Logo Feedback

[PhotriusPyrelus]

I would have posted in the June Dev Update, but the thread was locked (presumably because of some off-topic derailing).

So here's the posted image of 6 potential logo redesigns.


I like the smallness of the gear in the top left.  It's small, but a nice focal point because it's coloured against the greyscale of the rest of the image, but at the same time it doesn't dominate the image like the larger gears in the bottom row. However, I prefer the tree from the middle column.

The gear in the lower right is *WAY* too big.  I don't really like the gear in the middle column either.  For the top one it pooches out of the tree, in the bottom one it's just too big.

It's been a long time since I played, are there gears in trees now?  Are there trees with glowing green cracks in the bark?  I understand why they want a logo redesign, but the logo should represent the game, shouldn't it?  If there's not bright green gears inside or painted onto trees with green cracks in the bark in the game, that probably shouldn't be in the logo to represent the game, should it? (and yes, I realize we don't have clocks in trees like in the current/old logo)

I really don't like the new font.  Like.  At all.  The V, N, A, and Y with that one-pixel wide line is worse than Comic Sans.

Edited August 22 by PhotriusPyrelus
Fixing Image

[ifoz]

19 minutes ago, PhotriusPyrelus said:

It's small, but a nice focal point because it's coloured against the greyscale of the rest of the image, but at the same time it doesn't dominate the image like the larger gears in the bottom row. However, I prefer the tree from the middle column.

Since these are logo concepts, I'm assuming it's probably likely that the finalised logo won't be monochrome. I do wonder in that case how well the gear will stand out if the tree's leaves are green, though if it is mostly in the bark area (like in logos 1A, 1B and 4A) it'd probably still be quite noticable.

Personally I think if I had to choose, I'd go with 4A or 1B. In both of these the gear is big enough to be noticeable, but not so big it overpowers the entire image.

 

19 minutes ago, PhotriusPyrelus said:

It's been a long time since I played, are there gears in trees now?  Are there trees with glowing green cracks in the bark?  I understand why they want a logo redesign, but the logo should represent the game, shouldn't it?

If I had to guess I'd think the new logo (and the old one as well) are meant to be metaphorical.
Mild lore spoilers, but;

Spoiler

The tree seems to be something of a symbol for the rebirth/return of life to the world, as seen in the Return tapestry. The gear itself is a recognisable and distinct symbol of Jonas and his machinery, as well as being that signature Prima Materia turquoise colour. Given that the Prima Materia was the power source of Jonas' projects and very likely the Grand Machine itself, it does make sense for the temporal gear to be depicted alongside the tree.

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Edited August 22 by ifoz

[LadyWYT]

I think what's also working really well in 1A, that the others just don't have, is that the focus is weighted more towards the living tree rather than the diseased one. It suggests that while there is a problem, there's still a very strong hope that everything will turn out okay in the end. It's also a clever nod to how things have unfolded initially in the story: the Rot was lurking in the background of the Old World, and eventually overtook it, requiring the Grand Machine project to save what was left of the world. In the new world, there are signs that things are beginning to recover, but there are still major problems at the forefront(temporal disturbances) as a result of the Grand Machine. You see that here with the healthy tree rooted in the front, and the diseased tree twisting its way around to come to the forefront at the top.

By splitting the space 50/50 between the trees though, or letting the diseased one be rooted in the foreground, more attention is placed on the bad, creating a sense of despair since the diseased parts seem to be overtaking the good parts completely. And personally, I still prefer the clock device of the original drawing rather than the temporal gear motif. Temporal gears are somewhat of a prominent feature in Vintage Story, yes, but the clock was a more subtle way to get the same point across.