User Input Designing the New Marriland Forums Logo

[Marriland]

Hey everyone, the new Marriland Forums have been in place for nearly six months now, opening back in November, but something has been sorely missing during this time: a proper logo for the Marriland Forums! Sure, having the big Marriland logo up top gets the point across, but as with the old days, having a separate, distinct logo for the Marriland Forums is a good idea all around. That's why I'd like to open up this thread: to get feedback and encourage discussion about the new logo, since we will likely be using it for the foreseeable future.

One thing I need to get clear, though: as a logo is something that is at the core of a site's identity, we will not accept user-submissions for new forum logos! Ideas, yes, but actual submissions, no. Part of the reasoning behind that is ownership. It would take a lot of unnecessary hurdles to properly sign over rights to a logo or design and, without doing so, let's say a user that creates a logo gets angry at the forums for some reason... well, theoretically they could try to get the logo removed. Not really a good situation! Even though that's unlikely to happen, that's part of the reason I'm taking up the task of designing the logo myself, but I am more than glad to incorporate ideas and listen to user feedback.

Anyway, down below are a few of the options I've whipped together, keeping with a blue(ish)-and-white color scheme, which is sort of what I've always associated the Marriland Forums with, even way back in the day. This also lends itself well to the default theme.

Passion One

I've used "Passion One" in a lot of different thumbnails and overlays on my videos. It's a nice, clean font and one I'm a big fan of. I quite like this option and it's probably my favorite of the bunch. The "—" lines on the end of "Forums" are optional! I can also extend them so they fill the rest of the bottom side of the logo.

Passion One (Horizontal Variant)

This is a variant of the logo above. It isn't included in the poll because any of the fonts/designs can have a horizontal version where it would be more appropriate to have one. This particularly highlights the difference in colors for each of the words and should look nice and clean up top. Again, keep in mind that this is an option for every logo.

Fat Frank

Another nice, clean font choice. It has a bolder, stronger look than the already-bold Passion One. It's also a bit wider. This version is one without the lines to the sides of the word "Forums", but they can be included as well.

Ander Hedge

This one is a bit quirkier and I may be able to adjust some of the lettering even further to make it even fresher, but I will leave this here as an option. I also think having some other sort of symbol or icon, like perhaps a speech bubble to indicate discussion, might suit this logo well. I might even be able to take the "M" and turn it into a Marill tail of some sort, instead of just having a Marill tail extruding from it like in the current logo. Again, lines are optional and — I think in this case — probably unnecessary.

Familiar Pro

The last option on the buffet for today, which was actually the first option that I worked on. This one is a bit lighter than Passion One or Fat Frank while also being reasonably wide. I'm not quite as fond of it, but it does have its charms and certainly would stand out as a logo if it were used. This is also an example of the lines being properly stretched.

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Those are the four current options, along with a variant shown for one of them. If you have any recommendations for fonts that are freely available for commercial use, such as from FontSquirrel.com, that would be fine as well to suggest, although it would really have to be pretty compelling to consider it. Unlike the existing Marriland logo, any of these logos may be modified by the staff for specific forum themes without any issue, so having color variations would be a possibility.

Any other feedback on the logo design process itself is fine, too! I'm not a professional graphic designer by any means, but I try my best to have things look nice and clean, so if you know of a specific way to make things better then feel free to suggest it in a constructive manner and I will at least consider it.

That being said, feel free to vote on the poll for your choice, and to leave feedback about the logo or logos below. Thanks!

 

[Slix]

I like these all! I think my choice has to be for Passion One Horizontal. I like the horizontal layout better, but I think it might just be because there would be a lot of empty space to the right of the logo if we used the stacked version. Not a big fan of the -'s, myself.

Great work regardless! I'm excited to see what we all vote on.

 

[Dregran]

Thank you for making these!! They look so nice.

I like Fat Frank the best.

 

[seaturtle]

I really love the colors and how clean each of them look. Passion One is definitely my favorite choice though, it just looks nice to me. I'm not really sure if I prefer horizontal or the tiered one, but overall I think that the font looks the best out of all of them and I'm really happy with it. Thanks again for taking the time to put these together- they all look super great!!

 

[shhmew]

I certainly like Passion One the best. I think the thinner fonts don't work as well, they don't stand out as prominently, and the more quirker font just feels...a little too quirky. Something nice and bold and straightforward feels the best to me; fat frank is also ok, but doesn't have as much of a cohesive feel, i guess is the best way i can explain it.

Also, I personally like the -Lines- in the logo, rather than something horizontal. For one, it's more compact, and the dashes actually fit well with the theme of being a forum, while also helping it look more unique. They could even be changed to something like brackets/curly brackets or greater than/less than signs to fit the theme of a forum, but that feels much more busy than just dashes and probably would be too distracting. Maybe dots (bullet points) would look okay too, but maybe not, it's hard to envision without trying myself.

Overall, of the options listed I just like Passion One (non-horizontal) the best =) thank you for designing these marriland, it is a lot safer and more secure than if we had taken user submissions, and they look super clean.

 

[PyroKinesis]

It doesn't look like it's going to win, but Ander Hedge is my absolute favorite.

 

[Typhlosion]

I dropped a vote for Ander Hedge as well. I feel like the less rigid, more playful font style is a better depiction of the kind of atmosphere we're aiming to create on the forums. There aren't any I really dislike, though.

 

[Felly]

I just want to say that I appreciate the name Fat Frank for a font.

I went ahead and voted for Passion One because I feel like it's the best option of the ones given. I was thinking of something with more rounded letters, kinda like Sniglet, so basically something kinda like bubbles since Marill's a Water (and Fairy) type Pokemon. Not sure Sniglet is the right one for that, but that's basically what I was thinking with the rounded letters because sometimes visuals are helpful. That said, I do like Passion One because it's got some big, but not too big, letters. I prefer the horizontal one, but I don't really like how the L and the A are touching in Marriland, especially when none of the other letters are touching like that.

Ander Hedge was also a nice font, but it made me think of Smash Camp, and that's only a once a year thing over the summer. It's a nice font, but it wasn't something I could picture year round.

i also thought i'd posted this last night, oops

 

[Trance]

I like the horizontal Passion One. I love how it gives that feel of the older logo.

 

[Rex]

Passion One is my favorite. I prefer the stacked version and could go with or without the lines. I'm surprised Ander Hedge is getting as many votes as it is, though. I personally find it kind of ugly.