Promotional material

[clem]

Hi,

Introduction:

Linux Mint is becoming an important project and so it's time for it to get good promotional material and to give people the means to efficiently promote it. In comparison to other projects, we've made almost no efforts at marketing Linux Mint. I guess you're all aware of the marketing campaigns lead by Microsoft and Apple, and we can also appreciate the quality of the material provided by projects such as Fedora and OpenSUSE. Our desktop is among the best available, we're growing fast and it's been done with people talking to people and our popularity slowly spreading from ear to ear..

... surprisingly, our artwork has been very good too and there have been numerous talented artists signing their name onto our releases and the wallpapers made available to the community. So I guess all we need is to get started, to get organized and to work at promoting our project.

We're new to this of course, so I'm not really sure where to start. I guess the best thing is to let the artists throw the first drafts and follow their own intuition, and for us to provide the SVG versions of our logos and links to what is being done within the other projects in regards to marketing materials.

The Mint logo:

The Linux Mint logo is available in SVG, attached to this forum post.

Other projects:

Fedora:
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Artwork/PromoBanners
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Marketing/Banners
http://fedora.nicubunu.ro/banners/
http://fedora.nicubunu.ro/artwork/

OpenSUSE:
http://en.opensuse.org/Buttons
http://en.opensuse.org/Artwork/Banners
http://en.opensuse.org/Artwork/Countdown
http://en.opensuse.org/Artwork/Miscellaneous

Ubuntu:
http://spreadubuntu.neomenlo.org/
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WebsiteButtons
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ServerBanners
http://crunchbang.org/archives/2007/11/ ... rs-part-2/

Thanks in advance to everyone for helping out with this.

Clem.

[RedWagon]

If anyone has ideas for slogans/text for websites, post those also. I can put together a decent looking web-banner, the only hard part for me is writing the text. I should be able to get some together this afternoon.

[nightman]

Hi, I think that making some promotional materials is a great idea. But remember that we now live in the whole new era so simple banners/posters won't be enough.

It would be nice idea to promote Mint and integrate it's users using services like Twitter (why You haven't Twitter account?), Youtube (tutorials, mind blowing effects etc.) etc..

You can even think about integrating people in a new service/website (mintcommunity.com?) that will combine things like tutorials (Youtube), new themes (gnome-look), community (forum threads, twits etc).

I did a few years ago a website: http://www.ubuntustory.com . Maybe it's some idea to start? I'm sure that You can take it to the whole new level.

[reverend_nerd]

For some time my laptop has been "tattooed" with a big Linux Mint Sticker I had made with a good quality PNG file I found hanging around the site.

It's simple, has the logo, the name and the tagline "from freedom came elegance". I didn't get the care to trim everything to look xtra nice, but still it is complimented when I open the little guy around in cafés and libraries. In fact, I even got people to try Mint on their machines just because of their curiosity!

The image of my little companion is here: http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/7519/mintsticker.jpg

Also, I'm about to start my exam period at university right now, but after that is through I'll see if there is anything left to be done!

Cheers!
Felipe Sentelhas

[Jay514]

Good Ideas, I've made wallpapers with text & added mint logos, but I really haven't done anything else, would be glad to help with text, text images, text manuipulation if possable. Just leave me a message
jay514

[reverend_nerd]

I just finished messing around with a little idea I had, while I wait for the exam schedule.

Its a 80x15 button, in fact, more of a project, since I need to spend more time looking at it to see if I can improve things a little bit. It is attached

button draft

mint_button.png (1.72 KiB) Viewed 8526 times

Also! I need to ask Clem, what is the font you used for the name of the distro? juto to get the typography right!
In fact, I need it to write the "Get" before "Mint" in the banner!

Cheers!
Felipe Sentelhas

[c5froa]

Hey Clem,

I'm not the best at creating marketing material but hell i'd like to help promote Mint.
Could we have a space created for those wanting to promote to be able to download banners, sticker templates, and whatever other materials created through this project...

Cheers,

Frost

[mattf]

This is great! I'll get to work on a wallpaper.

[Zwopper]

I just finished messing around with a little idea I had, while I wait for the exam schedule.

Its a 80x15 button, in fact, more of a project, since I need to spend more time looking at it to see if I can improve things a little bit. It is attached

mint_button.png

Also! I need to ask Clem, what is the font you used for the name of the distro? juto to get the typography right!
In fact, I need it to write the "Get" before "Mint" in the banner!

Cheers!
Felipe Sentelhas

There is no "real" official font, the closest we've got is this!

BTW, I'm also game for anything graphical or text wise - just toss out ideas if you've got them.
And not to toot my own horn here, but it would probably be nice to base the promotional material for Gloria on Mint Dew, to keep the look and user experience professional and uniform. - Just my 2 cents.

[stressonthesky]

I think what is needed with regard to promotion of Linux Mint is context. Let me explain.

