# Off-Topic Discussion > Artists' Corner > Art Design >  >  New banner development

## nina

I'm still into changing the header. I don't like how it's all grainy...and I mean...misty mountains is a bit generic, no? And the font seems too "gentle" for the rest of the site which is a nice streamlined professional design.

If you guys wanna keep it then I won't waste my time trying to make some other ones, but if you are open to the idea I might mess around and see what I could come up with.

And I've already got some sweet ass ideas that are way more like..."whoa lucid dreaming!!"

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## icedawg

well, something needs to be done because the header over the main site says 'forum,' which just isn't right.  but i can't very well alter it w/o it looking like poop.

i'm open to new header ideas, but i wouldn't know what to suggest...i just know i like something after i see it.  that's how we go that one...dylan was just coming up with some ideas, and threw that one out, and i really liked it.

i also want to look into changing the horizontal-lined background, too.  not so much like going with a different pattern, but just the colours.  i don't like it as much as i did.

and while i'm on it, it seems like the top needs something more.  like, it just feels empty...when i go to other big forums, there's more stuff up there.  i dunno what though.  like a menu for the main site stuff? or something.


lots of room for improvement.

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## nina

roger that

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## Nirvana Starseed

The current design is bearable and not that bad.
BUT

Nina said it perfectly. It is too grainy. 
For me there has always been something wrong about the blue ish tone at the top there.
Even though it is not a bad mountain scene something about it is wrong.

"Lucid dreaming forum"  <-----maybe something less obvious or different than this text at the botton of the heading dreamviews? It is not that bad a font but maybe there is a better font aswell.

If I had a computer with all artish computer programs, I would be able to make an outstanding header and design with the right programs, but since I havn't got  that we might have to settle for ninas ones.

the grey horizontal lines reminds me of Smith Chips. Good idea to change that. Even though it is very classy, maybye its the greyish color of it. Something about it doesn't match in.



Then again I can't talk. Look at my avatar and sig.....

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## nina

ok I'm gonna try to put some headers together then...I am looking at the gray stripes and am getting some ideas but maybe once the header comes together we can figure out something that would work better colorwise...

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## Tornado Joe

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *...when i go to other big forums, there's more stuff up there. i dunno what though...*



Yeah, Ice, I know what you mean - it's called *junk*! Now, I'm no big shot on the site but I know a thing or two about design and would like to voice an opinion (oh, I think I'm on the Art Team too, so there's another excuse). I find the current design clean and inviting. It *might* be lacking a bit in having a focal point, but there's a thin line between focal point and distraction sometimes.





> and while i'm on it, it seems like the top needs something more. like, it just feels empty...[/b]



"Empty" as in the _content_ of the image? Because one of the things I find powerful about the image is that it *is* empty - it's like first entering a dream, ready to be filled by what our mind comes up with. Somewhat fitting for the topic of the site. The fact that it's too easily recognized as "mountains" and "earth" is kinda weak - but still, nice.

Anyway, I just thought I'd chime in. You seem to have a good sense of design so something good will come up, I'm sure.

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## nina

ok then...I won't waste my time if you guys like the header

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## Amethyst Star

I personally like the layout.  I enjoy simple, _complementary_ images that are pleasing yet not distracting.  I have no skill in graphic design, so I won't pretend like I'm any kind of expert.  For me, web page layouts (including images) are like jewelery: meant to accent, but not to be the focus.  This site makes it so I can focus more on the text, on the people.

That's not to say I wouldn't like seeing other ideas.  I enjoy seeing what people can come up with and if things look good and the site matches, then there is no reason that it couldn't be considered an option.  Keep having fun toying with the ideas  :smiley:

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## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Tornado Joe_
> *Yeah, Ice, I know what you mean - it's called junk! Now, I'm no big shot on the site but I know a thing or two about design and would like to voice an opinion (oh, I think I'm on the Art Team too, so there's another excuse). I find the current design clean and inviting. It might be lacking a bit in having a focal point, but there's a thin line between focal point and distraction sometimes.*



hey,

i was thinking like some sort of menu thing up there, to provide links to the lucid dreaming material on the main site.  i think that would do a better job of pulling everything together, instead of presenting the forum and the main site as two separate entities.  i actually had someone working on a menu once for us, but that sort of fell apart when the new theme was introduced.  my concern is i just don't see how an added menu could work with the current header up there.


anyway, like Amethyst Star, i agree i like the design how it is, but could also like some changes made (again, like the header or the background).  so nina (or anyone else), don't get discouraged if you have an idea...might as well try it out.  it's impossible to say if i'd like something better w/o seeing it first though, so i don't want anyone to put in piles of effort in case it isn't received well.

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## nina

Guys just keep in mind I am ONLY talking about the header. I think the design of the site is absolutely beautiful, crisp and clean. Very professional looking and I would never want to change that. I just don't think the grainy misty mountains are workin too well.

I completely agree that it would be cool to have nav to the main site via the forum. I never go to the main site anymore because it is quite disconnected from the forum so it would be great if they were tied together more. I will work that into any new header ideas I come up with.

I have to disagree with having a plain boring header. I mean, if the header is neat and enticing (like those surrealist images on the main site) then it will spark people's interest and make them more apt to come back. It will not take away from the content of the forum because after you see it a few times you will get used to it and it's no big deal or distraction. So a cool header will draw people to the site....they will want to come back to see it again and again...when they come back they will explore the forum more and more...after time they get used to it and it's not a distraction.

I don't see the downside here.

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## icedawg

alright, well let's get some people throwing some concepts out there and see what happens.

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## Lucid83

the skyworks semiconductor site has a good flash movie

anyone know how to make something similar or extract from the site

www.skyworksinc.com

this could make for a good flash header



Check the feedback section for my swf rendered version of a portion of that cloud moving

Their cloud movement is VERY TITE!!!!  It has alot of frames too.

LUCID83

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## Aphius

I have the url for just the moving clouds they use;

Moving Clouds

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## nina

That's pretty sweet but can we use that? I mean isn't that uhh stealing? lol

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## Aphius

> _Originally posted by Aquanina_
> *That's pretty sweet but can we use that? I mean isn't that uhh stealing? lol*



Yeah I reckon it would be.  :tongue2:  

It'd be easy to make our own if we could find a video of some rolling clouds, all thats really is, is a looping video with a fade in effect between the front and end of the sequence.  ::wink::

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## nina

Yeah actually I could try to do some cloud effects with pyrocluster in cinema. I've done smoke and steam and such before but never tried clouds. Worth a shot I guess.  :smiley:

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## Lucid83

Just messin around

http://img5.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dv2lt.swf

We dont have to use this exact one

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## Aphius

> _Originally posted by Lucid83_
> *Just messin around
> 
> http://img5.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dv2lt.swf
> 
> We dont have to use this exact one*



Well, it's ok, but it definately would need some work.

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## nina

1. the clouds are sweet but they aren't ours you know...let's quit with the stealing please

2. you should not be allowed to touch text  ::D:  hehe

I'm gonna mess around with some stuff today...

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## icedawg

wow.  wouldn't it be sick to have a profressional-looking flash banner up there?  

i'd imagine we cannot use those clouds, unless we get permission.  if we do, could we do something with them though that would work well here?  or are we better off coming up with something of our own, maybe even better?

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## nina

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> * or are we better off coming up with something of our own, maybe even better?*



I'm with you on this one  :wink2:  ...I just hate ripping off other people's designs  :tongue2:

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## Aphius

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *wow.  wouldn't it be sick to have a profressional-looking flash banner up there?  
> 
> i'd imagine we cannot use those clouds, unless we get permission.  if we do, could we do something with them though that would work well here?  or are we better off coming up with something of our own, maybe even better?*



Hell yeah!  ::cactus:: 

I hear that Nina.  ::wink::

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## Lucid83

Copyright Terms for Skyworks

Except as expressly provided above, you may not use, download, upload, copy, print, display, perform, reproduce, republish, license, post, transmit or distribute any information from our Site in whole or in part without our prior written permission. [b]If you wish to obtain permission to reprint or reproduce any materials appearing on our Site you may contact us at [email protected]. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.

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## Tornado Joe

Ok, I wasn't originally gonna get involved with this one - but I started to help out Lucid83 with some of it and, well, one thing led to another.

