Opinions

voice1 · #1

Hey, not sure if this is the right board, but figured this most nearly fit, the project's not launched yet, so announcements seemed like the wrong board. Feel free to move this if needed.

Just looking for opinions on a logo design for a new Go project. All designs are rough, they are not the finished product! Anyhow, please reply with your favorite! Any comments, questions, etc., are welcome!

kirkmc · #2

Hard to say anything without context. I think most people will choose the first because it's the only one with a grid and stone. But if there is another graphic with stones, then one of the others might be more appealing. I'd want to see two stones in number 1 - a white stone and a black stone.

cdybeijing · #3

No image is loading for me and I don't see a hidden link anywhere.

hyperpape · #4

I think I'd pick 2. Having a stone is nice, but the first logo is just big thanks to the stone hanging down (would it actually display at that size?). I'd also put one well ahead of three.

voice1 · #5

hyperpape wrote:

I think I'd pick 2. Having a stone is nice, but the first logo is just big thanks to the stone hanging down (would it actually display at that size?). I'd also put one well ahead of three.

Actually we scaled down all of them so that we could post them all on one picture. It (the one voted for the most) will be a bit bigger(not sure how much yet).

voice1 · #6

cdybeijing wrote:

No image is loading for me and I don't see a hidden link anywhere.

http://i54.tinypic.com/10h0pdi.gif try this

Chew Terr · #7

I prefer the second one, as it's most readable. In the first, the 'i's almost look like 'j's, and in the last one, the 'i' kind of looks like an 'l'. I know this is going a bit far, but I prefer easy legibility to over-stylizing.

LocoRon · #8

I'd say the first one is the most distinguished. The other two seem far more generic.

If I had to guess at the purpose of the site, based on logo alone, from the first one, I might guess Go, although that may be context-biased. The second I would guess is a magazine about writing with quills and ink, like in the good ol' days. And the third I would have to guess is a site about...road rage?

entropi · #9

I find the second one most elegant. The third one looks more modern but there is a problem with it. Without any prejudice, I read it as "Kial" and not "Kiai". Of course if you look at it just a bit more carefully, you see it's kiai, but I am talking about the very first impression.

topazg · **#10**

LocoRon wrote:

...And the third I would have to guess is a site about...road rage?

I also prefer the second for elegance, although it seems to miss the Go context somehow...

Mivo · **#11**

Like Entropi, I read the third logo as "Kial". The second one reminds me of a logo for a fashion magazine of the 80s. The first one has potential, though the grid/stone part is relatively large (and I agree with Kirk that it needs a white stone somewhere).

Context would help, though my guess is that it will be a webzine.

Kiai · **#12**

Thank you everybody for opinions, you've been very helpful. For example, I didn't notice at all that the third one would be read as "kial," though that's probably because I saw it before it was stylized. Now that it's been mentioned it seems fairly obvious.

There's also been a fair amount of votes for the first design, but how many people have the problem of seeing the "i" as a "j" in that design? Kjaj is not the name I'm looking for.

Mivo wrote:

The second one reminds me of a logo for a fashion magazine of the 80s.

I missed the 80s, did fashion magazines really steal the Coca Cola logo?

LocoRon wrote:

And the third I would have to guess is a site about...road rage?

daniel_the_smith · **#13**

I'm not really a fan of any of the three. I think you should get more alternatives.

Maybe consider adjusting the lines in the first one so that the "a" is in the right spot to be a white stone on the grid?

SinK · **#14**

I like 1 but I read it as Kjaj.

judicata · **#15**

Voted for 1. All of them are really nice, so I say the following lightly: The second looks like a logo for a supermarket/grocery store (someone said fashion magazine, and I can see that too). The third looks like it is trying to be hip in the 90s--maybe a pop radio station logo.

cdybeijing · **#16**

The host site of your pictures is blocked in China unfortunately.

Laman · **#17**

sorry for partially repeating previous ideas

i voted for number 2, but neither variant is perfect... 1 looks like Kjaj, 3 like Kial. neither 2 nor 3 have any connection to go, though this may not be necessarily bad, because virtually every go project tries to get black or white stones or something similar to its logo and as a result plenty of them looks all the same

as i feel meaning of the word 'kiai', fighting spirit, the logo should be something light, dynamic, even aggressive - in this aspect number 2 and also 3 gain points for their (under/over)line

when i hear kiai (in connection with go), i imagine player smashing a stone on the board, and with that stone delivering ear-reddening move / dead heart tesuji / whatever (i know this is not exactly the original meaning of the word, it is what it brings to my mind). i could imagine a stone of one color crushing a stone of the other one, accompanying the word.

number 1 looks too steady and static for representing kiai how i feel it

unfortunately i am not skilled enough to come with an actual picture myself, other designs to choose from wouldn't be bad

PS: would you mind telling us what kind of project will Kiai be? i think 2 words - 1 sentence would be enough, no details needed

jts · **#18**

As it stands I like "1" best, but I think that a revised version of "3" could be even better. Suggestion:

(i) Switch the font to Courier
(ii) Switch the color from red to black (red on white looks way too bright and happy to me)
(iii) Making the markings more obviously claw marks.

Also, at the risk of being totally tacky, the radicals for "ki" and "ai" already vaguely resemble their roman equivalents. The rice radical looks like a "k", the right side of the air radical could become an "i", man over one looks like "A"....

voice1 · **#19**

Seeing as the first design is by far and large the most popular, we've done a bit of work on the idea. Now, we want this design to be two things, so keep these in mind if you hate it (but don't hold back critique, please!):

1. Modern--we have no hatred for the old stuff (or we wouldn't play Go, right?) but we want this to be accessible and "new."
2. Youth-oriented--Our projects are designed for youth in general, being our members are all under 21. Also, they are all online projects, so we expect most users will be younger (based solely on the fact that young people use the internet a lot).

With that being said, here's the design. Any comments? Anything you hate? Anything that could be done better? Is the weathering hard to see on your screen?(We are fortunate to have a high quality screen for designing, but we lack empathy for those of you that don't, so please force it on us!)

Slightly larger image for larger screens! http://i54.tinypic.com/2jbs01k.jpg

Loons · **#20**

I like the general design and new slightly worn grid look, but it looks like you had the neat kiai/grid and then pasted a picture of a stone on top of it. I don't know how to avoid this look. Maybe it's the quite photorealistic look of the stone.
NB I don't know anything about art.

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