What I notice first, looking at the banners and various promotional artwork of other Linux distros, is that they are very static. Just images, with promotional texts/leading questions to intrigue a user but no interaction; no relevance between the image posted and a site it might be posted on. What marked the firefox and getfirefox campaign as so good was that there were, what have now been termed, widgets; download counts, links to your firefox promo-profile and more. This drew users in like nobodies business because anyone either putting these links on their websites, or indeed viewing them, could do something or learn something before even clicking the link.

What I would therefore propose would be to make use of current web technologies (json, javascript libraries etc) to create some of these so called widgets, perhaps a download type counter to start with. Fairly easy to create using cross domain json, implemented with sprinkling of javascript and some basic html for a Linux Minter to post it on their blog or site. However, I think what could be a better use of json would be to create these widget banners and load the promotional text in the language of the users choice. Linux is used all over the world, why limit its positive propaganda to one language?

There'd be no need to use flash (a bit of a bone of contention with linux anyway) just simple html, included a javascript file to overwrite the pertinant parts. In a similar way to how Twitters' simple widget works, if anyone has ever tinkered with that.

Anyway, just a few ideas, what do you think?

[mesanna]

Cool!! I just asked about this!

I'm no great artist but I cobbled together a little graphic cos I wanted to promote Mint 7 on my blog (see this forum discussion http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=152&t=26249 )

You can see the graphic I created here:http://mesanna.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/linuxmint.jpg
It's on the main page of my site (http://mesanna.com) and when you click it, it links to the Mint home page. If anyone wants to use this image for now, please go ahead. I would only ask that you please save it to your own web space, rather than directly linking to mine, thanks.

[mesanna]

What I would therefore propose would be to make use of current web technologies (json, javascript libraries etc) to create some of these so called widgets, perhaps a download type counter to start with. Fairly easy to create using cross domain json, implemented with sprinkling of javascript and some basic html for a Linux Minter to post it on their blog or site.

I hear what you're saying, but my site, for example, is a wordpress.com blog. The blogs there are hosted by Wordpress itself and they will not allow Javascript or anything like that on their servers. I can't speak for other blogging platforms, but please bear in mind that some of us are restricted. Ubuntu, in the run up to the Jaunty release, offered countdown images that changed every day (I can't recall exactly how they did it - maybe an iframe??), but they also offered a static image for the Wordpress users (the image was hosted by Ubuntu and they could change it as release date approached).

Just my tuppence worth

[john1923]

By promotional material I hope we mean T-shirts, coffee mugs, mousepads ect...

as I have been wanting a Linux Mint branded USB memory stick for ages.

[stressonthesky]

The blogs there are hosted by Wordpress itself and they will not allow Javascript or anything like that on their servers.

But you dont need to store the script on your server, just link to anothers. No files need to be hosted on your own website/blog - they'd be loaded off site, from either the linux-mint blog or any other server really.

All you'd do is post something like (really basic example):

Code: Select all

<script src="linuxmint.com/promotion/counter.js" />

Onto a post or page, or template if you can, and away you go.

However, if javascript is a real problem then there are other ways around it. Text replacement technologies are pretty powerful and link in a little php with them mean you can generate images "on-the-fly" so to speak and link them as you would a normal image into your website. Using a simple .htaccess file (again on the hosting server - not your blog) you could create a nice clean url which actually links to a script which generates (in the case of the counter idea) an image of the number of downloads/registered users or whatever. Many people use a similar technique to put their latest blog posts in a forums' signature box as usually only images are allowed.

P.S I second the Linux Mint usb stick, though no messing around - minium 2bg or bust

[reverend_nerd]

There is no "real" official font, the closest we've got is this!

BTW, I'm also game for anything graphical or text wise - just toss out ideas if you've got them.
And not to toot my own horn here, but it would probably be nice to base the promotional material for Gloria on Mint Dew, to keep the look and user experience professional and uniform. - Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the font, it is on a early stage and may receive some polishing, I'll consider doing that as well in a time soon.

As for the Dew theme, I second your opinion, we must have something that is a identifiable "trendmark"

In fact, I was going to suggest something interesting in that same way. Due to the flavoured name "Mint" holds, I believe that in the small buttons, constrained with small direct messages, we must use "taste mint", rather than "get mint".

Just like these button drafts I present.
The first with the typography from the logo,


Then two with the "taste mint" idea, first in Liberation Sans the second in Sans Bold. (these are good fonts to work with in ultra-low size)




Hope you like it! I just got an idea for a bigger banner, I'll get right into it!

Cheers!

[ayonkhan]

Good job reverend_nerd.

[Jay514]

Please note : This banner is a WORK IN PROGRESS,updated banner work continues at this link
( /viewtopic.php?f=163&t=26904#p156154 )

Old Banner : JaysBannerWork4.JPG Deleted

[Zwopper]

Nice there Jay, maybe a little busy...
And the font is kind of hard to read...

[reverend_nerd]

Just finished a banner



though, i'm not happy with the results yet! I'm trying to get the fell of the mint 7 splash loading screen! so slick!

That's all for today folks!

[RedWagon]

I think Jay's is a little too busy, when promoting elegance I think simpler is better. I really like reverend's design.