Below is a rendition I put together - *however*, it is quite large for a banner (120k) and there's probably way too many things going on in it. But it's easier to take stuff out than to add in. 

Also, I just realized that "Dreamviews" is actually TWO words - but I could fix that if this is something you all think worth pursuing. 

DV Banner comp

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## irishcream

hey, i really like that!!  it's beautiful!

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## Lucid83

GO HERE

http://img131.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dv46tp.swf

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## icedawg

hrm.  i liked where the one by Tornado Joe was going, and i liked the comet effect and twinkling stars in lucid83's, but the prior is probably more like what i think would work here.

so let's see....i don't think i like the 'star-emerging' effect.  well rather, i do like that, but the night sky in general i think is too dark for the forum.  what if that was removed, and then it proceeds with the title like it currently does in joe's flash.  next, instead of those things (comets?) wisking by, how about moving clouds, both behind and in front of the title?  like, well, uh, i guess what immediately comes to mind is the opening sequence to the super nintendo game LAGOON.  anyone played it?  i think something like that would be pretty cool.  we might need the banner to kind of fade out a little bit (sort of like the darkness setting in as it currently does) so that the loss of accord between the added clouds and the ones in the current banner wouldn't be painfully obvious.

also, the clouds moving would loop, so that the whole animation was not looping (too distracting).  oh...and we'd need 'lucid dreaming forum' to appear.

so, let's hear some more thoughts!

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## Razorback

I like both Lucid83's and Tornado Joe's, I would prefer Tornado Joe's over Lucid83's if it didn't loop the whole thing. For instance if Tornado's banner just started looping when the Dreamviews appeared in the banner. It should just loop the shooting stars(?) going by.

I think on lucid83's the colors need to be changed. The purple is not working.

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## Tornado Joe

Ok, wasn't sure where we were at with this, but I took some of the feedback and came up with the following.

DV Banner comp v2





> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *how about moving clouds, both behind and in front of the title? like, well, uh, i guess what immediately comes to mind is the opening sequence to the super nintendo game LAGOON*



Not familiar with the game - but the Simpson's intro came to mind  ::D:   - might try that next.

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## icedawg

hey tornado.

for whatever reason, i'm liking the stars more in this banner.  since i already have the header customized to identify the difference between morning/night (vis-a-vis the salutation), why not have a nighttime banner and a daytime banner?  sure sounds like a great idea to me...have some variety.

i think the one you've got now is great for the nighttime version, aside from the font for 'lucid dreaming forum.'

there might be a problem though in keeping some of the functionality of the header, along with the flash; i.e. depicting the person's avatar and the saluation atop the banner.  that's something i don't want to compromise.  i know it could be easily fixed by separating them from the flash so that only the centre cell is a flash animation, but that wouldn't look right with clouds scrolling across (which is what i really want for a daytime animation).  i don't know a whole lot about flash, so i'm not sure if we'd be able to superimpose the aforementioned upon the flash.

thanks a lot for all you effort!

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## Tornado Joe

Hey ice,

well, whatever code you use to load each person's avatar into the spot could be used right in the flash piece itself - I'm sure. I think I could have an empty movie clip positioned where the avatar is now and use the _loadMovie_ function to pull in whatever variable (avatar) is set. If not, there's other ways. One thing I've learned about Flash is - it *can* be done!

Daytime banner? Yeah, that would be cool. I'd probably still like to keep it kind of omnious looking, though. Not a typical blue sky... it might end up looking a bit plain - don't ya think? As for the clouds drifting by... maybe I can come up with some sort of design where the clouds would kind of "fade off" into the edges of the frame. That way, you could keep the way the avatar image is (with the same background as flash banner) and the clouds would just fade out before reaching the edge. Sounds complicated? I'll try to mock something up if I have time.

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## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Tornado Joe_
> *Daytime banner? Yeah, that would be cool. I'd probably still like to keep it kind of omnious looking, though. Not a typical blue sky... it might end up looking a bit plain - don't ya think? As for the clouds drifting by... maybe I can come up with some sort of design where the clouds would kind of \"fade off\" into the edges of the frame. That way, you could keep the way the avatar image is (with the same background as flash banner) and the clouds would just fade out before reaching the edge. Sounds complicated? I'll try to mock something up if I have time.*



hrm.  i definitely don't want the daytime banner looking ominous...too many people already associate 'black arts' w/ lucid dreaming, so we're hardly going to perpetuate that myth...so I don't want anything darker than what we already have.  i'm not wild about the clouds fading out, especially considering a smaller banner is necessary for the 800*600 folk (you'll see it appears if you bring your resolution down that small).  in that case, the clouds would essentially appear & disappear right away almost.

i suppose, if it turns out the avatar and salutation won't work with the banner, i could just have the flash banners displayed prior to logging in, and then the current static one once logged in.


any thoughts from anyone else?

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## icedawg

hello, let's get some opinions happening in here!  or someone whipping up the daytime banner with the passing clouds!  i want to get this rolling...we've had a banner that says 'lucid dreaming forum' above the main site (i.e. not the forum) long enough, and it's time to get this sorted out!    :tongue2:

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## Ex Nine

Well until a new header is designed, here's one that doesn't have the word "forum" in it.



Icedawg, would you still like the text "lucid dreaming" in there? I could add that or any other text. The font looks like Trajan Pro. Who's the original designer of this header? We could get rid of the graininess if we had the original graphic most likely. Or, actually, I could try going over it with the smudge tool. A cutout filter might work too.



Yeah, I think that's the font. ;)

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## icedawg

thanks Ex Nine, that looks great!  right now i'm trying to work on a flash solution though.  well not me personally, because i haven't much ability in regards to flash, but tornado joe has done up a 'nighttime' flash banner for us, and i'm going to post an announcement seeking a 'daytime' flash banner as well.

Dylan was the one who did the banner for us in the first place, but he's a hard guy to get a hold of.  anyway, i rather liked the 'staying up all night' catchphrase, so i threw it up on the main site!  those with 800*600 resolutions won't get to see it though because there's a separate image shown for them (mountain_logo_800.jpg, i believe).  

Anyway, thanks a lot.

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## Ex Nine

Hey, no problem. It didn't take long at all. Besides, I think this is a good time to start learning Flash again.




> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *anyway, i rather liked the 'staying up all night' catchphrase,*



Honestly, I was preparing to make some kind of sexual innuendo after someone responded! But if you're seriously looking for a motto/slogan/catchphrase, might I suggest looking at an array of choices. You never know how some things might look together until you actually see them together. But do not succumb to the illusion that these are the only choices available.

Here's an 800 version of the blank one, for those who want to play around. It's the same height as the 1280 but narrower.



And some text.

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## Tsen

That's a pretty cool slogan you came up with, Ex!  I'm no good at animations, so I'll have to sit this one out, but I've been thinking of some logo ideas.  ld4all has this one:

Not sure what you had planned with the links to the main site, I got kind of confused there, but we could always stick our logo opposite the avatar on the title bar over the forum.  Clicking on it would bring you back to the homepage (not the forum).
You could even use it as a link or an animated menu if you wanted.  Well, I'll get some concept sketches from some friends and work on a few, and post 'em when I finish 'em.

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## Tsen

Well, I played around with a few logos, and I derived a very very very sketchy idea for an animated banner.  Instead of clouds, we could play on the 'All Night Long' idea and do something like this:
Sun/Moon Banner

It looks crappy, but hopefully it gets the general idea across.  The speed and location of the moon/sun bugs me, but that's easy to fix.  We could change the sun/moon/background into photographs as well, just toss them in instead of the symbols there already.  Wouldn't take long, either.  Just a random idea...

EDIT:  Also, forgot to mention, I DO have a few ideas for just a simple logo, I just got distracted making that cheezy-looking sample flash banner.  Since I've posted this all pretty recently, there aren't any replies, but IF you decide that a logo would be nice, I've got a few ideas to play around with in Illustrator.  It'll take longer, since Illustrator isn't quite as user-friendly, but I can have them finished in an hour or two if you want 'em.  
Right now I need some sleep though, so tally-ho and off to bed.

