Site Design - You decide

[Mac]

Ok guys, i've freed myself up a bit...and since i'm in this mood we should take advantage of it....but basically i want your input...what colour should out site be....i'd like to hear what you have to say.

~Mac

[psgels]

My vote is for some shades of light-blue. They give off an air of peace and quiet, when compared to the busy and active red, green and yellow.

[Anaryu]

I agree with psgels completely, blue sites always seem to be the most visually appealing and easiest to navigate/read.

Just be careful not to turn everything to such a mild blue that it's hard to pull text from containers. :)

[Mac]

Thanks for the input so far guys, i'm working on a basic one atm whilst i see what you want...the basic one is only there to make it look better :D

[Ryuk]

You know better then anyone what my colour ideas will be Mac ^ ^ lol

[Mac]

If you use the bottom left hand corner menu bar you can see what i'm working on for a basic blue style.....please keep your input coming :P

And i'll do a purple one for you ryuk lol

[ccoa]

Don't care that much as long as the color combination is professional. I would go with three or four color tones, though, instead of all shades of the same color. My personal favorite is the analogic color sheme, where you have three shades of similar colors, and one complimentary color to set it off.

http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html

EDIT: This one is nice: http://www.wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html?analog;86;1;240;0.3;-0.8;0.3;0.5;0.1;0.9;0.5;0.75;0.3;-0.8;0.3;0.5;0.1;0.9;0.5;0.75;0.3;-0.8;0.3;0.5;0.1;0.9;0.5;0.75;0.3;-0.8;0.3;0.5;0.1;0.9;0.5;0.75;0

[Mac]

Thanks ccoa, that would be a great way to make more skins.

Also if you don't know how to change skins...just click here http://www.spongen.org/index.php?styleid=2

[Alisa_Tana]

Using the blue from the sample Ccoa posted, I came up with a quick logo idea.

My feelings won't be hurt if you think its crap.. I went with the idea of the banner being "sponged" ;p

http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-logo.gif

in full page:
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page.png
don't mind the slogan, I just wanted to throw something in there.

[Erk]

Erk is sick of blue alone. I think we should go for a combination of silvery blue, faded green, faded brown, and something bright like orange or purple. Forums always seem to be blue, blue blue! Or high-contrast black and red which makes my eyes bleed. I would prefer blue to bleeding eyeballs.

(and yeah, I do think we can tweak and play with the colours of this skin we are using without getting too carried away with site design :))

[ccoa]

That's funny, the sample I posted is blue, purple, green, and brown(ish). We're on the same wavelength. :P

[Draken]

I really like the sample picked by ccoa. So my vote goes to them. As for the design itself, keep it simple and sleek :)

[Alisa_Tana]

why not have different skins using different colors? I kind of like the brown.

http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page2.png - purple and brown
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page3.png - bronze

[psgels]

Tana: I like the brown one. But yeah, one problem with different skins is that if there's a new mod that has to be installed, every single one of these skins is going to have to be updated. I'm not sure whether the admins want that. :P

[Alisa_Tana]

OH. I don't really know how skinning work... I was just thinking it was similar to using css, so that as long as you use the same layout, the only thing that changes between skins is the hex values.

No big drastic changes between skins, and limit them maybe to 4 options, like those that Ccoa posted.



I actually do like monochromatic forums, unlike erk. Maybe blue is getting tired, but I spend most of my time on DA now, which is green, so I don't want green.
Definitely stay away from contrasting black and red. ewww.

[Ronove]

Tana, those look really nice. :O

[J.D. Slasha]

Whoa. Usually I'm not particular in regards to how a skin loos, but I REALLY prefer the brownish one Tana made. In fact, I REALLY REALLY like it. O_o

[Atemu]

Yeah, I like the brown and purple one too, and I don't normally like those colors combined. :x

[Lunarea]

Brown and purple looks wonderful. It's soothing and warm at the same time.

[Venetia]

I thought I'd just do a quick idea and its recolors, came out kinda crappy but meh, (I used Tana's "What the F are we doing?" thing because it made me smile :p).


http://www.pixelcocktail.com/hosted_items/images/Idea01.png
http://www.pixelcocktail.com/hosted_items/images/Idea02.png
http://www.pixelcocktail.com/hosted_items/images/Idea03.png
http://www.pixelcocktail.com/hosted_items/images/Idea04.png


Again, just messing around :). Tana's looks better. And actually yeah, that purple and brown look posted earlier is spiffy.

[Mac]

I'm sorry but i'm not too keen on those skins Tana, they look very bland...its like the colours sort of drain, maybe if you fix up the brown it could look alot better in the purple and brown one..but so far its a nay for me. I like the logo alot though.

