About Mozilla Open Design

What’s going on here?

We’re Mozilla, the nonprofit fighting for a free and equal Internet for everyone and the maker of the Firefox open-source browser. We’re modernizing our brand identity so that people may know and understand us better.

We’re big believers in being transparent in what we do and inviting others to participate in making a better Internet. We’ve decided to throw caution to the wind and conduct an Open Design process that builds from our open source beliefs. Johnson Banks, the London-based brand identity agency, is our partner in this work.

How does this work?

We’re conducting a guided and gated design process in four phases:

  • IDEATION  Here we’ll explore different directions we might explore based on the strategy, positioning, and personality of the Mozilla brand. In this initial phase, we’re wide open to ideas from all corners.
  • CONCEPTING Next, we’ll take a handful of concepts through design based on what we’ve learned from gathering and vetting different ideas. We’ll post work as we go and invite designers and non-designers alike to tell us what they think. This phase will result in a handful of first-round concepts.
  • REFINEMENT Here’s where we pressure test our concepts to determine which ones will work best in a variety of situations, from our own web properties and Mozilla communities to external ad campaigns. At the end of this phase, we will have our final selection.
  • GUIDANCE From here, we’ll build launch materials, create style guides, and finalize a campaign to reintroduce our brand to the world. In the best-case scenario, we’ll have a flexible system that can be applied globally to any number of communities, Mozilla teams, and case studies.

Wait, are you asking designers to work on spec?

No. What we’re seeking is input on work that’s in process. We welcome your feedback in a form that suits you best, be it words, napkin sketches, or Morse Code. We simply want to incorporate as many perspectives and voices into this open design process as possible. We don’t take any single contribution lightly. We hope you’ll agree that by helping Mozilla communicate its purpose better through design, you’ll be helping improve the future Internet.

What’s off the table?

We are not crowd-sourcing the new identity and we will not resort to voting. While we have nothing against either of these approaches to design in the modern world, we feel that we will get better results from the call and response of design and review. We’ll avoid re-opening phases of work we have already passed so that we may keep the project on track.

We are also determined to keep our conversation civil and constructive, even when we disagree.

Who do the ideas belong to?

All ideas generated by the greater design community will be considered open source and should be made available through Creative Commons. Today the Mozilla community is made up of a thousand-plus staff members and more than 10,000 volunteer contributors who work together to prove that the Internet can be a place of empowerment, opportunity, and choice for all. If you believe in these same principles, please share your design ideas in this spirit to make Mozilla and the Internet stronger.

What will the outcome be?

Ideally Mozilla will have a brand that better matches the work we do in the world. In reality, the outcome is uncertain. This kind of open brand identity design has never been done before at this scale. As a global design community, we will learn where this process works and where it breaks down, and we’ll adapt to designing in a more connected, brand-centric world.