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## wasup

Well, I just made a banner that I think is a crisp new look for DV.  It doesn't follow the daytime nighttime theme you asked for, but I still like it.  It is slick and professional enough to fit with our theme (just change the green to the saturation/hue of your fitting) and put it in.  Also, I included the scanlines and brushed metal look in coordinace with the forum.  Hell, I'll include some alternate banners.  I hope you consider using one of them.

*
Brighter Green
Paler Green
Brighter Blue
Paler Blue
*

EDIT:  Banners in action

*Darker Color*
*Lighter Color*

Hope you like! 

-Eric Estrada <3[/b]

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## Rakkantekimusouka

Hey, To-Joe, I just saw your SWEET flash intro-thingy -- dude, I think that alone would rake in like, five-thousand people alone.  :tongue2: 

83, yours is super cool 8); Tsen, yours is super cute.  ::content:: 

Anyway, Wa -- er, Eric, yours is (are?) totally LMFAO.  ::laughtillhurts::

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## wasup

Hey, I added two pictures of what the banners look like on the top of the page.  I didn't add the advatar or the "good afternoon" thing, but they would look nice with it.  Check it out!

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## Tsen

I don't know, that banner looks rather empty and mechanical.  I mean, it's too simple and er...un-amazing.  (Sorry, I'm tired and I can't think of words right now)

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## Tornado Joe

Alright, I finally got to upload the "daytime" version of the previous banner I did (I keep my misc. files on a free server (Netscape) and unfortunately "free" also means UNRELIABLE!) I uploaded the files to my AOL space for now. Sure wish we could have that DV ftp runnin.

Ice,
Ok, I realize the daytime banner isn't quite what you described as far as the rolling clouds effect. I wasn't able to view the sample you posted - but either way, this is just another idea. I thougth it would be consistent with the night version. Maybe it will give others something to go on.

Fonts? I don't know what you have in mind. Is there a particular font you like or style maybe? Let me know, I got quite a collection of them - at least for mac.

Enjoy!

*DAY:*
 DV Day Banner 

*NIGHT*
 DV Night Banner

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## wasup

Am I the only one who sees the problem with this idea?  It's a great banner in regards to its aesthetics, but its not very practical.  I dunno about you, but I open pages fast and then take a quick peek at the thread then close it.  Also, I scroll down fast enough so the about 90% of the time I will only see the beginning gradient before putting it out of my view.  It'd be pretty annoying for it to start over with such a long thing when people only visit a page for such a short time.  It's like having a tune you really like as a cell phone ringtone.  No one wants to wait for the whole song to play before picking up the phone.  Especially when the song has a beginning intro type thing that goes on for 10 seconds.  I dunno, just my opinion.

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## Tornado Joe

> I scroll down fast enough so the about 90% of the time I will only see the beginning gradient before putting it out of my view.[/b]



Well yeah, personally I'd recommend using the Flash version on the main home page - since new visitors have way more information to read on that page anyway and will likely spend more time there. Once someone is signed in, we could go with a still version of whatever we come up with for the "interior" of the site. This would also help in page loading time.

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## wasup

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

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## icedawg

Tsen, cute banner but it's not what I'm looking for.   ::wink:: 

Eric Estrada, if only you could focus your time and effort for good!  

Also Eric, I'm not sure about your concerns in regards to the flash being on every page...I don't get where you're coming from?  It's just the banner that's flash and after being cached on the user's hard disk it won't slow down anything...I mean you don't have to wait for the sequence to run through before you can access the remainder of the page, and probably no one would.  If you're simply concerned that it doesn't accomplish anything to have it run on every page because that isn't why users are viewing those pages, well then we might as well not have a banner at all above all pages right?  If I'm missing something, please explain further, but again I don't see the problem; remember, this isn't one of those annoying _intro sequences_.  Think of it as just something to watch and provide serenity while you sit and try to collect your thoughts while writing a post; or, as something that can be easily ignored otherwise.   ::wink:: 


Tornado, the day one looks awesome!  Very nice work.  I really want that cloud idea though; I'm just not going to budge on that.   ::mrgreen::  

I was wondering a couple things:  first, can we replace the font that you are using for 'lucid dreaming forum' with the font we currently use?  I believe Ex Nine said it is 'Trajan Pro.'  Also, would it be possible to have 'Dream Views' (two words, btw) emerge from behind the mountains and rise up, instead of appearing from the side?  Perhaps it could only emerge to a point, so that the bottom of some of the letters remains obfuscated by the mountains.  I also might like the current font and size for 'Dream Views' rather than the one you've got...but I'm not sure on that.

Again they look great, but since they are using the current banner which is grainy, they are a little grainy as well.  I'll see if Dylan has an ungrainy original.  Otherwise I wonder if we need a whole new background.  I dunno.

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## wasup

I know the banner is chached into your harddrive or whatever, I'm referring to the fact that it takes so long before the looped DV sequence shows up.  Many people don't stay at the top of the page for more than 5 seconds or something, so most people would only see the gradient and the mountains emerging.

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## nina

I can't see your banners Joe  :Sad:

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## Tornado Joe

> _Originally posted by Ice_
> *Very nice work. I really want that cloud idea though; I'm just not going to budge on that.*



Yeah that's cool - I still haven't been able to check out that idea (super nintendo LAGOON opening sequence) you mentioned in an earlier post. I'm not into the gaming scene at all and don't really know anyone who is. I wonder if I might be able to check something like that out at Best Buy or some other electronics store?





> can we replace the font that you are using for 'lucid dreaming forum' with the font we currently use? I believe Ex Nine said it is 'Trajan Pro.' Also, would it be possible to have 'Dream Views' (two words, btw) emerge from behind the mountains and rise up, instead of appearing from the side? Perhaps it could only emerge to a point, so that the bottom of some of the letters remains obfuscated by the mountains.[/b]



Yup, I these could be done. I'm pretty sure I got the Trajan font in my collection somewhere. Any idea on which font is used for the title itself (Dream Views)?

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## Tsen

I definitely like them, Joe.  The night one moreso than the day one, but they're both awesome.

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## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Tornado Joe_
> *Any idea on which font is used for the title itself (Dream Views)?*



i asked dylan but he didn't respond.  

btw, to view that little .AVI movie on the cloud-idea that i posted in the announcements section, you need the DivX codec.  i'm surprised you don't have it installed already?

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## Tornado Joe

> _Originally posted by Ice_
> *btw, to view that little .AVI movie on the cloud-idea that i posted in the announcements section, you need the DivX codec. i'm surprised you don't have it installed already?*



Apparently my PC at work doesn't have all the bells and whistles my Mac has - even after downloading the most recent WM player, I still had to use my PowerBook to view it   ::roll::  .Anyway I finally got it.

So it looks like (to me anyway) that all I really have to do concerning the clouds is have them run off the edges without fading and loop it, correct?

I can just make the other changes you requested earlier (and maybe just try and match the current fonts until you hear back from Dylan) and see if we can at least get something up for ya.

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## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Tornado Joe_
> *
> 
> Apparently my PC at work doesn't have all the bells and whistles my Mac has - even after downloading the most recent WM player, I still had to use my PowerBook to view it   .Anyway I finally got it.
> 
> So it looks like (to me anyway) that all I really have to do concerning the clouds is have them run off the edges without fading and loop it, correct?*



yah, exactly.  with some clouds moving in front of the title, and others moving behind. 





> I can just make the other changes you requested earlier (and maybe just try and match the current fonts until you hear back from Dylan) and see if we can at least get something up for ya.[/b]



sounds good to me!

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## Tornado Joe

Ok, just FYI:

I started making some of the changes and thought I'd give you a chance to see what I got so far. I made the change where the title appears behind the mountains. However, I kept the text coming in from the side because I thought it might be interesting for the text to start out in the foreground - then fly up and back down, settling behind the mountains. Just something that looked interesting as I went along. Feedback?

Still got the clouds loop to work on next.

*DAY:*
 DV Day Banner 

*NIGHT*
 DV Night Banner

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## icedawg

hey Tornado.  both are looking great!  i still think i'd prefer seeing 'Dream Views' emerge from behind the mountains--and in a similar font and size like we currently have.  

Also, is it possible to have larger, more opaque clouds, that will pass over--i.e. obscure--and pass behind the title?  oh...and have them scroll across the entire banner width?

