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#1 2002-08-18 17:26:19
Re: Website Artwork and Design
I can whip up a relatively simple and good-looking website quite quickly, BUT there are some things I can't do. I can't draw really good looking original logos that we could use for the 'First Words' brand. Also, does anyone know of any software that we could use for people to submit their entries to a database, and then maybe display them randomly, or even better, display them for other people to rate them (an 'Am I Hot Or Not' for First Words, if you will)? Or can anyone write this software? I should point out that the New Mars servers are hosted on Pair.com - you can find out our tech specs there - we can use PHP, MySQL, Perl, etc.
So: We need an artist(s) and software.
Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]
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#2 2002-08-21 08:09:55
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#3 2002-08-21 21:44:12
- Phobos
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- Registered: 2002-01-02
- Posts: 1,103
Re: Website Artwork and Design
You'll get no complaints here. It's kinda of creepy that you should mention logo design. I was going to post a question on whether people liked the Mars Society logo or not.
To achieve the impossible you must attempt the absurd
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#4 2002-08-21 22:24:52
- Bill White
- Member
- Registered: 2001-09-09
- Posts: 2,114
Re: Website Artwork and Design
Add the website URL underneath the red arc;
You cannot repeat the website too many times.
Maybe print the NewMars logo at the top of the page with the NewMars URL and the First Words logo with the First Words URL at the bottom.
Phobos - IMHO, the Mars Society needs a logo that Chamber of Commerce guys will wear on their polo shirts when they play in the annual golf outing.
The existing Mars Society logo ain't that kind of logo.
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#5 2002-08-22 05:50:52
Re: Website Artwork and Design
Yeah, I was thinking about putting the URL beneath the logo. I think we'll have to do it on a case-by-case basis; for example, I don't see the point of putting the URL on the logo on the website, since presumably the people looking at it managed to get there somehow.
But for stationary and any other publicity materials, yep, url is a good idea.
I toyed around with the idea of using New Mars logo on letters and so on, and then figured that things would start getting too cluttered, and besides, not that many people know about New Mars anyway. If people are going to remember one thing after reading a letter or the email or the website, I want it to be First Words, not New Mars. So you won't see the New Mars logo around much at all, apart from on the website.
As for the Mars Society logo, nope, I don't like it either. It's been a bone of contention for a long while now. My problems with it are that it doesn't look good when it's small (since it's very detailed), the astronaut in the picture is drawn out of proportion, and also it's too complicated. I doubt it'll change any time soon though, since we've been using it for over five years and it has a great deal of inertia now.
Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]
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#7 2002-08-28 10:42:04
Re: Website Artwork and Design
Good news everybody! I've gotten some programmer friends of mine to help out with the database and rating end of the website, which isn't really that complex a task anyway. So that's a relief for me, as it was the only thing that we couldn't do until then. I imagine that the database should be up and running at least a week before the launch (October 4th), probably even earlier.
Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]
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#8 2002-08-31 06:05:37
Re: Website Artwork and Design
I've started work on the website design, which you can see in progress at http://www.newmars.com/firstwords. Right now, my priority is to get up a barebones website that the famous people we contact can have a look around. In other words, it won't have full functionality - you won't be able to submit your own stuff, etc. It should have most of the static content of the final website though.
Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]
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#9 2002-09-01 04:32:24
Re: Website Artwork and Design
Work is continuing apace on the website. While it might not look as if much progress has been made since yesterday, I've essentially gotten the entire backend of the content management system working - designing all the templates and arranging all the elements. As a result, everything looks nice and the commenting and trackback systems work. There's automatic archiving, etc etc.
In other words, we don't have to worry about the design at all any more. And if we do change the design, I've constructed the site such that it can be changed extremely easily. I can now start working on the content.
Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]
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#10 2002-09-01 14:41:45
- Bill White
- Member
- Registered: 2001-09-09
- Posts: 2,114
Re: Website Artwork and Design
Should we consider adding a page listing selected "first words" from Mars science fiction?
Otherwise - my initial impression is to be impressed.
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#11 2002-09-01 19:12:52
Re: Website Artwork and Design
Yep - we'll do that as an article on the website.
Right now, pages that are pretty much finished are:
Contents
Rules
Categories
Links
About First Words still needs a little bit of editing, but most of the stuff is done. We need to write the articles, but aside from that, everything that we can do on the website at this stage is done!
Editor of [url=http://www.newmars.com]New Mars[/url]
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