Create ETLHelper logo

[volcan01010]

Summary

As an ETLHelper developer, I want a smart logo for ETLHelper so that it can be recognised in documentation or social media posts.

Description

For ETLHelper version 1, it would be nice to have a logo. This would appear in the documentation sites and on social media pages and would make it easy to recognise items related to ETL Helper around the web.

The logo would replace the placeholder image on the documentation site here: https://britishgeologicalsurvey.github.io/etlhelper/
It should have an approximately square aspect ratio.

Concept

I already have an idea of what I would like.
It would be based on the lower part of the BGS logo (the thrust fault / subduction zone), but with the layers modified to look like rows in a database table.

ETL in ETL Helper stands for Extract, Transform, Load and the tool is made to move data around and modify it. A thrust fault / subduction zone is a place where rock layers are moved past each other. In a subduction zone, minerals in the downward-going plate are transformed / metamorphosed by the higher mantle temperatures. Diagrams of subduction zones also look like conveyor belts, which tie in with the idea of moving data along.

By using this part of the logo, and by choosing colours from the BGS palette, this design would be a nod back to BGS. An more explicit link to BGS in the logo would not make sense because this tool is not explicitly for geological data and it has a wide user base, most of whom will not know what BGS is.

Database tables are usually represented as rows and columns, like a spreadsheet. The header row is often different to the main body of the table, either with bolder text or a different colour. The normal rows are often have alternating colours to make it easier to track your eye along them horizontally. Thin vertical bars separate the columns. Of these ideas, the alternating rows and the different coloured header are most important. This suggests at least two colours + white from the BGS palette could be used. We could also consider other colours on either side of the fault line.

Example representations of database tables in a Google image search: https://www.google.com/search?q=database+table+images&client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=572016509&tbm=isch&sxsrf=AM9HkKk-wKbGEufXxwZcYyFFeKZZb-jDJQ:1696887803212&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjmo-_V9-mBAxXD_bsIHcdDAPwQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1280&bih=587&dpr=1.5

Databases are often represented as icons that look like large cylinders. This is to show that they are containers. This is the theme in our placeholder image, but I don't want to use this as sometimes they look a bit like oil drums.

Example database icons in Google image search: https://www.google.com/search?q=database+table+images&tbm=isch&chips=q:database+table,g_1:icon:WCxDSa1lMdw%3D&client=firefox-b-d&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjC8bHe9-mBAxWqmycCHR-bDkoQ4lYoAHoECAEQLw&biw=1280&bih=587

Google image search for subduction zone: https://www.google.com/search?q=subduction+zone&client=firefox-b-d&sca_esv=572136157&tbm=isch&sxsrf=AM9HkKmBHTQrQjF70PUyQLoHsv4_CLd_-g:1696929751141&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjV5pn4k-uBAxVrQ0EAHZrsCQoQ_AUoAXoECAMQAw&biw=1920&bih=947&dpr=1

In the subduction zone database analogy, the header row of the table corresponds to the thin crust of the Earth.

Example images

BGS logo:

Database table representation in QGIS:

SVG format image of the bottom part of the BGS logo (right click to download):

The above image is very wide. A more square-format image would concentrate on the middle part where the plates meet and could extend the layers downwards where they have currently been truncated by the circular shape of the BGS logo. To look like a database table, the layers would be thinner and there would be more of them.

Acceptance criteria

• Logo based on BGS logo thrust fault / subduction zone, but with layers that look more like database tables
• Colours from BGS palette
• Square aspect ratio
• Vector format (preferably .svg)

[pautva]

Hi, @volcan01010. I've generated several logo concepts inspired by your description above. I've uploaded them to Miro board below. Let me know your thoughts - you can add comments and notes on Miro. I might add a few other variations next week.

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVNTghGM4=/

[volcan01010]

Thanks, @pautva! These look great!

My favourite is the top middle. I like the blue for the header row. I'd been interested to see it without the border (or a hairline).

If it is going to have text, then I think that we may as well put the whole name on. The top middle looks very clean.

I generally prefer the square ones, but I also like the lozenges on the bottom left and middle. They make it look a bit like a cog, which gives an impression of moving parts.

Any thoughts, @metazool, @ximenesuk, @dvalters, @leorudczenko, @KoalaGeo, @pdbebgs?

[pdbebgs]

I like the first two best - fully spelt out. Please check with Comms about any rules for adapting the logo if you haven't already.

[ximenesuk]

I prefer the square logos and agree with @pdbebgs on the word HELPER being there, the second of those two is nicer for me. Would it be possible, @pautva, to create a version of the first two square logos with a horizontal 'table' for the right hand side? So a more direct take on the BGS logo?

[pautva]

Thanks for the feedback! I've created a few variations with a horizontal table:

However, Debbie, the brand manager, said we are not supposed to create logos using different elements from BGS logo. So I think this might have too much resemblense to the BGS logo - same colour pallete and very similar symbology.

I could make something more distinct from the BGS logo. The guidelines can be found here:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/about-bgs/contact-us/press-office/brand/

[pautva]

And a few variants with BGS logo:

[volcan01010]

Additional notes on logo:

• The logo must be suitable (or have a suitable version) for use as a favicon on a documentation site. The BGS logo works for this as a standalone on the BGS website, but would be unsuitable as a component in a larger design.
• The vast majority of users of the tool will not know what BGS is and not recognise the full BGS logo.
• Open source projects typically exist outside of the organisation that creates them e.g.

Apache Airflow (made by Air BnB),

Kubernetes (made by Google),

the Parse Platform (created by Facebook)

[volcan01010]

Logos for other open source Python tools:

FastAPI

Pandas

GitHub

[volcan01010]

Iris - UK Met Office

Open Microscopy Environment - Dundee University