Is My Banner Too Dorky?

Hi All,

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. I thought this was such a clever idea but now I'm thinking it isn't as cool-looking as I had hoped for.

The banner is for a personal, yet informational site that's been online since 2008. It's a bit scholarly in it's approach rather than bloggish. I'm redoing the whole site and was hoping for a bit of a more modern look. I think I've missed the mark. Is the fill image too big for the letters, the white background too stark or does it just need something more to finish it off? Or, is it just too old school and dorky and needs to be put out of its misery?



Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

On the plus side, it does have a handmade, crafty look.
However, these things don't exist in a vacuum.

Consider how well it integrates with the background and other elements,
textural and graphic, on the page.

Does it serve to reinforce the message and branding or is it overpowering and distracting
from the main content?

Simple, clean lines and legibility are usually well-received

Best of Success!

 

Thanks for the feedback.

For the most part my sites are full of color - something I'm not sure is a bit old school.

I was going for something a little cleaner with this site. The content sorta floats in the center of the page and there's a plain light gray background. Here's a link to the theme - http://maikunari.com/sutra-free-wordpress-theme/

Where they have the title of the first post, I plan on putting my banner. The big difference is that I'm porting over an old hand-coded HTML site and will be only using pages - so no archive on the homepage.

 

I notice it's a 'super minimal' theme

I think you can achieve a nice effect using a free web font from Google in an appropriate color.
This would give good readability and consistency in typography.

Then you can let featured images give the page impact and emphasis relative to the content.

 

Funny you should suggest using a font and keeping it simple. That was my original idea. Perhaps, I should have followed my initial instincts.

It sounds like you are suggesting that the problem with my banner is it is too heavy for the theme?

 

'Problem' may be overstating it

I suggest trying three versions - as is, scaled down to fit the theme, and text font only.

One test is worth a thousand opinions

 

Hello, I think the banner while nice on its own will not mesh well with the theme you chose, I agree with Stephan. I think a more minimalistic approach may benefit the look. Try perhaps a simple shade of green with maybe a slight gradient on some sleek font. Here are some links you may find useful.
http://www.Dafont.com
http://www.fontsquirrel.com/
http://www.good-tutorials.com/tutorials/photoshop
http://justcreative.com/2009/07/27/what-makes-a-good-logo/

 

Thank you both. I changed it out earlier today. Used a light graphic with some leaves on the bottom left, a plain text title with a slight pattern on a gradient (color change is so subtle that it is somewhat hard to see but gives more interest to overall appearance). While the font from Google web fonts isn't exactly the best quality, it does provide a more cohesive look and feel to things.

Guess I was a bit like a girl with a new toy. Oh, I can put an image inside some letters....

Will try to post an update with the new look tomorrow so you can see what I ended up doing.

 

Here's what I ended up doing...



Do you think adding some leaves (not the whole branch) to the right side would enhance it or just clutter it up?

 

Looking pretty good and clean. I think it would not be a good idea to add more leaves/branches at the right side, keep as it is. Perhaps you can add a butterfly (or a few but tiny) there at right side, may be sitting on the 'n' of garden. The background blue (sky) can be tone-up a little.

 

Ooh, I like the butterfly idea. He'll have to float next to and above the letter n, it's text, but I think that will add just enough to finish it off nicely.

tone-up the sky? you mean make it a little more prevalent/darker?

 

Yes, darker, but just a bit. You can consider these two color gradient - #ffffff and #d1ecfe

 

It depends on which background you are going to add this banner.

 

It's too saturated. If you are going to use an image as the logo's font background then I would suggest adding shadows to it or stroke. Also the border of the letters might look better if they are a little more smooth.

GL

 

The background actually does have a grid, it's just very hard to see. I'll play around with making it a bit more pronounced.

The pixelated letters are coming from Google web fonts. I was so disappointed to see the degradation of the fonts there once you made them a little larger. I liked that they provide a way to use some different fonts but as a whole, it isn't one of the stronger offerings. I might opt to embed a font into the site, but for now I'm probably going to leave that as it is.


Thanks for the feedback.

 

Your site theme is about garden, right? I suggest your colour theme more 'green' than before.
Anyway i like the design.