Forum Icons & EQTV Staff

[NavelColt 22,879]

Just got back from work, my everything hurts, and it turns out the surprise happened while I was off site :c So, I'm not WoTing too terribly tonight.

 

Long story short, as you can clearly see, the main forum icons have been customized to something other than the bland pointy arrow signs. This project has been in idea form for several months, but due to not being able to find an appropriate artist and a clear idea for what to do, it consistently got sidetracked onto the back-burner. Silver Marcato and I have finally gotten it done, however.

 

Are they perfect? No. However, here's the thing: BronyCon is in one month, and in my opinion, having a line of the same exact image for every forum would not only look incredibly lazy, but would also be a one-up on us that many other sites would have, as they may have individualized icons.

 

Will the icons change in the future? Probably. After BronyCon, I imagine our intake of new attention will garnish more artists to join our member force, and thus, our ability to throw artist power around freely towards problems and dream advancements will be far more likely. Right now however, 21 individualized, thought out, drafted and polished forum icons was not going to happen. So, right now we've got the next best thing of what we can do :3

 

I don't like some of these. Too freaking bad. It took Silver three days to do these things, including a loss of quite a few of them that he then had to redo. You'll look at them and you'll like them." Opinions make the world go round :3 It's more than obvious some people won't care for them, but keep in mind that, this is what we're now using, for the time being. Now that the bulk work is done, I'm sure Silver won't mind any individualized suggestions for some of the icons and improvements on border color or general image usage that you may have, but please keep in mind that we're not really looking to do another overhaul. What you see is, at a basic level, what we're using.

 

No matter how you slice it this is an improvement to the bland sign posts in my opinion (which, was also a show vector, may I add :3). I hope folks enjoy them. And for those that don't, please feel free to give feedback on what you think can be improved.

 

--

 

Moving on, Neikos has retired from his Developer position for his own reasons, and more or less there to help fill the void in EQTV's Development team is Discordian. Witness, young ponies, the second staff member to be a full worshiper of Discord. Soon that number will increase, and then you're all doomed...

 

EQTV, as we know from our last Canterlot announcement, has been shut down for some beefing up. However, that can't very well happen without a Develepor. Thus, Discordian shall put on his mechanic hat and do his best to solve the one or two things we need finished with the site, which basically comes down to a few bug fixes and and some more concrete moderation controls.

[Jokuc 8,173]

Well I actually like the new icons, they look pretty good and it's a nice way to make each section stand out more! Though for some reason, I keep looking at them and it feel like the whole forum main page is a big mess. But I think that is because they are new and we have not really gotten used to them yet. I'm sure we won't notice much of them once they've been here for a while.

 

Anyways, good job Silver Marcato nopraise4uCD lololololo

 

 

 

inb4 hate comments

Edited July 7, 2013 by Jokuc

[Shiki 5,855]

 

 

I imagine our intake of new attention will garnish more artists to join our member force

 

of new attention will garnish more artists to join

 

more artists

not......... competition...

nooooo...

 

---

 

At first I actually was very annoyed with the icons. But after a short of about 45 minutes or so I got used to them.

 

Eventually it'll be weird seeing them changed, because I'll get used to the ones we have now. 

[Princess Periwinkle 3,775]

The new icons look very nice. The only suggestion I have is maybe the "Everfree Forest" section could use some brightening up. The icon is so dark it's hard to see any detail whatsoever on it.

 

Besides that, lookin' good... Lookin' real good.

[Nas 2,873]

I think the new icons are a very welcome visual addition to the forums, they're colorful, unique, and are to-the-point about each section, contribute to user-friendliness altogether. Very well done, Silver and CD. :3

 

As for EQTV, I'm ecstatic to go full throttle on it, it's something we've needed to do for a while, and now's the time to fully focus on it, it's for the best. I hope everyone understands, EQTV 2.0 is something we've been working on for quite a while, and now's the time we have the most dedicated developers to make sure that it stands tall as a significant branch in the Poniverse network. It's great to have you on the team, Discordian!

[Jokuc 8,173]

The only suggestion I have is maybe the "Everfree Forest" section could use some brightening up. The icon is so dark it's hard to see any detail whatsoever on it.

 

I agree, sometimes I put my monitors on really low brightness because ...idk.. but when I first looked at it, it just looked like slime or something. GAK ATTACK. But yeah, it's a little bit too dark, it's especially hard to see it too since the background is white.

