Two things that make the new (old?) graphic really work are 1)The proximity of the items in the background; the fact that Mimi & Eunice are standing relatively close to trees and houses is why it doesn't feel like the tundra, and 2)The plane in the sky. That small thing both dates and populates the graphic; it tells you this is happening now, in our time, and that there are other people around doing other things, which makes the graphic feel bigger and more alive.
Jumping off of that idea; what if Mimi And Eunice were standing in Central Park? I lived in NYC for a year, and one of my favorite experiences in that city was to stand in the middle of central park, or any of the other large city parks, and have woods immediately around me, but see the city rising above the tree tops. Now, in Portland, I get a similar feeling when I hang out on the beaches in Sellwood and can see Portland up the river, far off in the distance. To me, inner city parks are some of the coolest and most relevant physical commons in the world right now. Why not use that imagery here? "Free the Commons" is perfect. It's like a battle cry. On Thu, Oct 1, 2015 at 8:29 AM, Aaron Wolf <aa...@snowdrift.coop> wrote: > > > On 10/01/2015 06:30 AM, mray wrote: > > On 30.09.2015 22:33, Aaron Wolf wrote: > >> I don't want to get too distracted from the core focus on implementing a > >> functional site, but I just wanted to share my thoughts briefly. > > > > It appears to be a good idea to move this to our versioning system, too. > > Having topical discussions and opening issues would be much easier that > way. > > > > Yes, getting the illustrations into the site design more formally makes > sense, and people can work on it from there. > > > My quick response is: > > I'm not after a vivid front page. Nor do I care that much about > > aesthetics. I care most about how good the page "works". > > To me that means to be a nice entry door to the page: > > Be inviting but not be a value of itself. > > Guide the user to the next step without distraction. > > Flesh out what the general theme of the page will be (white under blue > > sky + Mimi & Eunice). > > I agree that "works" as an entry is higher priority than vividness or > aesthetics, but these issues don't necessarily conflict. > > I think the barren wasteland feeling is actually negative. I might > dabble with updating things myself ever. I really insist that my two > other concerns be addressed: more buildings / destination in the > distance; more trees and landscape that makes this feel like familiar > and desireable place, not the tundra. > > > > > > > I addressed your desire to add more snow to the road though: > > http://ur1.ca/nw6cf > > > > I'm not sure that particular touch-up is good, it doesn't get the "pile > of snow" feeling as well as either the earlier mockups or the > https://snowdrift.coop/static/img/intro/snowdrift.png illustration. It's > hard to pin down why, but that illustration I made (which was based on a > photograph incidentally) achieves a stronger sense of substantial > obstacle, although I also like the sense that the Mimi & Eunice > illustrations have that there's snow to clear for a good long ways down > the road, not just this singular snowdrift to clear. > > Anyway, the new update doesn't quite have the clarity about the > snowdrift that would be ideal. > > I also think Jon and Stephen have some good points, although I don't > agree with Stephen that we need a "professional" font, I think the new > font choice is fine. I also think we should go ahead with mocking things > up with the new "Free the Commons" slogan candidate. > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Design mailing list > > Design@lists.snowdrift.coop > > https://lists.snowdrift.coop/mailman/listinfo/design > > > > -- > Aaron Wolf Snowdrift.coop <https://snowdrift.coop> > _______________________________________________ > Design mailing list > Design@lists.snowdrift.coop > https://lists.snowdrift.coop/mailman/listinfo/design >
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