Hello, all.
I've just posted an announcement by legal on Meta (
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikivoyage/Logo_announcement) about the
Wikivoyage logo - unfortunately, we are going to have to choose a new one.
To save you all from having to click on the link, I'll reproduce the
announcement at the bottom of my email.
Sometime in the next couple of weeks, we will need to launch a contest for
the new Wikivoyage logo, but first I'm hoping to get feedback and
assistance in making the best process for that possible. We had been
considering ways to optimize logo selection by the community, with the idea
that we would have plenty of time to talk about the process before needing
it. Unfortunately, we now need something quite quickly. Accordingly, I'd be
really grateful for feedback on the process, which has been posted here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Logo_contest_procedure
You can read a little more about it here:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Logo_contest_procedure
I hope you will share your questions, comments and suggestions there.
Thanks.
Maggie
****
As many of you know, the community held a contest to design and decide upon
the new logo that would come to represent Wikivoyage, the latest open and
collaborative project to be hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. After
review of quite a few fantastic entries and much debate, the logo below was
decided upon by community consensus: [omitted; see linked discussion]
Unfortunately, both the Foundation and several members of the community
discovered that the eventually chosen logo bore a striking resemblance to
the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) logo: [omitted; see linked discussion]
At that time, the Foundation reviewed the two logos and believed that,
while some risk existed, there were significant enough differences between
the designs and the markets the two organizations occupied for both logos
to co-exist.
Since then, the Foundation has received a cease-and-desist letter from the
WTO, requesting that we change the logo. While we wish that the WTO agreed
with our assessment that the two logos contain substantial differences and
could co-exist, we understand their concern. We still believe that there
are some significant differences between the Wikivoyage logo and the WTO,
however, such arguments are not guaranteed to win if we were to legally
oppose this request because there are also some substantial similarities.
With this in mind, as well as the fact that the Wikivoyage logo is still
relatively new and has not had a chance to build significant brand
recognition yet, we believe the better solution is to hold a new community
contest for a new logo.
We believe that the community is the best body to decide what logo should
represent their hard work and hope that interested community members will
take this opportunity to once again showcase their creativity and talent by
submitting designs. The WTO has been very understanding of the Wikimedia
movement’s values and need for community consensus and has agreed to grant
us ample time to develop a new logo through community processes. (Please
see the proposed Logo contest
procedure<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Logo_contest_procedure>re>.)
That said, we hope to begin the process of community consultation and input
in the next few days so that the new logo can be in place by the end of
July. With that, we look forward to seeing new designs!
Michelle Paulson <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mpaulson_(WMF)>
Legal and Community Advocacy
Wikimedia Foundation
--
Maggie Dennis
Senior Community Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.