Brand Identity, Game Style

[Neuralize]

While this isn't a serious problem yet, or even a problem at all. I thought I'd might bring it up. I brought up a similar discussion in the TA Spring community, but that community is a peanut gallery, no one can agree on anything. They did come up with an identity for the website, but it's hardly used anywhere else. Here was my attempt at trying to show the community what I was talking about.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v722/ ... %20Design/

Almost every retail game has someone with professional graphic design experience working on the game to keep everything consist, in style, and out of the realm of bad graphic design. These people are in charge of creating a look and feel to the game interface, as well as coming up with guidelines to keep the interface from falling out of style. This is an example of logo guidelines.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v722/ ... g&newest=1

Some people don't take this seriously enough, and I feel their projects suffer from bad design because everybody is comparing their project to retail games, or to other projects.

So where am I going with all of this? Well first I want to know if there is any place for me to help design graphics or manipulate existing graphics so we have a set of guide lines how the official war zone logo is to be used and suggestions on how to integrate it into branding and logos for mods. I am highly skilled in photoshop and vector graphic manipulation.

Second I have a few suggestions as far as 2.2 goes and game identity. One thing that I felt was a little weird was the starting numbers on the mini map, they're totally out of style with anything in warzone and they have this weird 3d thing going on with them, I think they would be much better suited being digital numbers like in the 2100 part of the logo above and to the right.

Another little thing I noticed was the placement of the map name and game time, it looks a little unconsidered, it should probably be flush to the bottom of the lower left menu it's already up against, or done in a similar style as the game messages posted from above.

and finally, some of you guys are going to think I'm joking, but this is a serious critique. Look between the 2 and the 1 of the logo in the upper left corner, now look between the 1 and the 0. In graphic design we call that kerning, the spacing between letters, it looks a little off, I'd be happy to wrangle some files together and standardize the logos across the website and the game, as well as clean up the splash screen that flashes at the end. I am not here to change the logo or the feel of the game, but to preserve it and establish rules so it stays the game we've always loved.

[gerard_]

Good, we could use some more design. I have been trying to find a better font to use in-game, but have not yet succeeded. In matters of style it might be best to work with elio, take a look at his interface designs at viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2258 and for his buildings check http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/NewBaseStructures

There is many more to be found on the forums, in a lot of different styles. We have a (short) style guide for in-game content at http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/Style_guide
http://developer.wz2100.net/wiki/Artwork might also be worth looking at.

[Zarel]

You know, after a bit more experience with DejaVu Sans, I think it's a pretty good font. It doesn't have nearly as good hinting as some Monotype fonts, but for this purpose, I haven't come across any font, free or proprietary, that I like better (Verdana has better hinting, but it sacrifices good looks for readability, and most other sans-serif fonts are too narrow).

I think the best Warzone logo is currently the one in frontend0 (the original Pumpkin one):

frontend0_resized.png (21.12 KiB) Viewed 7726 times

The colors are slightly out of place with the blue used for the interface, and with the text a bit, too, but, at least in my opinion, it's better than the icon you're probably thinking of:



This one is worth being redone. Personally, I think the digital-style logo has a terrible font, and the blue is much too bright. Plus, it's a bit narrow. I prefer the original one in every way.

-shrug- I'm considering making a 16x16, and maybe even a 32x32 icon in the "old" style. I'm not good with higher resolutions, though, especially without the original font (I wonder if it was custom-made or something). If you could help make a vector version of the original logo in higher dimensions, that'd be great.

Edit: After many tries, I can't make anything look good in 16x16, either. It's much too small. :[

Here are a few mostly failed tries:

icon4.gif (1 KiB) Viewed 7733 times

icon3.gif (1.01 KiB) Viewed 7735 times

icon2.gif (1.04 KiB) Viewed 7736 times

icon1.gif (990 Bytes) Viewed 7738 times

icon5.gif (1 KiB) Viewed 7724 times

icon6.gif (1 KiB) Viewed 7723 times

And here's a try at a 32x32 icon:

largeicon.gif (1.28 KiB) Viewed 7731 times

[cybersphinx]

I think the best Warzone logo is currently the one in frontend0 (the original Pumpkin one):

Which is iirc a rendering by Rodzilla(?), i.e. not original Pumpkin (but based on it).

