Graphics Design Competition: New Forum Header Image

[Kamietsu]

A width of 1024 is at the low end, really. Even the tiny netbooks (or most of them at least) manage that.
Still something worth considering for would-be designers though; how small will screens be expected to be?

I guess we'd really need to take a pool for those using this site. Though using the same dimensions that the image is, we shouldn't have a problem. I would suspect most people here are using at the minimum 800x600, if not 1024x786. On this computer, I use 1280x1024, but when my laptop is fixed I will be using a resolution of 1440x900.

[Scaredgirl]

Just saying, unless you want the background to go over then entire forum, then the green area selected is basically a banner.

Also, I didn't mean any type of flash work. I meant an animated .gif image.

Also, again. The pictures used for the open and closed views are exactly the same....unless I'm just missing something.

When finished, the file will be PNG. But on this competition it doesn't matter because I'm not looking for a finished product.

Animated gif is terrible for web design. If we wanted animation, flash is definitely the way to go because it's smoother, can be bigger, and looks much more professional.

Yes, those images were the same. My mistake when uploading. No matter.. that other image is not really needed because it's the same green area.


Oh, and I don't call it a banner because I'm not looking for a banner. The point I'm trying to make that it doesn't have to be a rectangular image centered on the page. We can get creative and put different images/graphics on different parts of the page, just as long as they all are inside the green area.

Then SG has one big gigantic monitor, since that screeny was taken at max size for me  .

It's the screen resolution that counts, not monitor size. I'm using 1280x1024 which is the most popular resolution at the moment.

And yes, this forum uses a fluid size which means that the content resizes itself when you resize the browser window. That makes the image design a bit more difficult but not impossible.

A width of 1024 is at the low end, really. Even the tiny netbooks (or most of them at least) manage that.
Still something worth considering for would-be designers though; how small will screens be expected to be?

I put the green area so that designers wouldn't have to deal with all the technical stuff like different resolutions, although like I said, the image is incorrect and the green area should be slightly smaller than it is in the picture.

To everyone, dont't worry about images sizes too much. Just look at the shape of the green area and try to think about what kind of graphics would fit in the background. We can always tweak the sizes later.

[Kamietsu]

You're right. You are only looking for some idea's right? I got into the graphic designer's mindset (since that is what I'm studying to become). Time to start working on some ideas

[Scaredgirl]

A width of 1024 is at the low end, really. Even the tiny netbooks (or most of them at least) manage that.
Still something worth considering for would-be designers though; how small will screens be expected to be?

I guess we'd really need to take a pool for those using this site. Though using the same dimensions that the image is, we shouldn't have a problem. I would suspect most people here are using at the minimum 800x600, if not 1024x786. On this computer, I use 1280x1024, but when my laptop is fixed I will be using a resolution of 1440x900.

That's where Google Analytics comes to play. I have statistical data of all the visit of this forum. According to this data:

- only 0,33% of visitors have 800x600 resolution
- about 18% of visitors have 1024x768 or smaller resolution
- about 45% have 1280x**** resolution
- the rest have even bigger than that

But as our forum size is fluid, it won't break even with smaller resolutions. Only problem with smaller resolutions will be that the images might go behind the text making it difficult to read, but that's life.

[Bloodshadow]

Just an idea:

A smaller version of the Oracle, with its claws/pincers pointing at the forum logo. The smaller Oracle doesn't have that fat dude in the center; instead it has the Almighty Zanztrident (Zanz's personal logo). I could try to make it...

[akromat]

How about something like I have in the attachments. One for each element. Could be chosen randomly upon page load. Making this work fluid would require some css alterations which I could help with if need be. It's pretty simple but meh. :/

[icybraker]

@Bloodshadow:

Intriguing idea. Make it, and we'll see how it looks. However, those "claws/pincers" are called The Scorpion-Claw Framepoint Grabber! See this thread : http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,2581.msg24702/highlight,oracle#msg24702 for proof.

@akromat:

Another good idea. Makes for some variation. I have 2 issues with it, however. Issue number 1: The text that says ELEMENTS looks rather boring. Issue number 2: The cards are always "Weapon -> Nymph -> Pillar". That's boring. If this design is to be instituted, we need some variation in the cards shown. Perhaps a POLL or something? Great idea, though.

[akromat]

Yeah I wasn't too worried about the text for the mock-up, that would be easy to change. The weapon -> Nymph -> Pillar was just an idea for 3 example cards. I didn't want to actually go through and pick out 36 individual cards just to get a concept image posted. There could definitely be a poll for the 3 favorite cards of each element. I've only made the images for 2 elements. No sense in doing all that work for nothing. Regardless, if this idea is chosen, I have a lot of work cut out for me. :p

[ScytherLoL]

Man you guys have doe awesome work, really inspiring + karma .

I will have to up my game now I am sure.

Thanks

Scyther

[Scaredgirl]

How about something like I have in the attachments. One for each element. Could be chosen randomly upon page load. Making this work fluid would require some css alterations which I could help with if need be. It's pretty simple but meh. :/

That's a very good idea. I like it.

Unfortunately it also requires more loading for user and a lot more coding for me .. but maybe we could make something like that happen.

What about this?

Elements is about 1vs1 battle, right? So instead on having cards from only one element, we could have two "decks" fighting each other.

I call this idea: Natural Enemies.

When we look at the 12 elements, they can be divided into pairs.

Darkness vs. Light
Death vs. Life
Fire vs. Water
Earth vs. Air
Entropy vs. Gravity
Time vs. Aether (this one makes least sense to me)

We could have 6 different backgrounds, and from these 6, one would be chosen by random.

In the image, the cards were lined up like they were on a battlefield. They would be more like real creatures than cards, standing in a formation. We could even make it so that some parts of the creatures/spells come out from the cards! For example Lightning strikes from inside the card, etc. But that would of course require a bit more work.

[Kamietsu]

How about something like I have in the attachments. One for each element. Could be chosen randomly upon page load. Making this work fluid would require some css alterations which I could help with if need be. It's pretty simple but meh. :/

That's a very good idea. I like it.

Unfortunately it also requires more loading for user and a lot more coding for me .. but maybe we could make something like that happen.

What about this?

Elements is about 1vs1 battle, right? So instead on having cards from only one element, we could have two "decks" fighting each other.

I call this idea: Natural Enemies.

When we look at the 12 elements, they can be divided into pairs.

Darkness vs. Light
Death vs. Life
Fire vs. Water
Earth vs. Air
Entropy vs. Gravity
Time vs. Aether (this one makes least sense to me)

We could have 6 different backgrounds, and from these 6, one would be chosen by random.

In the image, the cards were lined up like they were on a battlefield. They would be more like real creatures than cards, standing in a formation. We could even make it so that some parts of the creatures/spells come out from the cards! For example Lightning strikes from inside the card, etc. But that would of course require a bit more work.

Wonderful Idea, which gave me an interesting idea...*goes to download Photoshop trial*

[icybraker]

WHOA lovely idea!

Time versus Aether can be a fight for control over dimensions, obviously I don't have nearly enough graphic designing skill to do this, but I bet others would be able to do this with beautiful success. Good luck to yall!