Is it possible to add cute anime girl mascot to Spirit?

[saki7]

GCC's Bugzilla https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/ occasionally displays this cute image.
As a Japanese maintainer I want to see some cute anime girl on Spirit too, because parser combinator is hard.

Seriously asking, is there any rule on the Boost Organization that prohibits such material? If none, I can contact my artist friend to start designing one.

I'm not thinking of taking over the official logo or whatsoever. Just a cute anime girl on README. Is that permissible?

[djowel]

Sweet and cute :-)

[djowel]

I'd say go for it!

[vinniefalco]

FYI we already have an artist and an art style. Examples:

Did you want something like this?

[saki7]

@vinniefalco I had an anime-style character in mind, like the example I referenced. Is there an org-wide policy requiring that art style for the sublibrary?

[vinniefalco]

@vinniefalco I had an anime-style character in mind, like the example I referenced. Is there an org-wide policy requiring that art style for the sublibrary?

There is no org-wide policy and there will not be one. The C++ Alliance provides artwork in a specific style as part of its initiative to create a cohesive brand. Every library producing its own different art style works against this goal. That said, our contributions are accepted at the leisure of the author or maintainer of the library. If you have an interest we can provide an image for the library, and it will be in the style that is consistent with the brand identity we are trying to create. Of course, you are free to use your own artwork however then your library will not receive any promotions.

There is no rule preventing you from doing what you want. And there is no rule preventing the rest of us from doing what we want. As Peter made clear, there is a Boost community and you can choose to work with it or you can go off and do your own thing (to the detriment of the project).

[saki7]

There is no rule preventing you from doing what you want. And there is no rule preventing the rest of us from doing what we want.

@vinniefalco I was thinking of submitting a pull request with my proposed art style. If your statement above is true, then how can we determine whether to accept or reject the pull request? In other words, how can we determine the validity of a review? If there's equally weighted freedom on both sides, it can be accepted and rejected at the same time, with equal weights.

This is why I asked for the established policy.

Is C++ Alliance steering the branding of Boost community? If so, please show me the official document that describes the status quo. If not, why would you complain about this proposal on behalf of the C++ Alliance?

[vinniefalco]

Is C++ Alliance steering the branding of Boost community? If so, please show me the official document that describes the status quo. If not, why would you complain about this proposal on behalf of the C++ Alliance?

C++ Alliance is not "steering the branding of Boost community." We are offering things for individual libraries, and offering content to the Fiscal Sponsorship Committee which controls shared assets such as the X.com account and the boost.org website itself. The authors and maintainers of the individual libraries as well as the FSC have the option to accept these contributions, or to not accept these contributions.

The C++ Alliance also creates promotional materials such as brochures, posters, and T-shirts which are distributed at conferences and committee meetings. We are also rolling out a playable trading card game based on Boost libraries. The intent is to create collectibles whose sales support Boost..

Here is a poster:

Here is a brochure:

Here is a shirt:

Here are some trading card examples:

Here is an official post on X.com:

These are all Alliance contributions and part of our effort to establish a distinct visual identity for the Boost project. If you are open to having our artist develop artwork for the Spirit library consistent with our objectives, then we are happy to promote Boost.Spirit in brochures, trading cards, shirts, and in official communications on social media.

On the other hand, you have the right to use your own imagery and if you do that, then we will not promote your library in brochures, in trading cards, shirts, and such. Completely up to you.

Thanks

[saki7]

The authors and maintainers of the individual libraries as well as the FSC have the option to accept these contributions, or to not accept these contributions.

Then I vote for Spirit to not accept images from The C++ Alliance. To be honest I believe many of the community members actually prefer the anime-style character, because not small amount of people throughout the world are anime fans (in contrast to the number of fans of Cartoon Network or Magic: The Gathering).

I respect your business and I plan not to interfere with your existing activities. I'm not suggesting any kind of takeover or replacement of your assets. But I have my own preference and I'm suggesting the alternative art style. It's that simple, I think.

On the other hand, you have the right to use your own imagery and if you do that, then we will not promote your library in brochures, in trading cards, shirts, and such. Completely up to you.

I never requested to replace your brochures, T-shirts, or trading cards.

[saki7]

Please also note that I pretty much doubt the C++ Alliance has provided any meaningful contribution to Spirit (yet). We received no pull requests from your employees ever since your company got active. We are not aware of any kind of news that Spirit was promoted on some offline event. Did Joel receive the trading card you mentioned? Does the T-shirt feature Spirit.X3?

In contrast, I write thousands of lines of code to contribute to Spirit.

[djowel]

Man, this is very subjective! To be honest, having lived in Japan for almost a decade, I like the Japanese aesthetic. No offense, @vinniefalco but your artist's aesthetic is too american :-)

[saki7]

Yes, I agree that this is subjective matter. Given the fact that the Boost Organization does not have established policy about the art style of sublibraries, I'd think the personal preference is actually important in this case.

At least two maintainers prefer anime style; that motivates me to continue the discussion with my Japanese artist friend. I'll send the PR as soon as the art is finished.

[vinniefalco]

Man, this is very subjective! To be honest, having lived in Japan for almost a decade, I like the Japanese aesthetic. No offense, @vinniefalco but your artist's aesthetic is too american :-)

I hear you and we prioritized having a consistent style that we could replicate as needed and on demand such as for social media postings and promotional materials. Of course, an anime image in the documentation is benign so there's no conflict there.

Joel what is your level of desire of working with our branding plans?

[djowel]

Joel what is your level of desire of working with our branding plans?

What do you have in mind?

[vinniefalco]

What do you have in mind?

The usual stuff that we've been doing... library artwork, poster, etc... Of course, if we split Spirit up into 3 separate repositories then there would be three separate artworks... lol