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Believe it or not, I'm again
entrenched in another redesign of my website. I'm beginning to
question my sanity, as the process never seems to end for me. I
go through this about every 4-6 months, for no other reason than
'I can'. Call it my Everest… I see it, therefore I climb it.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about overkill
lately. How much 'Cool' applied to an image ultimately takes
away from the end result? Overkill is another of my quirks, and
I'm desperately trying to overcome this particular foible. This
week's column is basically my attempt to create a new Splash
page for my website without paralyzing my visitors with sensory
overload, yet sparking their interest enough to 'keep on
clicking' through the site, peeling back the layers to snag the
goodies within.
We start with the most basic of shapes: a mere
circle. Somehow I want to incorporate techniques I use a lot in
my work, but not to the point where I lose focus that this is,
in fact, only a logo. There are a couple things I'm looking for,
however.
· Contrast - For this I'm planning to use colors
that oppose each other on the color wheel. In this instance I've
chosen Blue and orange, or varying shades of each.
· Gradient Usage - I'm a gradient nut, and try
to apply them whenever I can get away with it.
· Detail - By this I simply mean a way to
distinguish my image from the background. A simple Stroke should
pull this off nicely.
I think I've achieved what I set out to
accomplish: I have my contrasting colors, applied 2 gradients,
and applied a nice stroked outline.
I'm going to keep this logo simple, so let's
proceed strait to choosing a font and applying some text. Font
selection is very important, and should reflect the 'feel' you
are trying to achieve. There are serious fonts (Verdana, Times
New Roman, et.al.), and some pretty quirky fonts that you can
get from nearly any free font resource online. I want this logo
to reflect a combination… keeping it light hearted yet implying
there is content to be taken seriously just around the bend. The
font I'm using here is called 'Vibrolator', takenm from a free
font website.
I've set it off center so I can add my other
fonts, keeping a balance so the text does not extend too far off
the right of the circle. I'm also going to reduce the font size
of the rest of the word.
I've left space below the 'ction' text to place
the FX, completing the name of my site. I'm going to change
gears, applying a different font; this both dresses up the image
and breaks the monotony.
Once I have all my type in place with the fonts
I want, I can apply simple layer styles to the text, keeping in
mind the overkill I'm trying to avoid, yet maintaining the Cool.
Now I'll add another line of text, basically
telling what my visitors can expect from the site. Also, the
effects applied to the logo are a good indication of what can be
found within. I'm also adding my URL, mainly because repetition
helps with association. I want my site to spring to mind when
they work with Photoshop, simple as that.
Though tempting, I really don't want to overdo
this image. It does need something though, so a little
background and some highlights are all I'm allowing myself.
Here's the completed splash page image:
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