Antialiasing much welcomed, a SVG version would be even better, but i dont know how to do that.
These three seem to be the most popular ones.
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27 is the original idea drawn to some sort of logical minimum in an artistic sense. It works as a figurative thing that also serves some meaning, if the reader sees letters, you choose where they are and start/stop. Also, latin script letters are arbitrary to my mind. They have an inherent ugliness, not magical. Even thought that was what I set out with, it can be made into something that is whole. If it cant be runes, it can be "runic", and the whole has a magic feel to me. Both runes on their own, in context, and as a style. Its in tune with dragons, traditional style thereof.
Aside from my aspirations, This being perhaps the most iconic, which is a logo-esque character, and its solid, removing anything from it, is a trade-off in a sense, but it is also adding something, so what do you add?
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Has a mesmerizing effect in that you can look into it, almost as if you have to, and it cant be underestimated like the first. As much as i like having a little mystery, i like it even more when its an intriguing factor. Some people see this as chaos, i don't, it relaxes me, but then again, i had dragons initially, but nobody asked for that again. I think it may also being an effect of already having seen the plain version, and maximizing what i liked about it.
If you stare into it, strange things start happening, and you can chose how to see it, more than it gives itself away. They also serve as a clue to the letters, in that it forms a square around the readable part, and the extra aesthetics form a square shape around that.
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The balance between readability, aesthetics, and all things considered.
Its better if there are letters, that
letters are about the same height, which is why i don't like as much the ones which forces elongated Y and Rs at the return of small P and A.
Which was the topic of the
spiffy endings on the a and p, albeit they look better alone, they look forced as a whole. Much as if it took a turn for readability at the cost of what the essence is. It could have been very readable, but then it would be that to begin with. I like extremes, going from the original one to this meant it also needed to be all black and equal spacing to lettering, it just makes sense. There is a goal and there is a game. One is one thing, the other is something else.
At any point you can ask for readability, up until the point it becomes generic helvetica, which has no mystery, it is dead. It is very good at what it does though, don't get me wrong. There is a distinct difference to me between striking a balance and making compromise.
If you are the engineering type to say everything is a continuous stream of compromise, sure, ill argue that those compromises were already made going in, and that everything is a continuous adjustment to meet targets. For a variation over the team target and what you attribute to it.
letters in the same style, which is why i don't like 35 below that much.
To have all the cutouts the same way helped, doing them downwards and in line, gave me some sort of iron bars feel,
and it broke the 3d cube effect pretty hard. Across is better, but a pet peeve of mine is that still across means those cuts are abrupt, and the Y and R cuts are still going to be in a different angle. And they cant apart from A and P be made in a way that respects the lines going through, and if then, it introduces the letter height problem.
(36) Only new one for now, there are more possibilities to be explored, but feedback is needed.
Its hard to put thoughts onto paper, and its hard to give up cool additions that may work alone or introduce new problems to arrive at a result that makes sense. Id rather not tell about most of them, because when its seen, its not so easy to unsee, so it becomes an extension to something that ends up at a dead end or being inconclusive. I think what makes sense is a shared experience somewhat, there is a mathematical truth to tap into.
In that same token, i cant put some things into words well, like energy flowing, but im happy it "worked", which is when other people pick up on the same thing without being told to. Please share your experiences. I like, or dont, isnt as constructive as letting people in as to why.