Oolite Bulletins

As this is the Oolite Bulletin Board/Forum I personally think that the Oolite Icon should be used.
We are not using this logo to try to 'sell' the game as users of the forum are already players, nor should it be an advertisement for various OXPs.
It is our Oolite Forum, and like the game itself, I feel it should be clean, un-fussy and functional.
This is my candidate.

Is it possible to have two images... one at top left of the header, one at top right?
It would balance-up the whole header, and centre the main title.

Here's a version minus the text (which allows a bit more room for the Cobra, too):



and a version with a Thargoid (thanks, EV!):

Smivs wrote:

As this is the Oolite Bulletin Board/Forum I personally think that the Oolite Icon should be used.
We are not using this logo to try to 'sell' the game as users of the forum are already players, nor should it be an advertisement for various OXPs.
It is our Oolite Forum, and like the game itself, I feel it should be clean, un-fussy and functional.
This is my candidate.

I have to say that I see nothing wrong with doing both (Selling the game and presenting the bb). As such, Disembodied's second third version, with the logo, is still my favourite. On the other hand, your argument about not advertising for various OXP's is valid, even though I think OXP's are an integral part of the game. So, small suggestion, could you try your design with Disembodied's background (which I think is truly excellent), provided you get his permission of course.

Edit: Disembodied posted updates while I was typing.

There's nothing wrong with selling the game, except the Forum users have already bought in.
And while I agree that OXPs are an integral part of the game, I see no reason to 'promote' them in the forum logo.
I think it is far too easy to lose track of what this is. We are looking for a small logo to fill an empty corner at the top of a Users Forum. No more, no less than that. It's not an advertisement, it's not an Art Gallery. It's not even something most people would consciously notice.
Hence my suggestion that this be kept simple and discreet.

Smivs wrote:

except the Forum users have already bought in.

That's not always the case, I reckon.

Smivs wrote:

There's nothing wrong with selling the game, except the Forum users have already bought in.
And while I agree that OXPs are an integral part of the game, I see no reason to 'promote' them in the forum logo.
I think it is far too easy to lose track of what this is. We are looking for a small logo to fill an empty corner at the top of a Users Forum. No more, no less than that. It's not an advertisement, it's not an Art Gallery. It's not even something most people would consciously notice.
Hence my suggestion that this be kept simple and discreet.

Fair enough and point taken.
Just happen to like the "this side of Riedquat" touch in the background.

Just as well it's not my decision... I'd have a full colour banner right across the header.

El Viejo wrote:

Just as well it's not my decision... I'd have a full colour banner right across the header.

So would I probably, but Smivs arguments are certainly valid, and I have to bow to his point about losing track about what this is. I still like the flashy versions though.

What does it look like on the Forum page? Click to enlarge.

That does look quite elegant Smivs. Not flashy, but elegant. Now I can't make up my mind any more.

Smivs wrote:

There's nothing wrong with selling the game, except the Forum users have already bought in.
And while I agree that OXPs are an integral part of the game, I see no reason to 'promote' them in the forum logo.
I think it is far too easy to lose track of what this is. We are looking for a small logo to fill an empty corner at the top of a Users Forum. No more, no less than that. It's not an advertisement, it's not an Art Gallery. It's not even something most people would consciously notice.
Hence my suggestion that this be kept simple and discreet.

I disagree with virtually all of this. If we follow this logic to its obvious conclusion, we might as well do away with the logo entirely. After all, it provides no information to anyone already 'in the know', and as such is just a waste of space.
I don't really have any strong opinion on whether the BB needs a logo or not, but if we're going to have one, I see no reason not to make it as pretty as possible.

Furthermore, the assumption that every single person who comes to these boards is already well acquainted with the game does not hold up. They may come here by way of a link*, or after having done a search of some sort. In the wild jungle of the hyperweb there are certainly more than one way to get here.

*And speaking of links. Facebook, and I'm sure a lot of other sites, can automagically include a thumbnail when someone posts a link. I just checked, and it appears that our current logo isn't available as such, but if this could be turned on with some sort of setting, the benefits of a good-looking logo should be self-evident.

CheeseRedux wrote:

....we might as well do away with the logo entirely.

This is a valid option. I don't like clutter. Simple can be better than complicated. Nothing-at-all can be better than simple.

But we like pretty and shiny and star-speckled.

Just to be totally inconsistent, I have to admit I do like the starry, 'short-range-charty' background in Disembodied's logo.
Maybe Gimi is on to something, and a fusion of the two might be a good solution. I would certainly be happy with something like that.