Dollar Man meets Batman 'superhero' speech remix of the Manifesto principles?

Six Million Dollar Man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=HoLs0V8T5AA#t=43

Batman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GmTKtKgVgEw#t=206

Manifesto:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/

That would be closer to the 'strength, speed, truth' framing and the superhero idea.

Matej: Up for the challenge?
Also, to specifically call it out: There needs to be gender and ethnic parity in the size and composition of the figures.
(In reply to Geoffrey MacDougall from comment #7)
> 
> Matej: Up for the challenge?

I live for challenges like these:

The Internet.
A key component to modern life.
A public resource available to all.
A tool that enriches the lives of humans.
That safeguards security and privacy.
One we can shape to meet our needs.
Interoperable, innovative, decentralized.
Fueled by free, open software.
Nurtured by a fair, transparent community.
To balance the profit of a few.
With the benefit of the many.
These principles we have sworn to protect.
They are the code we live by.
Openness. Innovation. Opportunity.
This is our mission.

(Give me another hour and I could probably make it rhyme, like the Green Lantern Oath: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Lantern#Green_Lantern_Oath)
(In reply to Geoffrey MacDougall from comment #8)
> Also, to specifically call it out: There needs to be gender and ethnic
> parity in the size and composition of the figures.

I totally agree here and hopefully we can balance this with the superhero concept, where each member's "power" aligns with their appearance or physicality.
That's awesome!!! =)

I took a crack at shortening it:

The Web.
Central to modern life. A public resource.
A tool to enrich our lives, safeguard our privacy.
It's ours. We can shape it.
Open, innovative, decentralized.
To balance the profit of a few.
With the benefit of the many.
To know more, do more, and do better.
This is our mission.

Ping me by e-mail if you want to play on an etherpad.
Even shorter:

The Web.
It's ours. We can shape it.
To balance the profit of a few.
With the benefit of the many.
To know more, do more, and do better.
This is our mission.
How about this?

The Web.
Public resource and protector.
Ours to shape, to keep open and free.
To balance the profit of a few.
With the benefit of the many.
To know more. Do more. Do better.
This is our mission.
Just worked with Geoffrey on a new version we both like:

The Web.
A public resource open to all.
Ours to shape and keep free.
To balance the profit of a few.
With the benefit of the many.
To know more. Do more. Do better.
This is our mission.
Thanks, Matej.

Gustavo & Anthony: Please take this as the final feedback to Sam.

1.) Please ensure the composition (size, position, etc.) maintains gender and ethnic parity.

2.) Please replace the four words across the top with this statement:
The Web.
A public resource open to all.
Ours to shape and keep free.
To balance the profit of a few
With the benefit of the many.
To know more. Do more. Do better.
This is our mission.

Please also let Sam know that he can play with the statement if he wants to make it shorter, emphasize other points, etc.
So you don't want to reference the super heroes or their "powers" any longer. Is that correct?

Can you please describe you idea of racial parity with four characters?
(In reply to jon schindehette from comment #16)
> So you don't want to reference the super heroes or their "powers" any
> longer. Is that correct?

The challenge was that those 4 words (the powers) don't line up with how we talk about ourselves. We started trying to come up with other words (opportunity, innovation, etc.) but those didn't map to the concept of the super hero powers.

Instead, we've drafted a Mozilla version of a super hero oath / speech / mission. (See the links above to Six Million Dollar Man, Batman, and Green Lantern.) This keeps the super hero theme intact and allows the characters to stay largely what they are. The 'powers' of each character and how they support the mission can remain as they are. It's just not called out directly against the language.

> Can you please describe you idea of racial parity with four characters?

Two men, two women. At least one man and one woman need to be the same size. If the proportions of the male and female characters are exaggerated super hero style, they need to be around traits like strength and speed, rather than traditional gender stereotypes. Having each character with a different skin tone addresses the ethnic concerns. There's no need to have the race or ethnicity of each character easily identifiable.
Thank you for the clarification. I think we can work with this. I'll let you know if sam has any additional questions.
Comments from Jon:

Here is a revised sketch from Sam addressing some of the requests from the Mozilla team. We have some additional changes that I have requested:
• Jumping super hero isn't working right now. We are working on different sizing and placement
• Ethnic ranges with be someone subtle due to the palette he is using. But we will massage that a bit as well.

All the characters are being done separately so we can fine tune final composition.
Blocks: 1050998
I love this layout and direction. Small feedback:

I think the largest female figure is overly- masculine. I'd say it's OK if that figure is male, the front-most figure (with back to us) is a woman. One of the smaller figures could be female to balance. If Sam wants to keep that largest figure female I'd just size her down so she's less "hulkish."

Really excited about this.
Sam should have a sketch later today (taking Andrea's feedback into account, comment 20) - we will need quick turn around on feedback/approval - we have about 1 day left before he moves on to other projects and is then booked until first of the year.
If approved it will be 1-2 weeks for final art.
This is looking really good. I feel the same about the largest female figure too. Im glad Jon's team made note of the 4th jumping/in-flight figure needing some refinement.

Will keep my eyes on the bug for today's updated sketch.
1 - toned down the she-hulk, though I think I want to tone her down even a touch more. We like the bulk of her for anchoring the composition and she also does a good job of breaking gender stereotypes.
2 - If we have the option of not having gender parity, we would be interested in tossing the "jumper" and bringing in the firefox and thunderbird to tie back to the products and really engage the brand in the illustration.
If we can get feedback/approval in 24 hours that would allow us to stay within the production window.

Please let us know which sketch to use and:

1) Approved
2) Approved with changes - and clear and concise description of changes
3) Not approved - and and clear and concise description of changes requested

Thanks
From my perspective this is 1) Approved.

