New Logo/Branding

[David]

As I never tire of telling you :P , I'm currently engaged in the mammoth task of completely updating the CADTutor website. Before I start reworking all the pages, I need to get the branding right. Although the design of the current site seems popular, I now feel that it's a bit dark and certainly starting to look its age. I'd like to go for a much lighter and accessible (in design terms) look and feel. The task I've started with is a redesign of the CADTutor logo and the page masthead. That will set the tone for the rest of the site. I also wanted something that could work on T-shirts and coffee mugs (well, you've got to be optimistic!). So here are my first drafts for comment. Let me know what you think.

1. Generic Logo

http://www.websitearchitecture.co.uk/watson/postimages/logo01.gif

2. Colour Variation

http://www.websitearchitecture.co.uk/watson/postimages/logo02.gif

3. Extending the logo for sections of the site

http://www.websitearchitecture.co.uk/watson/postimages/logo03.gif

For information. I'm using Franklin Gothic (Heavy Italic) for the "CADTutor" bit and Century Schoolbook (italic) for everything else.

[James]

I really like your old site but I think you're right about the dark colours. A bit dated and unwelcoming perhaps?

I like your new logo - more keen on the orange than the green.

The only thing I was wondering about was the use of the asterisk * symbol. It is placed in the same position as is used in text to indicate a footnote exists. What did you intend the * to symbolise?

[David]

Thanks for the comments James. Orange is the complimentary colour to the blue and so I guess it's bound to be aesthetically more pleasing but the green is more in keeping with the CADTutor "style" if such a thing exists. These are early drafts and I haven't really spent too much time on the colour yet but I think they are "ballpark" at the moment.

As for the asterisk: I have to admit that I don't (yet) know what it symbolises :"> . I needed some graphic device to balance the composition and I tried a few different things - the asterisk seemed to work best. I think there may well be some post-rationalisation on the horizon ;) .

Current work has come to a brief halt while I get used to my new TFT monitor - wow, what a shock (w00t)

[Tom]

How could anyone live without post-rationalisation? But there is also a place for pre-rationalisation and I suspect this is one of them.

I read the symbol as a snowflake and thought that rather a good idea for a CAD site. But now you have suggested asterisk I am put off - it makes me want to find out what the footnote says before going any further with the content. The pre-rationalisation approach would be to decide what you want to say before saying it!

Re the 'look and feel', I would think about people coming here when they have been wrestling with an irritating problem. What do they want? Calm authority with good humour. The old fish leaping out of dark waters was a humorous touch but one which dims with multiple views. There is something a little 'newspaper' or 'newsletter' about the new designs. This may be correct if you want people to come here for 'the latest about Autocad' but it may not be correct if you want them to come for 'calm authority'.

Branding is a tricky subject. Just look at how the expensive consultants for BT and Royal Mail got it so wrong that they had to scarp everything they bought. I know I need to do something myself but keep saying that there is a virtue in leaving things as they are so that people think 'ah - I'm back where I got some good information before'.

[Phil]

kind of reminds me a bit of the Mambo (http://mamboserver.com/) graphics.

Wouldn't an AutoCAD cursor type image be more suitable?

[David]

Originally posted by Phil@Nov 20 2004, 11:36 am
kind of reminds me a bit of the Mambo (http://mamboserver.com/) graphics.

Wouldn't an AutoCAD cursor type image be more suitable?
Phil, you are so right :unsure: - somehow I had not realised what I was doing!

I needed some sort of device but I didn't want it to be really obvious - a mouse, a cursor etc. Oh dear, back to the drawing board...

[Tom]

How about hairlines?