Vote for the new Abandonia Logo!
 

Okay, we're working on a redesign of the site which will, among other things, mean a new logo. Now, we've made two designs and it's up to you to chose!

http://www.red-avatar.com/AbandoniaLogo.png

The first or the second. Both are reasonably similar but that's because the basic design is fixed. Whichever gets the most votes will get picked!

EDIT: if you want to post criticism, please make it constructive criticism: tell us what you don't like, what you'd like to see changed, etc.

EDIT:

Here's a quite radical change of the site the way I got it laid out so far:

http://www.red-avatar.com/NewDesignReviewv16.png

I used a mix of both logos and it works quite well. A far more compact top means you can see more content before needing to scroll. Download button and a bunch of other things still need to be edited though. Work in progress!

good, but i like the "dedicated to Games" Text to be more clearer. White Text on white Background is abit hard to read.

I agree with Paco. The subtext looks too washed out, it definitely needs more contrast. Maybe you could add some kind of outline or a darker back shadow.

Dito. Maybe in a brownish or red color with shades like the top?

Also, can anything be done about the lower-case a's in Abandonia to make them more readable?
Or am I the only one who sees that?

Why is this in 3xBlah? :huh:

I already made it clearer - but it's about the logo :) not so much the subtext. The subtext can still easily be changed.

Well I didn't design that :p it's the same as in the current logo.

Yeah, I should have made it in the Site Comments section - still, it's on the front page so it will end up here anyway.

I'd like to see the two-tone coloring in the top one's fonts come back in the bottom one... it would make for a little more contrast.
Apart from that I really like both of them, old-school as Abandonia is supposed to be...

I know. And neither do I like it in there. :D

The second :)

2. !

Allthough i`d like to see the whole design, im afraid the site might get pretty "pale" without the black background, Monocolor aint this cool anymore!

so this post gets deleted again if i say that i don't like the new design? ;)

:hysterical:
YOU ARE UNDER ARETE's INFLUENCE, AREN'T YOU?! :ouch:

AAAAAAAARGH!!!! MY EYES!!!!!!!

I fixed that for you TA :)

*Saved for next April fools'day* :hihihi:

:eww:

I think that Lulu_Jane should never be put in charge of the graphical design of the site. Do we all agree? :p

I hope that you're not gonna use the background gradient colors *only* in the logo... because then it wouldn't really fit in the rest of the abandonia website, just like all the blackness in the current logo.

The logo should fit the background IMHO, so either use the gradient over the full width of the website or don't use a color gradient in the logo, but don't use a color gradient while the rest of the website has a completely white background...

Just my 2 cents of course :)

I prefer the second version of the logo.

It's clearer and easier to read, it stands out more.

I personally think the 2005 logo is the best the site has had, and still surpasses the current logo, and the new proposed logo.

I'm not really sure why I like that logo, I guess it just feels simple and fun. Less contrived and artsy than the efforts since. I think the earlier designs show their age :doh:


It can be seen on the AB History page, here's the image:

I do think the 'proposed' logo is much nicer than the one we have at the moment. Coupled with a new site, I think it will grow on me. Good work :)

I totally agree on the 2005 logo is the best we've had, but if we're gonna renew it, then I also agree on the 2nd being the best. Not only is it easier on the eye (slightly) but it also is closer to the older ones.

I can still tweak the logo of course so any suggestions are welcome.

And yes, the gradient will span the entire header.

It's still a work in progress though - I may still make changes.

My vote goes here. We NEED this one. :3::thumbs::rocks:

Hello Red and Frodo,

In graphic design, they taught us to be bold, stand out, such as the bottom banner appears. Take the eyes away from the clutter and focus the view on the primary subject in the art. In our case, it's the text message- Abandonia-Dedicated To Classic Games.

Slick and sleeker designs are in, so the background and font style seem very acceptable....unless you count that statement about the 'A's. But, those 'A's are uniform with the font style being used, so I say, go with number two banner and keep the traditional font, as is.

I like what I see and thank you for making these. Of course, I would make them various shades of green(my favorite color).

EDIT: 30 minutes later and I whipped this up(it took 20 minutes to get the image posted)
http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/r...ndaBann341.jpg

agree

All those white letters =)
 

How about changing the direction of shade in the background. Instead of brown on top and white on bottom make it the other way - then the white letters will be visible. I think they shouold stay white, it's good colour.

CrybKeeper: Why don't you just add a .com to the end and entry that to the "design-a-tshirt"-contest?

New Logo
 

I personally prefer the old logo... I think it is bolder and captures what I feel the site is about better... DOS & other classic games.

