[okfn-discuss] new brand, new website: coming up next week

Kersti Wissenbach krwissenbach at gmail.com
Mon Apr 14 09:43:28 UTC 2014


Dear all,

It is only now that I found the time to read all feedback on the identity
changes but my first impressions last week were entirely inline with the
concerns Tim has been raising and fully support his argumentation.

I see two main challenges in the new positioning.
The data focus which I consider equally problematic as Tim as well the the
(related) non people-focused positioning.
'Knowledge creates power' and 'data frees us' do not entail the reflection
on the people behind any data creation or knowledge production process.
Therefore, those phrases appeal rather top-down - data being imposed on
people...
I believe a tagline focusing more on the human aspect behind any creation
and use of data, information and/or knowledge (including the downsides of
it) would be needed.

As for the OKFN community I get the impression that we are moving towards a
rather hierarchical structure than networked community feeling. Maybe this
might weight stronger for those countries where OKFN does not have a legal
chapter but rather only lose groups or ambassadors but specifically given
OKFNs aim to expand towards broader and more dispersed communities I
consider this problematic.
I believe attention on avoiding a dichotomous lingua when talking about
central and the rest of the communities should be of importance.

It would be great to have some further reflections indeed.

Warm wishes,
Kersti









*Kersti Ruth Wissenbach*
campaign strategies | program coordination | research

*Freedom of Expression & Information | Open Development **| ICT4C *

NL ambassador Open Knowledge Foundation

Mobile +31 (0)634193966
Skype kersti.wissenbach
@kerstiru




On Mon, Apr 14, 2014 at 5:04 AM, Aaron Wolf <wolftune at gmail.com> wrote:

> Good discussion here, and the sort of thing that is needed.
>
> How Open Data Can Change the World? Maybe it will ruin it! I think there's
> value in going for actually specifying something to indicate change *for
> better*. Or perhaps "*Improve* the World". Change isn't always good.
>
> So I think "See How Open Knowledge Can Improve the World" is a much better
> tagline. Or shorter and bolder "Open Knowledge Will Improve the World".
>
> As I said before, I *like* the new logo, and am fine with it being
> data-centric. Given the data-focused logo though, there is no need, in fact
> it is problematic, to focus tag-lines and messaging on data. The word that
> already is associated is "knowledge" the whole idea is "Open Knowledge" and
> that is already not everything exactly, but it encompasses far more than
> just Open Data. "Open Knowledge" is also a far more inspiring concept.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Aaron Wolf
> wolftune.com
>
>
> On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Friedrich Lindenberg <
> friedrich.lindenberg at okfn.org> wrote:
>
>> I'd say that's a relatively high bar to set for OKF projects: penicillin,
>> containerised shipping, CKAN.
>>
>> I'm sure the funders will like it.
>>
>> - Friedrich
>>
>> On 13 Apr 2014, at 21:20, heath rezabek <heath.rezabek at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> The tagline doesn't tell you how, but it does pose an invitation to find
>> out.  I consider it akin to "Ask how Open Culture can change the world."
>>  It poses a challenge.  It then is up to you to present, through your
>> workshops or hackathons or discussions or deliverables or what-have-you,
>> how that is in the case of your particular Open project.
>>
>> Wrt change, indeed it's a loade word at this point, but then again, if
>> there was nothing in the world one wanted to change (impact), then we
>> wouldn't be doing anything at all.  If we care enough to expend effort on
>> some action which impacts the world, it's because we feel it will effect a
>> change.  And then, as above, it's up to us to describe how that happens.
>>
>> - Heath
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Apr 13, 2014 at 12:46 PM, Friedrich Lindenberg <
>> friedrich.lindenberg at okfn.org> wrote:
>>
>>> What Andrew said.
>>>
>>> To be honest, the slogan strikes me as a bit vacuous as it avoids
>>> telling us *how* data/knowledge/muffins will have any effect, and instead
>>> goes for the "change" meme, which I has been beaten to death by a
>>> combination of TED talks and American presidential campaigns for the past
>>> couple of years.
>>>
>>> It's ironic that the slogan is essentially a statement of faith.
>>>
>>> - Friedrich
>>>
>>>
>>> On 13 Apr 2014, at 19:33, Andrew Stott <andrew.stott at dirdigeng.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Laura
>>>
>>> Although branding is rarely best done by committee, I am a strong +1 for
>>> Heath's suggestion of adding the word Open to the tagline to make
>>>
>>> "See How Open Data Can Change the World"
>>>
>>> "See How Data Can Change the World" would also work for Google or the
>>> NSA; for us it's surely the "Open" which distinguishes the Open Knowledge
>>> community.
>>>
>>> I'm also a strong +1 for Heath's suggestion of a template of "See How
>>> Open ___________ Can Change the World" - that brings in non-Data-specific
>>> communities (eg Science) around the concept of Open which unites us.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Andrew
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* okfn-discuss [mailto:okfn-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org<okfn-discuss-bounces at lists.okfn.org>
>>> ] *On Behalf Of *Laura James
>>> *Sent:* 13 April 2014 10:53
>>> *To:* Open Knowledge Foundation discussion list; Susanne Kendler; Naomi
>>> Lillie
>>> *Subject:* Re: [okfn-discuss] new brand, new website: coming up next
>>> week
>>>
>>> Hi Heath,
>>>
>>> These are great ideas :)   thoughts in-line:
>>>
>>> On 12 April 2014 19:28, heath rezabek <heath.rezabek at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I have a thought on this, and want to present a possible way a local
>>> ambassador or chapter could utilize the logo and tagline in a flexible but
>>> harmonious way.  One thing I'd be interested to hear is whether or not such
>>> a usage would be acceptable to OK Leadership.  If so, then to me it feels
>>> like a built-in solution.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> With the addition of the word 'open' to the first tagline, you'd end up
>>> with
>>>
>>>     See How Open Data Can Change the World
>>>
>>> ... which meshes more completely with Open Data Open Minds.  With this
>>> as an example, it's not much of a stretch to envision a tagline saying:
>>>
>>>     See How Open Science Can Change The World
>>>
>>> or ...
>>>
>>>     See How Open Platforms Can Change The World
>>>
>>> ... which of course leads to Open Science / Open Minds ... or Open
>>> Platforms / Open Minds ... and even Open Knowledge / Open Minds.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> While I know the determined tagline reads "See How Data Can" and not
>>> "See How Open Data Can", I wonder what the branding team might think of
>>> this slight change of perspective as a path to a full range of approaches.
>>>
>>>     See How Open ______ Can Change the World
>>>
>>>     Open ______    Open Minds
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm not the whole branding team - but I love it :)
>>>
>>> Laura
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> okfn-discuss mailing list
>>> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
>>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> okfn-discuss mailing list
>>> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
>>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Heath Rezabek  //  labs.vessel.cc
>> Long Now Foundation (Intern)  //  Manual for Civilization Project  //
>> longnow.org
>> Icarus Interstellar  //  FarMaker Design Corps  //
>> icarusinterstellar.org
>> Open Knowledge Foundation  //  Texas Ambassador for the OKFn  //
>> okfn.org
>>
>>  _______________________________________________
>> okfn-discuss mailing list
>> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> okfn-discuss mailing list
>> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
>> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-discuss mailing list
> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-discuss/attachments/20140414/09b53edd/attachment-0002.html>


More information about the okfn-discuss mailing list