Dumpshock Logo, Time for a new one? Options

[Redjack]

And if it is time for a new one, what would it look like?

[Cain]

Why not open it up to the members?

Let everyone who wants to, submit a new logo. When you've got enough, blind them, and then post them in a poll for everyone to vote on?

This would get more members invested in Dumpshock, and maybe raise our profile a little.

[Bertramn]

How about a big, fat header, with eyes looking at you, one eye cybered up to the ninth degree.

Eyes of a female, with tribal tattoos, and a data-jack at the other side's temple.

All that in extreme widescreen format above the forum structure/website.

I realize it is not a logo per se, but I would love the look of it.

[Kyrel]

Can't say that I feel the site particularly need a new logo. I mean, who actually looks at it? But if we are going to create a new logo, might I suggest something a bit more futuristic shadowrunesque perhaps? I'd try to keep it simple, technological, and if possible somewhat "SR matrix style".

[nylanfs]

I like the current logo.

[flowswithdrek]

I've never liked the logo. I would like to see something fresh. What it would look like, dunno, when it comes to that sort of thing i'm not the most creative.

[Stahlseele]

No, leave the current Logo.
A Logo should be unobstrusive somewhere where it does not draw too much attention away from the content . .
And this one does that just fine . .

[flowswithdrek]

No, leave the current Logo.
A Logo should be unobstrusive somewhere where it does not draw too much attention away from the content . .
And this one does that just fine . .

Not really what a logo should be at all, IMO. It should be eye catching, high impact and should say This Is DUMPSHOCK!.

Still it was just a thought.

[fistandantilus4....]

If only the logo could be the cover of the old Shadowtech book.

[Wounded Ronin]

80s cyber ninja.

[Umidori]

Let's break this down.

The obvious connection is Dumpshock itself, so the themes of the Matrix, and in particular of the dangers of messing with proverbial fire would be a good match. The current logo suggests digital communications in the form of the pixelation and the plug and adequately conveys the concept, but it does have some compositional issues - odd color choices, odd font, wonky mixed perspective, dutch angle, et cetera.

A less obvious connection is that of tying the site's nature as a Shadowrun discussion forum with the nature of in-universe virtual locales such as the Shadowland BBS and the Jackpoint VPN (although sometimes I wonder if we're actually more akin to Shadowcell). This would be trickier to work in as a theme for a logo, however, as there is little in the way of iconic imagery surrounding such in-universe sites.

Really, I think the current logo does just fine, but if we had to make a change, I'd vote for retooling rather than replacing it. Dumpshock itself occurs when your Persona crashes and you get disconnected from the Matrix, and is the product of cognitive and sensory dissociation and discombobulation as you drop suddenly from full VR back into reality. This could be represented in a number of ways, but I'm a fan of simplicity and clarity of form, so I think we should limit any ideas to basic, obvious concepts and themes.

The current logo has basic, but muddy themes. The pixelated portions of the letters are not terribly eye-catching, and given the small size of the image they lose resolution and blur, failing to deliver strongly on the "pixelation" concept.

The plug has something of the opposite problem - it does catch the eye, which is bad because it draws the eye away from the text into the otherwise empty bottom right corner of the image, which is dead space. There are also some conceptual flaws here - while physically Jacking Out can cause Dumpshock, pulling the plug is probably the least common cause of the condition, compared to the much more frequent taking damage in cybercombat.

I would suggest keeping the pixelation, but making it much more prominently visible and better integrated into the image as a whole. If we're trying to stress the theme of a digital "crash", then the pixelated text could be used to suggest digital error - especially if paired with digital artifacting effects such as dead pixels, screen tearing, compression fragments, aliasing, et cetera. It could also be used to represent the text disintegrating, or similar concepts and themes.

The plug I'm less pleased with, but also not sure if it should be replaced or just scrapped. It has a satisfyingly strong connection to electricity, but it seems oddly anachronistic (I've never been sure if it's supposed to be a CAT5 cable or an old single-pin port plug, but neither really would be accurate to the 2050s onward, even from the retro-futurism standpoint of the 1980s). Also, why is it glowing? Arcing, sure - we've all witnessed sparking wires in some form or another. But this just has a soft glow, like a heated element or filament, which is conceptually weird when you think about it. Then again, sparks and arcs are kind of stereotypical and cliché as symbols of electronic devices...

The text definitely needs a bit of help. It's a bit too... 90s... for my tastes. Personally, I say either style the text more like an 80s aesthetic, or bring it forward to a more modern look. Straighten it up, get it squared away neatly. It can slant a bit if you really want, just not across two planes and three different directions. As for color, the lime green and electric blue aren't inherently poor choices, but they just don't quite work here - which is a shame, because I get the sense they were supposed to invoke "neon" and electric lighting in the vein of retro-futurism. They might work in a different form, but I don't have a solid recommendation for improvement.

~Umi

[Cochise]

The plug I'm less pleased with, but also not sure if it should be replaced or just scrapped. It has a satisfyingly strong connection to electricity, but it seems oddly anachronistic (I've never been sure if it's supposed to be a CAT5 cable or an old single-pin port plug, but neither really would be accurate to the 2050s onward, even from the retro-futurism standpoint of the 1980s). Also, why is it glowing?

The answer to the glow as well as the single-pin port plug should be rather obvious: The "electric" part of the human/machine interface in Shadowrun was originally restricted to the inner workings of the datajack where it actually connected to the brain. The connection cables and pretty much the rest of the tech was supposed to be "optronic". Thus the plugs for connecting with the cyberdeck were optical in nature as well . So what you're seeing there is most likely a fibre optic plug. So ...

Arcing, sure - we've all witnessed sparking wires in some form or another. But this just has a soft glow, like a heated element or filament, which is conceptually weird when you think about it. Then again, sparks and arcs are kind of stereotypical and cliché as symbols of electronic devices...

... arcing with an electrical spark would actually be worse in terms of the concept and the associated stereotypes and clichés as symbol for electronic devices would be outright wrong.

[Wounded Ronin]

A barfing decker?

[Shemhazai]

I don't like the current Dumpshock logo. It reminds me of an early eighties snack bar arcade.

[Curator]

i like it, just make it bigger and more centered. maybe some color variations which you'll need a graphic artist