Contest: Design Our New Banner Header

UPDATE: And we have a winner! Thanks to everyone who gave it a try—we got some nice ones. I'll post the relevant details when the new banner goes up.

The "contest" is now over, so no need to send any more. Thanks! 

Mike

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I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired of our header—the box at the top of this page that says "The Online Photographer."

I keep puttering with new ones, but I gotta face it, I'm not a designer. I don't seem to have any decent fonts, either.

So...any amateur (or slumming pro) designers out there? Want to try your hand at designing a new header for TOP? (I got a few offers of help last year, when I mentioned this the first time, but I can't find the emails any more.)

Doesn't have to be anything terribly fancy. Just something dignified and not too stylish. Here are the specs:

Needs to be 870 pixels wide. The current one is 140 pixels high, but that's not set in stone.

Has to go with our current color scheme, which I can't change. (Actually I can change the sidebar color, just not the main column color.)

I'd like it if it featured the letters "TOP" somehow, in addition to the words "The Online Photographer." But that's not required. It should also say "Edited by Mike Johnston" somewhere on it, but small.

It can contain images if you want to, but beware, the specific implications of any images would have to be very appropriate, and I just don't know what they would be. Images of current cameras will not make it. Images would be more likely to hurt your chances than help them, I'm guessing. But it's up to you.

Eschew cliché: Please, no stylized apertures replacing the "O" in "TOP"!

First Prize: a $250 Amazon Gift Certificate, sent to you by email. You won't get a permanent credit on the page, but I'll write a post saying who designed the winning entry and linking to your website.

Contest lasts until: we get one I like and want to use.

Send to: my email address, linked in the right-hand column. No jokes, please: I have enough to sort through as it is.

Whaddaya say—give it a shot?

Mike

Comments

[Schmuell]

What about the 2.0 in the current header?

Do you want to keep it?

Cheers,

[john m flores]

will the rest of the page including color of background remain the same?

[Bill Bresler]

Dignified? Stylish?

[David]

I enjoy your blog. So I'm surprised to see your call for spec work. Amateur (or slumming pro) photographers shouldn't engage in spec work. Neither should we expect graphic designers to.

http://www.no-spec.com/protest-letters/contest-protest-letter-a/

[Jayson Merryfield]

While we're on the topic of site changes, in my browser (Firefox 3.0.15) the margin ads are appearing both above & below the actual text, so I have to scroll down through all of the left-margin ads before I can see a post.

It's been doing this for a couple weeks for me, not ahuge issue but I thought I'd mention it.

[Mark M]

Et tu Mike Johnston?

Here are a few links about the exploitive nature of contests asking for design work on spec:

http://www.no-spec.com/articles/design-contests/
http://www.creativelatitude.com/articles/article_200604_ns.html

…and an attempt at being a little more level-headed about the risks and rewards of spec work:
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/position-spec-work

[Mike Johnston]

"What about the 2.0 in the current header? Do you want to keep it?"

Schmuell,
No.

Mike

[robert e]

I admit I've never given TOP's header any attention or thought. It's perfect, in other words. Which is not to say that you shouldn't have a new perfect header.

[Mike Johnston]

David and Mark,
Point taken, but I've already been through the process with an advertising/design firm here in Milwaukee. The problem is that the most I can spend is really less than they want to work for. I felt I got tossed-off work, they felt like they were doing me a favor. It just didn't work out. No fault.

I still need a banner. My job is too small and the budget is too small to hire a professional. I feel I've demonstrated that in good faith.

Mike

[Mike Johnston]

Jayson,
Thanks for telling me. I think I might know what's causing that--I think it means one of the ads is slightly wider than 170 pixels. I'll go try to fix it, but it might take me a little time.

Mike

[David Bostedo]

I like the new banner (nice font choice), but the overall color scheme on the page? Not so much.

[Mike Johnston]

David,
I'm not very good with color. When I was in art school, I used to jokingly claim that I was going to be an oil painter, but use only black, white, and grays in my paintings.

Mike

[Dennis Allshouse]

Jeez, announced, closed and installed before I even knew about it.

[Miserere]

Looks very nice, Mike. Elegant, quiet, dignified.

But I do wish that 'O' were a 6-bladed aperture ;-)

[Dennis Allshouse]

addendum: New banner looks really good.

[Player]

The new banner really caught my attention, and it seems to incorporate the elements you required. I like it! FWIW.

[Damon Schreiber]

Trajan? Really?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t87QKdOJNv8

[robert e]

FWIW, not having any rendering issues in Firefox 3.5.7

[Mike Johnston]

"Trajan? Really?"

Damon,
You liked Jazz LET better?

I also have Giddyup and Party LET in the fonts that came with my computer....

Mike

[MichaelS]

The Adjustment Layers DVD ad is 171x170, though it looks fine in Opera 10.10.

MS

[John Yuda]

I know that we're mostly past the discussion here, but I wanted to stop in and defend Mike on the "spec work" issue.

I'm a web developer (I both design and program), and if I'd had time today, I'd have put together a banner for Mike -- even though I have a personal "no spec" rule. Why, you might ask? Because, in this case, I'd view it as something of an in-kind trade for the hard work that Mike puts in on the site. I derive a lot of value from the site, and the small amount that I contribute monetarily doesn't really cover all of the value I place in it.

Anyway, I just wish Mike would consider working with me (or somebody else!) on a complete redesign. But that's a horse of a different color.

[David Bostedo]

Mike - I'm not good with color either (a little color blind actually). I think the issue here is partly that the extents of the page outside the main column are slate gray (at least on my browser). Maybe there's just no way around that.

As far as color scheme choices, though, Adobe's Kuler site is pretty cool. http://kuler.adobe.com

[Ben Rosengart]

I'll be contrary and say I like the site's current overall design -- it's clean, recognizable and readable.

[Janne]

I've had my backside metaphorically chewed up by people when I've allowed use of pictures of mine in publications (books, mostly), with a copy of the book as my payment. I got earfuls about how I have to charge the going rate for the shots or I devalue the profession.

But since people - including people doing photography for a living - seem ok with this kind of barter here, I feel much better about doing it myself as well.

[John Taylor]

Nice! (The slate grey could be lighter, i find it dominates, but that's just me…). I like the coulour scheme, there's no blue! lol!

[Bill Bresler]

Whattta ya know... I was making sport of you and you ended up with a header both dignified and stylish. Not bad at all.

[Damon Schreiber]

"You liked Jazz LET better?"
Oh dear, I'd already put the old design out of my memory. No, this is definitely an improvement.