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## Tornado Joe

Ah, thanks for the feedback Ice. Actually, I just noticed some strange edges showing up in the animation as well - not sure if I published it with the quality high enough or what, but I'll get on the requests asap.

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## Xei

Hi guys, I heard about the new banner design project and decided that I'd like to be a part of it whilst I have some time over the hols.  :smiley: 

I am good at using Photoshop, especially text effects (strokes and whatnot), and I'm moderately good at using Flash (although I have no experience in creating loops). I have Flash 5, so I might need to give any files I make to someone here with Flash 8 to do the blurs and things...

Click here to get a feel of what my general style is. I made it using a very dull sunset picture from the internet.

So... anything you'd like me to do?

Edit: I'll have a go at doing some Flash.  :smiley: 

Icedawg: I don't think fully opaque clouds would be a good idea. This is simply from an experienced view of course. 90%, perhaps, but 100% opacity may look rather cartoony...  :wink2:

----------


## Aphius

> _Originally posted by Xei_
> *Icedawg: I don't think fully opaque clouds would be a good idea. This is simply from an experienced view of course. 90%, perhaps, but 100% opacity may look rather cartoony...*



It would depend on how you drew them I would think.  :smiley:  

If they were stereotypical clouds maybe, but not so much if they were just whisps of white or something.

----------


## Xei

By the way, do we have to keep ↑ mountains? Quality wise, they're really rather tricky to restore...  :wink2: 

I was thinking we could do something a little less 'generic', as ice said... I live near a very nice lake which I could take a picture of at sunset..?

----------


## Aphius

> _Originally posted by Xei_
> *By the way, do we have to keep ↑ mountains? Quality wise, they're really rather tricky to restore... 
> 
> I was thinking we could do something a little less 'generic', as ice said... I live near a very nice lake which I could take a picture of at sunset..?*



Well, It'd be ice's decision if you got rid of them and he'd have to approve of the new banner pic too.  :tongue2:

----------


## icedawg

we don't have to keep any particular scene.  the elements i'd most like to see are the scrolling clouds (being somewhat opaque) moving both in front of and behind the title, the title emerging from the ground (or behind mountains, etc.), and both day & night versions of the same scene.

----------


## MCB

I'm going to give it a try  :wink2:  but, what do you guys want, an animation, a static logo? What kind of ambience do you want it to make, a calm and relaxing or a different and questioning one (like a dream - but also calm)?

----------


## Howie

> _Originally posted by MCB_
> *I'm going to give it a try  but, what do you guys want, an animation, a static logo? What kind of ambience do you want it to make, a calm and relaxing or a different and questioning one (like a dream - but also calm)?*



What do you guys think of this?

http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24748

I like it after the few chagnes were made.

----------


## MCB

[quote]

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.dreamviews.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24748

I like it after the few chagnes were made. 

Thanks, Howetzer!  :smiley: 

Anyway I did this *sketch* for you people see.
It's a bit dark so the site body would have to get darker too  :wink2: .

Thanks!

----------


## wasup

It's nice, but what is wrong with our current banner?  It is perfect for the forum... it doesn't need to be changed.  It has a small file size and it looks so professional and matches with the rest of the forum exactly.

----------


## MCB

> _Originally posted by ataraxis_
> *It's nice, but what is wrong with our current banner?  It is perfect for the forum... it doesn't need to be changed.  It has a small file size and it looks so professional and matches with the rest of the forum exactly.*



Actually, that is exactly what I think. I think the site is looking great and doesn't really need changes.

----------


## Howie

You are right. It does look professional. And good! 
 But it is a lucid dreaming forum and maybe professional has room to move over for a little surrealism.
When I look at MCB's work, I almost think I am in a dream. And not looking at the journal for advanced medicine Forum.  ::D:

----------


## wasup

[quote]You are right. It does look professional. And good! 
 But it is a lucid dreaming forum and maybe professional has room to move over for a little surrealism.
When I look at MCB's work, I almost think I am in a dream. And not looking at the journal of advanced medicine Forum.

I agree it's good (maybe still needs some finishing touches), but if you wanna change the header like that you should change the whole forum style.  It would just look too weird with the header and this forum style.

I think we should provide a choice for people, a header like that and a different forum style to match or this one.

----------


## Howie

> _Originally posted by ataraxis+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ataraxis)</div>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree it's good (maybe still needs some finishing touches), but if you wanna change the header like that you should change the whole forum style.  It would just look too weird with the header and this forum style.
> 
> I think we should provide a choice for people, a header like that and a different forum style to match or this one.[/b]
> ...



what are your thought on this one ice?

----------


## MCB

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *we don't have to keep any particular scene.  the elements i'd most like to see are the scrolling clouds (being somewhat opaque) moving both in front of and behind the title, the title emerging from the ground (or behind mountains, etc.), and both day & night versions of the same scene.*



Well if I get something to work on, the biggest problem would be the movind clouds, I can't create them from nowere, if I had them I could try to work on it. 

We should all go to the chat one day to have a better talk about this.

Sketch

----------


## Xei

> _Originally posted by ataraxis_
> *It's nice, but what is wrong with our current banner? *It is perfect for the forum... it doesn't need to be changed. *It has a small file size and it looks so professional and matches with the rest of the forum exactly.*



The problem is that it isn't so great for those with higher resolutions, the text anti-aliasing is very poor, and the background image is rather fuzzy.

If we have the option to go with Flash, then I say we take it.

----------


## icedawg

hey MCB,

the flash version is very cool!  i don't like the background image though...it's too dark and eerie, and that would just further perpetuate the misconceptions that encompass lucid dreaming.

that scrolling menu would be perfect for the links that i want to add to our banner to lead back to all the sections of the main site (so the forum and main site aren't so separate).  

if you're interested in working more on the banner project i can share some more thoughts with you.

----------


## MCB

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *hey MCB,
> 
> the flash version is very cool!  i don't like the background image though...it's too dark and eerie, and that would just further perpetuate the misconceptions that encompass lucid dreaming.
> 
> that scrolling menu would be perfect for the links that i want to add to our banner to lead back to all the sections of the main site (so the forum and main site aren't so separate).  
> 
> if you're interested in working more on the banner project i can share some more thoughts with you.*



That would be great, sorry for not responding for a while, hehe I suddently travelled for a week.

----------


## Tornado Joe

Been goin through my  "unfinished business" list - things I've started and had to put aside and there among the pile was the DV banner! I took this block of free time I had to apply the requested revisions since the last versions I provided.

It's good to see there's been more interest in the banner development. I like MCB's menus idea as well - I could incorporate those into this design (if MCB wouldn't mind of course) if  you're still happy with this design.

Take a look and see if there's anything you would like revised. My only concern at this point is the size of the night version (108k) - ok for broadband but might chug a little on the first run for us dial-up folks. I might be able to tweak some more to bring the size down but the background image will suffer in quality (I've had to use a screenshot as the raw file).

>> DV DAY BANNER <<

>> DV NIGHT BANNER <<

----------


## Howie

SHIT those are cool Joe.
Although the second one has a more nighttime theme, there is something special about the first one.
I can't put my finger on it. (other than the fact is is just good of coarse)   :smiley:  

Excellent   :Exclaim:

----------


## Alex D

I'm in love with the night one, but the day one just seems too green for my liking. Not to say it's bad, I just feel that it would clash with the forum skin.

----------


## Barbizzle

the nightime onw is fricken awsome.  We need that up right nowwwwww.   I think the clouds should move a tad slower though.  And i too think there is something too green about the day time one.  maby it could have more of a cloud-y theme?

----------


## Tornado Joe

> Not to say it's bad, I just feel that it would clash with the forum skin.[/b]



Ah, good point - I wasn't considering that at the time. I took a screenshot and placed it in the skin (below). Not sure what to think now. I can adjust the colors a bit - but if I make it blue we'll lose that sense of "day" in it. Besides, the colors were intended to bring on a bit of that fantasy quality. We might lose that if I start bringing it down to monotone.


_(screenshot of day)_




> I think the clouds should move a tad slower though[/b]



Yep, that thought crossed my mind as well - I just wasn't sure how much time the viewer would actually spend looking at the banner so I figured it would get their attention right away if it went a tad faster, then they'd forget about it and scroll it off the screen.


_(screenshot of night)_

----------


## Howie

IMO. The reason I like the day version are two reasons.

