logo redesign

[Skitty]

here at insomniac servers. we are a constantly evolving group of people.
our logo has defined us since we first started up. the servers that never sleep. once and a while a little re-branding is needed. While the slogan will not change i feel the logo needs some cleaning up and a bit of tweaking. (not twerking never twerking) i would like your input into what changes you feel the logo should have.

[Kidd2000]

Possibly make it a .GIF? Maybe something as simple as the eye looking right or left every 30 seconds. Sparkles? Explosions? Hypno-toad?

   We can have a new banner sure, but I think a .GIF would last in relevancy quite more. Oh, and if you say "It kills my PC" Then how would you be running Minecraft? Just sayin'

[Skitty]

i think a gif is out of the question. while it is a cool idea. frame by frame animation is hard and a tad painful.

[Juwayyid]

Plus the quality wouldn't be very good, would it? (In my experience .gifs are never very high res)

So keeping the "insomniac eye" included, are you looking for a logo with the words Insomniac or just a graphic or all that and more?  I guess I'm wondering if you want us to suggest themes or potential designs or just what should be featured in the logo.

[Skitty]

oh they can be highres. here is part of an 20 frame gif i worked on


and its anything really any ideas you want me to throw around when i talk to the art director i will be working with to create the new logo with. yes i am pulling in outside resources for this.

[Butlerbandit]

Most people seem to like the idea of keeping the "eyeball" in the logo, but that does leave the question of "what does the eye look like?"

I'm more specifically looking at what kind of expression it seems to be making. For example, if you look at the top of the page, you may notice how the logo eye is very wide, very alert and maybe even terrified. If you look at the little eye-icon next to "forum index" just above and to the left of the logo, you'll notice it's at least partially closed, making it look more sleepy, or perhaps like it's examining something closely, maybe plotting?

[Juwayyid]

Its the red pupil, half open, devious eye that we should implement.  That eye just sort of speaks of each one of us in the community and our attitudes all the time!

[Butlerbandit]

Aye, but we aught not make it quite as thin as the one next to "forum index". That one almost looks ready to fall asleep.

[Jaysers]

I agree with Butler. The eye should look mildly awake, perhaps even somewhat alert, perhaps from paranoia or hype. Though it goes without saying that it should look like someone took a bottle of pure lemon extract and poured it all over the eyeball for several hours without pause by going through countless bottles to make certain that the eye will stay red. That, or just get red food coloring and just... ya know.. squirt a drop or two...
After all, the people in our community (or perhaps the main people) should be known for staying on til late at night.
Here's the thing though... when people stay on late, they/we tend to be on Teamspeak more often than anything else. With that in mind, I'm not sure if some newcomers are willing to vocally talk via Teamspeak if they even get on Teamspeak in the first place. I don't think I need to include the fact that we use Tinychat occasionally.
This might have been off-topic, seeing how this forum topic is asking for logo suggestions, but I thought I'd speak my piece while I give my input.

[bren4q]

My preference is for the wide open, bloodshot style of eye. It gives the impression of being tired but wide awake. It is more energetic and exciting. It might be late at night but the person does not want to sleep.

The half-closed eye is more sleepy and lethargic looking. It gives the impression of actual insomnia. The person is tired, bored, and wants to sleep but can't due to some problem.

My understanding of the server motto, "The Servers That Never Sleep",  was that it was a choice thing. It was not actual insomnia. We choose not to sleep because we enjoy gaming together. Hence it is "the servers that never sleep" as opposed to "the servers that cannot sleep".

I think a caffeine-fueled / hyped-up bloodshot eye is more befitting of a gaming community.

[Juwayyid]

Heh, I've always looked at the half opened eye as, not bored, but sort of a "above it" look as if someone is being pranced around by a punch of little kids and the person is thinking to themselves "I'm too old for this." 

I'd also say the half opened eye is more accurate to each of us late night, as we are all usually struggling to stay awake to play.  Not that we are bored, but we just don't want to leave and sleep is dragging us to bed.

And like I said before, it looks devious to me.  We have already adapted the half opened eye into many Insomniac schemed builds, like, for example, Quimby's amazing Insomniac themed Adventure map, which features the Insomniac Half opened eye.

I also just feel that a wide awake eyeball has been seen before and is expected. 

But whichever looks best.  My vote is for the half opened one.  Just be sure to keep the pupil red.

[Jaysers]

So we can agree that the logo should be some representative of an eye that is bloodshot. The next "issue" would be how the eye looks itself.

While that's going on, I think we're missing a big picture here. Is the logo the eye itself (though it is a large part of it, I won't lie), or is the Insomniac logo "Insomniac Servers" as a whole? Sure the iconic image would be the eye, but I think the words themselves could be a good factor to spiff up our logo. I'm not saying the font is bad or anything; it just seems a bit plain.

EDIT: Juwayyid did mention that the logo could contain "Insomniac Servers" as a whole. My mistake, I didn't see that.

Also, this is what happens when I'm bored and feel like creating something in 5 minutes.

[Skitty]

heres whats being thrown around.

[Emperor_Quimby]

where can I vote?

[Juwayyid]

I don't think any of them stand out too much not do they feel custom.  Some background element or symbol of some kind (the eye) should be incorporated.  Something that can represent us without the need of giving the name.