Ok. Five Chinese Elements. Icons to ilustrate and for easy reference. For a game about religious believes and means-to-an-end. (The icons would be Symbols for the religions in the setting, and for mechanical stuff.)

Which one is more understandable?

Which one is more powerful?

Would mixing some of them (for example, using the blue from the fist version instead of the one currently in the second) break the graphical style?

As a side note. I'm not particularly fond of the arrows. Any suggestion about how could I design some that would fit the icons better?

(This is the game's logo.)

Post edited 4:38 pm – April 30, 2010 by Damian F
Post edited 4:39 pm – April 30, 2010 by Damian F

Interesting associations.

Since that was a sort of blind test, that did give me a lot of information.

The Elements should read Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Water and Fire are easy on both of them. The green one as Life is interesing (it sort of is "life"). Earth is harder (in both cases the attempt was to represent Mountains).

For Metal, the second one is very understandable once you know the element. The first one still proves difficult. (It was supposed to be an abstract sword. Total failure, even while most people I have asked like it for its stylistic look.)

Yes, they are supposed to interact exactly that way. One element leads to another, while at the same time one extinguishes another. Rock-Paper-Scissors style.

Logotype. You are right about the bigger font. I did wanted to stress the “A” and “D”, but it might come as too heavy. I think I will tweak that a little.

The Font is Exocet. Yes, it has been used to death. I know, and I like that. I like the “religious” and archaic associations it has. And I like the familiarity. The game is about special characters challenging the establishment (religious Dogma). That establishment has been in place for centuries, so I want the imagery (and visual aspect) to feel somewhat common, trivial and “corny”.

If I find another font that can communicate those things too (and graphically appeals to me), I could consider redesign the logo.

For now, I think it works for my needs.

Not "archaic" in a "looks old" way. More like a "pretends to be old". I see what you mean. I still think it's good enough for me, for now. Will keep looking for a better font.

After "playing around" a little and tweeking some stuff, I came upon this third version. I think it might work better.

I did not choose the color scheme for the elements. I'm going for the "right selection" by the Chinese Elements theories. That's why Yellow. (Oh, and I finally got what you meant by "looks like a book". Oh, my…)

Metal stands for Practicality, Proactivity and Technology. The setting is more Gaslamp than pseudo-Medieval Fantasy. That's why I rather went with the gear.

What do you mean by "diminished yellows"? (Might be the language barrier.)

Some minor changes. Might help with the mountains.

Yeah. I did. Didn't like it. Looked more as "watching a mountain through a round window", and less as a "symbol in a sphere, medal or something, representing a mountain". I like it that it stands out.

Darker and more "brown like". Got it. Thanks.