Ben Bucksch wrote:
> Gervase Markham wrote:
>
> > As a related observation, it seems very odd to me that Netscape chose to
> > open the source of its entire Communicator code base, and set up a
> > "Mozilla" project to look after it, but didn't give the project rights to
> > the cute green Mozilla graphics...
>
> Me too. I really like it, by far better than the new, red one.
In the initial days of the Mozilla project the www.mozilla.org site did
in fact use the original green lizard as part of the site banner. There
was no issue with Netscape not being willing to grant use of the green
lizard; in fact, the original mozilla.org site was basically created as
an offshoot of the existing Netscape developer relations site at
developer.netscape.com and reused a lot of Netscape artwork, including
the "starry sky" design used on Netscape web sites and product boxes at
the time.
To the best of my knowledge Jamie Zawinski was the person responsible
for abandoning use of the green lizard and commissioning the "red
dinosaur" logo and associated artwork. I presume jwz did so in order to
create a separate brand image for the Mozilla project and distance it
from existing or historical Netscape products and web sites (although of
course jwz would die a thousand deaths before using a term like "brand
image" :-) I suspect another major factor was jwz's fondness for the
work of Shepard Fairey, the artist who created the mozilla.org artwork.
FWIW I agree with jwz that the Mozilla project was and is better off
with a new logo. I liked the green lizard and have lots of "Mozilla
wear" in the form of polo shirts, etc. However I believe the green
lizard was too closely identified with Netscape the company and with the
proprietary Netscape Navigator product, and that it was a good idea to
use another logo for Mozilla the open source project. (I also think the
red dinosaur is far superior to the green lizard as a work of graphic
design -- but to each their own taste.)
Frank
--
Frank Hecker work: http://www.collab.net/
[EMAIL PROTECTED] home: http://www.hecker.org/