[Nas 2,873]

The new icons look very nice. The only suggestion I have is maybe the "Everfree Forest" section could use some brightening up. The icon is so dark it's hard to see any detail whatsoever on it.

 

Besides that, lookin' good... Lookin' real good.

Glad you like them. I personally think they brighten up and add necessary hues to the front page. ^^

 

As for Everfree, it's supposed to be dark and intimating, it sets the tone for the section, if you will.

[Pinkie D Pie 1,036]

The new icons are lovely, that's a good word for them, lovely. It's gives the forums more shine and personality, not to mention there just fun to look at. Goo job CD and Silver. 

[3005 332]

Well I actually like the new icons, they look pretty good and it's a nice way to make each section stand out more! Though for some reason, I keep looking at them and it feel like the whole forum main page is a big mess. But I think that is because they are new and we have not really gotten used to them yet. I'm sure we won't notice much of them once they've been here for a while.

 

Anyways, good job Silver Marcato

 

 

 

inb4 hate comments

 

I agree with Jokuc. 

 

Each individual icon looks beautiful; combined, however, they're messy and clash. There's no consistent palette; what I liked about the forum before was it's recessive appeal. Rather than being in my face, it recedes and is very calm. It's not like that anymore, it gives off the essence of one of the many other forums on the net that use different icons for each forum. It robs the forum of a piece of professionally. 

 

If better icons are going to be swapped in along the road, why rush it now and put forth a product that is lackluster? The forums were stunningly beautiful and unique without the icons. This makes it look amateur; restraint is no longer evident in the design. 

[Pan the Fabulous Ferret 2,641]

In all honesty, I really don't like these Icons. They stick out and really do not blend in with the forum at all. The images themselves are... meh... I understand that a part of my annoyance comes from the fact that it changed (and I can't stand changes to familiar things) but again, the images themselves just take away from the site. :/

 

Suggestion?

It would be fantastic to have an option of whether or not to show them. :|

[Jokuc 8,173]

 

 

As for Everfree, it's supposed to be dark and intimating, it sets the tone for the section, if you will.

Yeah I know it's supposed to be dark, I want that too. But with the white background, it's so dark you you almost can't see that it's a tree.

[Twiliscael 3,960]

The icons aren't really a change to this site that I personally like, but I totally see why you'd do it and agree with that. No offense to any of you who worked on it, some of them (mainly the Sugarcube Corner, Roleplay Planning/OOC Discussion, Welcoming Plaza) are pretty ugly to my eye and I'd like to see those changed a bit. With time though, I'm sure everyone (myself included) will manage to get used to 'em.

[NavelColt 22,879]

The icons aren't really a change to this site that I personally like, but I totally see why you'd do it and agree with that. No offense to any of you who worked on it, some of them (mainly the Sugarcube Corner, Roleplay Planning/OOC Discussion, Welcoming Plaza) are pretty ugly to my eye and I'd like to see those changed a bit. With time though, I'm sure everyone (myself included) will manage to get used to 'em.

 

Changed to what? Saying you don't like something and saying it should be changed shouldn't be left without further suggestions, bro

[ReGen 1,466]

I have to say, I like the new arrow thingies!

 

Well, most of them. 

 

I like what you're trying to do here, anyways. Give each forum it's own little personality. I like that idea. Keep it up. 

[Radiance64 7,053]

I was wondering when the heck those forum icons would be done lol, I've actually been sort of silently anticipating them for a long time now, and I'm glad to finally see them come to fruition- I love them, great work guys!

Congrats to Discordian on joining the EQTV staff as well, I've always liked the guy and it's cool to see him become part of our Poniverse staff, I hope you do well man!

[3005 332]

Changed to what? Saying you don't like something and saying it should be changed shouldn't be left without further suggestions, bro

 

The color palette is really "wtf" with a lot of clashing colors. For example: 

 

 

 

Those icons are beautiful because their color palette fits together like a puzzle and the outline is a matching color. Then we have icons like this: 

 

 

They look like some mixed a bunch of Crayolas together and that was the end result. Colorful doesn't always mean better, those hurt my eyes. We have that onservative, reserved design displayed in the Poniverse logo, but that design language isn't translated into the icons. Simplicity is key as well. Sugarcube corner is far too complicated at its size; same with the book cart. The prior icons mentioned all work because they're incredibly simple. 

