The Nexuiz Brand

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Summary

With the upcoming release of 2.4 (crosses fingers), I think it's important for the Alien Trap team to establish the 'Nexuiz brand' to make it easier for blogs and game sites to recognize the name and the game.

I was fooling around earlier and came up with this:



I don't th ink the font is ~perfect~ but I think it's a start.


Why am I telling you?

My name is Tyler Mulligan, I'm a web developer/graphic designer by trade. I have been playing Nexuiz for a while now and I like to help out where I can. I've given mapping a shot, dipped into configs and even tried playing with the source. I can tell that this is a project that lacks no end to my entertainment as long as my will to learn is alive.

I would like fellow nexuiz players to make suggestions in a sort of "group think" on how Nexuiz to create this identity in the world of open source games.

I spent some time talking to esteel and Vermeulen on IRC about a possible page makeover. I'd like to tie this whole bit into the new design, and give the game a clean looking website to look at. This website would also contain the logo in different formats/styles for quick access branding by bloggers/game sites.

You can help design the future nexuiz logo and website!


I don't have any suggestions. How else can I help?

Is there an official Nexuiz Slogan?

I would love to help out. Here's some of my ideas:

The site looks good, but I really think we should consider using a CMS. Either that or we make one. Using a WYSIWYG editor creates nothing but sloppy markup over time. I'd also like to see the wiki be used much more. Maybe we could use something like trac, which integrates many things like bugtracking, a wiki, and a source browser.

We do need a new look though. I like the plasticy look z has come up with, I think it works very well.

I also think that the site is a bit difficult to navigate. Your eye is not drawn to a specific part of the page that says "this is how you get it!". Instead there is information all over the place, and it does not work very well (or at least that's how it seems). There really should be a download button, with some key features or points you want to make to one side of it, as opposed to a short history of it. Then if the user decides he or she wants to learn more about the project, they would browse around the site.

Now, we really ought to let the user know about what resources the community has to offer. Nexuiz ninjas, owns, the forums, ladders/competitions, etc.

One of the biggest things I want to do is supplement the site with plenty of javascript, since that's my area of expertise. A nice screenshot gallery, some menu effects, etc. Not excessive amounts, but just enough to make it look nice.

I'm not a huge fan of that logo- I think it the drab monochrome doesn't give a good impression of the gritty, techno-industrial atmosphere Nexuiz is grounded in. IMO, vector-graphics isn't what a Nexuiz logo needs.

I think this is a great effort though. We'll see what comes of it.


Oh, and I am extremely jealous of your setup. Triple monitors?

i like the logo i think.
But if the logo is good or not is not important. The important thing is, nexuiz 2.4 is going to be great. I played the svn version at a lan and it was great, real great. Fast, pretty, the new menu is cool (even if not finished).

But, most people dont know nexuiz. The people i showed nexuiz at that lan found it great, but if i didnt show it to them they would never have known it.

So, we should find a way to make the 2.4 release more widespread. And by that i dont mean, put it on digg. Digg people tend to dowload it, play it a few hours, and forget it again.

Perhaps adding something like TeamNexuiz to nexuiz would help the longterm motivation of the players, but thats no up to debate now.

So, how do we get the word out about nexuiz?

Become a world terrorist leader that's named Nexuiz, then I promise people with know and remember what it is.

The Nexuiz logo itself needs a redesign; there's something about it that just keeps nagging me the wrong way. I don't know, I just think that it's too bland.

To make a 'brand' for Nexuiz, you have to have a few things; selling points, an identity and something to tell.

What's the important features of Nexuiz to you? Is it the action packed experience, the community, or is it because it's free and open source? What is important about Nexuiz to you could be "selling points" for Nexuiz.

How to make the 2.4 release more widespread? Well, tell game app sites, open source, freeware sites, whatever. Hype it up and exaggerate your selling points. To make the 2.4 release widespread, you have to make people want it to be released, you want anticipation, etc. What makes you like about the new features of 2.4? What you like about it may be what others will want.

