"Graphic Artists" challenge. :)

Barbarian · Thu 02/11/2006 16:39:35

Hi guys. Hope I'm not out of bounds in my post here.
But, as I've been an active part of the AGS community for quite a while now, I thought it'd probably be okay.

I may need some help from some of you more Artistically / Graphically Gifted people.

My "Sifu" and I are trying to design a Logo for our Tai Chi group.
We've come up with a rough sketch using pen & paper, and I've scanned it in and you can see the result below:

The idea is to perhaps make this into a logo the people in our group can use to get put on t-shirts or whatever.

I'm still not so good yet at making nice looking "graphic art" using the computer. Perhaps I'm just not gifted that way.

As I see a lot of talented people around these forums, I thought maybe I could request of one (or some) of you to perhaps turn this logo into a computer-rendered graphic that looks good and that we may be able to use for a template we can use for our logo.

Only the main part of the logo needs to be done. There's no need to include any of the writing (as we can add that in later). But the writing is there just as a sample of what the whole completed logo may look like.Ã,Â

You can see the main circle-part of the logo is actually a "Yin-Yang" symbol.

Well, maybe someone out there might see this as a little task to put their skills to.
Of course any help is greatly appreciated, and you'll have the satisfaction to know you'll be helping out a bunch of old "Tai Chi farts" (like me and Sifu.. heheh)Ã,Â

Thanks for any assistance! --- Don "Barbarian".

evenwolf · Thu 02/11/2006 16:51:31

is the red supposed to resemble the Nike swoosh?

Barbarian · Thu 02/11/2006 16:54:12

Nike swoosh? No, not quite. If you look more carefully, it's supposed to be two letters, D with a P ,combined together to represent the words "Dragon Park". The full name of our group is "Dragon Park Tai Chi Association".

Tuomas · Thu 02/11/2006 17:03:42

Quote from: Barbarian on Thu 02/11/2006 16:54:12
Nike swoosh? No, not quite. If you look more carefully, it's supposed to be two letters, D with a P ,combined together to represent the words "Dragon Park". The full name of our group is "Dragon Park Tai Chi Association".

Cute idea, but doesn't work... sorry, but you can't tell it's P and D is they're the same letter. it's like drawing a big R and saying it's R & P at the same time...

EDIT: yeah, I see what you mean. THis was my opinion, don't want to seem hostile. If I were, I ought ot have something to give, which I don't

Barbarian · Thu 02/11/2006 17:12:30

Tuomas: thanks for your input. everyone has their own opinion. We've tried several other designs, but out of all of them, most of the 20+ people in our group decided they all like this logo the best. So, yes, we will go with it. It doesn't have to be "perfect", just that it looks suitable and a representative logo for our group.

ManicMatt · Thu 02/11/2006 17:24:38

They're right though! Having one letter red and the other black means the red one sticks out more. I didn't even see a D, a just saw the swoosh. Maybe if it was all one colour.

See, the people you asked already KNEW it was a p and a d, but we didn't so we failed to see it.

We are your friends and are just wanting to make sure your logo gets better!

Barbarian · Thu 02/11/2006 18:21:22

Yes, I agree. I even suggested to Sifu that perhaps it might all look better in just one color. He said that we could try both versions, a one color (or black & white) type of version, and / or the "multi color" version (with the black, white, red & blue), and then see what might looks better. So, of course we're open to any ideas of which may improve on this logo design.
Just it seems most of the people in our group so far have decided this version "looks the best" out of the different designs we've come up with so far, though we've not yet just shown them a "black & white" version of this same logo idea.
Of course, any help or input for improvment is appreciated.

Helm · Thu 02/11/2006 18:30:19

This is why you should hire a graphic designer and not arrive at a friends-consensus on what is the best logo. That's why they are professionals.

Kweepa · Thu 02/11/2006 18:35:28

Ah yes, great idea. Spend a lot of money to get something that people like less.

m0ds · Thu 02/11/2006 18:46:05

Just speak to the Conservative party about that one!

30,000 pounds spent on crap

another 30,000 pounds spent on crap

In fairness, I do quite like your logo - it's cool. The red thing does make it hard to see the D and P, but that doesn't mean the red part isn't good itself.

Barbarian · Thu 02/11/2006 18:47:20

It's not the "graphic designer" that is going to be wearing this logo on some t-shirt (I guess unless he really wanted to)... It's just a few old dedicated "Tai Chi" practitioners who just thought it'd be nifty to come up with a logo for our little group, and in fact the logo was mainly designed by our "Sifu" (teacher), so it's something personal that comes from him, therefore would be of a more sentimental value to the people in our group.Ã,Â Ã,Â Anyways, it's not like we're some multi-million-dollar corporation looking to sell to the masses or something and there is no profit being made from any of this.Ã,Â

I've been giving to the community here too - with free games and even hosting some games / files for some other AGS members, plus trying to be an active and oft times helpful member round here. And, I've come to feel that many people 'round here are like friends, and even like being part of a big "family". So, I didn't think it a big deal to ask this favor.

