The name "Backdrop" was first conceived of by Mike McCaffrey.
Mike also suggested the Backdrop tagline; "Put your content center stage"
We believe "Backdrop" is a great name for a Content Management System (CMS) software, because, like a backdrop in the arts, it is always there, behind the scenes.
The name "Backdrop" also includes an homage to Drupal, the software that Backdrop was derived from. Drupal began its life as the code driving drop.com. Over many years, that software evolved into what we now call Drupal.
In 2013, the Backdrop Project set out to "backwards port" a number of useful and interesting Drupal 8 features into the earlier, simpler and much more popular Drupal 7. "Backdrop" is therefore the conjunction of "back" from "backwards port" and "drop".
Backdrop deliberately avoids water analogies and any imagery involving water drop shapes, in order to avoid potential confusion with the Drupal project.
In normal conversation, "Backdrop" is often used interchangeably, with the listener resorting to context to determine for themselves whether or not the Project or the Product is being referenced.
Seeing as the "drop" in "Backdrop" is lower case (and part of a single word to boot) it should never appear in any abbreviations. The recommended practice when abbreviating the Product name "Backdrop CMS", for use as an acronym or similar, is to simply use "B" or "B CMS"...never "BD". Similarly, when referring to the Backdrop Project website, the recommended practice is to refer to it as "b.org" (or "borg" for short).
When referring to the Concept, Team, Community and Effort assembled to produce the software Product known as "Backdrop CMS", the correct terminology to use is "The Backdrop Project" or "the Backdrop Project" depending on sentence placement. In this context, the word Backdrop is always capitalized and a single word.
When referring to the work Product that the Backdrop Project was assembled to produce, the correct terminology in print is "Backdrop CMS", "The Backdrop CMS" or "the Backdrop CMS" depending on sentence placement.
It should also be noted that the second part Product name, "CMS", serves two purposes: First, it is a reference to the category of software products that this Product exists within (Content Management Systems). Second, it acts as a qualifier to distinguish this Product from both its sponsoring Project, as well as any other software Products that the sponsoring Project may elect to produce at some time in the future (Examples: "Backdrop LMS", "Backdrop LLM", "Backdrop WDF").
Both the Product and the Project may be referred to in casual conversation as "Backdrop". This can sometimes lead to confusion as to "which Backdrop?" is being referred to. When a need for disambiguation arises, the full Product name ("Backdrop CMS") and/or full Project name ("Backdrop Project") should be used.
Drop, the Backdrop mascot, was originally designed by Marc Bovino. As the Drupal community has the Druplicon, so the Backdrop community has Drop. Drop is a small friendly dragon, of the type we lovingly refer to as a "lap dragon".
The name "Drop" was chosen for several reasons.
- "Drop" is a nifty way to reference "Backdrop"
- "Drop" is a clever way for us to pay homage to Drupal
- "Drag-and-drop" is (we feel) a clever and fun play on words
The Backdrop Project offers "Drop" to the community on open terms, meaning that "Drop" name and imagery may (and should!) be used and/or adapted to suit any purpose whatsoever. Anyone, anywhere is free to make any alterations desired to Drop in terms of their color or posture. Embroider Drop on a hat. Silkscreen them on a t-shirt. Use them to represent your product, company, camp, or whatever else they like.
The Backdrop Project has approved the following suggested color palette, from which colorways may be drawn in any combination for digital or print reproduction:
The Project Name, Product Name, Logo and Wordmark are the sole and exclusive property of The Backdrop Project. They may not be used by any 3rd parties for any commercial or non-commercial purpose whatsoever without having gained prior permission from the Backdrop Project to do so.
The artistic representation and graphical imagery ("Artwork") used to represent the Backdrop Project was designed by Darius Garza. It is composed of two distinct parts: A "Logo" and a "Wordmark".
The Backdrop "Logo" is a single regular 1:1 black (RGB: 0,0,0) square with its lower right hand corner peeled back, leaving the reverse white (RGB: 255,255,255) side of the square revealed and appearing as a white triangle:
The Logo design is intended to represent a stylized backdrop similar to those used in the arts, theatre and photography. Its clean, simple geometric shape is intended to physically reflect the Mission Statement of the Backdrop Project:
"Create a simple and clean CMS powerful enough to stand behind any website."
The peeled back corner intimates to the observer that they are welcome to take a peek at (and even participate in!) "what is happening behind the scenes".
The most notable consideration with respect to the "Wordmark", is capitalization.
Exceptionally, the word "Backdrop", when used in graphical form, features an initial "b" that is lower case:
This includes all variations of "Wordmark" use, both when it appears alone and when it is paired with the Backdrop "Logo".
(please also note that while it is possible to reproduce the artwork in print using the 'Source Sans Pro' font (the base font used to generate the "Wordmark" artwork) it impossible to achieve the aesthetic of the "Wordmark" absent making adjustments made to inter-letter spacing (kerning) employed to achieve the accepted "Wordmark" format. Simulating the "Wordmark" using the 'Source Sans Pro' is therefore not encouraged).
Graphically speaking, there are several variations as to how the Backdrop Artwork may be presented:
- Horizontally
- Vertically
- Wordmark only
- Logo only
When used together horizontally, the Backdrop Product Wordmark ("backdrop") should be positioned to the left of the Logo.
When used together vertically, the Backdrop product Wordmark ("backdrop") should be positioned below the Logo.
