Watchtower Logo

[Lucky Day]

While I don't think anyone will confuse you with the Jehovah's Witnesses I've not seen many gun towers associated with RPG's.

Someone suggested it be changed to a medeival tower and I thought I might as well start this topic.

Perhaps there's a long term plan to expand out to different game categories using "watch" as the buzz word?

[Corwin]

Yes, there is. The current tower is the result of a LONG search and design process over several months. Still, open discussion can only be beneficial.

[Cormac]

So this tower is the junior tower ? :p

[Maximous]

Better then a lighthouse

[Gorath]

I wouldn´t say it´s necessarily final. If anybody has a better logo or a great idea to flesh out the Watch theme just send it in.

[Rendelius]

I agree. It's not properly themed. It belongs to some real time strategy game - or worse, to a concentration camp.

I would suggest a tower from the Limes or something like that...

[Bargeral]

I like it. First time I saw it I thought: forest fire watch tower. I assumed it was to emphasize the watch aspect of the site more then the rpg aspect, and it does that well. The clean simple line style goes well with the cleaner site. And expressing "an RPG and MMORPG news aggregation, commentary and forum site" in an icon is going to be either overly complicated or leave some part of the message out. I think just emphasizing the watch aspect works well. My .02 anyway.

[Jaz]

It reminds me of Jagged Alliance 2, one of my fave CRPGs of old. Needless to say that I like it :lol:.

[Corwin]

I voted for it as well. It IS an original piece of art, comissioned for this site!!

[Lucky Day]

Yes, there is...

it would be interesting to have different Towers by game theme. RPG could be the medeival Tower some people have suggested.

[Dez]

I'm against different logos. One logo - one site. The design of current logo is quite futuristic and most rpgs have medieval setting, but then again i'm not an artist :D But if someone is and can resign it, why not post it here?

[txa1265]

Personally I like it - it suggests watching the area and horizon.

[Lord Alex]

Keeping watch on the future of cRPGs. Simple, to-the-point, and effective, like the site, from what I've seen thusfar. Works for me.

[txa1265]

Welcome, Lord Alex!

[Dhruin]

The bottom line is that we lack an internal artist, so a favour was asked of someone else. We wanted something simple - probably lineart - to suit our new "streamlined" style and I like the result.

The idea of something more medieval is possibly worth investigating but we couldn't really ask our for lots of different concepts for the princely price we paid of zero. ;) So, if someone has the skill, time and willingness to donate something "better" - fantastic. Otherwise, this one is pretty good.

[Sem]

I like it. First time I saw it I thought: forest fire watch tower. I assumed it was to emphasize the watch aspect of the site more then the rpg aspect, and it does that well.

My thoughts exactly. Things like concentration camps didn't came into my mind at all.

[svencha]

As a professional visual artist I think it’s one of the best logos I’ve seen on a crpg site. It’s not the typical clichéd dragon or buffed up hero you see all the time. It’s a more mature and minimal symbol that sticks in your head. Keep it i think :)

[Inauro]

For me, and the team will have heard me say this a number of times already, the word "watch" conjures up images of not only the aforementioned watchtower, but also a group of watchers such as a city watch. I like the idea of being on the lookout for new MMO/RPGs and the current logo reinforces that concept for me. I agree it's not exactly medieval, but it has nice clean lines and lends itself well to a logo.

Perhaps at some stage in the future we could have a "redesign the logo" contest, but right now we're pretty happy with the work that a friend of a friend put in to help us out in a tough spot.

[Roi Danton]

Hmm, I like the tower. It's just plain simple and you'll recognize it immediatelly if you see it.

[Bubick]

I have to agree that the logo is really terrible. Aside from the fact that it doesn't convey any of the "feel" of RPGs, it really does suggest a prison or concentration camp (at least to me).

If you want to capitalize on the "Watch" idea, really a medieval watchtower or group of knights on a battlement might be more appropriate. Even a shield or coat of arms -- you know, like the "night watch." I understand the fact that the current logo came free, but I'm sure that if you search around, you can find plenty of more appropriate art for this website available in the public domain. Just try a Google.

As far as the idea of having a "clean, simple, mature" logo -- bah. You're not putting out a stock prospectus -- We're talking about games here. Let's have some swords and dragons!

