Logo design suggestions / site design suggestions

[Gavin]

There's been a source of contention with our turquoise block.
This is a forum to suggest plays on the current logo / website design.

Mockups with the new suggestions would be the best possible way to go about things.

As there have been a lot of suggestions here's the basic plan and outline.


Stipulations :
As a party we ended up with turquoise as a party colour, as in proper turquoise. Now how much we need to rely on the colour is a question, as we have a distinctive name + logo + platform. However it is part of the party identity, hands are tied on that one.
( Side note : Current colour isn't cyan, comes under the turquoise spectrum. CyanTurquoise )

This debate is also about web design. We weren't expecting such a pour in you see, but blog badges / supporter badges for videos were all going to be nice rounded badges. This discussion also covers the logo on the front page / sub pages in the top left hand corner, started about that in fact.
With website shape, William created a 2 sidebar design but initially we didn't have much content. However, with the amount of willing volunteers for video / podcast / general writing, we might reach the need for two sidebars soon.

There will be a vote on the 15th of August, the length of voting will probably be 5 days.
2 days should be enough for a few more suggestions and time for people doing more elaborate site design changes to finish their work.
How the vote is structured will depend on submissions, no site designs only a vote on logo for example, site designs, vote on both.

If there are only logos and no site designs I'll knockup how each logo would look in the current design before the vote. Site designs don't have to be full html/css coded, I may knock up different site design concepts if there are none submitted before vote, but probably not.
So 1 week until a full change for the site, initial blog badges etc will be put up to promotional materials, post them in the topic in "Promotional Materials" sub forum.

It will be a sitewide vote, all suggestions will be on the vote (Unless the number balloons up to like 20/30 suggestions, then we'll see how to manage that, nobody will vote on a poll with a page full of options)

[jez9999]

Argh, gavin... I just put them all in my other post. Sigh. Well I'll put them here as well:

So, you guys like the turquoise for the party colour. Fine, but how about revising it so it's more subtle? Not just me, but many people have been saying that the big rectangle of turquoise on the front page sticks out too much, so I came up with a revised logo that at least contains the turquoise within the PP 'circle'. This is the logo:
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp1.png

I've also mocked up what it could look like on the front page of the site in these images:
http://www.game-point.net/misc/ppmockup3.png
http://www.game-point.net/misc/ppmockup4.png
http://www.game-point.net/misc/ppmockup5.png
http://www.game-point.net/misc/ppmockup6.png

Notice how mockup 6 (the last link) emphasizes the logo by making its box's borders thicker too.

[issi]

The current design for the website is great in my opinion. However the logo does have too much turquoise so I came up with this. Nothing drastic just rearranged the colours a bit.

small_logo_block.jpg (36 KiB) Viewed 1465 times

[WilliamFS]

-
Here are a couple of mockup site designs I sketched.
Just to put my idea out there and contribute.
I wont make any tantrum if none of my suggestions are adopted.
This is just my particular preference.
I do think the current site is already pretty good.


GRAY: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1577729/mockup2.jpg
TURQUOISE GRADIENT: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/1577729/mockupppukwebsite.jpg


I went for 3 columns (on the home page) a main central one and two side ones. I feel that the centre of the home page should have less text, organized under those three headings: WHAT WE STAND FOR, WHY THE NAME, HOW CAN YOU HELP US. The text I put on the mockup is obviously just random text. I added social networking sites and a Youtube channel that we could eventually have on the right. I also embedded a video on the left. I also changed the links on the bar. 'COMMUNITY' could link to IRC and Forum, 'ABOUT US' could link to the wiki, 'JOIN US' links to Become a member, Young PP, etc..

--

[Icanhas]

So, you guys like the turquoise for the party colour. Fine, but how about revising it so it's more subtle?

I'd say the current colour is just plain MS Paint cyan :/ . Turquoise has higher green intensity and slightly lower blue.

I suggest we go further towards teal, or at least darken the current colour a bit. I was thinking one of these colours: http://j.photos.cx/colour-439.png but on second thought, they are a bit crap.

[jez9999]

@issi, williamfs:

Guys, I have a fundamental disagreement with you and if you can't be persuaded to my way of thinking then I just hope most people disagree with you. The grey background is, IMHO, hideous, and under no circumstances does it look good. Likewise, a big blob of turquoise anywhere is hideous, and under no circumstances does it look good. All of your mockups have one of these problems in them.

[WilliamFS]

@issi, williamfs:

Guys, I have a fundamental disagreement with you...

My mockup was more about the layout and functions than the specific aesthetics of it.
It was quickly put together by copypasting and resizing pics, just to illustrate the ideas I have for the layout.
I do think however, that it would be better if the homepage didnt have that assimetric bright coloured rectagle pulling your attention to one side.

