Attention Artsy types!!

[Strydur]

I want to spruce up the main website page. The colors just look too bland. I want to keep the overall look but spruce it up like metallic chrome looking red banner instead of just flat red or something similar. There might be a prize for helping out 8)

[xwingband]

hehe, Photoshop here we come!

[Tenric Starkindler]

the website freelogomakers.com may have just what you want....for free.
it has been awhile since i visited them but they had quite a selection of pre-made textures,buttons, boxes, etc. and will do some logo work free...as long as you don't mind a bunch of e-mails in return.

[virus692]

the website freelogomakers.com may have just what you want....for free.
it has been awhile since i visited them but they had quite a selection of pre-made textures,buttons, boxes, etc. and will do some logo work free...as long as you don't mind a bunch of e-mails in return.

Don't Make Me Beat You! :twisted: :shock: :wink: :x

[Firebird21]

Where's the sparkly sig crap...

[MasterStoney]

I like it the way it is. I like the bland look.

[elrond.406]

Where's the sparkly sig crap...

HAHa! :lol: sparkly sigs! I made nearly everyone on the forum put that crap in their sigs :wink: :P

[bustinthejus]

Well I made this, but I missed the chrome red part. I think this looks pretty good though, for me anyways. :P

You might need to center the top buttons yourself. I couldn't really center them.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/792/newphotofrontcopyij9.jpg

[elrond.406]

Well I made this, but I missed the chrome red part. I think this looks pretty good though, for me anyways. :P

You might need to center the top buttons yourself. I couldn't really center them.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/792/newphotofrontcopyij9.jpg

:shock: I'm...not sure wat to say... :? :lol:

(Hey xwing, I remembered to not repost ridiculously ginormous pics like screenshots! :D Yay!)

Edit: MS IE Suks! :twisted: :P :twisted:

[987654321a]

well here are my submissions.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop.gif
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop2.gif
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop3.gif

[Strydur]

Countdowns 3rd pic isnt too far off. I want to KEEP the basic structure but just spruce up the coloring not change the size etc..

[JediHilt]

How about a strip of that picture from The Phantom Menace where Darth maul is looking out across tatooine with his electronic benoculars.

[Angelus Lupus]

That would be a copyrighted picture, so most likely a no-go

[supertrogdor]

Edit: MS IE Suks! :twisted: :P :twisted:

I don't mean to derail the thread, however, everyone is entitled to use what they like, and are familiar with elrond. Blatant statements of that nature are likely to get you into trouble. I can only hope you use more discretion when you talk to people in person. Even still, I for one, would really like to see how many posts you can make without cutting down someone's individual preferences.
We have had some good minds leave our forum so as not to have to put up with that kind of commentary, lets not give others reason to leave. K?

[jjshumpert]

how about doing your left dropdown menu in a light gunmetal and the text in a black, it would be easier to read and match up more with the hilt pic scrolling on the main page

[xwingband]

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4213/tcssiz2.th.jpg (http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4213/tcssiz2.jpg)

I'm not done by a long shot but that's what I have so far... I don't have time to get in depth yet, but that's my progress.

I want to round the side bar too. All text will match the logo colors and the current links at the top will go to chromed buttons.

[Firebird21]

Bring back the New Items box!!!



With pics.

:mrgreen:

[Strydur]

LOL..funny man!! I know.. This new storefront is a little more challenging for me to program. So its either spend lots of hours learning it or paying someone else to do it for me. I guess I could always just do a Whats new section manually its not like I add 100 items a day. Maybe I will just do that so you will leave me alone :oops:

[Firebird21]

Maybe I will just do that so you will leave me alone :oops:



:twisted:



I'm just letting you know that I liked that feature.

And for the record... James was the one that was giving you a hard time about it before. :wink:

[elrond.406]

Edit: MS IE Suks! :twisted: :P :twisted:

I don't mean to derail the thread, however, everyone is entitled to use what they like, and are familiar with elrond. Blatant statements of that nature are likely to get you into trouble. I can only hope you use more discretion when you talk to people in person. Even still, I for one, would really like to see how many posts you can make without cutting down someone's individual preferences.
We have had some good minds leave our forum so as not to have to put up with that kind of commentary, lets not give others reason to leave. K?

Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult anyone, that's just my opinion... :oops: :cry:

[Lord Maul]

i have to agree with fb.
that new items thing was sooo helpful. me want it back NOW!please :mrgreen:

[elrond.406]

Bring back the New Items box!!!



With pics.

