Logo Design Competition/Collaboration (Survey, last page)

[northsidegal]

i made a script that temporarily re-enables the logo and allows for the use of custom logos, if anyone is interested. might be useful for testing designs.

[northsidegal]

i mean technically you can also just use inspect element to test logos but ok

the script is automatic rather than manual, allows for just bringing back the old logo if that's all you care about, and makes it easier to test the look of a logo on different site themes more quickly rather than having to use inspect element to re-edit things every time.

i like both osuka and caled's designs.

[northsidegal]

here's an initial test without really anything too fancy:

Spoiler:

and how it looks on mafblack:

Spoiler:

on silver:

Spoiler:

and a black text version for sepia:

Spoiler:

i had the idea to make the f into a knife and the i look like a magnifying glass but haven't found a way to make it look good yet, if that's even a good idea

[northsidegal]

did a few tests of a wood background for sepia, if people are attached to that style:

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3

and the previews:

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3

personally i think that 3 would only work if it had some kind of art in the background, but i haven't tried that yet

[northsidegal]

a version with just the white text and no background shadow isn't actually that illegible:

Spoiler:

Spoiler: preview

[northsidegal]

i don't know if it's actually meant to be wood or not, i was mostly just attempting to make something similar to the old sepia logo background

[northsidegal]

this is the placeholder logo fyi

Spoiler: spoilers for undertale

[northsidegal]

you're actually right, i deliberately made the f that tall. i can post one where it's smaller / closer in size to the other letters for comparison, if you want.

also, in the spirit of just trying things and while i'm still trying out different sepia designs, i made one with some icons, so i suppose i might as well post it.

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

previews:

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

[northsidegal]

That's kind of a cool idea nsg

I'm not sure if I like the gun or not. I feel like the other gun imagery on previous mafiascum merch was tacky. Again, I really don't like the glowing font thing, and I'd also prefer if there was no wood background - that's just my opinion though. Also the logo is a tad too tall. I really like the silhouette style; I like when it's not visually 'noisy'

here's a "silhouette" version with a gradient rather than wood background:

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: preview

i think the colors on this one might be a bit off but consider it sort of a proof of concept for the gradient background i guess


here's my initial test with a smaller f, i also had to change the centering around a little:

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: preview

[northsidegal]

Why does it need a box at all? That looks better than the wood though

my first versions looked terrible before i added the box, although that might have only been the case for the wood background. it actually looks pretty decent without one with the gradient background.

here are some (i hope) better colored gradients, boxed and boxless:

Spoiler: boxed

Spoiler: boxless

previews:

Spoiler: boxed

Spoiler: boxless

[northsidegal]

I don't think the same logo was used in sepia, was it?

the original sepia logo has black text with white and red drop shadows for "mafia" and "scum", hence my initial designs for the wood style having similar elements

i could try a different red, you're right in that i just sort of carried the same color over when trying colored text instead of shadows without thinking about if it made sense

[northsidegal]

I just think that font in lowcaps makes the a's look really out of place. the m's and c have smooth tops but the a doesn't and it looks odd.

the "f", "u", and "c" (lol) all also have flat elements, although you're right that the "a" definitely stands out the most

It looks like the colored gradient is trying to mimick what being transparent would do

i hadn't considered just straight up transparency on the icons one, i'll try it.

Spoiler: darker red text

Spoiler: transparent w/ icons

previews:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

these are starting to get similar

[northsidegal]

yeah, the transparency is probably just better than the gradient, the header already has a gradient so it's a little pointless.

just my onion but i think pictographs in the logo is out. minimalism is IN (if u look at like startup logos lol)
the font i used is called grenze gotisch except i did a little editing myself for the sharp ends because we are edgy lmao

we're an online forum started in 2002. are we really "in" anyways?

agreed about minimalism and not having iconography in the logo, maybe make the I in mafiascum the magnifying glass?

tried to do this but couldn't find a way to really make it work although thats not me saying it couldn't be done

[northsidegal]

hahaha

E P C

p-edit: you're definitely the expert here, i suppose i'm just personally fine with being a little cheesy or "outdated" in our logo.