--

[Herr_ABP]

What about this?

The gradient would be extended as the background for the header and navigation bar.

[redjam13]

I think the turquoise and grey is a huge mistake - it looks very amateur.

Not entirely convinced about the all CAPS either.

I think we should stick to black and white - keep it simple. Or possibly we could add a discrete amount of dark red (like #BC0000) to liven it up a bit?

EDIT: Like this, for example (quickly put together):

[Herr_ABP]

I think the turquoise and grey is a huge mistake - it looks very amateur.

Not entirely convinced about the all CAPS either.

I think we should stick to black and white - keep it simple. Or possibly we could add a discrete amount of dark red (like #BC0000) to liven it up a bit?

What about something like this?

[jez9999]

OK, here's my proposal for an all-round branding improvement:

Thanks to 'Icanhas' on IRC, we now have a lovely shiny version of the pirate party flag, coloured turquoise and with .uk on it. Here are the various versions of it; first without drop shadow:
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-large-noshadow.png
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-medium-noshadow.png
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-small-noshadow.png

... and with drop shadow:
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-large-shadow.png
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-medium-shadow.png
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-small-shadow.png

... and the 16x16 favicon for browsers, by the way:
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-favicon-1616.png

... and without the .uk in the logo:
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/logo-large-noshadow-nouk.png

(feel free to use these logos wherever/whenever you want)

I really like this logo for several reasons. It keeps the turquoise colour of the party, but looks a lot more refined than what we have on the front page right now. It can easily be scaled around to lots of sizes and the '.uk' remains nicely visible. It is a lot less distracting than having a large block of turquoise around a white logo, to have a turquoise block inside the circular logo. I propose we could use the large version for posters and the like, medium version for websites, and small version for websites and as a 'watermark' in the corner of videos that are put online by the PPUK.

As for the front page of the website, here's my attempt at an improvement. I've changed the dull grey background to a subtle pinstripe (although I wouldn't mind a subtle 'watermark' greyscale version of the generic Pirate Party logo there either) and of course I've put this logo in place of what is there now. I think it looks a lot more 21st century, professional, and worthy of a party that should be very web-savvy. At the same time, the logo remains prominent, being large, in the top left corner, and its box having think black borders. What think ye?
http://www.game-point.net/misc/pp/sitemockup.png

[steffman]

i don't like haveing the uk in the logo, it doesn't have enough room to breathe when its on the flag and just clutters it imo

[jez9999]

I personally like the UK in the logo as I don't think it takes up too much space, and many won't associate turquoise with the UKPP and the UK will help them to immediately know where we're based. I added a version without the .uk in to my post above, though. Just for kicks.

[James]

I tried to do a logo mockup, I tried to include the text within the logo.

http://kimag.es/share/29425078.jpg

(was made easier with my brushes viewtopic.php?f=7&t=270)

[Herr_ABP]

I tried to do a logo mockup, I tried to include the text within the logo.

http://kimag.es/share/29425078.jpg

(was made easier with my brushes viewtopic.php?f=7&t=270)

I like it, it's original, simple and professional. Can you make an identical monochromatic one which could be used on cheap flyers etc?

[WilliamFS]

Has it occurred to anyone that we might want to avoid transforming the simbol beyond recognition because that is the one being used by PirateParties worldwide.

I'm not saying nothing should be done to it. I really like the stuff I'm seeing here. But ultimately, we might want to make sure the flag-logo remains associated at a glance to the original: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Piratpartiet.svg

[redjam13]

Has it occurred to anyone that we might want to avoid transforming the simbol beyond recognition because that is the one being used by PirateParties worldwide.

I'm not saying nothing should be done to it. I really like the stuff I'm seeing here. But ultimately, we might want to make sure the flag-logo remains associated at a glance to the original: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Piratpartiet.svg

I wholeheartedly agree

Would it possibly be a good idea for different members to come up with their own alternatives for both the large and small logos then a vote can decide which ones are adopted?

[jez9999]

All that's been done to that logo, as far as I can tell, is some colourization to torquoise, a bit of a 'shiny' effect, and adding 'uk'. It's still clearly recognisable...

[miguel]

I personally like the UK in the logo as I don't think it takes up too much space, and many won't associate turquoise with the UKPP and the UK will help them to immediately know where we're based. I added a version without the .uk in to my post above, though. Just for kicks.

Seconded, the solid flag looks too plain I think.

[jonathonstaples]

I personally like the UK in the logo as I don't think it takes up too much space, and many won't associate turquoise with the UKPP and the UK will help them to immediately know where we're based. I added a version without the .uk in to my post above, though. Just for kicks.

Seconded, the solid flag looks too plain I think.

Yes, I think we should do what some other countries have done and put the national colours/flag in the pirate sail part of the party logo.