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The Creative Collective’s latest design challenge – “Create the Official Mozilla 2010 T-Shirt” – has been running for a few weeks now, but there’s still plenty of time to add your contribution to the mix if you haven’t done so already. But where to begin? How is even possible to sum up Mozilla in a single t-shirt?

Here are a few tips:

1. You don’t have to use the dino head. Although the Mozilla dino is undoubtedly awesome, the creative possibilities will really open up if you look beyond the logo and explore the main themes of the challenge. There are plenty of Mozilla-related concepts, of course, but for starters the creative brief calls out openness, innovation and community. That’s certainly fertile ground for interesting ideas…the more abstract, the better.

As a relevant example, when we did the Firefox 3 t-shirt contest a couple of years ago, we got a ton of interesting designs that used the Firefox logo, but the winner was the one that went a step beyond and found a clever way to convey a broader theme (in that case, community).

2. If you must use the dino head, do it in an interesting way. In other words, think about how you can integrate it into a design that conveys the key themes mentioned above rather than just sticking the logo in the middle of the shirt and then designing around it. For example, Rogelio Calamaya, the winner of our Five Years of Firefox challenge, has submitted a design that uses the dino head, but only as one part of a larger scene. Cool stuff.

Also, it’s worth noting that our trademark policy prevents us from accepting a design that modifies the dino in any way (such as changing the color, distorting the various elements, etc). If that seems too limiting, definitely refer to point #1!

3. Avoid text! The Mozilla community is very global and includes speakers of pretty much every language, so creating a shirt with a lot of English (or any other language) isn’t a great way of celebrating that. Plus, t-shirts are a visual medium so think in terms of pictures to look at rather than words to read.

4. Remember that this challenge is about Mozilla, not Firefox (or any other specific product). We’ve already done a couple of Firefox-related challenges, and surely will do more in the future, but this one is all about Mozilla. So, make sure your design focuses on those Mozilla qualities of openness, innovation and community rather than any particular product or product logo.

5. Abstract is better than literal. Just to hammer home the first point a bit more, the name of the game is creativity, so ponder the themes, search around for inspiration and see where your muse takes you. Push yourself a bit…awesomeness awaits!

The design challenge ends on April 30, so put on your thinking caps. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

This post has been localized into Belorussian, thanks to PC

We’re in the process of building the Mozilla Developer Network to be a useful resource for developers working on the various Mozilla-based software projects and the open web in general. It’s a big, far-reaching project so, as Jay Patel noted last week, it’s important that we establish a strong brand identity for the MDN.

The first step is to create a logo that will represent the MDN to developers around the world (and also look great on a t-shirt, of course). To do this, we’ve once again turned to the talented folks at Studio Number One, who last worked with us on the logo for the Mozilla Creative Collective. And, as usual, we want this process to be as open and participatory as possible…in other words, we need your help!

The intended audience for this logo and the MDN in general is most definitely developers. As Jay’s creative brief notes, “the MDN brand will serve to unify our diverse developer communities and represent the innovation we bring to the world through the people, products, and technologies that define Mozilla.” Beyond that, the direction was pretty wide open – the key thing being that the MDN logo would feel both connected to Mozilla’s identity and history, but also be distinctly separate as its own unique entity.

Posted below are some early stage design options from Studio Number One (including different variations on similar themes). At this point in the process we need to start focusing on one for further refinement. Which one should that be? What stands out to you and why? Try to envision these on a website, t-shirt, poster, sticker, etc and let us know what you think by Friday, February 19. Any and all feedback is encouraged.

Thanks!

If you’re a graphic designer looking to get involved with Mozilla, here’s an excellent opportunity: the Mozilla Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina needs a new logo and has launched a contest in conjunction with the Creative Collective to help make it happen.

Kerim Kalamujic has posted the details (and relevant source files) on the Mozilla BiH site, so be sure to check that out if you’re interested. And if you’re not local, I’d suggest doing a little research before you start designing to make sure you capture the right flavor.

The chosen logo will be used in a wide variety of places, so this is a great chance to make a huge impact on the look & feel of one of our most active communities. Submissions are due March 15th…looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Being a fan of email, Ben Chestnut of mailchimp.com had always wondered why there weren’t all that many Thunderbird shirts in the Mozilla Community Store. So, he asked the MailChimp design lead Ron Lewis to cook something up.