[Bubick]

Plenty of legally usable castle clip art here:

http://historymedren.about.com/library/weekly/aa020399.htm

The small grey castle looks like it might fit in well with the RPGWatch typface and page design.


A nice shield, sword, and some other stuff here, including some cool borders:

http://historymedren.about.com/library/weekly/aa061898.htm

The person who created these actually invites people to use them as assets on their web pages.

[Myrthos]

I like the logo. There probably is a better one out there somewhere, but neither you nor we have found it.
There will be no dragons, swords, shields, guns, airships, monsters, heroes or heroins in the logo. Just a watchtower.

As with almost everything you can look at it from a positive or a negative side. I just see a watchtower in it, watching out over RPG news. I can't help it if somone sees a tower of a concentration camp, prison or whatever in it. Its your mind making the connection not the logo.

[Jabberwocky]

For the record, I thought concentration camp as well.... but hey, they had watchtowers too, so I guess it works. Of course, their watchtowers were to keep on the lookout for anyone escaping, not for events distant on the horizon... so by thinking "concentration camp" it could conjure up an idea totally opposite of the intended purpose! :S

Okay, no I'm not really serious about it deserving that much thought. :rolleyes:
I saw it, thought concentration camp, went "whatever" in my head, and moved on.

Still, I am an artist and would be glad to do a different design, but since it seems most of the moderators like the current one, I'll not bother until a poll is taken and it's established that it really needs to change. :)

[Gokyabgu]

I like the design of the web page very clean, but i don't like the logo. As a reader of Rpgdot since 2001, i personally like the dragon logo. Watchtower is not proper logo for a website which dedicated to RPG games. Do not take it offense but 'a red dragon staring downwards on a mountain with fiery eyes' would be most proper and cool for a site that claims to be the successor of RPGdot i think.

[Myrthos]

RPGDot still exists and as such we are not the successor to RPGDot. I don't think we either claimed we were at any point. If so, that statement was incorrect.
As mentioned already earlier in the thread if someone comes up with a better logo we'll take that one. As long as it is a clean logo without a lot of fancy stuff and has a link to the word 'Watch'.

I'm not convinced a dragon is a better logo. There aren't that many RPGs with dragons in them anyway. Then again, there might not be that many with a watchtower either.... Anyway, I for one would want to have a logo that moves away from a fantasy themed style.

If nobody comes up with a better logo than we have now, this is the one it will be. If you do come up with a better logo you know you will have your work of art displayed to a large number of visitors each and every day. We get a logo and you get this satisfaction. Sounds like a fair deal to me :)

[Ragnar]

Maybe a medieval looking stone watchtower, something a little more apropos to the Gothic (as in genre not PB) feeling most RPGs use. The current Logo strikes up images of a WWII POW camp watchtower.

But that's just me....

[Jabberwocky]

I was thinking of a Medieval watchtower actually. It can be just as simple - black sillouette with blue glow or whatever. I guess I'd have to make two (one for each color scheme) What kind of file do you want - .gif, .jpeg, or what?

@ Myrthos: There may be many non-fantasy themed RPG's out there, but the fact remains that fantasy is still the stereotype. We must all like it, because we keep buying them. As long as that happens, people are going to want Medieval watchtowers and not WWII watchtowers. While I respect your opinion and that of others, ultimately in the best interests of the site you would want accurate ideas to be conveyed, stereotypical or not, am I correct?

[Bubick]

I was thinking of a Medieval watchtower actually. It can be just as simple - black sillouette with blue glow or whatever. I guess I'd have to make two (one for each color scheme) What kind of file do you want - .gif, .jpeg, or what?

@ Myrthos: There may be many non-fantasy themed RPG's out there, but the fact remains that fantasy is still the stereotype. We must all like it, because we keep buying them. As long as that happens, people are going to want Medieval watchtowers and not WWII watchtowers. While I respect your opinion and that of others, ultimately in the best interests of the site you would want accurate ideas to be conveyed, stereotypical or not, am I correct?



Yeah! What he said!

P.S. -- if you want something "clean and simple" looking, why not use a silhoette (bad spelling, sorry) of the rook chess piece? That's a tower, and it conveys the idea of a game at the same time. Not really rpg oriented, but its an alternative. I'm still with Jabberwocky, though...