Ask websites and blogs to post about Nexuiz. Post it on websites like lifehacker, TUAW, Macworld, Macapper (I know those last 3 are mac websites but you understand my point). Get reviews from people - I'm guessing you want to target people who are familiar with Quake or who are attracted to the selling points.

I also think it's a good idea to integrate the community even further. Provide links to such sites as Nexuiz ninjaz, Ouns, server websites, etc. on the official website.

I also think that the site is a bit difficult to navigate. Your eye is not drawn to a specific part of the page that says "this is how you get it!". Instead there is information all over the place, and it does not work very well (or at least that's how it seems). There really should be a download button, with some key features or points you want to make to one side of it, as opposed to a short history of it. Then if the user decides he or she wants to learn more about the project, they would browse around the site.

+1.

Well, that was a whole lot of blabber that came out of nowhere. Hope it helps

too fast for your grandma to play

I really do, do, do like that slogan, it's pterrific!

yeeehaaa!!!!

too fast for your grandma to play

I really do, do, do like that slogan, it's pterrific!

yeeehaaa!!!!

hmm... it's a funny slogan, but most people's grandmas aren't very fast to begin with, so I think a better person to use would be your five year old nutjob [insert relative here]

Second off, I don't think you want to set a comedic mood for a game that is about killing things

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but most people's grandmas aren't very fast to begin with

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=333&sid=138536

but most people's grandmas aren't very fast to begin with

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=333&sid=138536

I said MOST

I don't think you want to set a comedic mood for a game that is about killing things

Well, you're completely wrong

I kill things for a living.

I kill things for a living.

that's funny

I kill things for a living.

that's funny

Why thank you. You're next.

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This is about where I'm at in template design:

I like most of that except for the header bar. It doesn't sit well with me. Dunno why.

I like most of that except for the header bar. It doesn't sit well with me. Dunno why.

I agree- it's 2 things. The logo is too large, and the font on the link bar is ugly.

I like the first design z. minimalist and clean.

Did you know the current logo for Nexuiz is actually the japanese Katakana character for 'Ka'?

The current logo is unbalanced on it's own. The name and the slogan would make it look less awkward.

my opinion anyway.

On the template, I agree with Shoe. I think the left side should be a solid panel or something. The big nexuiz logo on the left destroys the symmetry. And I never did like shiny buttons and bars.

[divVerent]

Did you know the current logo for Nexuiz is actually the japanese Katakana character for 'Ka'?

Wrong. It's the Japanese kanji character for power, strength.

But they mostly look the same

cant w8 for 2.4 men , oh yeh a friend of mine bought a computer magazine in the netherlands and it came with nexuiz cd im gone mail gamekings of tmf I want to see a kickass review of open source shooters. no doubt that nexuiz will be one on that list
if it happen i will tape it.

Did you know the current logo for Nexuiz is actually the japanese Katakana character for 'Ka'? [/quit]

Wrong. It's the Japanese kanji character for power, strength.

But they mostly look the same

Yeah, I was going to point that out, except I forgot if that was correct so instead of risk being publicly humiliated (again ) I avoided it.

"chikara" - ちから - 力 - strength :>

Nexuiz is Web 2.0 compatible!

Nice work, but I agree that it could do with a little theming, to suit the grungy industrial feel of the game.

I swear z's version is Katakana.

Here's a kanji for strength:



"tsuyosa"

and the one you mean:





compared against katakana 'ka'





I think z used the katakana 'ka'. The kanjii for strength has the intersection roughly in the middle and not in the upper portion. And it's foreshortened.

It doesn't matter where it intersects actually. It all depends on the style you write it in and the font. It's pretty much the handwriting that decides how it looks as we all have different ones. They are pretty much identical, even Japanese people wouldn't be able to figure out which is which just by looking at the character.