In response, Ron came up with an airbrush-style creation worthy of the grooviest 70s van. I’ll go out on a limb and say that an email client has never before looked this cool:

This image, titled “Morning Dew“, and its darker counterpart, “Sunset Steam“, are now both available at the Community Store. Either one makes the perfect fashion choice for any open source gathering, developer conference or simply the next time you hang out with this guy.

Our Five Years of Firefox design challenge over at the Creative Collective has ended, and I’m very pleased to report that the winner is “Happy B-Day Firefox“, by Rogelio Calamaya, Jr (aka Lucero). There were a lot of great submissions, but his stood out as one of my favorites…very creative and well-done.

Mary Colvig has a post with more information that also showcases some of the other amazing community activity that took place around Firefox’s 5th birthday, so be sure check that out.

Congrats to Rogelio for his awesome work, and BIG thanks to everyone who took the time to create and submit a design. Stay tuned for info on the next one coming soon!

When we launched the Mozilla Creative Collective last August, our goal was to give artistically-inclined members of the Mozilla community a place to share their work. Since then, our artists have uploaded nearly 800 pieces, including some very unique and unexpected stuff…as always, seeing the community in action is a very awesome and inspiring thing.

One of my favorite Creative Collective artists is Hamu, who lives in Beijing and has posted 29 Firefox-inspired illustrations so far. His work is an interesting blend of and modern cartoons and traditional Chinese styles, so I decided to get in touch and find out more about his inspirations and process. He gave some great answers, so be sure to read the interview below and then check out his full gallery at the MCC.

Thanks Hamu!

When you start working on a new piece, what’s your artistic process like? Specifically, what about Firefox inspires you?

Well, as same as other artists, before painting I need some inspiration. Inspiration in my perspective means some human feeling from one’s daily life. When the inspiration is clear and definite in my mind, I will do some imagination to decide the overall composition and construction, then I will start painting.

Firefox comes from a worldwide community. I started my Internet browsing in 1997 and witnessed “The 1st Internet Browser War” between Internet Explore and Netscape. After that, this virtual world lost the balance – IE grew bigger and bigger, but it became worse and worse.

The rise of Firefox was like new blood giving this virtual world a rebirth. It has stimulated people’s creativity. The success of Firefox is a story happening in front of eyes. In the story, Firefox experienced failure, reflection, rebirth and eventually won. It encouraged me to keep creating something new.

One of my favorite pieces you’ve done is “Traditional Chinese Style” (annotated version shown above). What was the process like as you were creating that one? What do the various symbols and characters mean?

At the very beginning of my Mozilla Creative Collective life, I tried to do something different than others. I didn’t focus on the group of keywords like “5″, “birthday” and “anniversary” – instead, I tried to express the feeling from my daily life with Firefox during this five years. With “Traditional Chinese Style” I wanted to express that with Firefox we could freely do anything on the Internet, that there were no longer any restrictions on browsing.

I have heard that, 201 years ago, an American man named Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky – afterwards he proposed “The Emancipation Proclamation”, which gave hope to those black slaves and eventually he won the American Civil War. I have also heard that, 92 years ago, a Japanese man named Matsushita Konosuke used only 100 Japanese yuan and built the world famous corporation Panasonic. 16 years ago, a black African whose name is Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ended the apartheid in South Africa and won in a fully representative democratic election. With a dream, a mortal will become a hero.

When I saw the notice of Firefox’s 5th anniversary, a Chinese proverb flashed in my mind: “海阔凭鱼跃，天空任鸟飞”. The direct translation is “the sea is wide enough that fish could swim to everywhere, the sky is wide enough that bird could fly to everywhere.” It comes from a Buddhist named 元览 (Yuan Lan) who lived in the 唐 (Tang) dynasty in China. He wrote “大海从鱼跃，长空任鸟飞” on a piece of bamboo to express his feeling. I translate this poetry as “With a dream, you could sail to everywhere you want; with a dream, you could fly to everywhere you like.” It’s a metaphor that one can be fully free to act, or freely demonstrate one’s abilities without constraints.

(editor’s note: here’s a larger version of the annotated image shown above)
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As Sarah Doherty noted in a blog post earlier today, the submission period of our Five Years of Firefox design challenge has ended, and now it’s time to cast your votes.

Just sign into your account at the Creative Collective, browse the challenge gallery for designs you like and click the I Vote for This button when you’re so inspired. You can vote for as many designs as you want (in fact, that’s encouraged).