It clashes only if you want the entire theme to be what it is. 
The day scene adds an element of enthusiasm. It is subtly  fitting and far from intrusive to the theme. 
Dreaming. Yes it happens at night. In the real world in its literal sense ( most of the time). But what really portrays a "dream scene" better?  The day version has a much more majestic and dreamy feel to it. With a positive twist.

----------


## Barbizzle

Okay, so when can these go up?  ::D:

----------


## Howie

Easy for me to say..BUT.

Just think how cool it would be if you could somehow have the day banner come up during the day and visa versa. 
I know we all have different time zones so I don't know if it would even be possible...
But tell me that would not be cool  :Exclaim:

----------


## Howie

> _Originally posted by Tornadoe Joe_
> *Ah, good point - I wasn't considering that at the time. I took a screenshot and placed it in the skin (below). Not sure what to think now. I can adjust the colors a bit - but if I make it blue we'll lose that sense of "day" in it. Besides, the colors were intended to bring on a bit of that fantasy quality. We might lose that if I start bringing it down to monotone.*



I am totally  with you on that Joe.
IMO. The reason I like the day version are two reasons.

It clashes only if you want the entire theme to be what it is. 
The day scene adds an element of enthusiasm. It is subtly  fitting and far from intrusive to the theme. 
Dreaming. Yes it happens at night. In the real world in its literal sense ( most of the time). But what really portrays a "dream scene" better?  The day version has a much more majestic and dreamy feel to it. With a positive twist.

----------


## Xei

Note: I just got Flash 8, so now I can do those alpha clouds which icedawg wants so much.  :wink2: 

I might be busy this fortnight, but I'm just letting you know that I might create something sooner or later.

Oh, people who have Flash 8: Is there any reason why you can't give symbols filters? You can only give them to an image if it's a button, but considering you could jut create a void button, what's the point? I have a feeling that I'm missing something. Thanks.

----------


## MCB

> _Originally posted by Xei_
> *Note: I just got Flash 8, so now I can do those alpha clouds which icedawg wants so much. 
> 
> I might be busy this fortnight, but I'm just letting you know that I might create something sooner or later.
> 
> Oh, people who have Flash 8: Is there any reason why you can't give symbols filters? You can only give them to an image if it's a button, but considering you could jut create a void button, what's the point? I have a feeling that I'm missing something. Thanks.*



You can also apply it to a movie clip, and it's just like a symbol but with a little more stuf, anyway I'm better with actionscript than with making pretty stuff so I'm not 100% sure, depending on what you want to do.

Cya

----------


## Oneironaut Zero

First time I've seen this thread...

*WOW*, Joe. Good shit, man.  ::goodjob2:: 

They are both perfect, if you ask me. I think they represent the bright, colorful, almost intrusive to dreaming (edit: that I just noticed Howetzer already mentioned), day transitioning into the, frankly awesome, night scene that meshes with the blue and gray of this forum, very nicely.

----------


## icedawg

Hey MCB, Tornado, Xei, and anyone else who is interested in working on this project:

what I've seen so far looks great!  I've got a bunch of ideas about how I'd like to customize things, but haven't all that much time to get into everything right now.  To just mention a few, it suddenly occurred to me maybe we should have the 'Dream Views' title subtly rise and fall--just a tiny, tiny bit--behind the mountains on a continuous cycle.  I also think we should have the title first present itself by rising completely from behind the mountains, instead of the text appearing from the left as it currently does.  Also, as I've suggested, I think some more opaque, slower clouds could really work well.  And I agree that the green and pink aren't working with the colour scheme.  Oh...and I'd like to wrap the new headers with the flash ideas from MCB.

Anyway though, I was wondering if maybe we could all work on this beginning like around the end of April or sometime in May?  I should have time then.


Thanks for all the great ideas thus far.

----------


## wasup

They are great... but... (don't flame me for giving negative comments you dingbatters)

Well, the content... stuff below the banner... has a really "professional and sleek" look and your banner is more of a "friendly" and like... "loose" look to it... like it's not as uniform and all.  That's not a bad thing that yours is like that, I'm just saying how it should match the rest of the forum.  Like notice how in LD4all (haven't checked it for a while but I'm guessing it hasn't changed much) everything is so bright and happy... like that's throughout the whole forum.  I think ice should modify another theme to match that banner.  It's a good banner, but the banner we have now and this theme complement each other perfectly... 

Also, loading time.  Sure those with high connections get it to load fast... but it will take a very long time for it to load with crappier connections...

----------


## Xei

That was exactly what I thought.

Our current banners have all been very... well, I suppose 'cosy' is the word, and LD4All is what came to my mind, too. Dream Views tends to take a more sleek and professional look, so I think we should reflect this in our designs.

I'm thinking light blue glows, gradients, clear white text, that kind of thing. Mysterious, yet formally so.  :smiley: 

I'll do some work on it. Oh, and MCB: Many thanks. Yeah, it turns out that they just didn't have time to program it for symbols. Up until when I read into it, I had always thought that movie clips were actual clips from a video recorder and whatnot.

----------


## PhilipJFry

how about a banner with huge majestic cumulus clouds? I have a lot images featuring clouds so I could make something in that direction... It surely would look awesome. I can imagine it so clearly... the blue/white contrast.. aah

----------


## icedawg

well then do one up and we'll check it out!

----------


## PhilipJFry

You shall have one as soon as I have time to make something  :smiley: 

promise. Won't take long.


...It won't be all flashy flashy blingy blingy then (no flash), just a non-moving jpg. But I don't think it matters much.

----------


## PhilipJFry

Sorry to dissappoint you guys but it turns out I don't have access to those cloud pics right now...

----------


## icedawg

I had some spare time so I thought I'd try coming up with a banner that isn't as grainy.  I like it but I'm not sure that it's the one.  I've tried to match the fonts as best I can but I want to get closer to matching the 'Dream Views' font we currently have.

http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=2 (font changed)

I still want a flash version but we need to decide on which image to use first.

BTW, here is the original artwork I used (in case anyone can design a better one using it).  I have not yet secured the author's permission to use this image.

http://www.dreamviews.com/images/Just_Befo...m_by_BPauba.jpg

EDIT:  changed font to match a little more closely to what we currently have.  Here is what I had originally:  http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php

----------


## OpheliaBlue

I'm with you, I like it better

It's clearer, more like a vivid LD, whereas the current one looks more like a semi lucid dream  :tongue2: 

I especially like the moon's reflection in the water, hope you get the permission to use it because it has my vote  ::goodjob2::

----------


## Burns

Yeah, I love it, too - looks great!   ::goodjob2::  

Hey, is the font you used Papyrus?? I recognize it because I use it all the time with presentations and stuff. It doesn't look bad, but it's my fav so I guess I'm partial.   ::wink::

----------


## Tsen

Looks a lot sharper than the current one.  Thumbs up from me!

----------


## icedawg

Thanks all...I've now changed the fonts to try to get them to match a little more closely to what we have now.  I also have a PM out to Dylan in hopes of getting the name of the font that 'Dream Views' is in.

(And yes, Burns, that was Papyrus.)

----------


## dudesuperior

Wow that banner is looking good! I like the fact that the Introduction banner and the main banner match each other.

----------


## icedawg

I played with the colours & brightness a bit; I'm leaning towards #7 (or maybe 8):

http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=3 (original colours)
http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=4 
http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=5 
http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=6 
http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=7
http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=8

----------


## dudesuperior

I like the blue hue, it seems to suit the current forum look just as the current banner does, and the text stands out a little better against the background of the cliffs in 6,7 and 8 (not so much 4 and 5).

----------


## Tsen

I actually liked banner #3 a lot.  The blue theme is cool, but I think the other banners kind of overdo it and use too much blue.

----------


## Inverting_world_lines

well in #3, the blues kind of clash...but I would agree that there is a lot of bl00 goin on on these :smiley:  6 &7 come close to matching the color, so I guess I prefer those, though the font doesn't really excite me

----------


## OpheliaBlue

lol 4-8 all look the same on my monitor, but I prefer all blue

I think that #3 clashes too much as well

----------


## nina

I also like #7

What did you have in mind as far as flash animation? You mentioned you still wanted to have a flash version? Perhaps some slowly moving mist or twinkling stars or something?