[northsidegal]

Could use distorted letters to give the impression of a magnifying glass?

unfortunately that sounds a bit above my skill level when it comes to image manipulation, although if someone could make it work it sounds interesting

[northsidegal]

i tried one, although i don't exactly my execution turned out all that great

Spoiler:

Spoiler: preview

[northsidegal]

i tried one, although i don't exactly my execution turned out all that great

I think this looks really good actually except if it was transparent, and therefore also didn't have those edges on the bloodstain.

shrug

Spoiler:

Spoiler: preview

[northsidegal]

incl. tagline, improved "m" visibility:

Spoiler:

Spoiler: preview

i gotta say that i didn't really like the typewriter look but i think the tagline here really brings it together

[northsidegal]

tried my hand at the magnifying glass concept:

Spoiler:

previews:

Spoiler: mafblack

Spoiler: sepia

[northsidegal]

and a black text version

Spoiler:

Spoiler: preview

[northsidegal]

if you want to get a feel for what a few of the logos i've posted so far look like in practice, i currently have my script set up to rotate through them randomly

Spoiler: script

Code: Select all

// ==UserScript==
// @name          Mafiascum: Re-Enables Logo
// @namespace     https://www.mafiascum.net/
// @description   Brings back the mafiascum logo & allows for custom logos
// @include       https://forum.mafiascum.net/*
// @version       2.4
// ==/UserScript==

try {
  // mafSepia logo URL: "./styles/mafsepia/imageset/site_logo.png"
  // mafSilver logo URL: "./styles/prosilver/imageset/site_logo.png"
  // mafTigers logo URL: "./styles/maftigers/imageset/sitelogo.png"
  // mafBlack logo URL: "./styles/mafBlack/imageset/site_logo.png"
  
  let imgs = ["https://i.imgur.com/uE2YQzQ.png", "https://i.imgur.com/VjKeXZs.png", "https://i.imgur.com/oyVqLHM.png", "https://i.imgur.com/bHqtJjH.png", "https://i.imgur.com/GbaH3PE.png"]
  let imgsrc = imgs[Math.floor(Math.random() * imgs.length)]
      
  let desc = document.getElementById("site-description");
  var content = "<a href='./index.php' title='Board Index' id='logo'><img src='" + imgsrc + "' width='297px' alt='' title='' /></a>"
  
  $(desc.childNodes[1]).replaceWith(content);
  //console.log(content);
  //console.log(desc.childNodes[1]);
  //console.log("done");
   }
catch(e) {
  // Do nothing.
  //console.log("failed");
  console.log(e);
}

[northsidegal]

I might try making all of the I that's within the magnifying glass red.

yeah, cool idea, although i don't know if it really turned out great. i think there's something elegant about the single red dot in the magnifying glass, personally

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3

previews:

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

Spoiler: 3

[northsidegal]

Some people are unlikely to 'get' it unless it is pointed out to them

don't think that's a massive problem, think even without the symbolism it looks good personally

I like only the dot red and not the rest

same here

[northsidegal]

i think that both the drop shadow being distracting and wanting the i centered come from looking at a zoomed in view and are made a lot less relevant at the more zoomed out view the logo would typically take

no drop shadow really also only works with 3's style of text coloring because you need something to define the magnifying glass as separate from the text

[northsidegal]

Merge these two and use that

done

Spoiler:

[northsidegal]

i dunno i feel like it really "pops" you know

[northsidegal]

noah fence to nsg but i'm not a huge fan of the font choice. idk i think its too round? it makes me think of like comic sans lol

i chose that more rounded font because i think a more angular font would clash with the rounded magnifying glass + handle and because of the rectangular "i" in my mind more easily symbolizing a person

not to give the impression that i'm super attached to that font or even that specific design, just what i was thinking behind it. yours looks good! the lowercase m definitely works with that font unlike mine

[northsidegal]

was experimenting with some designs like these

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

previews:

Spoiler: 1

Spoiler: 2

[northsidegal]

realized negative space is a lot better than black text on the white background

Spoiler: this is super aliased and i can't figure out why but it's not really visible at logo sizes

Spoiler: looks basically the same as black text on mafblack, heres the sepia preview

[northsidegal]

i guess i should post a lowercase m version

Spoiler:

Spoiler: preview

[northsidegal]

thought i'd try another variation of the negative space design

Spoiler:

Spoiler: preview

[northsidegal]

it's pretty bad on mafblack