Legal talk:Visual identity guidelines

Using logos on a background: Clarification needed

restricted

allowed?

Section 18 of Visual identity guidelines says: "Do not add decorative shapes or borders to the accepted mark".

How do dozens of celebration Wikipedia logos from Category:Wikipedia logo variants, Category:Holidays Wikipedia logos and similar categories correspond with this?

Section 18 also says: "Do not place the logo on a colored, textured, or image background. The mark is only intended to go on white backgrounds".

There are several cases in which this is not followed.

1. Facebook profile photo frames campaign. Using a new feature to add Wikipedia logo "I Wikipedia" on a profile picture was a huge success. Profile pictures of FB users are seldom white, though (example).
2. Wikipedia Store is long since selling coloured T-shirts with Wikipedia globe and even in the guidelines there was an image named "puzzle globe on a saturated background".

I have several possible explanations:

• All the cases mentioned do contradict with Visual identity guidelines and therefore must be banned.
• Visual identity guidelines explain usage of logos referring to Wikipedia in general (and not it's anniversaries or internal projects) in official documents, texts, and places and do not touch what is going in Wikipedia itself (like project pages etc.)
• WMF is free to make with their trademark whatever they want and Visual identity guidelines are for the usage outside of WMF
• Wikimedia movement is free to make with their logos whatever they want and Visual identity guidelines are for the usage outside of Wikimedia movement

In any case, some additional clarifications are needed in the text of Visual identity guidelines because I'm sharing not my personal thoughts but confusion present among my fellow Wikimedians. If explanation already exists please link it for me. Thank you! -- Ата ^(talk) 11:30, 11 January 2017 (UTC)

Hi Ата

• I'm sorry this is confusing, some of the information about Wikimedia marks is complex. In this case, one would start with the Trademark policy. When it comes to marks on Wikimedia sites, "You may use and remix the Wikimedia marks on the Wikimedia sites as you please." Most of the detailed information of how to use the trademarks can be found in this policy.
• Regarding the Facebook frames, the Communications team considered this problem very carefully. We needed to choose between the legibility of the globe, and it's placing inside the frame. After many variations, this was our solution. If you have any suggestions for how to handle this in the future, please let us know.
• Your point about the colored background is taken. These guidelines were intended for partners and associates of Wikimedia and how they are allowed to use the mark, and we chose to use them ourselves. When it comes to merchandise designed by the Wikimedia Foundation, and gifts designed by Wikimedians, we are more flexible about colored backgrounds.

Thank you for your questions! Heather Walls (WMF) (talk) 03:07, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

A most useful page

On revisiting this page, I was just reminded what a handy model it is. Thank you. SJ + 21:11, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

2 edit requests

Hello, I have 2 edit requests if anybody can edit it!

1. In § About the Wikipedia identity, please change

The puzzle globe typically accompanies the Wikipedia wordmark, originally set in Hoefler, but recently updated to Linux Libertine, an opensource typeface, to facilitate easier localization of the wordmark in new language editions of the project. Together, we refer to this as the unified mark.

to

The puzzle globe typically accompanies the Wikipedia wordmark, originally set in Hoefler, but later updated to Linux Libertine, an opensource typeface, to facilitate easier localization of the wordmark in new language editions of the project. Together, we refer to this as the unified mark.

due to being a very relative term

2. Change the blue color of the headings to black, as they look too much like links QuickQuokka (talk) 17:39, 26 June 2023 (UTC)

 Done (but changed to green, to keep the visual distinction that I believe was intended). Thanks! Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 23:20, 3 July 2023 (UTC)

Hi both. It is fine to use the black here. Changed to black and thanks for the headsup. --Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 13:42, 11 August 2023 (UTC)