Stephane Ducasse wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> The Smalltalk Community desperately needs a cute little animal to do the
> wonders that the Penguin did for Linux.

While I agree that a logo would be nice to have for Smalltalk, it isn't
correct to ascribe the popularity of Linux to its logo. The reverse is
actually the case.

In addition, why should the logo be an animal? Why couldn't we select a
toolbox, a balloon, a constellation, or the international space station
as the logo?

Should the logo reflect the Smalltalk philosophy, or merely be a
marketing symbol that bears little resemblance to our culture?

> During Esug'99 we brainstormed to define which animals could be possible
> candidates. We elaborated a list of properties that a the mascot should
> have.

If by social, you mean they have a tight community, or very social
order, I agree. To connote social order, I'd recommend the beaver
(castor), bee, ant, and dolphin. (BTW, are there a lot of castor jokes?)
However, in the U.S. at least, individuality is more highly revered than
tightly integrated societies. Not that it's a good thing. ;) So if we
wanted to reflect that in the logo, perhaps a woodpecker or spider.

Or, for user-friendliness, how about a dog? (Less prissy and more
accommodating than a cat.)

> We asked a professional designer to draw some sketches of the
> candidate animals. You are invited to check them out under
> 
> http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~scg/cgi-bin/Smalltalk.cgi
> 
> and propose your own ideas.
> 
> We think that the Smalltalk community can afford (Stic?, Cincom?) to pay a
> real professional for designing such a mascot. For the moment we would like to
> gather all the candidate mascots, and let the community vote.

First off, I don't think the logo candidacy should be limited to animals.

Secondarily, should the logo reflect our philosophy, or merely be a
marketing tool?

Thirdly, if it reflects our philosophy, what characteristics should be
represented? a builder? a user? friendliness? social order? power (note
the difference between power and aggressiveness)? portability?
forward-thinking? experimentation?

Ciao!

Al Guerra