In response to Max’s post about release names and artwork, I think we haven’t yet had a release where we started the naming process early enough, but we’re getting there. When we do, the call for names ought to be long enough for our amazing Artwork folks to bring to the table not only suggestions, but some sketches or mockups of the themes that go with those names, or for that matter any that tickle their fancies.
I think, contrary to the worry that the Artwork team was constrained, they had been consistently asking for word on the release name earlier. If we get it early enough in the process that they can actually be part of the proposal process, we get better themes and a slightly more cohesive community. I love to see the early theming from Artwork, and I think if someone were to bring art as well as a name to the table during the proposal process, it would be a very exciting development.
The fact that the Artwork team has already started brainstorming about steampunk and gears can inform the naming process this time around. Someone mentioned the name “Neon” this morning for F10, since it has a new “is-a” link to F9 (“is an element”), and has plenty of ways out — how about “F11: Viper”? SEXY. ? All half-kidding aside, I’m sure if anyone could figure out how to merge neon into a steampunk design, it’s the folks in our Artwork project.