New Banner images

[Orion Pobursky]

I'm working to create a documentation sub section of the main site. I don't remember who did the one you see at the top of all of our pages. If the original author or someone else wants to create new colors for us that would be great:
Currently we have:
Red: Centralised LDraw Resources
Blue: LDraw Discussion Forum
Green: LDraw Parts Tracker
Yellow: LDraw Parts Requestor (Not in use)

I'd like three new ones:
LDraw Wiki
LDraw Documentation
LDraw Official Model Repository

Note the "tm" in the upper right corner. That is required. Colors are up for discussion. I'd like the final product to be as close to the original as possible. Any substantial redesigns will be entertained but they will also need to be discussed by the community at large. The final product needs to be fairly high resolution as I'm looking to do printed material (like new LUG banners) as well

Will also need new favicons and just the fade-in brick in the new colors.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

Do you want them transparent (.png as they are right now) or with a solid white background?

[Orion Pobursky]

Do you want them transparent (.png as they are right now) or with a solid white background?

Yes. Transparent as they are now.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

Before I continue with the others, would this be a good starting point?

   

The font appears to be Tahoma (or at least the closest I could find). This is only 10% of the size from the original image I'm working with and it has not been optimized for web.

[Orion Pobursky]

Before I continue with the others, would this be a good starting point?



The font appears to be Tahoma (or at least the closest I could find). This is only 10% of the size from the original image I'm working with and it has not been optimized for web.

I like it but I'll let some of the other web admin team weigh in.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

Alright, it is easier to see and discuss, than to imagine. Here are some banner suggestions, I tried to stay within the basic colors. Everything can be edited so criticize away.

   

I made some slight changes to some wording, please let me know if this is allowed or not:

• Added "official" to the wiki
  
• Removed "LDraw" from the OMR
  

This was done so that they fit, look better, and are readable. Again, everything can be edited, this are just suggestions for community consideration.

[Orion Pobursky]

Alright, it is easier to see and discuss, than to imagine. Here are some banner suggestions, I tried to stay within the basic colors. Everything can be edited so criticize away.



I made some slight changes to some wording, please let me know if this is allowed or not:

• Added "official" to the wiki
  
• Removed "LDraw" from the OMR
  

This was done so that they fit, look better, and are readable. Again, everything can be edited, this are just suggestions for community consideration.

I like them all. Awesome work.

maybe we should remove "LDraw" from all of them except the main red brick. Thoughts?

Another idea would be to have the colored brick without "LDraw.org" for the sub-domains since they'll always have the red brick banner in the upper left.

[Philippe Hurbain]

I like them all. Awesome work.

maybe we should remove "LDraw" from all of them except the main red brick. Thoughts?

Another idea would be to have the colored brick without "LDraw.org" for the sub-domains since they'll always have the red brick banner in the upper left.

Line them too! I would let LDraw.org as brick+LDraw.org is our visual identity. But I would indeed remove the redundant LDraw in sub domain name.

[Willy Tschager]

Line them too! I would let LDraw.org as brick+LDraw.org is our visual identity. But I would indeed remove the redundant LDraw in sub domain name.

+1

[Orion Pobursky]

Another idea would be to have the colored brick without "LDraw.org" for the sub-domains since they'll always have the red brick banner in the upper left.

Here's a crude mockup of what I mean for this:


  forum_logo_new.png (Size: 11.48 KB / Downloads: 84)


Note: This just my idea, I'm open to almost anything that isn't a radical change.


I'd still like to have both (with and without ldraw.org) in case we ever change our minds.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

... I'm open to almost anything that isn't a radical change.

Yes...

   

Just playing around with your ideas.

[Orion Pobursky]

Yes...



Just playing around with your ideas.

I like 2,4,8. As usual, some other admin team members should weigh in. 

Note: The Red logo will always be 1. All the other colors will have the shortened form.

[Philippe Hurbain]

I like 2,4,8. As usual, some other admin team members should weigh in. 

Note: The Red logo will always be 1. All the other colors will have the shortened form.

4 for me!

[Willy Tschager]

I stick with 1. Brick+LDraw.org is what we are known for  ... but since there is no strong feeling for branding everything will do. 

w.

[Orion Pobursky]

I stick with 1. Brick+LDraw.org is what we are known for  ... but since there is no strong feeling for branding everything will do. 

w.

Yes. The Red brick will always be like 1. I'm never going to change that. In fact, I may make it bigger and more prominent (hence why I wanted higher resolution images). The shortened logo idea is for the ones in the upper right (like the blue Forums brick) since I thought having the huge "LDraw.org" twice was redundant, especially if I make the main red brick larger.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

My apologies if I have created any confusion.

I have a few questions so we can solidify the understanding of what is being done:

• I see the Wiki does not use a banner but instead a picture (logo) on the top right. Do you plan to make a custom template to incorporate banners? What's the plan there?
  