[Myrthos]

... What kind of file do you want - .gif, .jpeg, or what?
It needs to be transparent, so that means either .gif or .png (or .psd)

@ Myrthos: There may be many non-fantasy themed RPG's out there, but the fact remains that fantasy is still the stereotype. We must all like it, because we keep buying them. As long as that happens, people are going to want Medieval watchtowers and not WWII watchtowers. While I respect your opinion and that of others, ultimately in the best interests of the site you would want accurate ideas to be conveyed, stereotypical or not, am I correct?
Large-breasted women with as limited amount of clothing as possible is also an RPG stereotype and unfortunately finds it way to many covers of game boxes. Apparently they sell games, but I wouldn't want one of those as a logo. One has to be carefull in using stereotypes.

The main criteria are:

A clean and simple logo.
Needs to have a transparent background, that can be put on any other background.
Has to have a relation with the word 'watch' and if possible a relation with 'watching out for news'.We have one transparent logo now with some simple lines and can easily convert that to the different colors in dark and bright. Currently its a watchtower because it has the word 'watch' in it and if one looks at it from the positive side conveys the idea of watching out for something, in our case news.

[Cm]

I like the clean look of the logo. At first it felt like something was missing, being used to the Dot logo's for so long. But then I started looking at it more as a news call. Something adult and to the point about it. I would say a medieval tower would work, but keep it simple and clean.

[Jabberwocky]

What?! No Griffons or dragons, or large breasted women... or anything?!!!
Just KIDDING :lol:

Oh yes, I wasn't thinking about the transparency issue earlier. .gif or .png is no problem.

P.S. @ Myrthos: Speaking of being careful with stereotypes, I hope that you're "large breasted women" comment didn't upset Cm, after all, look at her Avatar! I heard somewhere that she even has a whip! o_o ;)

[Myrthos]

If she did I'll just wait for her to find that whip then....

[Jabberwocky]

@ Myrthos: All right, my wt's are done. Two .psd files, one for light and one for dark. Transparent background. You will have to resize them. They differ very little from the current Watchtower logo except for the genre. hmmnn... is there such a thing as 'genres' for watchtowers??.. Whatever, you know what I mean.

So I need to e-mail them to you. Send me a pm with your address, or if you have another idea as to how I can make them available...

[Cm]

P.S. @ Myrthos: Speaking of being careful with stereotypes, I hope that you're "large breasted women" comment didn't upset Cm, after all, look at her Avatar! I heard somewhere that she even has a whip!

If she did I'll just wait for her to find that whip then....

I have my whip in hand, however I reserve that for very special occasions. Now the pitchfork is another matter..........:lol:

[Danicek]

Personally I like it - it suggests watching the area and horizon.

I like it as well. The style of the watch goes very well with the site graphics/clear layout. The simple style of the logo points out the fact that the site is always "on watch" for latest news in the RPG area, that was my first impression and I think that was the reason the logo was created and chosen.

Other thing is that the overall design of the site goes too clear and simple for me. I would probably say cold. But I fully understand this is entirely personal and it is by no means problem for me.

[Dhruin]

When the right-hand column is enabled (where the sword is) that will add a little more colour and life, in my opinion.

[araczynski]

As a professional visual artist I think it’s one of the best logos I’ve seen on a crpg site.

It does to me have some connotations of a concentration camp tower (ww2 or vietnam), although it was more subconscious then on the surface.

As a professional web surfer ;)... I think something more medieval would be perhaps more appropriate, perhaps the top part of a stone/castle tower?

also, something shorter, i think there's too much dead space up there, unless you were planning on filling that with ads or something.

[Acleacius]

A Naked Girl on the Tower with some binoculars, ok maybe with Ranger hat so not really naked ? :biggrin:

[HiddenX]

I like this one:

http://www.uibk.ac.at/exphys/museum/pict/big/fernrohr.jpg

[Neo]

I have to say, although the logo doesn't really give me a RPG "feeling", that I can completely understand your choice. The logo looks clean, simple, and right-to-the-point. It looks great in my opinion, and I don't need another one.

[darklord]

It reminds of the gun tower from silent strm actually.

Daniel.

[ToddMcF2002]

Perfect!

http://www.genarts.com/cust-pics/sauron-eye-214.jpg

[Danicek]

Yes, it is rather impressive but absolutely incompatible with our current design ;).