----------


## icedawg

i think we'll have to go with the blues so everything ties in properly...introducing a banner with completely different colours than the rest of the site & forum just doesn't work IMO.  

As for the font, I'm waiting to hear from Dylan regarding what font we currently have the 'Dream Views' text in so that we can use that for the new banner as well.

As for flash, I thought maybe MCB might be able to come up with some button animations (since he had started to).  I'd also still like to do a day banner with scrolling clouds and a matching night one with twinkling stars, using this new image.  Perhaps the day one could be this blue and the night one darker?  I dunno.

----------


## Seeker

Hate to bring it up, but what's with the "Staying up all night"?  I thought only people who were learning to WILD did that?

----------


## phoenelai

> _Originally posted by Seeker_
> *Hate to bring it up, but what's with the "Staying up all night"?  I thought only people who were learning to WILD did that?*



LMAO!   ::-P:

----------


## docKnubis

i have hundreds of cool pics if ya need anything 

http://www.maj.com/gallery/docthory/site/e...t_mackenzie.jpg

----------


## nina

> _Originally posted by Seeker_
> *Hate to bring it up, but what's with the "Staying up all night"?  I thought only people who were learning to WILD did that?*



I agree that I'm not really a fan of that slogan either...maybe we could try to come up with a different one.

I'm also playing around with a flash version of this banner...that includes more of the water that was originally cut out and has a gentle rippling effect on the lake. I'll post it when it's done.

----------


## MSG

the home-messageboard- banner should be a bit semi-transparent so the image shines through

maybe

----------


## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Seeker_
> *Hate to bring it up, but what's with the "Staying up all night"?  I thought only people who were learning to WILD did that?*



Right, but you're conscious while lucid, thus "up."  That's basically the "hook" that we have on the main page:  suggesting one can get more out of the years that he or she spends asleep.





> _Originally posted by pOOp+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(pOOp)</div>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 			
> 				the home-messageboard- banner should be a bit semi-transparent so the image shines through [/b]
> 			
> 		
> ...



I like that idea, but I'm concerned about making the banner larger to show more water (I thought it was already too large...it's bigger than our current one).  You sure it could work?


Thanks for all the thoughts and whatnot.

----------


## Aphius

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *As for the font, I'm waiting to hear from Dylan regarding what font we currently have the 'Dream Views' text in so that we can use that for the new banner as well.*



Why wait?

Here's a list of fonts I have that match the font on the logo either perfectly, or so close it could pass for right~

[list]Book Antiqua[*]Garamond[*]MS Serif[*]Palatino Linotype[*]Sylfaen[*]Times New Roman PS MT[*]David Transparent[*]FrankRuehl[list]
 ::aphiusiscrazy:: 

*EDIT:*

I put in the text, closest font as I could right now, I went along the lines of 7~


Did you want the 'staying up all night' in the same font as 'Lucid Dreaming Forum' in the current one?  ::|:

----------


## icedawg

Hey man thanks, that looks like a perfect match to me!  awesome.  I see you've done your own blue version; do you think that one looks better than what I've shown so far?

As for 'Staying up all night' it sounds like we might be changing that to something else since not everyone likes it.  But to answer your question, yes.  Someone thought it was Trajan Pro, so that's what I used.

----------


## Umbrasquall

That looks great Aphius. 

I have Flash 8 Pro so I could whip up something if I get the images to work with.

----------


## icedawg

aphius:  do us up the matching sub-banner and then i can put them up and check 'em out!

----------


## nina

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *aphius:  do us up the matching sub-banner and then i can put them up and check 'em out!*



*avoids strong urge to make sexual joke regarding Aphius*

----------


## icedawg

aphius baby, chop chop!  i want to get this new banner up & running!

oh and nina, how's that water effect coming?  do you think it's doable?

----------


## Xei

Aha, breathing life back into this old thing are we?

I'd love to collaborate again.

I've just gotten back into LDing, Flash, and I've got holidays coming up. Perfect.  :smiley: 

I love the font that Aphius used for the slogan. That's a definite plus for me.

The Dream Views font should probably be kept, too. The latest one is slightly more curvy, it would seem (look at the top left of the D), and I really like that kind of serif... it seems to fit the Lucid Dreaming style more than formal, horizontal ones.

Perhaps... would it be too radical to design custom serifs for the D and V? Make the place more personalised and original?

Oh, and I'm pretty sure that it'd be almost impossible to code a water ripple in Flash.

I'll do a little concept.

----------


## Aphius

> _Originally posted by icedawg_
> *aphius:  do us up the matching sub-banner and then i can put them up and check 'em out!*



By Sub Banner, you mean replacing "Staying Up All Night" with "Lucid Dreaming Forum"?





> _Originally posted by Aquanina_
> **avoids strong urge to make sexual joke regarding Aphius**



 ::lmao::

----------


## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Aphius_
> *By Sub Banner, you mean replacing "Staying Up All Night" with "Lucid Dreaming Forum"?*



no, the banner that falls right below the menu, which is a continuation of the original image (that, in the example, says "Introduction").





> _Originally posted by Aquanina_
> **avoids strong urge to make sexual joke regarding Aphius**



why am i not getting that?   i feel left out!   ::cry::

----------


## icedawg

hey Aphius,

do you think you could supply me with full original image, adjusted using whatever hue settings you used, in high quality?  i know you're quite busy so if you could give me that much (and the name of the font you used for 'Dream Views') i can play with the cropping and generate the sub-banner and finish the rest on my own.  it looks to me like whatever method you used to achieve the blue hue looks better than my attempts, so i'd like to use it.


thanks

----------


## nina

I'd say we get the banner up there first. Then deal with possible animations. I had a cool ripple effect but I had to crop it quite a bit lower to include some of the lake...and I know you were already saying you were worried the banner was too large. So I dunno. We'll see.

----------


## Aphius

Here's the original Image Hued the way I had it

Here's the matching sub banner to go with the one I did before;

I didn't put any writing on it since the one on the main page is just text over the background image.  :wink2: 
Unless you want me to do that.  ::|:  

I did make this other version of the banner with the "Staying up all night" in the same font as Dream Views;


You know, just in case.  :tongue2: 
The font is called Palatino Linotype, I think it comes with Windows or Office or something.  ::wtf::

----------


## icedawg

w00t!  thanks aphius, that's fantastic.  i'll see if i can finish it and get it up there shortly.


btw, i secured permission to use the image from the author.

----------


## OpheliaBlue

nice work Aphius...you and your bro sure do an awesome job making DV sexy  :smiley: 

and your artwork is very nice too  :tongue2:

----------


## icedawg

alright, the one aphius provided is here:  http://dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=9

and here is the one i like the best from what i did, with the new font:  http://dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=8


I think when actually put up on the site, 9 looks too purple.  What does everyone else think?

----------


## Aphius

> _Originally posted by icedawg+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(icedawg)</div>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 			
> 				btw, i secured permission to use the image from the author.[/b]
> 			
> 		
> ...



You might be right, I never noticed the slight purple hue there.  ::wtf2:: 
I have to admit that the one you did seems to fit better.  :smiley:

----------


## Xei

Hmm...

Although it's obviously an improvement on the current speckly bulk, it still needs a little refining...

Anybody else finding it a little too lopsided?

I think also the 'Dream Views' needs shifting slightly so that it doesn't 'mash' with the lines of the landscape in the background.

Are we still going for the day/night effect?

Either way, I reckon it needs a little motion... perhaps the moon should drift across, very slowly?

----------


## icedawg

Yah, I still want to get a flash version with some animation hopefully.

----------


## Seeker

Say, that looks really snazzy!

(  *  ) butt...

Is it just old people like me or does the "Staying up al night" part seem to blend into the background a little too much?  Any way to increase the contrast a little, maybe a VERY slight shadow behind the lettering?

----------


## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Seeker_
> *Say, that looks really snazzy!
> 
> ( ** *) butt...
> 
> Is it just old people like me or does the "Staying up al night" part seem to blend into the background a little too much? *Any way to increase the contrast a little, maybe a VERY slight shadow behind the lettering?*



actually, i've just put the banner up on the main site, and on that version i threw a slight shadow behind the lettering that seems to help.

compare it with http://www.dreamviews.com/index2.php?banner=8 which doesn't have the shadow.  

i can try making the shadow more prominent if necessary.