• Will you be keeping the blue gradient on the main page or replacing it with a clean white background to match the forums? (I'm all for the white background, it reads better)
  
• I understand that the main banner will be "LDraw.org Centralized LDraw Resources", should we remove the redundant "LDraw" word in the left side banner as it is suggested with the right side banners?
  
• I do believe the domain name should always appear with the brick. If the image appears somewhere else there is no guess work and having the domain on the logo could help upcoming digital builders find the site. (or generate traffic potentially) Personally I am inclined to #5 or #8 in the banner options. They show the domain below (for the right side banners) and they have plenty of space for the name of the section they belong to. Spacing needs work on #5 to make it more appealing. Thoughts?
  

[Orion Pobursky]

My apologies if I have created any confusion.

I have a few questions so we can solidify the understanding of what is being done:

You're not confused. I keep changing the goalposts. Sorry.

I see the Wiki does not use a banner but instead a picture (logo) on the top right. Do you plan to make a custom template to incorporate banners? What's the plan there?

The wiki is a special case. I'm not sure what we'll do there. There are a few of options:
- Use a shortened form of the Red Brick logo in the corner and nothing else
- Use the short wiki logo in the corner and have the full Red Brick logo as a banner on the home page
- Use a shortened form of the Red Brick logo in the corner and have the full wiki logo as a banner on the home page (not a fan of this one)

Will you be keeping the blue gradient on the main page or replacing it with a clean white background to match the forums? (I'm all for the white background, it reads better)

It'll probably change but we're still discussing it. IF you have ideas feel free to weigh in over at that thread.

I understand that the main banner will be "LDraw.org Centralized LDraw Resources", should we remove the redundant "LDraw" word in the left side banner as it is suggested with the right side banners?

I don't want to change the main, full Red Brick logo. We've had it for years and it's part of our branding. Same for any shortened version we may use. The phrase "Centralised LDraw Resources" should be preserved.

I do believe the domain name should always appear with the brick. If the image appears somewhere else there is no guess work and having the domain on the logo could help upcoming digital builders find the site. (or generate traffic potentially) Personally I am inclined to #5 or #8 in the banner options. They show the domain below (for the right side banners) and they have plenty of space for the name of the section they belong to. Spacing needs work on #5 to make it more appealing. Thoughts?

That's 2 for 8 so let's go with that for the subdomains images (i.e. the non-red colors).

[Magnus Forsberg]

I rearranged the images to easier see the layout. Do we really want to have "LDraw.org" on both?

   

[Orion Pobursky]

I rearranged the images to easier see the layout. Do we really want to have "LDraw.org" on both?

In most cases no. That's why I suggested the compact version.

[Willy Tschager]

I rearranged the images to easier see the layout. Do we really want to have "LDraw.org" on both?

Looking at now I'd go for number 5 in:



and remove LDraw altogether on the right side.

w.

[Orion Pobursky]

Looking at now I'd go for number 5 in:



and remove LDraw altogether on the right side.

w.

I think the feeling so far, for the right, is 8 with LDraw.org small and on the bottom of the brick. Note that, for the main site, the right will typically not be there.
Just to reiterate, the left will be always be 1 unless there's a really good reason to deviate.

[Orion Pobursky]

I think the feeling so far, for the right, is 8 with LDraw.org small and on the bottom of the brick. Note that, for the main site, the right will typically not be there.
Just to reiterate, the left will be always be 1 unless there's a really good reason to deviate.

Just so everything is clear, here's my vision for the short logos:
   

This a mockup for positioning only and is not a final design.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

Here are the prototypes for #5 (with bar) and #8 (no bar):


#5
   
   


#8
   
   


Orion you beat me by mere minutes

Edit: Note that the red brick should read "Centralised LDraw Resources", my mistake.

[Magnus Forsberg]

I don't like the bar, but I like the space it creates between the brick and the first letter.
In fact, I would like to see more space around both bricks.

[Orion Pobursky]

It looks like the discussion about the short form logo has died down.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to go with choice 8.

And especially thanks again to Leonardo for doing the work.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

I will get the banners done in different resolutions and optimize them for the web. I'll post back here as soon as I have them ready, might take a day or two.

[Leonardo Gonzalez]

Here is a summary of the final images I created for the site.

   

The wiki logo wasn't much discussed being it was a special case. I decided to include two wiki versions in the pack, although I prefer the white one, I will let Orion choose which one to use. The logos come in all colors, along with the favicons. This is a lower quality display, favicons may look out of scale. I provided Orion with a link to the full set with ultra high quality images with 300ppi in case they are used in any printed material. Hope you all like it.

[Steffen]

all look awesome.

I have 1 small improvement suggestion: get rid of all text from the favicons.
They are too small to ever have the text readable.