From January - April, work was done around creating a unified brand concept with different community exercises, in-person and virtual workshops and online conversations. The final concept, interconnection, was developed from the synthesized feedback emphasizes the perspectives of how the communities perceive who we are as a movement which will be the guiding force around how the branding is designed around various naming and design proposals.
To build further visual and creative context around the concept, an exercise entitled Visualizing Interconnections was organized where community participants provided inputs in the form of photo submissions and short descriptions explaining their visual definition of interconnection in the Wikimedia movement.
A good concept manages to unify all insight, at the same time generate more meaning by the many ways it is brought to life. In this exercise, each participating individual was allowed to submit five images from Wikimedia Commons (or from other open source platforms) describing the content behind the image for the interconnections concept and we received a wide array of submissions on brandingwikipedia.org.
The results of this exercise were inspiring with the visual connections identified from nature, technology, art, space, science and time presented through graphs, drawings and photography.
Some ideas outlined interconnections within a rail network system, a station game, an archipelago, a child in a kaleidoscope, a spiderweb, the water cycle shaping environment, rainbows, interlinked railroad tracks, a Bengali vegetarian thali, Carcinoma and Histopathology of classic chromophobe renal cell carcinoma with pale cells. These ideas had a common harmony in the celebration of the interconnection in all its intricacy, flexibility and richness.
When I think of interconnection, I imagine the interconnections of a rail network system or by a correspondence and station game I can move from one region to another, from one country to another. I am also thinking of a system of interdependence like an archipelago where the inhabitants sail from island to island. I am thinking of these major international hubs, meeting and exchange points for people from all over the world. I loved this image of a child in a kaleidoscope, the idea that he is innocently connecting with different parts of himself through play. The infinite nature of a kaleidoscope feels very much like interconnection to me.The Water Cycle is essential to life on earth, whilst also shaping the environment as it flows. All elements are interconnected with human life and the understanding of life itself is essential to our survival. To me it is the most basic and visual form of interconnection.
”
“
Artist Ai Weiwei’s piece of 100 million ceramic sunflower seeds allowed participants to explore the idea of what we think we see, and then what we discover, being two different things. So as we connect in different ways, what we expect changes, and this understanding makes us evolve.
”
“
Rainbows are formed by the reflection and refraction of light hitting water droplets in the sky. This magical phenomena has been adopted to mean numerous different things, but most often (and recently) a sense of unity, of different colours joining together in harmony, a joyfulness at our interconnectedness.
”
“
This image of interlinked railroad tracks gives the perfect visuals of what the unified concept of Interconnection means to me. The railroads are interlinked and although appearing scattered, depend on this nature of connection to effectively function. The many projects of Wikimedia can be likened to this railroad – although independent, could still takes you through the various components of Wikimedia in order to help build the of knowledge. I choose visuals from the Brownian motion cause this represents well the dynamic interconnection like it happens mainly in the Wikipedia world.
”
“
When you have a lot of interconnection, your course, your route, is not straight away. It seems complicated but interconnection is the best way to go from one point to the other. You’re enriched. It seems messy but in fact, it creates harmony.
”
“
The image is of a Bengali vegetarian thali is a Bengali-style meal made up of a selection of various vegetarian dishes which are served on a platter. I imagine the interconnections of each of the dishes with the platter. A person needs to eat all the dishes to the relish the platter.
”
“
Carcinoma in its connection and proliferation.
”
“
All of the fibers particle from one original resource, and after the break the tree is divided into small particles still related and connected to the origin. Retina, all of its components are working together with one aim.
The visuals received in this exercise have been compiled into a collective visual that will be a reference point, particularly around the work for design during Phase 3 of the process.