If I had to choose between the two new logos, I would go with the second, but I think it is a pale entry to the current logo. If I were to make a change, it would probably be to keep the angle of the text, include some bolder colors (maybe a whole redirect with grays and blues, or as already suggested, green and black), leave the text font the way it is (it just screams classic programming), and create a shading that reflects either the letters or a classic, universal game.

Of course, just my lowly opinion; I think you guys rock at any rate. :thumbs:

The main reason for the change was exactly that angle. As cool as it may look on a t-shirt, it's very awkward in practical ways. Creating a decent banner is very annoying since you can't make a horizontal OR vertical one using the current logo without being forced to make the logo really small. There's a reason you won't find any major firms with tilted logos - they are a pain to implement.

The two current designs are really the same logo but upright with some modification to make it look a bit more dynamic. I'm thinking of slightly editing the second logo - maybe trying to add the shine of the first to the second, make the black shadow less thick, etc. We'll see :)

i like the second one

Here's a quite radical change of the site the way I got it laid out so far:

http://www.red-avatar.com/NewDesignReviewv16.png

I used a mix of both logos and it works quite well. A far more compact top means you can see more content before needing to scroll. Download button and a bunch of other things still need to be edited though. Work in progress!

I do like that design.

Keep up the good work!

I like the second one, it has more depth and the black theme looks good :rocks:

Sorry to sound like those two old farts from Muppet Show, but I prefer the old logo. New color scheme sucks, looks like old paper. Old time gaming is closer to eye-f[***]ing primaries. Old logo had this TRONish feel of 1980s.

If the problem was only to straighten it up (for a banner), why didn't you do just that? Like I tried here:

(if you like my version, I can easily tweak it - I made it vector way - TRON FTW!)

This one looks really good :thumbs:

Red could You make a "sample page" with this one? ^_^

that one is sexy

Good job hiding all your porn. :thumbs:

Something like this?

not to be nitpicky, but top is #242424, not #000000 =P
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2324/topedd.th.png

Thnx, I admit I made it in a hurry (family problems you don't want to hear about).

Hmm if I can be honest, I'm not too keen on it. I can see why it appeals to those that prefer the original logo, because it's more similar but I had already made almost an identical logo before, for the magazine (in fact I think I posted it on the forum) but I scrapped it for the same reasons I'm not keen on this one.

The main thing that bothers me, is that if you give it a perspective, you're very limited with what you can do with the logo. For example, it should be centered on the top instead of on the left for this perspective to work and a good logo should fit in everywhere and not just in one spot. That was also the problem with the logo we have right now and the reason we wanted to replace it in the first place.

Also, it doesn't fit the more modern design of the site like it is right now and would require a complete overhaul for it to work and for the logo to be put in the middle. It just feels too out of place at the moment.

i think that the version you made didn't have very good perspective, this one is much sexier.
and what are you talking about? o_O this one is "centered" on top, unlike your attempt, which was directed to the left. this one does fit everywhere

Mine didn't have a real perspective - just an extended shadow. And originally, it was on the right - I just haven't changed it yet since it moved to the left.

And this one is on the left, not centered yet the perspective is made for the center of the page. For it to fit on the left, you'd have to adjust the perspective and like I said, this means the logo is not easy to use everywhere because the perspective would make it feel out of place in most spots. There's a reason perspectives like these don't get used much.

even thought it's in the left site it doesn't look out of place because the logo is faded into center o_O

it's a logo..

Must I say I prefer the old one redux thing here... :rocks:

New design for the logo has been produced
 

A new logo has been produced by Valentin Salja. Just wanted you to know that I'm in the fight for a new redesign. Show your opinions and lets talk this over, shan't we?

Personally I like the red colors of today, but the color scheme can be neater.

Idk if you'll have some problems with using the same Invader logo as several other websites.
The Invader used atm is one I haven't really seen in use by other sites. Re-branding everything - even the AB Invader is a bit harsh.

Cosmetics aside, I think it's too complex to be an amazing logo.
All the 3d and stuff makes it a bit... well...

The current logo has more of a 2d3 thing going on and that works. The drop shadow is a bit distracting and muddies it.
If I squint hard, I can just about see it says Abandonia.

If the word wasn't there, I'd have no idea it was specifically abandonia nor even anything to do with retro-games.

I'm good at negative comments me. If you expected anything constructive, you've asked the wrong person (not that you asked me anyway, but you kinda did).

Maybe someone else will say something constructive instead?