[KazikluBey]

The current watchtower makes me immediately think of the orcish towers in Warcraft II/III. It's not so bad, but the ones with the gray background on the front page could use a recoloring to make it look more like the logo at the top of the page. The highlight around the black lines makes it look more distinct.

[VPeric]

I like the logo quite a bit. For one, it is unique, and it goes with the theme of RPGWatch.

[Bigpapa]

While looking at it, it reminds me about the old game, which i loved to play a lot, couple years ago. The game was Vikings: Fields of Conquest(Kingdoms of england II @ Amigas) by Brian Vodnik, it was a light stradergy game and there were tower outposts to build up :) So, i think the logo is perfect.

[Sorcha Ravenlock]

'Concentration camp' came to my mind as well. Not a positive association, in my opinion. It seems a bt too futuristic for an RPG site as well...

I can understand the 'clean line' argument, but personally I would have gone for something more fantasy-like with a positive association (A lute maybe? For a bard, who is associated with bringing the latest news and being impartial...).

But that is just my opinion, if our gracious hosts are happy with the dsign, then that is all that matters ;)

[booyah_boy]

I can't believe I missed this thread, or, should I say, it's inception.
"Concentration camp," aye? Yeah, I can see that. Of course, I can also see the watchtower side of things (like another poster herein, my first thought was of a forest observation tower, to prevent fires and so forth).
I hope you guys don't mind my presumption, but I quickly threw together a concept logo to replace the current one, should you so desire:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/booyah_boy/RWp1.png

I have another concept using a radio-tower, but I thought you'd prefer to see this first (not that you actually wanted to see anything) as it fits the "more medieval" trend so many posters were clamoring for.
What do you think?

[Danicek]

Actually I think this one is pretty nice. To be honest, I don't like the background much but that is just minor. Thanks for you work. Admins/mods are more in charge of saying if they are actually thinking about changing the logo.

[Jabberwocky]

Cool booyah_boy, I like it a lot! I agree with Danicek that changing the background to make it match the site better would be a good thing.

[dteowner]

Decidedly phallic at the moment, booyah, but certainly has promise.

[Jabberwocky]

Decidedly phallic at the moment, booyah, but certainly has promise.

I could really, really say something qutie halarious right here and I'm splitting my own sides in laughter, but it's probably a little too colorful...

Anyhoo.. I think maybe if the top tower was a turret with crenellations instead of a pointed roof it would tone down the phallic impression.

Incedentally I am seriously concerned with the subliminal messages the people haunting these forums see in different logos/objects. Concentration camps, Forest fires, now phallic symbols... I bet the ink blot test would render some interesting results from some of us!

[dteowner]

I'm only mildly crazy, thank you very much. I, on the other hand, am a few bricks shy.

[Dhruin]

I'm no artist but I do like that a lot. Er...less the phallic tip. If you can make it crenellated or something and change the background (probably just white) , I'd love to hear what the rest of the team have to say.

[roqua]

Can you replace RPGwatch with roqua and make that my avatar? If not, I like it and think it would be a good site logo.

[booyah_boy]

Here you go, a less phallic, semi-crenellated tower, with a white background (incidentally, the background was just the default I had set up on the page, thus, it was never intended as a part of the logo).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/booyah_boy/RWp1_r.png

[dteowner]

I like it. I like it, too.

[booyah_boy]

Thanks dteowner...and you too, dteowner.

[Dhruin]

I really like it. Let me see what the consensus is.

[roqua]

I really like it also.

[Jabberwocky]

Very nice indeed. Even the crazies like it!

[Corwin]

It's definitely better than the phallic version!! :) I'd like to see a little more texture!!

[Wulf]

The construction design of the rpgwatch logo tower is very similar to that of the famous Alcatraz tower! :) http://img2.travelblog.org/Photos/664/2905/f/10093-The-Watchtower-0.jpg

[Danicek]

Wulf, really this nearly exactly the same one. Good catch :]]

[Jaz]

booyah_boy: I'm not very much into Fantasy themes/styles, but I agree with the rest - it's pretty good.

[Dez]

we are all inmates in rpg-prison :)

[Cm]

I like the new tower design, but the background color of the other looked good to me. I imagine the white would be replaced with the current colors of the forum, so that would work.