Haha venetia i love it lol "wtf are we doing" XD

[ccoa]

I love the purple and brown, myself. Not too keen on the bronze.

Mac, isn't the point of skins that there's something for everyone? No one has to like all or even most of the choices. :P

The only time skins are a problem with plugins is if you're actually overwriting code, such as the navbar or postbit. If you're just changing up colors, it's not a problem.

[DJ Jack]

The Bronze one is alright, but I really like that Purple Brown. Has that ominous feeling, like from Memento Vivere. Very nice. :)

Speaking of skinning, are we going to bring back the Spivtastic skins?

[Alisa_Tana]

Colors are really easy to change. Infact, here's a psd file set-up that you can play with yourself. (I dunno if it'll work in gimp) by adjusting the two hue-adjustment layers.
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page.psd


Examples:
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page4.png - more saturated brown and purple
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page5.png - brown and green
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page6.png - Silvery teal

[Erk]

the brown and purple one is lovely, Alisa. I think all it needs is an accent colour, like a few splashes of green or orange or yellow. The brown/green and silver/teal are also nice although the latter is leaning towards a desaturated version of the "classic" blue/silver.

Speaking of skinning, are we going to bring back the Spivtastic skins?They aren't ours to "bring back", they belong to another community. Remember, this is not another .net/.org move, this is a new community with a different purpose and a different staff.

And yeah, Ccoa is right. We can have a single skin layout (I think this one we are on now is fine) with a wide range of colour options and not betray KISS. Betraying rock bands is cruel.

[Alisa_Tana]

saturated purple/brown with gold accent lines:
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page7.png

desaturated purple/brown with gold accent lines:
http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page8.png

playing around with the "sponge" thing for the buttons too...

[psgels]

Hmm, I'm not sure why, but for me, the accent lines don't seem to be working. What if you dim their colours a bit more?

[Erk]

I like the colour match myself, I think it is more a matter of where the accents are placed (erk prefers the desat purp/brown btw). Maybe when I get to work I will try my own hand.

[DJ Jack]

I like the new skins very much so, but the Reply and New Thread buttons stand out a bit too much in the brown and purple skin with the orange outline. I just think it's a bit too bright, but maybe it's just me.

[Alisa_Tana]

http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongen-page9.png - accent line toned down on the saturated one. Turned off the background to the buttons. Keep in mind, of the top buttons, there will be only one or two (if we get child threads going) on the top of any given page.

Again, easy enough to change, and easy enough to change what exactly is accented.

[DJ Jack]

Very nice, Tana. Looks a lot better, in my opinion. :)

[Mac]

Wow amazing tana, i like them now...the colours jump at me better :)

[Alisa_Tana]

any comments on the buttons? I can see about icons to match if those are okay.

[Ronove]

I like the buttons, though the white around them seems to be a bit off. .-. but that may just be me.

[Cocoa]

I like lighter colors, perhaps lighter magenta/pink or sky blue/baby blue?

[Alisa_Tana]

Some mostly monochromatic variants if you decided to go with multiple skins.

http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongerainbow.jpg
Diamond
Lilac
Ice
Mint
Butterscotch
Chocolate
Charcoal

[Mac]

Those are amazingly perfect...i still love your keen eye for colours.

Good job

[$t3v0]

I'd really like to help create some new skins but I have no idea how to. Should I download a VB package and just alter the existing images, or are there other ways? If so, Can you point me in the right direction? I'm eager to make a start :)

[Alisa_Tana]

Buttons: http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongebuttons.png
Thread buttons: Reply, New Thread, New Child. I figure anything else can be covered under the Thread Tools flyout.
Post Buttons: Edit, Delete(when we get to self-moding), Quote, Mutli-quote +/-, Quick Reply
Thread/Forum Icons: Read, Closed, Unread, Hot Read, Hot Closed, Hot Unread
Arrows: go to last post, expand and collapse, and anything else that uses arrows.

VB has an insane number of icons they use, but these are the important ones yeah?

Any thoughts for a slogan besides my impromptu "wtf" Or do we even want one?

[DJ Jack]

I think something that has to do with a sponge would be nice for a slogan. Something like "Absorbing life one step at a time" or something. (I suck when it comes to slogans :P)

[ccoa]

The quotations and the shapes on the icons are a little hard to make out. Maybe tone down the sponge effect on the text for those, if possible? Strangely, the three tiniest icons are fine. :/

No idea for a slogan, but I'll post if one comes to me.

[Alisa_Tana]

http://www.alisachristopher.us/stuff/spongebuttons.png

the multi-quote and icons better now?
I might make the multi-quote minus in the accented color...

Oh, and if anyone has suggestions for a better Quick Reply Button (which I find kind of useless) lemme know....

[ccoa]

Much better. ^_^