If you ask me we should have a logo viewed from the front, without a 3D tilt and the likes. The main argument is that noone uses a 3D tilted view (at least the popular sites). Take for example sites like gamespot.com, ign.com, gamesradar.com, adventuregamers.com and many more. They're very popular sites and they all have simple 2D logos enhanced with various effects. Sure, a lot would consider Valentin Salja's design nice and all, but maybe not for a logo. And if some would like it as a logo, there will be too many who will dislike it. The main issue when making a logo is lowering to the minimum the amount of people who will dislike it. A simple logo is more suited for a popular site: it's easily remembered, catchy etc

As for the colors. The idea might be there: the current logo needs a bit more warmth. But the chosen colors are totally wrong. While yellow might be acceptable, the green sure is not. The logo shouldn't change radically in terms of colors either. We could drop the black, and add bits of yellow, for example.

I agree with TA. The tilt has always bugged me.

Good luck with your battle Robert! :)

I agree with the criticism to the tilting, that always makes the stuff harder to read. And that's another problem that logo has, the readability isn't good at all. And I agree on the colors, too, it just doesn't seem to fit at all. One thing to take into account when changing logos is that you can't change the logo so radically, you still need that the old people continue to associate that logo with the old one, you need some kind of continuity in the logos not to loose that association with the site. I am not sure if I am making too much sense here, but I hope you can understand what I am trying to say.

i think the new logo is kind of cool, however i have to agree on the perspective ("tilt"). making banners and everything will be a pain in the arse

but colors seem cool to me. even though i like the red ones better, because red/brown has always been the abandonia's ..how to say, signature?

btw saccadde most probably thought it's complex because there were watermarks all over it like it were the most expensive piece of graphics on the internet (..like it were difficult to clean a logo like this from it anyways lol)

and i don't agree with quia that you can't change logo 'radically' :P and i also don't agree that logo has to be "readable". logo needs to be memorable. that's all what's expected from a logo

I have always liked the way Mobygames and some of the other sites include a small thumbnail graphic (boxshot) next to the game title on the game page. Creates a recognition factor for me. Just a thought. I really like the links you have created to the extras sections. Much cleaner.

WAFFLES! BUY WAFFLES!

in all seriousness though, i like number Two better. Too bat studentis doesn't listen to us, right?

Bah, who cares about what you think? :tongue: :p

The thing is that if the logo isn't readable, someone who doesn't know what the heck that logo is about, no matter how memorable it is, he will not know where to look. Think of it as a courtesy to the newbie that wants to know what all this fuzz is about :)


(In case it isn't obvious, the "who cares about what you think" was a joke)

It's a start, thank you Robert for your help :)

Frankly I don't like the colors, especially green that gives a "sick" feeling, in my opinion they should be warmer.
Our old layout describe what I'm talking about, maybe you could use the same tonality of yellow of the space invader "Help me".


http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/7477/abandonia.png

http://www.abandonia.com/files/games...bandonia_8.gif

As _r.u.s.s. said the red/mild brown has always been our main signature, followed by the space invader of course. But I wouldn't mind a little bit of innovation.

I'm a fan of 3D, but I think the simpler it is the better would be the result.
I would suggest a less prominent perspective and just a little anticlockwise rotation of about 15° from the basic image.

I liked very much a design concept that one of our crew members prepared years ago, it was never used but became an unofficial logo for its beauty, you may want to take inspiration from this :)

http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/../...bandonia_3.png

This is good. I see where you are getting at.

Can someone upload "number two" as psd/eps to the ftp or email it to me?

BTW "the new logo" is just a design proposal from a user that visited the site and emailed me because that person got inspiration enough to make a new logo design for Abandonia ,just like red_avatar some months ago.

I've just sent it to you by mail :)

I'd forgotten how much I loved our old layout :)

I like the dark red - it's been the AB colour for some time. Can I recommend a sort of rounded, uncial font in 2D? Something that looks modern, but slightly retro as well. "Zeerust", it's called: when they imagine in the past what the future will look like, yet it looks incredibly outdated to us now.

You want something with that almost fifties classic feel. Like a soda fountain in the Jetsons, maybe.

and what's a user going to know if there's written "abandonia"..?=P that there's a lot of old games? or that this place is abandoned? there's really a lot of books and lectures about design. and believe me, if a website logo is memorable it doesn't have to be "readable". if a user knows that this mark belongs to this place that's what matters. and it's not like it were completely unreadable btw ...

http://www.abandonware-france.org

Who's logo is that? AB.fr or AB?
Interestingly, they also have a facebook account, steamgroup http://steamcommunity.com/groups/abandonwarefrance, twitter and all that bollocks. you can get the other links from their site as i can only copy/paste one item at a time here.

They're on Squakenet network, I think - reckon that's where I found them.

can't be arsed to post anything more.

Yes russ, once again you read my mind perfectly and surprise me that you always know what I am thinking before I even think it.