Mojo Icon / Logo

Note to mods: please don't shard me, I am Freddie-approved :)

Freddie and I have been exchanging ideas for Mojo icons and logo. I got uncomfortable with the message system, I think there is more value in a public discussion. Other people can see the thinking, and some might be able to contribute or give feedback. Also, my time has become more limited for now.

My attempts so far are based on playing around in a free image editor (GIMP 2), but I am a rank amateur at this sort of stuff!


Aims:

1. 32 bit icon sized 48×48, 32×32, 24×24, and 16×16 pixels.
2. Additional 16x16 notification icon variations to indicate status of Mouseover/Hotkey/Broadcasting states (eg colouration or (dis)appearance of parts of the logo).
3. Icon should say "powerful," "win", "fun", "magic," etc. Icon does not need to say “multiboxing”.
4. A logo as well (I have no details about size / resolution).

If contributing, I would advise:

1. If you want to contribute, don't go over the top at first. Agree the idea / general direction first.
2. Let others see the quality and ideas, and be prepared for multiple adjustments, fresh starts, or rejection.
3. Do not expect to be coached.
4. Do not expect excessive work to guarantee acceptance.
5. I found using paths helps a lot when re-doing the images at different scales.
6. 16x16 is very small!
   Therefore, do not add excessive detail. One way to handle this is to have a simple square picture for the icon and then also the name of the program in a distinctive typeface. It might be better for the big one to be a relatively simple shape with relatively hard edges and pretty solid interior. That way the small version looks the same.
7. Don't steal images from the internet.
   Any art that anybody makes is automatically copyrighted and can't be used for Mojo. It doesn't matter whether they put a copyright notice on it or not. The only exceptions are things whose copyrights have expired (the cutoff for most things in the US is 1921) and things whose copyright owners have licensed them to the public (Mojo itself is in that category).

(This is personal advice only, and does not come from Freddie)

Here is a summary of ideas that were discussed before this thread was started. It is not a summary of the thread, and more ideas may come along.

Concept Ideas:

• A blob of Mojo 'goo' with elasticy tentacles fixed to various window shapes. Sample picture is too stringy, it probably needs to be chunkier and blobbier, but it gets the concept across. Then add effects to make it glassy or plasticy or whatever you like.

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/6369/mojoblob.png

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/6369/mojoblob.png

• Associate windows with playing cards. So a fan of windows/cards, or add in a voodoo doll or something else 'magic' (Jaflua also uses a voodoo doll as his logo for his Jamba WoW addon, so this is probably not appropriate?)

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5647/mojocards.pnghttp://img37.imageshack.us/img37/5647/mojocards.pnghttp://img27.imageshack.us/img27/257...rdsanddoll.pnghttp://img27.imageshack.us/img27/257...rdsanddoll.png

• Cartoony

• Dramatic colors on a black background.

Maybe something with cartoony lightning bolts on a black background.

http://mojoware.org/art/tri-lightning.gif

• Head of a purple baby elephant.

Development of Cartoony Lightning idea:

Inspirational image. However, it is too detailed to scale well, and is not original artwork:
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/29/spark4.jpg


Cartoony version:
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7472/lightning.png
Freddie comment: It's stark, recognizable, pretty, would read well at small sizes. My only reservation is that "M" is not my favourite idea.


Some alternate shapes:
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7687/lightning2.png http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5919/lightning3.png http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1687/lightning4.png

Discussion of icon for notification area (16x16).

Here is a summary of ideas that were discussed before this thread was started. It is not a summary of the thread, and more ideas may come along.

The idea here is that the 16x16 icon appearing in the notification area might somehow indicate the status of the Mouseover/Hotkey/Broadcasting states (eg colouration or (dis)appearance of parts of the logo).


Warning about viewing embedded 16x16 images:
If your browser page is zoomed in (eg to more or less than 100%, as mine almost always is) then the images will look different to how they will look in the notification area, where they really will be 16x16.


Is it a non-problem?
Maybe we're trying to solve a non-problem. Maybe 99% of the time when people toggle things on and off, they want to toggle everything they normally do on and off. Maybe the icon color should mean "Mojo is on" and "Mojo is off." Then it could work like HotkeyNet (just greys out when off).


Number of colours / clutter:
Three colours might be workable in one icon. People who need to use the icon for this purpose will be making an active effort to notice what the icon means.


Notification area is not the only icon
This issue is that blobs or other status indicators would only be appropriate in certain situations. Eg: the notification area (or is it called 'tray icon'?), maybe the taskbar, and maybe the top left of the Mojo window. However, the icon will also be appearing in many other places, eg: Desktop Shortcut / Start bar & Menus / Internet (Favicon), where status is simply irrelevant.


Some ideas:
Idea 1:
Make 3 blobs the actual icon. (3 blobs connected by elasticy goo would be similar to one of the early concepts. Would the goo be visible at 16x16?)
Or, since blobs might not say "powerful," "win", "fun", "magic," etc, maybe 3 sparks?

Idea 2:
Concentrate on 2 versions of an icon. Do a 'proper' version without considering the task-bar needs. Then a second (cut down) version which makes room for some indicator blobs.

Idea 3:
Find other ways to indicate status than the icon. Some random ideas from me are:

• A second (dedicated) tray/notification icon.
  People would probably not like this as default.
• The words in the title of the window (also shown on the taskbar).
  Easy to add. Also possible for user to add using Mojo's script language.
• A second (dedicated) window. (Eg a simple always on top display that could be toggled on or off. Advanced users could specify when it was to show in more detail.)
  (Per Freddie: The program intends to have this as well.)

Some experiments:
Lightning plus blobs:
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/679...obssampler.png
Clearer to make elements disappear rather than grey them out?

Three lightning bolts:
http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/7...ingsampler.png
Seems just about legible?

Experimenting with brighter colours / dark background / border / with and without gradients:
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/6...ngsampler2.png
Maybe the transparency makes the icon look bigger?


Fonts
Another consideration is Fonts. The current font is cartoony and comically weird, but it doesn't work at small sizes. Is there a better font around?


That's as far as we have got. The discussion is now public/open!

Just to add: apologies to those who added comments to the earlier version of this thread (I think there were 2 or 3). It got sharded, since I was premature and had not vetted it properly.

Thanks for all the effort you put into this.

nice job ! keep it up !
(I suck at graphics so I can't help here)

Bored last night, so I tried another concept with the idea of sparks. Maybe it looks too much like a washing machine type of logo though :p

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/571...ingmachine.png

Mojo makes me think of Austin Powers. Maybe a 60s groovy icon? :P

Here's my quick attempt at something that involves "M's" and lightning:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/7302/mojoicon200.jpg

This is an early idea, not fully fleshed out yet, but I felt it conveyed fun and seriousness at the same time.

It also seems to scale fairly well.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2209/mojoicon16.jpg

Here is my attempt. I think something from the periodic table of elements would look nice. It is easily scalable and you can add text inside or around it. Open source, boxing software, version, etc...

throwing up something i just did

My lame attempts:

http://www.garysdecks.com/WoW/Mojo16.png
http://www.garysdecks.com/WoW/Mojo24.png
http://www.garysdecks.com/WoW/Mojo32.png
http://www.garysdecks.com/WoW/Mojo48.png

I was thinking of something simple that sits in the tray, and the background color could be changed easily to give an idea of the various states:

http://www.garysdecks.com/WoW/MojoTray.png

I'm gonna try staying out of this conversation, but I'm reading it. :)