----------


## OpheliaBlue

that makes a HUUUGE difference

something had bothered me about the text but I couldn't put my finger on it, the slight shadow was it

----------


## Xei

I'm hoping that's a prototype; the sub-banner is borked in my 1024-wide res.

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## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Xei_
> *I'm hoping that's a prototype; the sub-banner is borked in my 1024-wide res.*



what do you mean?

i run 1280 * 1024 and it looks fine.

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## Seeker

Borked.... I just hate those technical terms  ::D: 

I tried it at 1280 x 1024 and it looked really good.

Ran it at 1024 x 748 and it was a little fuzzy, but that is probably because this is not a native resolution for my video card.

I wonder if that is happening to you?

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## Xei

FireFox 1.5...

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/1562/bo...edbannerzi2.jpg

That's what I'm getting for the sub-banner...

Borked.  :tongue2:

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## icedawg

wow, that's really trippy...that's not even the right image.  (how many times do i have to tell people not to use firefox cuz its shit?)  

The new image is using the same name as the old image, so try doing a refresh.  (I would have thought Firefox would do that for you, but again, this IS Firefox we're talking about.)

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## Xei

You're going to hate me for saying this, but...

It's still broken, but it works fine in Internet Explorer.

Sorry.  ::shakehead2::

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## Tsen

Yeah, ditto.  Firefox doesn't like it, but IE seems to work just fine with it...


And apologies, but I'll be sticking with Firefox.  The interface is so much better...IE makes me cringe.

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## icedawg

man I hate firefox.  anyway, i checked the code and i'm pretty sure it's fine, so it's a firefox problem.

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## Aphius

Is something wrong with peoples Firefoxes? Firefoxii.  :tongue2: 

It looks fine on my Firefox (1.5.0.4), I always use it and never get any problems.  ::wtf::

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## icedawg

> _Originally posted by Aphius_
> *Is something wrong with peoples Firefoxes? Firefoxii. 
> 
> It looks fine on my Firefox (1.5.0.4), I always use it and never get any problems.*



psst...it's not anything particular about firefox; it's just that it _is_ firefox.   ::wink::

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## Tornado Joe

Seeing as the previous pieces I worked on got scrapped, I was a bit hesitant to put too much into this, but I thought something like this might add some interest to the subheader - more for fun than functionality, really.

Introduction subhead - _(roll mouse over image)_

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## Burns

> _Originally posted by Tornado Joe_
> *Introduction subhead - (roll mouse over image)*



Hey that's pretty cool!

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## OpheliaBlue

> _Originally posted by Tornado Joe_
> *Introduction subhead - (roll mouse over image)*



wooooooooooooooooooooooah  ::holycrap::  

dude you rule

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## Sugarglider11

this is what I came up with.

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## Goldney

Is it me or is nothing actually there? ^

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## Sugarglider11



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## Goldney

Still nothing, hmmm.

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## Sugarglider11

link, http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/4...er4copydb2.png

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## Sugarglider11

well, I made six diferent versions, I can remove the glow from the kid, or remove the spiral in the backround.








edit: one more version, I got rid of the spiral by the moon and changed the way the text looks.

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## Infraredkelp

Check out my picture thread. I think there are a lot of beautiful pics there that would look good as the header.

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## Goldney

What's wrong with the current header? I personally really like it and can't see DreamViews without it.

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## °¨¨°LucidDreama°¨¨°

tell me if you like my designs. kk. comment on them tell me how i can change them etc etc. ::banana:: 

i already know that i should blur the white dots one the right hand side of the picture, ill do that if there's more to edit

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## Sugarglider11

Imo its to complex, It needs to be a simple, maybe just an island scene, make it blue, and make the text better.

edit: what font is the does the current banner have anyway

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## DANVb329

I like the current one much better. It sort of needs to be simple like that

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## wasup

My honest opinion...

Holy cumguzzler that is fucking hilarious.  Honestly... is it supposed to be serious... the sleeping midget without legs had me cracking up.   :tongue2:

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## Sugarglider11

/\/\

you just said what I wanted to

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## °¨¨°LucidDreama°¨¨°

> /\/\
> 
> you just said what I wanted to



i just made it in a few minutes, but i hear ya it needs to be simple, myn is way too complex it seems, as for the gurl i just grabbed her off the net  ::rolleyes::  it seemed lyk a good idea when i had it,  but atleast i gave it a go. I have to say though i like the clouds (even though i went OTT with it :boogie: ). And to add i really dont know the font myself that they use on the current banner.

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## phoenelai

> i just made it in a few minutes, .



nuff said. ::shock::

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## ClouD

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/6092/rangewcx9.swf

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2...newmoontc4.swf

*EDIT*
This is a bit more... conforming to night than those random images i did..
Working on adding swish (flash) to it.

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## ClouD

Flash Version Of My Night Banner

only stars so far. but since it's 2am..... O_O ill wait till i sleep... or OBE (wishful thinking :S)

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## mark

cloudwalker I think that is brilliant!! def the best one so far  :smiley:

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## Citizen

I dunno about that, Mark... sugarglider's pretty much rocked the Casbah from here to Timbuktu.

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## Citizen

Still, nothing compares to what's up there.

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## ClouD

*yawn* im tired it's 6:04am.....

im hoping to maybe add some more animation to the banner.... buutt..
i need some input by people on what to possibly do...

(btw i can do almost anything with swish  :tongue2: )

so please. input like crazy,
oh and critisize at every moment possible.

crap im tired....

Goodnight everyone...  :bedtime:  ..... btw Naruto is hawt ftw

 ::meditate::

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## Sugarglider11

yeah yours is pretty good, I like how the mountain looks all glowy. I think mine is way to saturated and when I did make it less saturated it looked a lot better, maybe I will post it.

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## Citizen

I liked it sugarglider so if you think your new one is better than your old one, post it dude.

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## Sugarglider11



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## jaasum

Here are some rough ideas.

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## ClouD

i like them.
pretty cutting edge but surreal at the same time.

though i think they want to keep the same blue theme as the layout.

thats why i made mine blue.

you look skilled, i wanna see more.

psstt Naruto is hawt ftw.

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## jaasum

that was just on my lunch break, if people were serious about seeing what I can do I can spend more than like five minutes a piece on them.

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## Kromoh

Sugarglider, I particularly like yours. Looks just great, and I believe we can even make a forum design based on it.

I also enjoy cloudWalker's... it's gives a sense of night into the banner.


jaasum, yours sound great, really professional.... but (there's always a but xD) I believe it wouldn't fit the current bluish forum design. Maybe you could make a new forum design? xD

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## Sugarglider11

I think mine would go with born to kills

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## Adrenaline Junkie

No offence sugarglider but i really don't like the one you made. I think the text is too far to the right, it looks better centered but even the one you centered was a bit too basic, i also think that there is too much going on, too many things on the banner itself. 

CloudWalker, i like your flash design, however i think the twinkling stars would work well on the one we have now, i just don't think that your design would work unless we got a new skin aswell. But i do like the stars twinkling.

Just my thoughts...

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## ClouD

I copied the banner we have now.

I added the same stars, but with white color at 30% alpha, so it would blend in easy.

2 minute job.  :tongue2: 

interesting effect.

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## Adrenaline Junkie

I like that, looks nice, good job  :smiley:

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## Lord Toaster

> I added the same stars, but with white color at 30&#37; alpha, so it would blend in easy.



I have to say that I really don't like the flashing starts. They just look too tacky and overly spiritual... almost [brace yourself] ld4all style. Well, I wouldn't quite go that far, but you get my drift. 

If we're going to have a new banner, might as well have a completely new one. Otherwise just stick with this one. I think it's fine.

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## Sugarglider11

the stars on a day banner dont look good and the stars look to fake.

here is another version of mine

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## ClouD

cloudWalker screams and stamps his feet.

eat my foot.

i dunno what im doing most of the time, i just want to do something, im awesome with swish and i need a project.

yes, i agree the stars look tacky.

give me a proper project. pleeeaseee someone.

i can do strange things thought umposibiblarle.

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## C911

I like the stars effect on your first one, cloudwalker, it looked nice. And also i like the one sugerglider made, but its too full of stuff. If you took out the sleeping dude to the right and the little fuzzy man in the middle, it would look really cool in my opinion.

