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Let’s assume everyone likes it. How can we make it official? Does anyone know the process? We could adopt it unofficially (that’s how it was done with Rust’s Ferris), and personally, I have no issue with that. However, it would be nice if everyone knew about it and could share their opinion on the matter.
I found the proposal to contain a lot of information, very complex and more difficult to simplify.
You could also take a snake that resembles the scala logo, instead of taking the literal interpretation of a staircase. Kind of like this:
I see @saulpalv already thought of this earlier in the thread.
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Here is le type qualifié (french for qualified guy/type), a mascot for the qualified types project
I commissioned a very talented artist to make it
(That artist just so happen to be my fiancée, so the price was simply a kiss)
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I don’t think it’s a good idea to stick to the logo format. Look at Python for example. The logo is different from the mascot. Same thing with Go, same thing with Rust. Sticking to the shape of the logo doesn’t seem to make much sense to me when it comes to mascots.
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I find the pangolin a really good choice. However, we should steer away from Disney like realisations with big baby-faced eyes, as a lot of proposed drawings have. Let’s stay closer to its natural appearance. Actually the pangolin on @Jasper-M’s staircase is pretty well done. With or without staircase.
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I like the pangolin idea, however I think the final result should have shapes and colours simple enough for the average person to draw and still be recognisable, e.g. the ferris crab or go’s gopher - there’s merit in enabling fan-art to be easily created and spread
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I like the idea of a spiraled up red dragon cause it’s cool and could look a lot like the current logo, also dragons have the connotation of being “higher” beings, and Scala is one of the languages with the highest level of abstractions available, so it works on a symbolic level as well. Also dragons have scales and scales ~= scala
I also like the idea of the platypus because it highlight Scala’s multi-paradigm nature and would be funny.
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As cool as dragons can be, I think LLVM has already called dibs on them.
Well technically LLVM has a Wyvern as their mascot which has wings as the front legs. This would be more of a Chinese dragon like @hepin1989 suggested. I think those are different enough
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Chinese dragon/long has 4 paws, and 2024 is a Chinese Dragon/Long Year.
亢龙有悔 飞龙在天 见龙在田 潜龙勿用
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Why i doesn’t like about the pangolin is, panfolin is going to extinction, and only get out at night, timid
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Haha yes, the pangolion is not vital enough; we need something with more energy, like a dragon 
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Because Scala is a pioneer in many fields, I think it’s better to choose something positive. Pangolins are cute, but they are endangered and easily associated with extinction. Rust chose crabs because there are too many of them.
The year 2024 happens to be the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The Chinese dragon is a symbol of power and prosperity, and it also has a good connotation. There are many beautiful marble dragon pillars as well. Additionally, the dragon has a left and right spiral, which was also used by ancient Chinese emperors to refer to themselves as the true dragon emperor.
One can imagine a red Chinese dragon gracefully wrapped around the pillars, climbing upwards like a spiral. The image of the dragon is strong and powerful, and the scales and whiskers are rich in details. The dragon’s head is high and upward, giving people a meticulous and solemn feeling. Adding Scala’s logo on the dragon’s back or side makes the entire design have both traditional Chinese heritage and elements of modern technology. The main color is bright red, which symbolizes strength and vitality.
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For reference, two previous covers.
A dragon is just a really “long” pangolin, which is why it’s called that in Chinese. It’s the wiener dog of mythical beasts.
No doubt, the pangolin itself is a dragon that has magically shrunk so that it may pass unnoticed in the modern world. To this day, there are more recorded pangolins than dragons in the natural history books.
OED says “pangolin” is Malay for “roller”, and was the name for M. javanica, from Java.
Wikipangolin has further info. They sound more and more like software engineers:
Pangolins are solitary and meet only to mate, with mating typically taking place at night after the male and female pangolin meet near a watering hole. Rather than the males seeking out the females, males mark their location and the females find them.