Thought I'd share some ideas I've been floating, to implement a unified branding across all instances. Instances could opt-in for a consistent identity across the platform, using an official trademark with their instance address embedded below it. Instances that use "lemmy" in their second-level domain name would simple append their .tld (such as .world), or use .sld.tld when "lemmy" is accessible from a subdomain (such as .dbzer0.com). Seemingly unrelated domain names, such as beehaw.org, would just omit the leading dot.
The navbar background itself could be further customized by the local instance. I imagine something like a watermark of a globe for lemmy.world, or a watermarked maple leaf for lemmy.ca, etc.
Obviously this is a very rough take on things (including the art style), and I'm just brainstorming ideas at this point.
What are your thoughts?
Many instances will absolutely want to do their own branding across the board, and that's totally fine, but I also believe that many would like to see a unified approach to the platform. The beauty of the decentralization is that site admins are free to run their instance however they like.