I don't know who did this, but it was made as a vector image based on the original icon iirc.

[whippersnapper]

.

No question that a fine logo can be very effective. I think the many successful ones are more art than science like Nike's.

And yet I've never heard of "branding identity" outside the context of it's strategic marketing importance in the fierce competition
of free-market capitalism. I don't quite get how that would apply to a FOSS game. Not that my being puzzled is anything special.

I am not here to change the logo or the feel of the game, but to preserve it and establish rules so it stays the game we've always loved.

Well. since Pumpkin's v.1.00 retail game, WZ has undergone many changes. It has never stayed the same for me or what I like about it..
Case in point. I have always liked the Campaign but Skirmish in v.1.00 has an unmitigated disaster - I and thousands of others frankly hated it. Over the years Ski Mode was improved well beyond anything Pumpkin had an opportunity to do with it so that there are a handful of A.I.s
fans have made that are superior by any metric and which I cherish over Pumpkin's by wide margin... The WRP has deved changes to WZ that are marked improvements over the original.

Anyway... guess that's enough from this "peanut gallery", heh. O_O

Regards, whipper
.

[Buginator]

Second I have a few suggestions as far as 2.2 goes and game identity. One thing that I felt was a little weird was the starting numbers on the mini map, they're totally out of style with anything in warzone and they have this weird 3d thing going on with them, I think they would be much better suited being digital numbers like in the 2100 part of the logo above and to the right.

Another little thing I noticed was the placement of the map name and game time, it looks a little unconsidered, it should probably be flush to the bottom of the lower left menu it's already up against, or done in a similar style as the game messages posted from above.

The color choice was more or less 'find a good color, that stands out with all maps'. If you can come up with something better, then I have no hesitation to using a different color scheme. We are stuck with the font though. Didn't go with one color, since on some maps, it wouldn't show up, so that is why it is a semi-3d effect.
Check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1953

For the game time, do you mean in game, in the upper right hand corner?

It is pretty obvious that nobody currently working on the GUI / layout / color scheme is a pro, we can always use more help!

If you want to make mock ups of what you think will look better, then I can see if it will work with the current GUI code or not. It is a huge burden working with the (current) widget/GUI system though.

[Neuralize]

First, I think I'll tackle the logo. Tried some things. Not my final submission, but just some proof of concept. Do you guys want an EXACT copy of the original? There are some weird things going on with it, such as the e at the end, and the font used in 2100 is pretty generic, looks like the numbers that are on houses.

[EvilGuru]

Firstly: I like the current, saturated blue logo.

However, any replacement must: Comply with the Tango icon specifications (otherwise it will almost certainly look out of place), be roughly square and be available as an SVG.

Regards, Freddie.

[Neuralize]

Well which logo do we want?
Should I make several difference versions of the saturated blue one, and the dark blue original one and then we go from there?
The whole point of this is to make a high resolution version as well as icon versions so we standardize the game's identity.

[Zarel]

Firstly: I like the current, saturated blue logo.

However, any replacement must: Comply with the Tango icon specifications (otherwise it will almost certainly look out of place), be roughly square and be available as an SVG.

Um, you do realize the current saturated blue logo is too bright for the Tango specifications, right? Heck, I'd prefer the blue in the Tango specifications more than the blue in the current logo - the current one is so much more saturated than anything else in the website or in the game (except maybe teamcolors).

(Remember: Tango icons are less saturated than Mac OS X and Windows icon conventions)

Plus, the text is so bad there should be a rule against it. <_<

[Neuralize]

Tango icon specifications don't seem like a big deal really. No one isn't going to install the game if the icon doesn't fit in with the rest of their stuff on their desktop, icons are customizable anyway.

[ThomasCarstein]

Tango icon specifications don't seem like a big deal really. No one isn't going to install the game if the icon doesn't fit in with the rest of their stuff on their desktop, icons are customizable anyway.

