Jan 11 2007, 9:53 pm
In response to Tom
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Kunark
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I'm nothing compared to many of the designers in the community which is why I have just annoyingly bitched about it and not actually helped yet, but I'll see if I can't make some example themes and see if anybody likes them better.
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SSJ2GohanDBGT wrote:
Agreed. ...It's a start page, not a content page. In other words, it's a front end that guides new people into the site instead of dumping them into a complex page full of links that don't work unless they actually read the tiny "What is BYOND?" link on the left. (Think: Google's simplicity versus Yahoo's cram-everything-you-can-onto-one-page. There's a reason Google is earning billions in advertising dollars now.) Regular users should bookmark games.byond.com or developer.byond.com and go right to the old meat and potatoes they're used to. =) | |
Tom wrote:
Our point is, if you don't like the new pages, throw us a bone. Design something else and help us improve it. We are a limited staff doing the best we can... I think these pages are a lot better than what we used to have, so that's at least a step in the right direction. Well, when I saw they hella cool collage on the BYOND labs blog, I thought ya'll were gonna do something like this:  I think it makes a better background than a foreground, especially since it tiles. I also messed around with the banner on the top (nothing special just moved some stuff around) and played with the css. I like the orange (in smaller doses) and I think a blue/cyan like I found for the tabmenu works well with both it and the tiled collage background. I DID however manage to make the tabmenu 2000% more foogly than it was... This definately isn't meant to be any sort of replacement, just a visual representation of where you might go with the page. | |
TheMonkeyDidIt wrote:
Holy cow, your banner is great! Did you do those characters from scratch? They look fantastic, though part of the appeal of the existing banner is that it's probably more representative of the graphics you'll see in BYOND games. I'd love to use something like what you did, but I wonder if that's a bit of false advertising... No doubt we'll keep updating both the content and the look of the main pages. You've definitely provided some more ideas. Thanks. | |
Mike H wrote:
Holy cow, your banner is great! Seconded. They look fantastic, though part of the appeal of the existing banner is that it's probably more representative of the graphics you'll see in BYOND games. I'd love to use something like what you did, but I wonder if that's a bit of false advertising... I am fond of the existing banner, but given the complaints we've gotten about the retro nature of it (which is what I actually like about it, but that's just me), if Monkey's banner is original and he'll allow us to use it, I'm for it. No doubt we'll keep updating both the content and the look of the main pages. You've definitely provided some more ideas. Thanks. I like making the collage the page background...normally I don't like busy backgrounds, but I think this succeeds at the original concept, which was to help communicate a never-ending set of games. I think we should play with this (Guy may kill me, as he's already been working on a new version of the collage!) | |
Dang, that page looks awesome! The color combinations are striking without being chaotic. I'd definitely favor this or something very much like it.
(FYI, the original banner was intended to be a "pixel art" work -- but unfortunately, enlarging it to a practical size removes some of the appeal! So the replacement banner is fine by me too.) | |
Deadron wrote:
I like making the collage the page background...normally I don't like busy backgrounds, but I think this succeeds at the original concept, which was to help communicate a never-ending set of games. It kinda looks cool, but I think it is a little too busy. Looking at his mockup felt like trying to write an essay with the TV on in the corner of my eye. Something needs to be done to the centre to draw your eyes to main content instead of the collage. | |
Zounds! That looks good!
I would suggest decreasing contrast and increasing brightness on the background image to give it a faded look, assuming it ever goes "primetime". While it is important to give clear examples of what BYOND games look like, they could always add actual screenshot galleries to do that and leave the background collage as just an artistic effect that shows "hey, look at me, I have thousands of games!" without saying "don't read any other text on the page!" | |
Elation wrote:
Something needs to be done to the centre to draw your eyes to main content instead of the collage. You could reduce the intensity of the collage portion, and then have the middle be embossed, drop a shadow, or something similar. | |
I think we should play with this (Guy may kill me, as he's already been working on a new version of the collage!) Fortunately, I saw the post just before I was about to begin importing the 26 images into RealDraw! Talk about a narrow escape! | |
I would suggest decreasing contrast and increasing brightness on the background image to give it a faded look Dunno if that would be possible on a tiled image. They could use some cool CSS or overlay'd images to make it white out, but the decreasing contrast isn't (as far as I know) possible. | |
Mike H wrote:
...though part of the appeal of the existing banner is that it's probably more representative of the graphics you'll see in BYOND games. I'd love to use something like what you did, but I wonder if that's a bit of false advertising... Gughunter wrote: (FYI, the original banner was intended to be a "pixel art" work -- but unfortunately, enlarging it to a practical size removes some of the appeal! So the replacement banner is fine by me too.) I hadn't even thought of that! That is a very good point. I suppose I'm a bit addicted to all the illustrations I used to see in the PnP books. Deadron wrote: I am fond of the existing banner, but given the complaints we've gotten about the retro nature of it (which is what I actually like about it, but that's just me), if Monkey's banner is original and he'll allow us to use it, I'm for it. I like the retro aspect as well! I'm a big fan of pixel art and this was by no means meant as a replacement for the existing and it's style. I mainly wanted to put down and fiddle with some things I thought might look good and, since I couldn't change the CSS of the banner itself, I started over on it. Really the whole thing was just a rough sketch and definatly has it's flaws. If you see some ideas that you can use, I'd be gratified. As for the banner, as above, I think Mike and Gug make some good points about the retro style as well, so maybe that rough sketch can be tweaked to a more pixel-y style. The only things not created by you all at BYOND or me are the dice (including the red dice layer I forgot to hide) and the cards (yay, Google images!). Use any, all, or none of it as you see fit, or just ask and I'd be happy to retrofy it (and clean it up to hell and back like it needs) and redo the googs. Elation wrote: It kinda looks cool, but I think it is a little too busy. Looking at his mockup felt like trying to write an essay with the TV on in the corner of my eye. I totally agree on both points. I tried to do that with the blue and orange but it may still be too busy for it to work. I hope they can work it out, as I really like that tileable image. | |
or just ask and I'd be happy to retrofy it (and clean it up to hell and back like it needs) and redo the googs. Given that this page is meant to be an entry point for people who are just learning about BYOND, I'd say the slicker the better -- no need for retrofication! The pixel art was a fun idea, but your more detailed art is bound to make a much better first impression. | |
I like the banner much better and agree that the collage makes a better background than a foreground. I'm still not a fan of the gradient and I like the old tabs much better. However, the only thing that really gets me is the colors of the content div clashing with the background. One could lighten the orange to match the color in some of the games like Kwijibo. However, I think making the borders a matching shade of green and the background black would work better. It would be like digging through the pile of games and finding BYOND at the bottom.
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Elation wrote:
I would suggest decreasing contrast and increasing brightness on the background image to give it a faded look You're kidding, right? Open up your favourite graphical editor, decrease contrast, increase brightness. Save. It will still tile naturally because the brightness and contrast alteration will affect the whole image simultaneously, so the seams will just be as subdued on each side. ;-) | |