Hey guys, Over the last few months we've been working with various design firms to come up with an idea for a new TouchArcade logo that doesn't utilize Taito IP. We've got designers who can craft the logo, but what we're really looking for is a solid concept to pursue. We really want something unique that could become just as iconic as the space invader we're using now. Also, a big part of this is needing something solid that we can turn into an icon as well for our upcoming app that's currently in development. We're fans of word marks, and solid icon-like graphics that incorporate "TA" in new and exciting ways... But really, the reason that I'm posting this is to hopefully find some ideas that come totally out of left field that are totally awesome that we haven't even thought about. As mentioned, you don't really need any artistic talent here and if you can scribble something together that exhibits a solid concept in MS Paint, that could be good enough. There could potentially be some compensation in store as well if we end up using your concept, but by posting it here you are giving us full rights to use your concept. I'm really excited to see what you guys can come up with.
Oh also we kind of need to shy away from any imagery that uses Apple devices too much. The name "TouchArcade" is intentionally ambiguous in the event that Android or Windows Phone 7 ever become popular enough that we need to start covering it (or other potential future platforms). Also, with the potential app coming up Apple has been kind of touch and go with rejecting apps that use any kind of Apple trademarked stuff even in the vaguest ways imaginable... And it would suck if we got denied from listing because our logo uses an outline of an iPhone for the "o" or something.
Yeah I just mean an touchdevice shape.. the logo would just be an outline shape like the squares in the current logo.
Not enough time at the moment to recreate what I'm thinking of so here's a silly quick-n-dirty one: Kinda like Darth Vader meets Mouse Trap. Not what I was intending when I started moving pixels around...
OK, this is really ugly, but my original concept was cool! Might revisit this one. If not maybe it'll give someone who can actually draw a good idea or two.
Here's mine first attempt. Only had enough time to whip this one up and I'm not terribly satisfied but can't really put my finger on what's wrong with it so I figured I'd just post it up and get some suggestions from you guys. EDIT: I forgot to say that while I know you said to stay away from Apple, I think that the phone itself represents touchscreen smartphones fairly well and is somewhat ambiguous.
And hey, changing the dimensions of the device image can do all sorts of wonders in the European market!
Here's my original logo idea drawn on paper: And here's a computerized version where I kind messed up on the finger, but you get the point. View attachment TA Logo2.pages.zip
Here are a couple of ideas that I came up with. Hopefully I followed the rules. The idea with the logo is that it keeps the lowercase t and the uppercase A intact. I also like that the logo is the same upsidedown and rightside up. With the arcade cabinet, the first thing that I thought of when I saw the shape was an old-school cellular phone, which for my generation is sort of ubiquitous for the giant black antenna that came out of the top, so I thought it was appropriate to duplicate that look here. Another possibility is that you could use the arcade cabinet phone in an image with a big hand wrapped around it so that you get the "mobile arcade" feel. Anyway...let me know what you think. It's just a couple of ideas that popped into my head when I read this post earlier today.
New Icon huh? TA must be doing it big!! The thing about a new icon is that we all are going to have to re-associate TA with a new "mascot". Which is always tough for people. But they will complain in the comments section and get over it, the hard part about coming up with the concept is that TA doesn't really have anything visual to associate with. Since TA provides a free service of news, gaming news, and reviews. There's really not much to draw from... Other then the idea of "touch" and "arcade" and anything related to reporting/news. But I do believe that the icon background and outline are just as much of a resemblance of TA as the little green guy. With that said, I got a really shitty "draw up" of an idea for an icon. Its really simple. Same icon frame, A hand "pointing'', and something in the middle. At the moment I had the idea of a clip-art style paper. But a green arcade with the same style as the space invader would also be pretty cool.