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## jaasum

I can do forum design. I am no coder but I have done some art direction with coders to make customized designs that work a lot better than this default blue style. 

This site isn't vBulletin, it's some cheaper more simple code but I think with a little design it made it look a lot better. And just ignore the content and look at the design.

http://www.unworthyunwritten.com

I did 100&#37; of the design with this site.

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## Kromoh

> I like the stars effect on your first one, cloudwalker, it looked nice. And also i like the one sugerglider made, but its too full of stuff. If you took out the sleeping dude to the right and the little fuzzy man in the middle, it would look really cool in my opinion.



The sleeping dude could be taken off, but the little fuzzy man is a must. It just locates you inside that limitless dream. I like the centred text version, though





> I can do forum design. I am no coder but I have done some art direction with coders to make customized designs that work a lot better than this default blue style. 
> 
> This site isn't vBulletin, it's some cheaper more simple code but I think with a little design it made it look a lot better. And just ignore the content and look at the design.
> 
> http://www.unworthyunwritten.com
> 
> I did 100&#37; of the design with this site.



I'd love t osee a sketch of what you could improve about Dreamviews  :tongue2:

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## jaasum

Who is the person that would ultimately decide on a new design? Because I like this community, I found it the most helpful with my lucid dreaming and I think an enhanced design would greatly help, so I would be interested in professionally revamping the entire thing if the owners were interested. 

I would start with concept before I even sketched something.

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## Sugarglider11

no sleeping guy and I moved the text over with the guy in a different place

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## Kromoh

> Who is the person that would ultimately decide on a new design? Because I like this community, I found it the most helpful with my lucid dreaming and I think an enhanced design would greatly help, so I would be interested in professionally revamping the entire thing if the owners were interested. 
> 
> I would start with concept before I even sketched something.



I believe that an yof the adins would do, but you'd probably want to talk to Seeker. He's the oldest admin around here, he'll know what to do.

Not that long ago there was this design contest which nobody showed interest in. I'm sure a new design would be highly welcome.

And about the concept, mind personal suggestion? I really like the blue set of colours we have now. What reallys disgusts me in this design is the tacky look. So, if you could keep the colour system, or maybe make details darker, it would suit perfectly. But that is just my idea  :vicious: 





> no sleeping guy and I moved the text over with the guy in a different place




Looks really good  ::D:  makes me feel like dreamign just to visit that landscape.

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## Sugarglider11

it does look better without the wierd guy, thanks for telling me to get rid of him, and thanks for liking it kromoh.

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## bro

Oh boy, there really are so many great ones to choose from...many people here seem to have alot of talent with imagery and art...keep it up, I enjoy looking at the possibilities.

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## Sugarglider11

thanks, do you like mine?

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## wasup

It's way too "linear" for me.  The fact that the mountains are so far away makes it all look like a line... just like the banner is broken into two parts.  Doesn't look good to me.

----------


## Kromoh

> It's way too "linear" for me.  The fact that the mountains are so far away makes it all look like a line... just like the banner is broken into two parts.  Doesn't look good to me.



I couldn't disagree more. There is no way to represent a decent landscape without making the horizon flat. If the horizon isn't flat, then the view is not coming from above.


By the way sugarglider, the little man in there is just awesome, I keep telling myself. Gives me such a sense of freedom  :vicious:

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## Sugarglider11

kromoh, do you have any way I could make it better

----------


## iLight

played with photoshop heres what i got :

----------


## Sugarglider11

I would look realy cool if you got rid of the wierd snowflake

----------


## Infinityecho

How about a theme banner for a month ie. Holloween? 
Good timing for a start since DV participation is slow.....sometimes ::?: 
no?

----------


## Adrenaline Junkie

No offence born_2_kill but i don't like the whole reflection and mirroring of the images across the banner.

----------


## Secret Neo

First banner for the site from me, so be nice.

----------


## Sugarglider11

I think its too small and dark, it needs more color

----------


## Bonsay

Yes, perhaps it does. But in my opinion, he captured the DV "feel" if you know what I mean.  :tongue2:

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## Sugarglider11

> Yes, perhaps it does. But in my opinion, he captured the DV "feel" if you know what I mean.



no, not really, but it would if had some trees in the backround or ground.

----------


## wasup

> I couldn't disagree more. There is no way to represent a decent landscape without making the horizon flat. If the horizon isn't flat, then the view is not coming from above.
> 
> 
> By the way sugarglider, the little man in there is just awesome, I keep telling myself. Gives me such a sense of freedom



Well, just look at the previous banner we had, with all the mountains and all.  I don't like our current banner, but look at that one too.  IT is still a landscape, but the horizon isn't a straight horizontal line... the line is broken up by physical land features.

----------


## Secret Neo

Ok thanks for the suggestions sugarglider11, ill try another.

----------


## Kromoh

> Well, just look at the previous banner we had, with all the mountains and all.  I don't like our current banner, but look at that one too.  IT is still a landscape, but the horizon isn't a straight horizontal line... the line is broken up by physical land features.



Yes it is a landscape, and the horizon indeed isn't a straight line. But the view is not coming from above, which means the viewer is confined to earth. On sugarglider's avatar, I get a flying sensation whenever I look at it. This doesn't happen with the current banner, though.

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## Sugarglider11

the current banner makes me feel like im on the ground, and it doesnt have much color.

----------


## wasup

"it doesn't have much color"  Are you kidding?  It's saturated to the extreme.

----------


## Sugarglider11

all it is is blue, I mean it doesnt have any color other than blue.

----------


## iLight



----------


## Oneironaught

> 



I don't care for the dark skin but the banner looks pretty cool.

----------


## Kromoh

> I don't care for the dark skin but the banner looks pretty cool.



Ditto.

----------


## Adam

I like the light colours currenty on this forum  :smiley:

----------


## Adrenaline Junkie

> I like the light colours currenty on this forum



I agree, i think the forum is fine as it is at the moment, if there was going to be a change it would have happened by now.

----------


## Sugarglider11

why cant we just have a poll

my banner, born to kills banners, other banners, and a keep the banner the same.

----------


## Goldney

I like the current banner. Why the change?

----------


## Sugarglider11

Why dont you see what the other members want ::D: 

I really dont care, our current banner is ok, but we can come up with a better one

----------


## Adrenaline Junkie

No offence, but the ones that have been made so far haven't really captured what DV is, i mean the one we have at the moment just fits well for some reason. With the colour schemes aswell it just works. Unless i see a really impressive one i will continue to like the one we already have.

----------


## Sugarglider11

what about the animated flash ones, those were really good.

----------


## Adrenaline Junkie

They were okay, but even still, they were posted ages ago but nothing has changed, it seems that the majority is happy with the way things look currently.

----------


## Merlock

Here's one for fans of The 4400, heh.



Not sure what inspired me for it, it's not particularly even a site header banner (but I suppose could be turned into one the same way our current banner is fleshed out into a consistent colour). Just one of those thoughts that comes into my mind at random times and throws me into Photoshop.

----------


## Kromoh

> Here's one for fans of The 4400, heh.
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure what inspired me for it, it's not particularly even a site header banner (but I suppose could be turned into one the same way our current banner is fleshed out into a consistent colour). Just one of those thoughts that comes into my mind at random times and throws me into Photoshop.



Merlock, I'm your fan!!! sign my underwear please?

Now seriously, that's a hell of a nice banner.

----------


## Mrs. Jones

> >> DV DAY BANNER <<
> 
> >> DV NIGHT BANNER <<



i loooove the daytime one. i think it's perfect except for what's already been said (obscured text, cloud speed)

the color in the night banner is intimidating: vibrant but dark. the background, i mean. maybe soften it up a bit?

----------


## slayer

How about this...the banner changes for every forum topic you go into?

----------


## Mrs. Jones

or how bout every subforum, so the banner can relate to the topic

but it'd be hard to make so many while keeping the quality consistent

----------


## slayer

> or how bout every subforum, so the banner can relate to the topic
> 
> but it'd be hard to make so many while keeping the quality consistent



Yeah thats what I ment...

----------


## Kromoh

I hate to burst your bubble, but lol I don't think that'd would be done heh

----------

