Here's a serious critique, and I hope it is helpful:
That design is so basic that there are really only two elements: The word "shmups" and an optional second element: Something that looks like a flying insect (being objective) or with knives poking out of it, or an insignia out of Star Trek (high contrast + pointy = distracting, suggests and represents "evil" and is visually arresting or jarring more than the round shapes and blur in the current logo), and a variation on a burst pattern of bullets (?) underneath (if you look at our current logo, we already have that).
Related general thought: I think that a logo that stays on the Forum page all the time does well to blend into the background like the relatively unoffensive orange medallion of the current logo.
The gradient-fill text really does have more than a passing resemblance to Microsoft Word Art c. 1997 (or Illustrator, I know, I've used that too; we you just put a gradient inside a boxed font) and there's not much to be said except that it's apparently a filler. If that is the central part of the logo, it will have a critical relationship to the other elements in the graphic and so a design for the word should be locked down. Maybe your idea is amazing but the blueprint doesn't suggest that.
Are you just making these for fun or are you trying to be seriously considered? There is a thread for creative stuff in OT if you just want critiques.
(p.s. I like your user avatar, though I would add some specks and things to it. It reminds me of the old Hammer films stamp logo.)
Sorry for being protective of the Forum and bursting your bubble.
BiQ wrote:I don't know how well the board software can handle it, but how about going all pouet.net with the logos and have a selection of the good ones from which a logo is randomly selected always when the page is refreshed?
No thanks. I'd rather the board's memory cache usage stayed at the minimum, but what's more important to me is not having a jarring theme change every time.
There is some question about the logo being a point of "pride." I think this one is both a good representative of the Forum, of a type and period of shooting games, and is a good balance between not being weak but not being so eye-catching that you can't focus on what you're writing (not that I have a problem with this, but it's worth considering that some people do).
| My games - http://www.emphatic.se
Closing date for competition is the end of March.