Re comment 25 I'm not sure what this means: "bringing in the firefox and thunderbird to tie back to the products and really engage the brand in the illustration" I am not sure how we choose FF and Thunderbird? or if pulling in product logos opens a big cans of worms? This is more about mission vs. specific products IMHO.
Approved. Agree that we shouldn't add the logos.
Approved.

I dont think we need to product references in the poster either
Colour version of poster sketch.
Again we need quick feedback/approval (24hours).

Thanks
Hi Gustavo - on this new color version I have some feedback. I think now that it's in color some new things are surfacing for me:

-- I still really like the direction. But now they look like people who are dressing up as superheroes vs. actual superheros. I liked this sketch (bottom): https://bug1050935.bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=8470200 -- with the big burly guy that had blown out chest muscles and looked like a real superhero. In the latest version, the figures look a little more cosplay, less like real characters I want to cheer for. Dare I say it's a little... Ace and Gary the Dynamic Duo.
-- Even building out the costumes a little more might help them look less home-made (metal clasps, symbolism, details on the cuffs and belts; etc)
-- The little dude flying in the back -- there is still something wrong about him. He makes me want to LOL more than pump my fist in solidarity.
-- Making the largest, burliest character an African American woman seems off. I'd prefer that to be perhaps a bearded dude and the women can be smaller, just not both tiny or in the background or with giant "Barbie" features (which I think he nailed for the most part)

All that said, I would love to hear from others.
For those that are not familiar with the process of illustration and approvals. Once a stage is approved, you do not go backwards - you only go forward. To "take back" an approval has both significant financial and schedule implications. Please keep this in mind when reviewing the colors and making comments that were based upon the approved sketches from the previous stage.

Thanks!
Hi Jon,

We've been through approval processes before. There is many, many decades of creative agency experience on this thread. =)

The illustration is heading is a direction that isn't resonating. The addition of colour has made the clothing look cheaper and more 'cosplay' than superhero. The flying fourth figure and the rainbow also weren't in the last revision we approved.

Happy to jump on the phone if you want to chat it through.

Thanks!

G.
Comments from Jon:

Sam worked over the holiday to affect the changes that were requested. We have now officially missed our deadline, and our release date is in jeopardy. Please provide approvals as quickly as possible.

Change notes:
-Small scale adjustments.
-Front woman's skin darkened to read more racially ambiguous/latina, He can adjust some facial features if that's not enough.
-Jumper removed.
-Large figure re-done as east-asian.
-Outfit redesigns with made up M superhero logo, cloth stitching, utility pouches (full on belts looked really bad so this seemed like a good compromise), and white accents (Sam is personally super happy with this aspect, but let me know your thoughts)
-work in progress variant with blue background and non-rainbow-esque colored stripe design elements. (Sam greatly prefers the blue here, super punchy, and I think the linear designs help to fill the composition gap the jumper leaves that couldn't be filled by the scale adjustments.)

Depending on which direction the team wants to push forward with, there will be some  atmospheric and lighting adjustments Sam needs to do that are very color specific.
Looks good. Two small things that aren't blockers:

- The woman at the back's head looks a bit small for her body
- Can the woman at the front have darker hair; she still looks caucasian

But good by me.
Both can be changed. Are there any additional notes or are we approved to proceed with change?
John? Andrea? Matej?
I think I was just here for copy, but it looks great to me, especially the background details on the blue version (and the blue version in general).

One note on the text: "Web" should be capitalized (to match our house style). Sorry I didn't catch that earlier.

Thanks.
Andrea and John, could you add your feedback so we can try to make the release date?
I haven't really been involved in the early stages of this project...doesn't feel right to parachute now. I think Geoffrey and Andrea are all over it, and defer to them here.
+1 to Geoffrey's comments in Comment 35 -- this looks good. I do like the blue background. Love the details on the uniforms, they look like legit superheroes. If I had one additional piece of feedback it's that the woman in the back looks really hulkish (maybe the larger head would help that?) Maybe tone down the giant muscles just a tad? Not a blocker.

Looks good.
Next step: 
Slightly tweaked final, quick approval and get it ready for printing.
From Jon:
Here is the final for the Mozilla print. As soon as I can get an approval, we can start the pre-production phase of development and get this thing over to the printer as soon as possible.
This looks great.

Small thing: It looks like there are missing spaces between the periods and the capital Ds before Do more and Do better. This might just be something on the proof. Please fix if true.

Approved.
From Naomi:

Sam has named his art and I just want to make sure that this works for you.

-- Mozilla Heroes Special Edition Lithograph and Mozilla Heroes Lithograph
The 18x24 version
> Sam has named his art and I just want to make sure that this works for you.
> 
> -- Mozilla Heroes Special Edition Lithograph and Mozilla Heroes Lithograph

Yes.
Status: NEW → RESOLVED
Closed: 9 years ago
Resolution: --- → FIXED
Hi, just wonder if these poster files had been release under any CC license that we can printing at our own for decorating and for Mozilla booth?
Flags: needinfo?(andrea)
I'm checking with the vendor and artist.
Flags: needinfo?(andrea)
The poster art is not under CC licensing, the art is still owned by the artist so it's not available for printing or alteration. You are welcome to purchase a poster to hang in your booth. Thanks for inquiring!
This did shock me, I cannot imaging any of the Mozilla-related materials would be close licensed. 

Should we add a ack. on gear page that this specific poster is not under CC license? (down at gear site there is a notice that "Content available under a Creative Commons license.")
Completely agreed with Irvin, terrible that we dont even state it.
cc-ing Lizz Noonan to be aware of this.
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