Rimfrost Logo showcase.

[ChrisV]

Just finished the new animated logo i've created for the Rimfrost team (Roland and myself ), and wanted to show how it turned out. The initial image(s) for the animation had a blue-ish semi-transparent glow on 'Rimfrost', but it appears that .gif files don't support semi-transparency. So, I had to get rid of the blue glow.

But, it turned out rather good, even without the glow effect.

 

Does anyone know of a graphical file format similar to .gif, that supports semi-transparency and animation ? Thanks!

 

Comments/suggestions are welcome. Here it is:

 

[gamecreator]

I don't know of such a format but considering that the animation looks like it's 8 frames, it wouldn't be too hard to make RIMFROST one DDS file and the software animation simply 8 other ones and display them as an animation yourself.

[ChrisV]

it wouldn't be too hard to make RIMFROST one DDS file and the software animation simply 8 other ones and display them as an animation yourself.

Hm...haven't tried that, but it might work. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Just found out from a friend that there's a file format called .APNG, that does support animation, aswell as 24-bit images and 8-bit transparency not available for GIF's.

And, the best of all, there's a plugin available for GIMP that allows the .APNG format!

[YouGroove]

Generaly comanies logos are fixed , not animated for official pages.

Go to Blizzard and other sites to see that

Company animated logos ; are mainly for game intro movies or can be used in some forums of the site.

 

Keep it fixed, it's better to have the complete company nime at first look.

[ChrisV]

Generaly comanies logos are fixed , not animated for official pages.

Well, in this case, it's used as a banner, and even so...there's plenty of examples where companies use animated logos for their company name.

 

Keep it fixed, it's better to have the complete company nime at first look.

I kept the whole animation rather simple and easy to read, I think. But thanks for the suggestion.

[YouGroove]

I mean the company name in your case is varying.

It's not only some animated background, it's your company name.

 

But well do as you like, you're free ot keep it like that , and perhaps more people will like it animated

[Pancakes]

For animation you'll have a lot more flexibility and power if you use blender. And it's sort of like Yougroove said, generally the company logos aren't animated anywhere except for in promos and in-game.

[ChrisV]

For animation you'll have a lot more flexibility and power if you use blender.

Yeah, Blender is a great program for animation, except that the workflow isn't my kinda thing.

 

And it's sort of like Yougroove said, generally the company logos aren't animated anywhere except for in promos and in-game.

I've searched on the net, trying to know if animation is a 'bad' thing for logo design, and so far, I haven't found any article that says animation is 'bad' when creating logos. In fact, some say that animated logos are used much more frequently, with great success. Animation in logos can add a new dimension to your company name. Here's an article about that.

[beo6]

nothing against animated logos

 

but you need to remember that any form of motion steals the attraction of the viewer.

so it is harder for users to focus on the text you write here because they keep attracted by the animation.

 

if you keep the animation for the intro of your game there is only the logo visible without any other information on the screen.

[knocks]

You would be best exporting as a single .png and doing your animation in code with jquery or css3.

 

Greensock is my favourite

[Andy Gilbert]

Just my 2 pence worth, i do alot in marketing within my full-time job and at the moment i would say animation (especially in logos) is "not in". Thats not to say you shouldnt use, at the end of the day you use what you like, but the current trend seems clean & simple.

 

Although if used as an "intro" to a game (a logo splash) i dont think theres anything wrong in using animation, but scripted png's would be better. But for else where as static content (web ETC) i would not use an animated logo.

 

Andy

[ChrisV]

Thanks for the suggestions and comments everyone! We really appreciate it.

I must agree that the animation in our logo is 'bad'. The animation with the letters popping up in sequence, is kinda too 'Las Vegas', and it adds nothing extra to the logo name.

I've asked around a bit here and there regarding our logo and the topic, and most reactions where that animation 'can' give an extra value to logos, IF done right.

 

Thanks again!

[gamecreator]

Luckily this is one thing where there are plenty of examples to reference, mostly at the beginning of popular video games.

 

Here's Nvidia's:

 

and ATI's:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmUeP8u4XkI

 

Note that these are the long versions of their animations. You would want to keep your in-game one shorter, as they do.

[ChrisV]

There are indeed some very cool and remarkable logo animations.

Oh, btw...HERE's an article that explains why logo animation is indeed good.

[Pancakes]

I say do whatever you like, but the reason why simple became "good" is because back in the early nineties everyone would animate their buttons and logos on their home made sites, and people soon began to realize how counter intuitive it was to browse from one heavily animated button collection to the next

 

also, if you decide to place an animated logo next to a series of other animated logos the effects may end up working against one another, this is where the web etiquite began to shift words what we know as modern simplicity such as this all white leadwerks back drop with a band of black at the top, in the old days it may have had scanlines and bit maps all in teh background with animated buttons and banners everywhere.

 

in the future who knows what hte norm will become?

[knocks]

From what you have posted i think a subtle animation of the logos glow might be a good area to explore. For example you could create a few different variations in colour and intensity and slowly blend between them.

 

csshat.com is a nice example of this.