Minecraft Name: Jacob43365 Suggestion: Replace all the graphics used for the forum, server, and advertisements on server lists Things that need replacing: LOGO/BANNER: ICON: ADVERTISEMENT: Example of a modern logo: This is what we need. Clean icon, modern font. Something sharp, not drawn. Logos have evolved over the years. The first impression a user would get from a server is the website and the pictures they see. Look at Pepsi. Simple is the future. Nothing complicated, just clean. Reason: They are very old and to be honest, look not modern at all. Also (no offense to the artist) look childish compared to other servers. Any Other Information: Link To This Plugin/Is this a custom addition?:
It's all about what you want to convey. The ECC one looks childish because of the "family server" aspect that is being emphasized.
Honestly just change the forum banner back to the early 2014 logos - https://www.ecocitycraft.com/forum/threads/suggestion-new-forum-banner.129245/ (Feb 8th 2014) The server logo should be changed back to the netherstar one before our current one. As for the advertising banner, I personally think that its fine.
Main thing that needs to happen is consistency. Colors, fonts, main logo/iconic image, etc. In other words, branding. Without consistency, everything looks unprofessional, messy, and half-assed or stolen, lol. I disagree with going as simple/streamlined and flat as most branding has become. A lot of that "style" is for bigger businesses and products. Games tend to have more details, minimal shading and highlighting, some texturing, and often one/two characters or one major symbol. They get more extravagant with games that have high levels of fantasy or realism. ECC needs to actually find what it stands for (iconic image/symbol, genre/theme) and create consistent, high-quality branding (entire package of images, one artist who can be hired again later, .psds of images for modifications, etc). Meaning, you know... a proper investment and not abusing artists by getting cheap, low-quality art or underpaying great artists. I've done some logo/graphics and branding commissions before, and even for the extremely simple and easy tasks it starts bare-minimum at $40 for just ONE image. And that's being underpaid. A nice, full set of images and branding can cost a good $75-$500, but it's a worth-while investment... Especially if you can find one artist who will work for you in the future, so you can get images as you need them for spread out payments.
Thanks for the input. The only issue is that big suggestions always take a very long time to get accepted or implemented. And I don't think @andrewkm would like the suggestion of "Spending $400" to rebrand the server". A community contest could work, cause like you said it doesn't need to be super professional.
No no, what I was saying is that it DOES need to be professional. Just because I'm proposing styles outside of big businesses doesn't mean I am proposing less professional. The problem with contests is the lack of consistency and lack of professionalism (unless you are EXTREMELY lucky and HAVE a professional among the userbase, who takes time out of their paid work to enter a contest). As well, that means you can never guarantee getting more work from them in the future. Graphic design and art is a really serious business, and getting it from those who do it as a hobby or don't know how to do it professionally (you'd be amazed at the amount of professionalism needed just in the .psds) can make things messy and confusing... or in the wrong style, like currently.