Anyways, I thought one of you wonderfully graphically-skilled people might be willing to help me on this, but no worries... perhaps peoples are too busy or no one is interested. So in that case, even though I'm not so good at doing graphic-schtuff on computers, I might just end up doing it myself.Ã,Â Ã,Â Still, I do appreciate any input and/or help on this.
Best regards.

vict0r · Thu 02/11/2006 18:56:27

Dragon Pork Tai Chi Group?

Anyway, its an okay logo i guess.. It just seems a little messy to me. Not the fact that you drew it by hand, just the whole composition.

First of all, the DP is hard to spot. Looks more like a nike ripoff, as previously mentioned.
Second of all, what i presume is the zen "motion" here, really don't suggest a completed cirlcle, as zen does in reality.

And you should really make it into vector. When making a logo, you should totally vectorize it, so you dont have any problems with scaling for banners etc.

Helm · Thu 02/11/2006 19:00:51

If this is a logo just for a couple of friends to put on t-shirts, then yes, you don't need professional design. But if it's going to be anything more, then you should turn to a professional. I am not a graphic designer, and I personally don't like design much, and I suck at it, but I can tell you the red+black two-letters-into-one concept just doesn't work. From your selection, this might be the one the group likes more, but a professional might arrive at one you all like and one that reads well for the purposes of what a brand is supposed to do.

Barbarian · Thu 02/11/2006 19:11:58

Victor:Ã,Â Yep "Dragon Pork", heheh. We like to eat BBQ dragon meat sometimes.Ã,Â

But yeah, sometimes Sifu's handwriting in english is not so great.. but, you get the general idea.
Anyways, we don't need anything fancy-schmancy, and we're definately not trying to "rip-off" nike or anything like that.

Helm: And I quite agree with most of what you say. And you also cover the other points which, this is just a logo to be shared amoungst a few friends, and the fact that the logo is mainly designed by our "Sifu", even if the logo looks a bit "crude / messy / unprofessional", that's besides the point, as it's more of a personal friendship / sentimental value to the group because it was something designed by him.Ã,Â I just wanted to try to "neaten it up" a bitÃ,Â with perhaps some help from someone 'round here who may be willing to help an "old fart" like me.Ã,Â I guess once it's ready we then can use it as something we could print-off and maybe we could get some t-shirt type of shop here to follow our logo as a template to use.

Nikolas · Thu 02/11/2006 19:14:05

Quote from: Barbarian on Thu 02/11/2006 18:47:20
I've been giving to the community here too - with free games and even hosting some games / files for some other AGS members, plus trying to be an active and oft times helpful member round here. And, I've come to feel that many people 'round here are like friends, and even like being part of a big "family". So, I didn't think it a big deal to ask this favor.

You certainly have given to this community! There is NO doutb about it!

This is just a discussion for it!

I wish I could help you with the logo, but alas... I'm just worthless when it comes to any kind of graphics

It did take me some time to notice the P and the D, but then again this is hand drawn, and hopefully a good designer could make this look better.

I just wish I could help you Don...

Phemar · Thu 02/11/2006 19:31:24

How's this quick 10 minute attempt?

Minimi · Thu 02/11/2006 19:32:40

long live illustr ator... i was just about to try exactly the same, haha!

Barbarian · Thu 02/11/2006 19:41:23

Zor: Wow! That's really great!!! I like it. See, just something that neatens it up, makes it look more presentable, makes it look MUCH better now. Excellent job! I'll use this as one of the samples I'll show to my "Sifu".
Greatly appreciated.Ã,Â *Me envys your graphical-skillz that I currently lackÃ,Â

Ã,Â Ã,Â Any more samples anyone else would like to share is of course much welcome and appreciated too. Thanks all!

Gilbert · Fri 03/11/2006 00:45:58

I'll say the two black curves below the text could be removed. Also, you may try moving the Chinese text to the top of the logo while the English text remains at the bottom (or vice versa, whichever looks better), with them curved with the contour of the logo of course, that may save a bit of cluttering I think.

MashPotato · Fri 03/11/2006 01:53:34

Here's a quick (the curves aren't very good) black & white version:

I changed the angle of the swoosh so it wouldn't block the yin-yang symbol so much... I'm not sure if I went too far from your intention, however. I also changed the red to white because I thought it was in better keeping with the yin-yang theme.

I hope this helps ^_^. If you would like the full-size psd, PM me and I'll email it to you.

Oh, and I just realized the the dots look like they're different sizes because you can't see the black outline of one of them... $:-\$

"Graphic Artists" challenge. :)

m0ds