Version 1


Version 2


Try guessing which is which. And yes one is the 'ka' the other 'chikara'.
PS. There's tones of different characters for the same word in Japanese, in this case, chikara is the more known and more frequently used word for strength.

i'm beginning to think we should rename the game

oy this is silly. just like all those wannabe-apostrophes....

I got un: "Nexuiz: the party wont stop unless your opponents pants drop."
?

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Perhaps ouns should stop distributing false 'strength' images

http://ouns.wikispaces.com/icons

and the developers should change the 'loading image'






As for the other comments. The menu font is 'weird' because it will not be a graphic, it is actual text as it's easier for search engines to read / follow and it permits for the easy addition of a category if need be (we'll make the font smaller smarty pants).

As for the 'unbalancedness'... I originally had the sections aligned at the top but your eyes are drawn to the side bar first... and that's not really what we are going for.

If we are targeting people that judge webpages in split seconds, the first thing we want them to see, is the meaning of the site. Why the hell did I just click 'nexuiz.com?' what the heck is this?

"Nexuiz is a free open-source first person shooter that runs on Windows, Linux and OSX."

Ooooooooh! Cool! What does it look like?

"Holy crap, THAT'S NEXUIZ? How did I not hear about this yet?"

:plays video:


Awesome! I want to learn more!

:looks at side bar and main menu:



Just my two cents on observing web users for the past 6 years.

Well, I think having more than just that group of people in mind when creating the site will be useful A website should be appealing to as many groups as possible. And yeah, I agree with the shiny look, it doesn't fit here and too much of it looks bad. However, I hear that the new 2.4 menu is somewhat shinish so maybe that design would fit better. But still yet, more industrial look to it (should be doable even with shiy stuff), right now it all reminds me of Apple and their style.

Buttons needs to be remade, in my opinion they look too much like ad buttons, those that sane people never click on. A donate buttons should be suddle but still visible in the corner of the eye, don't wanna seem to desperate People hate that.

However, I do like the bit nexuiz chikara logo. Like a trademark.

EDIT: Oh and, what false 'strength' icons on ouns? Those are genuine (yet not official, but genuine).

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Well, I think having more than just that group of people in mind when creating the site will be useful

I'm not disagreeing, I'm defending my reasoning behind the way I laid out the site, perhaps some will gain a new perspective on the design with these notes.

A website should be appealing to as many groups as possible.

I'd have to disagree with this, it should hit the top of the bell curve of your target audience. In Nexuiz' case, I believe it's mostly bored people looking for a free game or classic quake players looking for a good alternative to relive their glory days.

And yeah, I agree with the shiny look, it doesn't fit here and too much of it looks bad. However, I hear that the new 2.4 menu is somewhat shinish so maybe that design would fit better. But still yet, more industrial look to it (should be doable even with shiy stuff), right now it all reminds me of Apple and their style.

Personal preference. I designed it with the new menu system in mind but tried to give it a bit of a 'pop'

Buttons needs to be remade, in my opinion they look too much like ad buttons, those that sane people never click on. A donate buttons should be suddle but still visible in the corner of the eye, don't wanna seem to desperate People hate that.

Black on black isn't subtle? Developers is light blue...

Please take time into consideration as well. This website should be appealing to a first time visiting, pitching them whatever product it is you're trying to push, in this case, the game Nexuiz. When they first get there, they will see the movie and figure out what this website is for... they ignore the links on the side mostly, thats fine. Those links on the side are for frequent visitors that are looking to help out, unless of course they came to the site for that particular reason, in which case the 'ads' are relatively easy to locate.

However, I do like the bit nexuiz chikara logo. Like a trademark.

Cool, I like it too

EDIT: Oh and, what false 'strenght' icons on ouns? Those are genuine (yet not official, but genuine).

Did you know the current logo for Nexuiz is actually the japanese Katakana character for 'Ka'?

I'm open to suggestions, but please don't tell me negative things about my work without having a positive solution. I'd appreciate it if you'd cite your sources, pictures of styles you like... links to websites you like... etc.