{"id":601,"date":"2017-06-27T08:58:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T08:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2017.edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/?p=601"},"modified":"2017-06-28T08:35:10","modified_gmt":"2017-06-28T08:35:10","slug":"the-wapuunicorn-origin-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/the-wapuunicorn-origin-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wapuunicorn origin story"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ben Usher-Smith, #wcedin graphic design lead<\/h2>\n

All the best characters have great back stories and the Wappuunicorn is no exception, from his multi-coloured WordPress Orb<\/span> of<\/span> Web-Platform<\/span> Power<\/span><\/span> to his magical mono horn.*<\/p>\n

A wapuu, of course, is the mascot of WordCamps. Every WordCamp around the world creates their own, usually with good local humour. (For more on Wapuus read here).<\/a><\/p>\n

Last month, when we confirmed WordCamp for Edinburgh 2017, we felt it was time to retire our 2015 mascot, brave little Jimmy Wapuu (AKA Edinburgh Wapuu.)<\/p>\n

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Wee Jimmy Wapuu is currently at home with The People’s Friend.<\/p><\/div>\n

He was still full of life but his bagpipes were oot of tune. So we would replace him with a new mascot.<\/p>\n

In a range of discussions which toed the fine line between cultural appropriation and copyright lawsuits waiting to happen, Salt and Sauce Wapuu was discussed, along with Irn-Bru Wapuu, Forth Rail Bridge Wapuu, and even a Begbie Wapuu amongst many others.<\/p>\n

Unbeknown to the WordCamp organising team…<\/p>\n

That day, a short distance away in the dark damp cavernous vaults beneath Edinburgh’s Old Town, an ancient orb sprung to life.<\/p>\n

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NO NOT THAT ORB<\/p><\/div>\n

The orb that had been dormant for centuries glowed in glorious rainbow technicolour, and from it sprung the Wapuunicorn.<\/p>\n

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Summoned by the organising team’s frustrations<\/p>\n

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it projected its image into our minds.<\/p>\n

It then made ready for the great gathering of minds known simply as ‘WordCamp Edinburgh 2017’.<\/p>\n

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An initial sketch after my first Wapuunicorn vision.<\/p><\/div>\n

After discussion (and possible magical intervention) it was unanimously decided that the resplendent Wapuunicorn, saviour of the Scots and champion of all the peoples of the web<\/strong>, would be our mascot.<\/p>\n

The back story on the back story<\/h2>\n

Why a Unicorn?<\/h3>\n

The Unicorn is Scotland’s national animal<\/a>. The Scottish Celtic forefathers believed that unicorns symbolised the spirit of purity.<\/p>\n

According to folklore, the lion and the unicorn hate each other, but we shan’t dwell on this fact (see ‘What’s with the multi-coloured orb?’ later in this article).<\/p>\n

A description by 17th century Scottish writer John Guillim makes the Unicorn sound quite formidable …<\/p>\n

‘The greatness of his mind is such that he rather chooseth to die than be taken alive; wherein the Unicorn and valiant-minded soldier are alike, which both contemn death, and rather than they will be compelled to undergo any base servitude or bondage they will lose their lives’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What’s with the multi-coloured orb?<\/h3>\n

The multi-colour orb is representative of our multi-coloured world. It’s meaning is as multi-layered as it is multi-coloured. Whether that’s the mime of the mythical web worker who can wrangle the tasks of a UX Designer\/Architect, Visual Designer and Developer.<\/p>\n

Or, whether that’s celebrating the wider and more important diversity of mankind.<\/p>\n

Wapuunicorn has got you covered.<\/p>\n

Unicorns have been mascots since at least the Romans. And, over the centuries their appearance and traits have had modifications and ‘upgrades’.<\/p>\n

For those attending WordCamp Edinburgh next month look out for this latest incarnation: Wapuunicorn.
\n
\n*(meanwhile at WordCamp Central: “Wait, ‘magical mono horn’? Orb? And what the heck is The People’s Friend?!”)<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ben Usher-Smith, #wcedin graphic design lead All the best characters have great back stories and the Wappuunicorn is no exception, from his multi-coloured WordPress Orb of Web-Platform Power to his magical mono horn.* A wapuu, of course, is the … Continue reading The Wapuunicorn origin story<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4952196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7X4Nk-9H","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4952196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":656,"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601\/revisions\/656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edinburgh.wordcamp.org\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}