:mrgreen:

:D Good :idea: ! 8)

[Lord Maul]

it's back... YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you tim :D

[elrond.406]

For the storefront layout thing, i like xwing's fer now, not just cuz the others use IE :D

[Firebird21]

it's back... YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you tim :D


http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_party.gif

[987654321a]

tell me what ya think Tim.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop5.gif


edit- sorry for the artifacts on it, it was saved as a gif but ill save it in another format later

[Lord Maul]

the words at the top are way too hard to see with how you have it CD, try switching the color :wink:
i love the blade thing ya got going there though :D

[james3]

Maybe I will just do that so you will leave me alone :oops:



:twisted:



I'm just letting you know that I liked that feature.

And for the record... James was the one that was giving you a hard time about it before. :wink:

Dang! I get busy and ya throw me to the Dawgs!

But yeah, I guess I did start that huh. :wink:

[Strydur]

I will clean up the Whats new section later and make it look better. I would expect a jester to take things less serious..I might need to rethink your title. :?

[987654321a]

the words at the top are way too hard to see with how you have it CD, try switching the color :wink:
i love the blade thing ya got going there though :D
well its not supposed to be a blade its supposed to be the chrome for it.

[Firebird21]

I would expect a jester to take things less serious..I might need to rethink your title. :?



You asked...


:mrgreen:

[bustinthejus]

Wow mine looks like a piece of poop now. :P

[james3]

Edit your post. No need for that in here.

[xwingband]

Yeah, for an 11 year old... you shouldn't use those words.

[Tenric Starkindler]

tell me what ya think Tim.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop5.gif


edit- sorry for the artifacts on it, it was saved as a gif but ill save it in another format later

I like the "blade" feature on this one alot.
maybe the color could change as you navigate through the store?

[987654321a]

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop.jpg

here is the finished model of what you might be looking for.

[Strydur]

Looking good. I like the way you guys broke the outer ring. The dull grey on the left should go also. I want ideas for the left menu area and the upper bar area. Some good ones so far but I am sure there are more ideas out there.

[vortextwist]

I would like it you got rid of the expaded menu. Maybe bold the head subject and still have the links for the others below them.

[Nightwing]

Okay, I'm currently at a library computer and only have access to Microsoft Office programs. When I get home, I'll clean these up in photoshop so they look better than crap. I'll add line breaking, much better placement, borders, etc. I just can't do it all in MS Word. :P
Right now these are just a hack jobs to show an idea of where I'm going with it, so nobody can steal my ideas. :evil:

Oh, and PhotoBucket made them smaller, so the text looks a bit scrunched.

EDIT:
BTW, Vortex, I actually was working on that no-expanded-menu thing earlier; I wouldn't rip off your ideas or anything.


http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f252/NightWing726/NewMainPage1.png


http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f252/NightWing726/NewMainPage2.png

The "saber border" could be in any color, not just red. Blue would be nice with the black.

[vortextwist]

hey no prob, since I am no artsy type. I can barly use ms paint. looks real good nightwing. I know someone mentioned it earlier but how hard is it to have the colors change each time the page comes up. I know on a couple other sites when you refresh it would show a diff pic in the corner.

[Nightwing]

I know someone mentioned it earlier but how hard is it to have the colors change each time the page comes up. I know on a couple other sites when you refresh it would show a diff pic in the corner.

:shock:...
That... is... brilliant! It would make perfect sense for the top saber blade border to change colors...

Whaddaya think, Tim? Is it doable?

[LordArgyll]

I dunno... I kind of like the graphic quality of the current page. It could use some spit'n'polish, but I like that it's not overdone. Subtle changes like the way Countdown merged the borders of the logo with the borders of the banner. Excessive, hard gradients will only make it hard on the eyes. Really not fond of the big fuzzy saber-blade one. It's just too soft for a prominent feature of the page.

I'd also stick with the gray... neutral colors are good, especially when there's information to be presented within that field of color.

And for the love of God, avoid using black fields as backgrounds. It's so overused that it's cliche and, in my opinion, just plain ugly. :)

Of course, this is all just my opinion as a professional graphic artist.

I have some ideas myself maybe using some of the photos in the galleries as source material... assuming no one would have a fit if they were used to promote the Shop... but then, isn't that what the galleries are for in a way? ;)

[Nightwing]

And for the love of God, avoid using black fields as backgrounds. It's so overused that it's cliche and, in my opinion, just plain ugly. :)
Funny, I would have said "For the love of God, don't use gray. It's hard to see and not very striking." I hate flat black, but the way I did it, using a fill technique, looks just great to me.

But then again, I hate gray. :)


Hey Strydur, I don't suppose you have the original layered sections of the TCSS logo, do you? It would make the merging job much easier if we could just cut out the sections.

