Today I'm looking for an artist who would be willing to draw Eigen's mascot. Eigen is a small but very powerful math library (linear algebra, i.e. matrices/vectors), and now's a good time for us to get a mascot as we are well on our way to releasing Eigen 2.0 in a few monthes, and are exceedingly proud of it :) Note that Eigen is getting more and more used in KDE (KGLLib, KTankBattle are two recent new users) and that the release of Eigen 2.0 will only accelerate that trend. It's also getting more and more users outside of KDE, some of whom have started contributing actively which is great.

The idea for our mascot would be an owl, and more specifically one "with ears" (i.e. a "duc"). I would like it to marry two aspects: it should be cute/cuddly, and it should still evocate the wisdom that owls are emblematic of (or at least an endearing and desperate attempt to look wise, from a little owl). A good approximation to what I have in mind is Archimedes, Merlin's pet owl in the Disney movie:



(see here for more). However, I would like it to be a bit more chubby/round and younger-looking. I would also like it to less serious. A good idea of the roundedness and of the attitude that I have in mind is found in the tux icons at TuxFactory, like this famous one:



However here I don't want the glassy aspect. I would like it with a lot of feathers and a fluffy aspect. Also note that in the above Tux icon, I like very much the silly eyes. I see very much our owl like that, and the attempt at wisdom could then be represented by a small wing raised like a teacher lecturing... or whatever idea you come up with.

In any case, if you'd like to contribute the Eigen mascot, please send your proposals to: eigen (at) lists tuxfamily org. It would be much appreciated! After we hopefully get a few proposals, we'll see which one is the most popular. Do not hesitate to write to us with only a sketch, so you can ensure early that people like what you're doing.