 

Those are my further suggestions.

[Scootalove 10,689]

They look pretty good for forum icons. Very creative, and they match with each section. Not a bad job at all, oh well. Pretty impressive.

[Twiliscael 3,960]

Changed to what? Saying you don't like something and saying it should be changed shouldn't be left without further suggestions, bro

Fair enough, brother.

 

First off, I redact what I said about the Welcoming Plaza one, considering it's Pinkie Pie's welcoming cart-thing. I honestly didn't notice that until right now. And the Roleplaying/ OOC one? I think I was just complaining to complain. I have a tendency to do that, as you've probably noticed.

 

HOWEVER, for the Sugarcube Corner image, I know it only makes sense to use, well, Sugarcube Corner. However, the image you've used seems a bit... ugly to me. Just look at it compared to some of the others.

  -  -  - 

Which one does not belong, kids?

 

This one is alot more detailed than the other icons, which just looks a bit out of place. On top of that, the icing on the building's roof looks very intricate for the small space provided, and to me end sup looking vry cluttered and unappealing. Canterlot Castle slightly suffers from this problem, but it (to me at least) isn't nearly as big of a deal. Perhaps this can changed to something simpler like one of the desserts from the aforementioned building? I think the MMM would make a much better choice than the actual Sugarcube Corner. It's simple, recognizable, and most importantly, doesn't conflict with the simplicity of the other badges.

[~The Snowy Wolf~ 1,579]

They're really not too bad. Although, the ones that I think need changing are the OOC/Planning (to something like a sign up sheet or something) and Sugarcube Corner icons. The rest are pretty good. Oh, and brighten up the Everfree Forest one too (just a tad)

[Marcato 2,143]

I apologize and acknowledge that these forum icons are not quite up to par with this forum. I'm really not that much of an artist to be honest, as can be plainly seen here by the fact that most of the icons were just modified vectors. 

 

I believe what happened here is that I was caught up in what I consider my fatal flaw(s), over-complication and focus. What I believe happened with some of the icons is that I did not want to repeat previously used colours too many times, therefore I let that cloud my decision of colour-matching with the rest of the icon.

 

Rest assured, I will hopefully have these fixed up soon (provided my time tomorrow permits) and I will be enacting improvements on these more-or-less temporary icons. Again, I'm more a musician than a graphical designer. I'd happily bow out to any other skilled artist. Sorry to disappoint some of you.

[uuunph 288]

Some more color consistency between the icons would be cool, both in and between icons

 

Other than that, I doubt many people are gonna sit down to analyze the icons once their eyes settle to it (change is scary), so it can't really be too big of a deal. And hey, props to the guy for putting in work.

[ProjectRKA 2,848]

 

 

I don't like some of these. Too freaking bad. It took Silver three days to do these things, including a loss of quite a few of them that he then had to redo. You'll look at them and you'll like them." Opinions make the world go round :3 It's more than obvious some people won't care for them, but keep in mind that, this is what we're now using, for the time being. Now that the bulk work is done, I'm sure Silver won't mind any individualized suggestions for some of the icons and improvements on border color or general image usage that you may have, but please keep in mind that we're not really looking to do another overhaul. What you see is, at a basic level, what we're using.

 

I don't care if it took him three days to make them, and that he had to redo some of them. I care about how they look, and how they make the forum look. I honestly think they make the forum look like a cluster-fuck. We have about 18 sections, so it's much nicer to look at if the icons are either all the same, like before, or, if you do have to have different icons for each section, make them more minimalistic. I don't like these icons. At all.

[Zygen 6,066]

I honestly didn't even know they where there until I actually scrolled down to see the different forum sections , I normally end up at the top of the page checking notifications and recently posted in threads.

 

Anyways, they look fine to me, a pretty deverse color scheme, but eh it doesn't bother me that much right now.

[fimdash 1,196]

I think that these new icons are great. The designs are really creative and make this place feel even more like Equestria. It feels more like I'm entering the Everfree Forest now when I see that tree icon that accompanies the title. Some people have complained about how the icons don't mix well together, but I think that's somewhat of a good thing because certain forum sections have a completely different feel than other forum sections. Although the simplicity of the signs will be missed, I think this is a nice change to the forums that most people will come to love once they get used to it.

[Azura 1,107]

There's no reason not to love those adorable little icons for each section of the forums! I bet it took a long time to make them!