True. Also this:

Before I started studying tourism (and later landed in informatics), I was in a middle school for graphic arrangers (which I also completed with sucess) and earned the title "arranging technician", so I also know some stuff about this topic

Anyway, I'd like to point out to everyone to think about what consequences a radical change in a trademark or logotype can bring about. For example: imagine that Coca-Cola would decide to drop the distinct font of the logo or switch colors from bright red to dark red or something completly different; or if McDonalds would decide to change the "M" in a different font or color... From my learning I can say, that such changes - after many years of using the old styles - can be potencialy disastrous for the product, since many users don't recognize the brand anymore or they don't like the new style and stop using it altogether.

I know that with videogames it's somewhat different than with the products and brands I mentioned, but much is still the same - many games have recognizable logos, that stick with their users and become an important part of the game; for example think of the "Quake" series - they made great and simple use of the main letter of the name - "Q" - and they simply changed the lines and colors a bit in each consequent version.

When I first installed this new version of Warzone 2100, I immideately noticed the change in the logo - the brighter blue colorsheme. But this is not such a big deal since the game name and layout remained the same; I actually liked the brighter colour better since it's easier to pick out the icon on my desktop So, all I'm saying is - if it ain't broken, don't fix it (one of THE most important rules ever ), but if you decide to change it, you must also think of the million different font, color and layout schemes of the other potential players out there (so don't make it too dark, too shiny or too complex - a nice balance is the way to go imho)... Also, I have to say that the attached logo version is nice .

BTW: If anyone is wondering, why I'm not volunteering for making a new logo contribution myself - sadly I just don't have the time & energy, since I spend half of my working day designing user interfaces

Bye, T.

[EvilGuru]

Tango icon specifications don't seem like a big deal really. No one isn't going to install the game if the icon doesn't fit in with the rest of their stuff on their desktop, icons are customizable anyway.

Wanna bet? Lets try making the icon 100% transparent and see what happens.

If we are going to change/modify the logo we might as well go about it properly. An icon which follows the Tango style guidelines will look right on all major operating systems -- which is important.

Regards, Freddie.

[Zarel]

If we are going to change/modify the logo we might as well go about it properly. An icon which follows the Tango style guidelines will look right on all major operating systems -- which is important.

Actually, a Tango icon would look right in Gnome. It would look "not shiny enough" in Mac OS X, Windows, and possibly KDE (well, currently, KDE has worse problems than icon coherence, so maybe in that sense, it would fit in ).

I don't disagree with the color scheme nearly as much as the font, though. A game should use only so many fonts - there should be: Logo fonts, menu fonts, and text fonts. Our menu font is Bitstream Vera Sans Bold, and our text font is Bitstream Vera Sans, and both are very good fonts (all they're missing is some hinting, but that's true of every free font). For a logo font, we currently have two (namely, the one in the original logo and the one in the icon).

Now, as far as the logo fonts go, I'm neutral to the original one, and I hate the one on the bright icon.

As convention goes, bitmap renderings of proprietary fonts are copyrighted solely by whoever rendered them - the foundry doesn't own it anymore. Of course, since vectoring is all the rage now, we probably still want a free font, or even a completely homemade font.

Neuralize, your logo is decent, but the font is a bit bland. Do you see the "W", the "A", and the "E" in the original logo? Those are important for mood. The disconnectedness isn't as important - in fact, it makes the "2100" look even more out-of-place. As for the "2100" - I think it should fit the rest of the logo more than it currently does. If we get rid of the disconnectedness in "Warzone", then the "0"s look good, but the "1" needs to lose its serif-like protrusion and the "2" needs to be a bit different. "Angular" isn't the right word here, but it's close.

[Per]

I'm not too fond of our existing logos, and wouldn't mind an entirely new one. The basic idea that has to be captured somehow is that this is a post-nuclear-holocaust game, so it should not look to neat and clean, like our current installed game icon is.

By the way, I really liked the http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v722/ ... gestar.jpg spring icon.