What’s in a Logo? Austen Hoey May 5, 2017 Uncategorized 1 What’s in a logo? The question that our team here at The Mana Base has been asking since our inception in October 2016. No, you know what, that’s a lie. We have been trying to create a logo for our website since we first dreamt up starting a content page for the casual Magic player in late 2015. We knew we wanted something flashy, something classy, something…dashy? Where would we turn for inspiration? To other Magic sites maybe? While these work for those specific sites, we were going for something completely different. We don’t have the Magic talent of an LSV or a Patrick Chapin. We are different, we are for the people, the everyday Magic player. So copying or being inspired by one of the “big 3” as we called it, didn’t make too much sense? What about sports teams? Sports teams have some of the most recognizable logos in the entire world. Teams like the Montreal Canadiens and New York Yankees have timeless logos that have withstood the test of time. Using them as a basis couldn’t have been a bad idea. These logos represent both the city they hail from while also being a respected symbol for over 100 years. Wanting to make our logo something that stands the test of time while also being a symbol for the Average Magic Player was definitely goal number 1. When we first started trying to determine our logo we went to a few professional design firms and tried to sell to them the vision that we had for the site. But without actually having a concrete site, that turned out to be harder than originally anticipated. While they created original and brash pieces of art none of them really called to us. We knew that we were looking for something, we just didn’t know what that “thing” was. After not choosing any of the designs given to us from the professional graphics teams, we looked in house. A few of us, having some artistic chops, took to creating our logo, but alas, without knowing who we were or what our site actually was we could not find that thing. So unfortunately we settled on a bland placeholder while we waited for our identity to flesh itself out. Fast forward a couple of months. We have an identity. We have a staff of brilliant and talented content creators, and we were ready to find the logo that had the thing. Our logo contest was a lot of fun and it gave us an opportunity to reach out to you, our fans and readers, to help us, while also creating a symbol that represented you and us, the average Magic Player. We got a whole mess of great submissions highlighted by some of the following. While these were good, they were a little too busy for what we were going for. A little sleeker, a little more stylish but still on the right track. The following were on the sleeker, albeit sexier side of things. The sleekness and sexiness of these logos definitely caught our eye. They lost points for being a little too generic. They all also failed to comply with one of the most important rules of the contest. “Not being able to use copyrighted material”. The simple symbols could very easily be changed to something else but it is worth noting none the less. So, where did this leave us? We wanted a logo with personality, similar to the first grouping. But, we also wanted it to have the sleekness and coolness of the second grouping. A few other logos came in and caught our eye, but ultimately none really felt like they had the “thing’. Both of these had heart and substance but were a little too loud for what we were going for. So, you’ve gotten this far, and you, the reader, know we have picked a winner. So you must be asking yourself, what was the winner? Well, the winning piece, brought to us by Collin Lykens was actually submitted fairly early in the contest. As soon as we saw it, it just kind of clicked. And, in my mind, it was always the choice. So without further ado, here is the winner of The Mana Base’s Logo Contest. Is this the final version? No, some small alterations will be made, maybe a small colour change. But, this is the “Thing” we were looking for. We believe it captures the tone of our website while also being sleek and stylish. So, what do you think of our brand new logo? Do you love it like we do? Do you hate it? Tell us in the comments? We’d love to hear from you. So, until we meet again with the final version, thanks for taking this journey through the brief history of our site with me. I hope that this is just the beginning of The Mana Base. One Response Benjamin Magill May 19, 2017 I also submitted two logos for the contest, and thought my designs were pretty inside the “pocket” you are describing here, between the simple and the loud. It was really fun though, and I still feel like a winner for having more reason to use and hone my skills. I think the winner was absolutely the correct choice. What a great logo. We could all learn a little bit from this guys design. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName Email Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Benjamin Magill May 19, 2017 I also submitted two logos for the contest, and thought my designs were pretty inside the “pocket” you are describing here, between the simple and the loud. It was really fun though, and I still feel like a winner for having more reason to use and hone my skills. I think the winner was absolutely the correct choice. What a great logo. We could all learn a little bit from this guys design. Reply