[LordArgyll]

I like the gray. It has the same value as the red in the banner. It's very subtle, but it unifies the two pieces. They don't fight each other for attention, even though you might think the red would do.

I dunno. It's just me. I think the page can be spruced up without going crazy with Photoshop filters. ;) For me, simple is always better... but such things are always a matter of personal taste.

[supertrogdor]

I would chip in my 2 bits that if you want to axe the grey, you should replace it with something equally easy on the eyes to read. Blatant contrasts are painful to look at, especially when you are trying to read smaller print on 2 clashing colors. Give it a K.I.S.S. for simplicity

[JediHilt]

How about making the bar out of all the middle MHS sections linked together going across the page.

[Ryma Mara]

The best I could do wiht MS paint.

MS paint dosent suck its just that you dont know how to use it :D

Took me a while to even get remotly good at it.



http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5594/untitledkc9.png (http://imageshack.us)

I was trying to enlarge the links/words in the red bar but it dident work the way I hopted it would..

[Strydur]

Ok..maybe I should try and better explain my wants.

Shape and size of graphics stay the same
I will not expand the menu as it forces 1024*768 users to scroll. Actually it does even at 1440*900.

I am looking for just giving the upper banner and left menu bar a more vibrant look. Maybe some sort of border around the left menu bar? Maybe diff shades of red for the upper banner? Etc..

[987654321a]

here is an updated version of mine, tell me what ya think.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop2.jpg

[LordArgyll]

Ack! Black! :cry:

Okay... while that draws the eye directly to the menu -- an important piece of information worth having attention drawn to -- it weights the left side of the screen too heavily, especially with the tinted gradients in the banner pulling weight and thus balance out of the top of the screen. All the extra borders added into the menu also make it more difficult to read rather than easier.

Sorry if I seem to be overly critical... but we artists grow through constructive criticism. :)

[elrond.406]

here is an updated version of mine, tell me what ya think.
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/hydralics51/customsabershop2.jpg

I like... 8) :D

[LordArgyll]

Messing around with the banner... no solid ideas for the menu yet.

http://darkside.sandwich.net/images/random/tcss.jpg

[xwingband]

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1889/tcss2vo5.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1889/tcss2vo5.jpg)

That's what I'm leave this at... Maybe another scheme will strike me.

Chrome... plus it's always bugged me that the colors are not related. So everything was changed to red and green to match the logo.

Fake Edit while posting: Hot dang... I like the banner idea.

[ti-el_terall]

I like Count Downs because of the color, but I like LordArgyll because of how he incorperated the pic into the top of the banner.

Wish I could help out but Im no good a t graphic design.

[Nightwing]

Well dang, LordArgyll's is the best so far, in my opinion. That top pic along with the perfect red chrome border makes it all awesome.

[ti-el_terall]

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1889/tcss2vo5.th.jpg (http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1889/tcss2vo5.jpg)

That's what I'm leave this at... Maybe another scheme will strike me.

Chrome... plus it's always bugged me that the colors are not related. So everything was changed to red and green to match the logo.

Fake Edit while posting: Hot dang... I like the banner idea.

Wow! It looks great!

[Lord Maul]

i too like LA's the best. next would probably be xwings :D

[Strydur]

LordArgyll I was wondering when you where going to put your art where your mouth was. :)

Very nice..very nice indeed. Originally I didnt want anything above that but it looks good.

[darthdan]

Could somebody put together a combo of the two? I like LA's top border, nice work man! I also like the brushed chrome look that X-wings has, so... Use the top border from LA's, apply the brushed chrome look to the side menu so it's not a flat grey. With the lines between sections it already looks like an MHS saber(sort of). So make it look like the aluminum used in the MHS... Anybody?

Plus, and maybe this is just me(http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n237/huskerbrewdad/Smilies/crazy2.gif) and I've had altogether not enough sleep, but with the TCSS logo(hinge) at the top of the right side, if you made the side menu look more like metal, with the red top border, it would look kind of like a folding-knife version of a lightsaber

[LordArgyll]

LordArgyll I was wondering when you where going to put your art where your mouth was. :)

Yeah.. I figured if I was gonna blah blah blah that I should show something. :wink:

[Enolmano]

I kinda like the saber blade idea, why dont have one side in each color, on blue, one red?

And: black menu is really cool! and thats saber pic at the top of LordAgrylls pic is nice...

[Strydur]

:evil:

No more posts unless it fits this thread. Go kill some thread I dont read :)

(This is in response to the 10 posts I just had to delete)