[Foundation-l] Wikimedia visual identity guidelines

[Jay Walsh]

Hello To Aru Shiroi Neko,

Assuming you are referring to the document from:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikimedia_visual_identity_guidelines

I support your request and your point.  I've done some studies with
'Wikipedia' in this same topic and realize that localization is
complex, and formats and standards for both the Wikimedia and
Wikipedia marks (as examples) cannot always work with non-roman
character sets.

I'm not the original author of this page, but I support the notion of
expanding the guidelines (which are guidelines, not necessarily rules)
to accommodate what needs exist in different cultures and languages.

In short, I think the chapters should build the marks that make the
most sense in their own cultures, and more importantly that they
should very easily communicate the name and idea of the chapter as
well as 'wikimedia' in some way.  I don't know if any of those chapter
marks have been made yet - any examples?

jay


2011/11/5 とある白い猫 <to.aru.shiroi.neko at gmail.com>:
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikimedia_visual_identity_guidelines
>
>
>>    - The full logo will be used, and a subline will be added under the
>>    word WIKIMEDIA.
>>
>>
>>    - The subline can be localized (eg. name of the country in the
>>    relevant language/languages). It can consist of one or more lines and
>>    can be written in the relevant script/ideograms. The WIKIMEDIA part of the
>>    logo will *not* be localized.
>>
>>
> The guideline is problematic particularly for some languages - particularly
> non-latin ones such as Arabic, Persian, Chinese, Japanese and various other
> far eastern communities.
>
> In the case of Turkish there is no letter W and the sounds for I (ı) and İ
> (i) differ. Furthermore there is no way to read "ia" as vowels aren't
> supposed to be next to each other. A localized version of the name would be
> VİKİMEDYA rather than WIKIMEDIA.
>
> The goal "common visual identity" shouldn't make foundations name
> unpronounceable in other languages. If the goal can be expressed with the
> slogan "Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share
> in the sum of all knowledge" then names of chapters shouldn't be forced to
> use characters unpronounceable or outright alien to the local population. I
> do not see how variants such as Wikimédia or Vikimedya would prevent a
> common visual identity...
>
>  -- とある白い猫  (To Aru Shiroi Neko)
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-- 
Jay Walsh
Head of Communications
WikimediaFoundation.org
blog.wikimedia.org
+1 (415) 839 6885 x 6609, @jansonw