Based on Erin's suggestions, I've reworked my new logo a bit. Here are four versions of that, please let me know what you think (Even if you don't read Venus Cursed!).
This one uses the colors Erin suggested and is otherwise about the same.
Here I added a shadow to Cursed! to make it more dramatic?
Same as the first, but with an outline on both words to make them stand out better from the background.
Shadow and outline. Too much?
Any feedback/suggestions would be appreciated!
Saless
Comments
Number 3
I personally prefer Number 3 (No shadow, but outlined)
The shadow makes it seem too cluttered, plus the shadow on the C in cursed is cut off at the bottom of the image... Same w/ top of the ! on all the images....
-HuGgLeS-
-P/KAF/PT
I've been leaning the same
I've been leaning the same way so far. Didn't notice the bottom of the C shadow being cut off, though, thanks for catching that! I know I need to tweak it a bit to get all of the ! in the image. The problem is that I didn't want to make Cursed! any smaller, but at it's present size it's a little too big for the space because of the angle.
Maybe I should make the overall image a little bigger to accommodate Cursed!, or make Venus smaller so I can shrink Cursed! down a little without the ratio being off...
Thanks Piper!
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Simplicity
I actually favor the first one for several reasons:
The image is sharper and clearer.
You can better read the words
The background Venus is not obscured so much that you wonder what exactly is being cursed.
I'm a firm believer is applying KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) to most anything I do and appreciate it when others do the same.
There's a time for elegance but I don't think this is one of them.
Commentator
Visit my Caption Blog: Dawn's Girly Site
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I agree
One is best followed by three. Either of the ones with the shadow are completely unreadable to me because there is too much space between shadow and letter. Also, the logic of a shadow in that overlay just seems off.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
No. 3
No. 1 would be my second choice, the ones with shadows you can't see the word venus
Sam
vs
My brain keeps reading it as "Versus"
One or Three
Both look acceptable - although I prefer one.
Two and four just look plain ugly - as well as the distance between "Cursed!" and its shadow being too great, there's very little contrast between the two. Shadows are by definition black, but if you used a shadow you'd ideally need a slightly lighter shade of burgundy for the text.
IMHO it's far better to just get rid of the shadow altogether.
As for the outlining, it doesn't make much difference to "Cursed!", but it is noticeable on "Venus". Personally I think "Venus" looks "prettier" without the outline - after all, it's clearly visible against the yellowish background (#FFF5EB) of the image.
Boring geeky bit - read at your peril:
I suspect the background started off as #FFF9E9 but got translated when saving the JPEG. (The wonders of ColorZilla - if anyone's remotely interested, "Venus" is approximately #9999FD and "Cursed!" is approximately #850000)
--Ben
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
I'm starting to lean that
I'm starting to lean that way, now, too. The shadow was just an experiment, I'm inclined to agree that it doesn't work, and the program I have doesn't give me the option of changing the space between the text and the shadow anyway (Or, at least, I don't know how!).
I have no idea on the color numbers, I got the color by trial and error on MS Paint trying to match the default color scheme so it would blend in as much as possible. My first attempt at a logo left it with a white background and looked rather bad. I'd prefer for it to be a clear background, so I matched the color as best I could.
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
My vote.
Saless,
I vote for number one, with number 3 as second. The two with the shadow just overpower Venus. I prefer number one because, IMHO, it seems to be the one that is easiest to read both words. Thanks for asking us.
....Avid Reader
I'd agree with everyone, but ...
I think it's obvious that the consensus is:
1,
3,
and neither of the others, so my two cents isn't needed.
It’s not given to anyone to have no regrets; only to decide, through the choices we make, which regrets we’ll have,
David Weber – In Fury Born
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
I agree
It should be either one or three, and while 1 gives more emphasis on the 'Cursed!' part 3 makes 'Venus' more prominent. For story purposes, 1 is better I think.
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
Faraway
Big Closet Top Shelf
Where you can fool around like you want to and most you get is some bemused good ribbing!
graphic
I like 1, then 3. I think 1 is less cluttered, and I agree with KISS
no 3
Just to be contrary, I vote for number three, or maybe, for a write in, bring the shadow in very close so there is no white between it and the red word. It would look like an outline on just one side. The trouble I have is that the Venus is so hard to read, the n is completely lost. Perhaps if you made it solid (gave it depth) or perhaps made the cursed hollow (that would look like it was stamped on). But one and three are both good.
And yes, when people ask me, "Beef or Chicken?", I say "Fish is good, or maybe pork."
hmmm, um number...
... I think 3 is clearer, closely followed by 1. Be nice if you could make the Cursed slightly transparent but it works as is. Colour codes... After a couple of tutorials from Puddin' and Holly I searched for code charts and found these two amongst others,
http://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/colors/article.php/3478961
http://www.computerhope.com/htmcolor.htm
There are others. Fonts I stick to ones I know work after trying one that didn't a while back. No one could tell me why either, as it should have worked, anyway.... You can experiment in the preview panel.
Kristina
No. 3
No. 3 is the best, but I don't like the fonts used for the word Cursed. The ragged look is not something I like. The shadow fonts are even worse in my opinion, but this is your story not mine. I just wished that I had a more artistic nature.
Love,
Paula
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune
Paula
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
The Coda
Chapterhouse: Dune
Number 3
Here's another vote for number 3. I think the outline makes the text stand out better. The contrast is better.
- Terry
Thanks everyone!
I really appreciate all of your input on this, it's really helped me to look at this from different angles. I liked #3 better at first, and still do in some ways, but I've decided to go with #1. I'm sorry about the n in Venus being somewhat occluded; unfortunately I have no way of fixing that without drastically changing the overall look (Making Cursed! outlined would just leave a white space within the letters and still occlude the n in Venus). I'm just using OpenOffice.org's Draw program for this, as I don't have anything better. I used Microsoft Paint (A really old program that's been part of windows since version 3.1 I think) for the original logo, but it's rather limited. It does allow custom colors, though, which is how I got the background color. For some reason Draw doesn't seem to allow that.
Anyway, thanks again for chiming in everyone, and I hope you'll all be satisfied with the new logo, even if it's not your favorite.
Saless
"But it is also tradition that times *must* and always do change, my friend." - Eddie Murphy, Coming To America
Yep! Number 3
for me as well, Nice crisp clear graphics....Number 4 makes me think i've maybe drank something i should'nt have!! Number 2 pretty much the same.... Number 1 is okay.... But like i say for me, Its number three!
Kirri