Banner Critique

[Josh]

A friend and I began designing a banner for our site.

We worked together, sharing ideas, then designed our own seperate banners.

Now its hard to choose which one to use lol

So which do you like?

His:

Mine:

Both are designed so they will expand/contract with the width of the site.

 

[RBMaraman]

I like his better.

I think yours is just too plain. His jumps out at me.

 

[russed]

i vote for the top one

 

[Josh]

Ok, thanks for the replies so far!

Neither one is finished, and they are still works in progress - would there be any recomendations you have to improve either one?

 

[rozwell]

i say the bottom one. the other one has to much going on. keep things simple, yours is more subtle which is good, i also like how the right car breaks the bottom line. yours also has more depth which i like and it also has that nice line at the top. the top one just seems to busy, and im not a fan of that pale yellow in "your potential!", and it looks like that car is about to fall over, or blow away... there is no weight to it.

 

[scem0]

The first is better, IMO. I think the second one has too much relief to it.

I think the Logo part of it looks better on the first one, too, with the black circle and the stylized 'T'.

Good work,

scem0

 

[neut]

i like the colors of the top one, but i like the ease on the eye of the second... a mix of the two would be nice. the top one is too busy and the bottom is too plain. i guess it depends what you want to convey and how distracting you want you banner to be.

im not too big on banners... everything always looks like a photoshop tutorial.

peace.

 

[zarathustra]

OK, I am going to state the obvious:

What's the point of the banner? What are you selling?

If it is a car tuning product, the top one communicates it better. On the whole I would say it is just not clear what I will get when I click on it.

$0.02

 

[blackbeltjones]

I think they are both bad, in the sense that (like the poster above me said, "What are you selling"?) It looks like you are trying to sell me something (which is very easy to ignore). I would scroll past those banners, not be welcomed by them. Try making some less 'commercial' looking ones.

 

[Josh]

Im not trying to sell anything.

The site is an online community of enthusiasts, and the point of the banner is not for people to stare at for a long time and its not supposed to be a central point of focus - infact, users should scroll past it, as that is not the site content.

It is not a advertisement or something that is seen on other sites, just a banner for the top of my site - so there is no need to encourage a user to click it or anything like that.

It is simply something that gives the site a little personality, thats all.

For advertising purposes, I have this one:

 

[_bnkr612]

Incorporate the font from the bottom one and use it in the top one. Your hues look ok. Place more of a mirroring for the "boost your potential" and run that with the angle of the title.

You might have a more successful banner. But these two are good.


Cheers.

 

[neut]

Incorporate the font from the bottom one and use it in the top one. Your hues look ok. Place more of a mirroring for the "boost your potential" and run that with the angle of the title.

You might have a more successful banner. But these two are good.


Cheers.

they both use variations of the same font...

josh - you seem to have a good grasp of photoshop; you should get a design guide from the bookstore. much more help thatn the mac rumors forums.

good luck with your site.


peace.

 

[Josh]

they both use variations of the same font...

josh - you seem to have a good grasp of photoshop; you should get a design guide from the bookstore. much more help thatn the mac rumors forums.

good luck with your site.


peace.

Will definitely be doing that lol thanks for the help!

 

[_bnkr612]

they both use variations of the same font...

josh - you seem to have a good grasp of photoshop; you should get a design guide from the bookstore. much more help thatn the mac rumors forums.

good luck with your site.


peace.

I realize that, I was talking about the difference in size; the size relation on the bottom one is more obvious.

A book will only allow you to be less creative... Your best book is feedback from other people. Good forums for designers

 

[neut]

I realize that, I was talking about the difference in size; the size relation on the bottom one is more obvious.

A book will only allow you to be less creative... Your best book is feedback from other people. Good forums for designers

forums only let you design like other designers or please the masses... a book can teach you fundamentals and let you go from there.

? but what do i know ?


peace.

 

[blackbeltjones]

He shouldn't be using photoshop to create banners anyway.

Im not trying to sell anything.

Which is probably why I don't like them. They look like you are trying to. It doesn't matter though, keep doing your thing...in Freehand preferably.

 

[jknight8907]

I like the first one. It just looks better, more alive, i guess.

 

[Josh]

He shouldn't be using photoshop to create banners anyway.



Which is probably why I don't like them. They look like you are trying to. It doesn't matter though, keep doing your thing...in Freehand preferably.

Why would I not use photoshop for banners? I'm willing to bet the majority of banners and images of that sort are created in photoshop

Can you make banners in freehand? sure - but that doesnt mean you *cannot* do it in photoshop. Besides, not everyone has both, and its pretty common for people to use the tools they are most comfortable with, rather than using something simply because someone believes youre "not supposed" to use something else.

 

[snkTab]

I think the top one makes a better banner. However, I think the second one would look better if it was say, on the top of a webpage. Just my opinion.

 

[Josh]

I think the top one makes a better banner. However, I think the second one would look better if it was say, on the top of a webpage. Just my opinion.

Thats what it is - just an image for the top of my webpage.

www.tibathon.com is my site, and you can see the banner/header in action (you wont see the same one right now - updated my forums and havnt added the banner again)

 

[blackbeltjones]

Why would I not use photoshop for banners? I'm willing to bet the majority of banners and images of that sort are created in photoshop

Can you make banners in freehand? sure - but that doesnt mean you *cannot* do it in photoshop. Besides, not everyone has both, and its pretty common for people to use the tools they are most comfortable with, rather than using something simply because someone believes youre "not supposed" to use something else.

Because photoshop is known to pixelate type. It's that simple. I could tell you used it by looking at your banners. If you want smooth clean type with straight and sharp edges then don't use photoshop. It has nothing to do with 'trends' or what your 'not supposed' to do. It's common sense. You make your image in photoshop and then export it to InDesign (preferably) or Freehand to manipulate your typeface. I hate Freehand. I prefer illustrator, but type in photoshop is a no no, especially for creating dynamic type like you've tried to do. "Photo"shop is called that for a reason you know.

 

[Josh]

Because photoshop is known to pixelate type. It's that simple. I could tell you used it by looking at your banners. If you want smooth clean type with straight and sharp edges then don't use photoshop. It has nothing to do with 'trends' or what your 'not supposed' to do. It's common sense. You make your image in photoshop and then export it to InDesign (preferably) or Freehand to manipulate your typeface. I hate Freehand. I prefer illustrator, but type in photoshop is a no no, especially for creating dynamic type like you've tried to do. "Photo"shop is called that for a reason you know.

Actually, the main text in my banner wasn't even made in photoshop - it was made in lightwave

Good guess, though.