The only tricky part is that there are a lot of submissions to browse through, and we have some really good ones this time around. You’re certainly encouraged to follow your own design eye, but if you’re looking for a shortcut from someone who’s seen them all, here’s my personal top 10 (in order of submission):

* Happy B-day Firefox, by lucero
* Firefox is 5, by milgaviel
* Speed Up, by hamu
* Firefox Fiesta, by minervagm
* Exploring the World, by dgwhite
* Five Years, by vinayak
* A Minimalistic Congratulation, by flyboy
* Simple and Effective, by creativedave63
* Celebrate With Us the FFF!, by xeryc
* Happy Birthday Firefox!, by followmedesign

Here’s a Flickr slideshow of the designs listed above:

Update: our next design challenge isn’t happening until January, so we’re extending the voting period on this one until December 31. Spread the word!

On this date in 2004, Firefox was released to an online world that was extremely different from the one we know today. There was no YouTube, no Twitter, no Facebook (at least not in its current form)…it was all very Web 1.0. Things like pop-ups and viruses were accepted facts of life, and the notion of expecting a new browser to challenge the monopolistic IE was the definition of absurd.

We’re all familiar with what happened next, of course, but that doesn’t make it any less incredible or inspirational. It’s a truly amazing story, and I am beyond honored to be even a small part of it.

At the heart of all this – even when you strip away the amazing technological advancements and features that really have changed the way people use the web – is a social movement comprised of people from around the world with the common interest of making things better. That’s a pretty powerful force, and makes me very optimistic about what we’ll accomplish together over the next five years.

With all that in mind, we created a short video to sum up what Firefox really is and why it matters. Check it out (and share it with your friends!), then head over to our Five Years of Firefox microsite to see all the other community festivities. Happy birthday!

*Crossposted from the Mozilla Blog*

The results from the Mozilla Creative Collective’s “Firefox Goes Mobile” design challenge are in, and I’m happy to announce that the winner is “Pocketfox”, by Yaroslaff Chekunov. As the official emblem of the upcoming mobile version of Firefox, we’ll be using this image as an avatar on social networking sites, on mozilla.com, on t-shirts and more. It makes a great addition to our portfolio of Firefox imagery!

Yaroslaff, who is based in Krasnodar, Russia, cites as his design inspiration, “the Firefox itself, your approach to the web-site execution, and of course my wife who always brings up new ideas.” Be sure to check out his other Mozilla work as well as his general portfolio.

The four runners-up in the challenge were Mauro Henrique de Bulhões Fidelix’s “Hot Navigation”, Emmanuel John Y. Villar’s “One Mask One Family One World”, Joyce Schellekens’ “Firefox All Around the World” and Eric Yeoung’s “MobiFox”. Interestingly, these designers all hail from different countries (Brazil, the Philippines, the Netherlands and Indonesia), which speaks to the incredible diversity of our community. Many thanks to them, and to everyone else who participated, for sharing their time and talents with Mozilla.

We’ve also launched a new challenge at the Creative Collective: “Five Years of Firefox”. Help us celebrate Firefox’s 5th birthday by creating designs based on this milestone. The possibilities are practically endless, but should generally focus on recognizing what a great accomplishment this is for the Mozilla community and what it’s meant for the hundreds of millions of people who use Firefox. The winner will be featured on this blog, turned into desktop wallpaper and t-shirts, and more.

The submission period for “Five Years of Firefox” ends on December 9th, but don’t wait to get started. Visit the design challenge page for more details, and we can’t wait to see what you come up with!

For the latest chapter of my occasional Q&A series with notable online community builders, I spoke with Jen Burton, the community manager at Digg. In her job wrangling thousands of Digg community members and their daily interactions on the site, Jen has accumulated quite a bit of wisdom that she was kind enough to share here. Thanks much to Jen for her time! (Note: this interview was conducted in mid-August…my fault on slacking on getting it posted.)

Tell us about what your role is at Digg. What do you do there, and what’s a typical day like?

Sure – the community manager role at Digg encompasses (at least) three different areas: product management & strategy, product marketing & outreach, and finally representing the community. My typical day involves a quick scan through Google reader, checking in with my team to see what’s been up on the site or in emails and several meetings. I work closely with product management, QA and dev as most pushes are forward facing so it’s important that my team and I are aware of any changes coming down. The Digg community will definitely let us know how they feel about feature releases so I want to be prepared.

Obviously the entire Digg site is one big community interaction point, but what are the primary ways you engage with your community? Both in terms of hearing incoming feedback as well as communicating outwardly to them, that is.
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