As .NET developers, we’ve lost sight of the forest and mainly focused on the trees. Our community has an infatuation with API design, object allocations, patterns, and theoretical ideas of purity—frankly, it is dull as hell. I’m not saying these things are unimportant, but checking off a feature-set rarely draws in new developers, and if that were the case, the library with the most features would always be the community darling.

As developers, we like to think we make logical decisions, but many of our choices come from an emotional place. “I like how this makes me feel” is more powerful than any rational argument. That’s why it still makes me sad to see so many great projects struggling to find their identity in the .NET space.

To bring some attention to some projects, I’ve started making motion graphics that can draw folks into a solution’s ecosystem. Project maintainers can use these graphics on GitHub readme files, Twitter accounts, and YouTube videos.

I created all of the following graphics in Camtasia 2020. While Camtasia is capable, I recommend Adobe After Effects for folks who want to take advantage of more visual features and animation effects.

Akka.NET

Here is a motion graphic I created for AKKA.NET. The mountains/pyramids spring from the bottom, giving us the idea that our project can reach great heights.

GitTrends

GitTrends is a Xamarin.Forms application that lets users explore what’s happening on GitHub. I used a space motif, alongside some connecting of the dots to give a sense of wonder and exploration.

Statiq

Statiq is a static-site generator written in .NET. The logo has an offset that I wanted to utilize in the graphic. The logo snaps and springs, and then slowly fades into lasers because the author of the library wanted it to have lasers, and everything is better with lasers, its a fact.

Shiny

Shiny is a set of libraries designed to help make device services & backgrounding easy on Xamarin & UWP platforms (with more to come). The project’s logo was tricky because I had to recreate the logo entirely in a vector program to get the motion I wanted. Shiny has an exciting logo because it is off-center with multiple points of focus.

Carter

Carter is an alternative web framework for ASP.NET Core. Its logo is a box on a parachute. Naturally, the logo floats down from the top and lands softly in the center.

MahApps

MahApps is a UI toolkit to help WPF developers quickly put together a Metro inspired UI.

Marten

Marten is a NoSQL storage solution for .NET Developers. I also designed this logo several years ago, and I’m happy to see it still in use.

Nuke

Nuke is a C# build system that has a strong emphasis on correctness through compilation.

Vets Who Code

Vets Who Code is an organization dedicated to helping veterans transition from military service into a career in software development.

Conclusion

A brand identity helps folks to notice projects, a high level of quality, and problem-solving gets people to stay. I like creating these kinds of branding elements for projects. I think it sends a strong message to prospective users and contributors that the creators care, not only about the quality of the solution but the image of the project.

If you have a project, please feel free to leave a comment, and we could work together to create something for your project. I also have office hours and always looking to talk to project maintainers.