6 January 2016
A logo for unikernels!
I’ve been working towards a logo for unikernels and it’s time to gather feedback from the unikernel community! There’s been a 99designs contest running for a while — where designers have submitted just over 400 entries — and a short-list for community feedback is now at https://99designs.co.uk/logo-design/vote-99gjyi (link open until at least 15th Jan).
At this stage, the aim is to gather wider feedback to inform the next step. The final design will be selected at a later date — after further iteration with designers. Once a logo is chosen, it will be used on unikernel.org and will help inform the design of the rest of the site (with input from a professional firm).
For more background you can read the design brief and you can even look through all the entries.
Why do unikernels need a logo?
The unikernel approach as a concept has been getting much more attention recently and this will only increase throughout 2016.
Since there are a number of different projects — each approaching the problem from a different perspective — it will become even more important to ease the process of bringing in new users and contributors across all the projects.
The website at unikernel.org is already helping with this but we will also need a simple visual identity to go alongside it. Building this kind of brand will greatly improve the standing of unikernels as a whole and will be just as important as the work going on in each of the implementations. Ultimately, this will help to increase the rate of adoption.
What about projects’ existing logos?
To avoid any confusion, I’ll say upfront that this logo is not intended to replace any project’s existing brand! It’s meant to help us represent unikernels as a whole and each project will make it own choices, just as they do currently. The logo will mainly be used on unikernel.org and projects can make use of it if they wish.
Projects have already benefited from shared code and the same will be true from this shared brand.
What now?
- Give feedback on the short-list of designs via https://99designs.co.uk/logo-design/vote-99gjyi!
- Discuss this post on the new forum at devel.unikernel.org!