[Wulf]

Re: quote by Dez [we are all inmates in rpg-prison] - what a great idea Dez,

The 'rpgwatch prison camp' where poor diggers and scrapers are held prisoner for the rest of their days sealed in by a magical barrier and where hard work in the rpgwatch forum ore mines are the only way to survive. No matter how hard they try to escape the barrier will stop them.......but one day a hero will come to set them free, just another simple digger but with the power of Innos, who will be that hero?
.................................................. .........
But seriously, i like both the original and the suggested one, i would lean towards the original has having a touch more "watch" or "lookout" tower emphasis. A few more choices offered before making the final decision would be nice. :)

[Cm]

Wulf, that sounds good, you should try to write an rpg based on that. ;)

[dteowner]

What a novel story idea. Can't say I've heard anything like it before. Probably wouldn't make a very good RPG, though... ;)

[Corwin]

Yeah, very old almost gothic idea!! :)

[Jabberwocky]

Wulf, your story idea sucks.... I can't believe anybody would be stupid enough to write a garbage plot like that... Oh wait,... what am I talking about? There IS no story. Besides, if you made it to be an actual GAME, I bet you'd get the controls all wrong, you would degrade women, the graphics would be crap, and it would have more bugs than a roach motel! If I wrote a review on the game, out of a score of 1- 10 I'd give it a score of negative bazillion!! I'm going back to playing Oblivion now...

HEY EVERYBODY!! :D That was my impersonation of an ANTI-fanboy... so how'd I do? Was I close? I've been working on the lines for a while... doing a lot of observation/ reading a lot of reviews.
Actually it felt kinda creepy - I don't think it's healthy to have that much anger built up inside! :lol: ;)

[dteowner]

I think it's only fair that we take a moment to acknowledge Wulf's skillful crosstopic bane.

[Wulf]

Ha! ha! - you guys sure know how to latch-on to someones folly. Re:dte's quote [I think it's only fair that we take a moment to acknowledge Wulf's skillful crosstopic bane.] My skills are pale in comparison other forum maestro's.

However...bordering on that grey area between on and off topic, may i offer a small condolence of repentance (with a dash of fun and impishness) by way of a rough drafted logo suited to the 'prisoner' theme.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/4851/watchlogo5vx0.jpg

[Jabberwocky]

The other night I had this dream that I was being chased by a ferocious German Shepard. He was barking and I somehow understood what he was saying. It sounded sort of like Scooby Doo saying "R! P! G!"

I don't know what that was all about, but after seeing Wulf's 'logo' I'm a little weirded out.

[Sorcha Ravenlock]

Here you go, a less phallic, semi-crenellated tower, with a white background (incidentally, the background was just the default I had set up on the page, thus, it was never intended as a part of the logo).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/booyah_boy/RWp1_r.png

Oh, I like this one! Very nice...

[Dr. A]

I like it too. Well done, booyah_boy.

[Neo]

Very nice logo. I can't say I hate the current, but that new one does look a bit better IMO.

[booyah_boy]

Thank you Sorcha Ravenlock, Dr. A, Neo, and everyone else who has commented on the concept.
As a matter of consensus the staff concluded that the logo I submitted did not entirely fit the site motif, thus, thanks to some much-appreciated input through personal correspondence with Dhruin, I'll be revising and submitting new concepts herein until something more appropriate arises.
If you have any suggestions you would like to make to the current version, or future submittals, I welcome your input.

PostScript:
I should have a new concept submitted within the next twenty-four hours. A recent black-out across my current location (Dallas, Oregon, USA) has caused a slight delay in my activities. My apologies.

[Fez]

booyah_boy's logo is great. Reminds me of a few developer's logos too.

[Lucky Day]

great lettering, I love the frame, and I love the idea. unfortunately, I think some people would comment that the picture itself reminds them of a steaming pile of something.

Its supposed to be a crag or a tower on a hill or the like, I understand that. I'm just saying. I'm not trying to be insulting; its just an observation.

[Corwin]

Well, the offer is still open for people to design something better!! :)

[skavenhorde]

booyah_boy's is good, but the watchtower one is perfect. Keeping a watch out on great content!

Who says that CRPGs have to be medieval though. Some of my favorites were set in different time periods. Bloodlines, Jagged Alliance, Arcanum, fallout, wasteland, Albion (absolutely fantastic game) ......umm actually come to think about it, there isn't that many without the medieval setting. Oh well, I still think its Role Playing Game not "Lord of the RIngs Playing Game."