That’s a great one. But the Safecoin icon is not right if it’s going to be a normal size icon. The S is too small so it should be replaced with the original one in the future. The other problem I have it’s the border, something does not fit right. Maybe it should follow the same cloud pattern on what we see in the middle background.
EDIT: Oh the cloud pattern is already there. It’s not visible enough when it’s the small cover. Outside of the bottom right corner the other area of the border look too flat.
I prefer the design by @franckuestein It is clean and with a technological air. I love neon colors, but the first design by @optictopic made me think of a magazine about alien abductions (no offence meant).
When I studied graphical design I learned that the best approach is to go with a single color or a few colors within the same “tone” and maybe use a complimentary color to highlight some graphic details. This approach makes it look professional. You can sometimes break this to get a suprising effect, but most of the time you shouldn´t go too far from the norm.
Remember the days when Internet was young. People put texts in all colors available, with blinking pictures, because they could, and all the visitor got was headache and confusion. Did I say that I am mindboggled by Windows’ and Google’s logos and their use of red, green, blue and yellow… “Look, we can use all colors!”. Apple made sense and replaced their rainbow apple logo with a monochrome one (however, somewhat contradictory, I liked their rainbow apple). As of lately even the Windows logo has become monochrome. How long will it take for Google…?
So this is my advise. Stick with a blue or other single tone for SAFE Network “professional” stuff, but nevertheless experiment with alternative designs that “break the rules” for effect, but use them sparingly.
No offense taken.
Without experimentation we end up with a cover that looks eerily similar to every other cover that doesn’t “break the rules” as you put it. Balance is everything. Something that makes the viewer feel that something inside of the magazine is too important to ignore, while not offending their aesthetic sensibilities. As far as colors are concerned, that is almost a seasonal aesthetic. It seems almost ingrained in our minds to expect vibrant colors in spring and summer and drab monotones or duotones in the fall and winter. That said I am still most drawn to the first draft posted by @franckuestein, even though as @audity pointed out it does have a “stock” quality to it. Which I think means that the imagery it is not specific enough to any one event or cause and to that extent massively open to interpretation, but with a few key words that photo can have a distinct meaning. Something like, “Peer to Peer as Nature Intended” with subtle graphics (lines) connecting buildings to other buildings in the photo, with other subtle graphics that seem to reach out to infinity.
The comments about stock imagery / cityscape made me wonder about some of the photos peeks have shared from around Troon. That might provide a contrast with the expected imagery around cryptocurrency.
@Southside posted one recently, and I think others have been shared some time ago, possibly by @dirvine when @ioptio visited, and by @frabrunelle when he visited, going from memory.
Fantastic Idea! A photo from Troon makes the most sense.
If anybody has a photo from Troon that they would like to have in the 1st Issue of Safecoin Magazine please post links to them here.
The human touch / SAFEnetwork = photos of core team / artwork
People love to see the human touch people are attracted to the humans. This can be witnessed everywhere you look companies spend £$£s on finding type styles etc that scream human touch - this is in reaction to the rise of craft markets - the growth of anything with a unique human touch - its a reaction to the clean cut formatted one size fits all style branding - the authentic hand touched image has a lot of power - http://insight.tego.com/view-post/The-Human-Touch-to-Branding // http://www.bizify.com.au/blog/human-touch-branding-brand-show-respect-customer/
ANTS = SAFEnetwork -
ANTS = theme of the SAFEnetwork
ANTS = representation of the SAFEnetwork
safecoin = resource exchange / farming ANTS = where tech and people converge and shape the new SAFE world
I absolutely love the 70’s military style brick architecture with the MaidSafe sign. If there is any doubt on how special this project is, it must vanish immediately when you see the genius of their sign and where their core resides. The tag line (Contrasted against everything that is the opposite of freedom like the trees behind a scary fence, no dirt just asphalt and this industrial/military complex looking building), “Ideas for a free world,” IMHO proves this movement has a familiar solid foundation that has existed in humans from the start.
I’m not saying it should be the cover of the first SafeCoin Magazine. Not sure if it would speak to the target audience the same (It may?, most don’t think like me though ). I love where @optictopic is going with the ocean. The water shot above is good, but I swear I have seen a better one in the last week or so? Maybe take the Troon water shot and then apply some awesome filter that gives it shades of different blue…maybe that is where a little bit of the raw passionate flavor that the MaidSafe folks exemplify can come out in @franckuestein refined cover version?
I love how unedited photography, aka journalistic photography, dispels illusions, fantasy and romantic notions. These are great photos for the articles!
I watch the BI video and read the article. Branding by means of color like Coca Cola Red, Home Depot Orange or Android Green is good to consider. This is why blue logos are so popular… And so as not to confuse anyone I guess it is best to represent the safecoin logo on the Safecoin Magazine without modification. Here is a professional photo by a Troon photographer of Troon http://www.mjsferrier.com
Thank you for sharing. It makes me laugh at myself because the “blue” header and most of the blue you have posted looks purple to me. I get made fun of a lot for the inability to differentiate between blue and purple.
With a magazine cover, you’ve got two different brandings that are converging. You have to be able to identify them differently.
The brand of the Magazine. This will be contiguous across issues. The pieces include the headline name, styling & layouts, and colors.
The THEME of this issue. Colors can play in, symbols can play parts, but the styling of words and “hooks” are relevant to this branding.
I like the professional, clean, bold magazine branding of the first of the blue examples. The second seems to feel more professional, and could easily sit on a magazine table - but without the brighter colors and contrast, it could be overlooked. We want it to stand out.
As for including the Safecoin logo, what if it’s in the editor’s liner of the first inside page? Big and significant at the top-right of the page would point to it’s importance, while not adding busy-ness to the front cover.
Excellent Article ! I am quite certain it is a good starting point for even more radiant explorations useful to the general understanding of important features and the wholesome vision of the MaidSafe Network & safecoin .
Let’s create a tipping app here for the forum that allows us to exchange the Likes for safecoins , once deployed . Right away , we could use MAID - if that is possible , making the Likes more meaningful in terms of currency value . I would go so far as to create an equivalent of 1 MAID = 1 LIKE ; decimal fractions would be good enough , too .
It would be possible and feasible to give full MAIDs or to select otherwise by clicking on the desired magnitude , integer amounts , decimal fractions (1/10) , % , or ‰ … , plus the number amount . These choices are likely handled with ease and enough comfort by any user via the tiny widget … ;
I have yet to hear back from the photographer of this image. His number is on the website. Maybe @we_advance could call on him when you are in the area.
). I love where 
And so as not to confuse anyone I guess it is best to represent the safecoin logo on the Safecoin Magazine without modification. Here is a professional photo by a Troon photographer of Troon 
Excellent Article ! 
I am quite certain it is a good starting point for even more radiant explorations useful to the general understanding of important features and the wholesome vision of the MaidSafe Network & safecoin .