Family Website Logo - Prize: $75

[sdollen]

(Admin code added by Palmer - N433615N)
I'm pretty excited - this is my first contest to post. I'm a finance person that loves to dabble with webpages as a hobby. I totally suck but love to learn. I am always updating and tinkering. I'm hoping that someone can help by creating a logo that I can place as the header on the website.

I'll list some of the criteria and hope that gives a place to start. I'm pretty open to what it is.

- I'd like it to incorporate a pic of my two children which I'll attach.
- I'd like it to have text saying something like "The Von Dollen Family Website"
- I'd like the colors to be neutral so that it could fit into various color schemes. (I'm partial to shades of light blue though)
- Deadline - 4/26, Saturday, 5pm.

After this contest is done, I hope to run a template contest and have it built around the logo.


I've attached a psp file of my two children where I attempted to cut out the background. If you want the original jpeg, I'll be happy to email it to you. Just let me know.

The currently URL of the website, if you want to see how miserable it is - The Von Dollen Family Website (http://www.vondollens.us)

Don't laugh though... and you'll see why I'm going to do a template contest in the near future. LOL

I look forward to seeing what anyone can come up with.

-Stefan

[ElKootcho]

Do you have a deadline in mind for this project?

[sdollen]

Thanks for the question - guess that would be important to know, huh??? :)

Well, since it's for a personal site about myself and my family, I know everyone is working on projects, so, how about this Friday, 4/18?

[Palmer]

That might be a little too soon :)

[sdollen]

Heehee... okay - my inexperience in such matters really shows. Palmer, what would you suggest?

[ElKootcho]

From the designer point of view, two weeks is usually best.

[Palmer]

10-14 days is usually enough time. :)

[sdollen]

I'll edit my original post so it'll be up there.... but, I'll put 4/26, Saturday, 5pm as the deadline then. Thanks for the input!

[coxy]

Originally posted by sdollen@Apr 14 2003, 10:59 AM
...glad to send them. sdollen1@cox.net
Hmm, I should really own cox.net.

*ponders that thought* :huh:

[Palmer]

Stefan has graciously upped his prize amount to $75. Let the designing begin! :D

[sdollen]

I found another picture that I'll add to my original post - just to give designers another option. This is a picture of my wife and two children in jpeg format without any modifications.

I've placed the picture at this URL Wife & Children (http://www.vondollens.us/images/DSC00357.jpg)

Thanks,

-Stefan

[Palmer]

Ahhhhhh how cute. :) Your daughter must have you wrapped around your finger. She's adorable.

[sdollen]

Palmer,

Thanks and spoken like a true father!

You noticed how I'm not in the picture, right??? LOL. That is in direct response to your "show me your face" post! Haaa.... The picture I attached, I took right before we walked out the door one Sunday morning. At this age, Rachael, my daughter, thinks I can fix ANYTHING. LOL... I've been told to wait until she hits 13-14, then daddy will know absolutely ZILCH! Hee hee...

Have a great day!

-Stefan

[TwistedNewMedia]

What dimensions did you want the header to be?

[sdollen]

ubergerlgeek -

This will be the only thing in the header area - I won't have any ads, ect. since this is a personal family website. So, no limits on width other than if someone is viewing in a 800x600 they don't have to scroll. LOL I doubt that will be an issue.

Height? No more than 200px high I think.

Hope that helps. ;)

-Stefan

[TwistedNewMedia]

Alright, me 1st I guess... Heres my first try, hope you like it...

[sdollen]

Great first post, ubergerl!

I love how you incorporated the pics in there, and I like the font color.

The flowers really jumped out at me, meaning I think they are too large. I could see where some type of a green meadow with flowers could/would work.

I'm not sure about the font - seems very rigid and straight. But, I think caligrophy would be too much.

One question - would it be better if I supplied the original jpeg of my children versus the psp file? It seems that the pic of the kids looked different from the other pic... maybe it still has the drop shadow on it?

-Stefan

[TwistedNewMedia]

Alright, thanks for the input. Ill come up with a revision tommrow :)

[ElKootcho]

Originally posted by sdollen@Apr 15 2003, 01:18 PM
One question - would it be better if I supplied the original jpeg of my children versus the psp file? It seems that the pic of the kids looked different from the other pic... maybe it still has the drop shadow on it?

-Stefan
Posting the original jpeg's would come in handy for me. I'll get to work on your project as soon as you make them available.

[TwistedNewMedia]

Heres another try on my part..

[john]

id like the jpegs too if you wouldnt mind posting them

Thanks

[john]

Heres my go at it. If you have a picture of yourself i could add that in.

Any comments are welcome.

[sdollen]

ubergerl - I like that. I like the abstract looking background and the color much better in this version. I really don't have anything as far as contstructive criticism. Any other ideas? Good work :)

John - I'll post the original jpegs. I should have posted them, but I emailed them directly to Elkootcho in response to his request.
As far as your entry - It's a little stark, too much white. Also, I'm not sure the font works well for me. The (o)s in Von and Dollen almost look like (a)s. Not real hip on the star. I really don't have any decent pics of myself, I'm always the guy behind the camera.

Here are links to the pics if you need them.

Children (http://www.vondollens.us/images/DSC00553.jpg)

Wife & Children (http://www.vondollens.us/images/DSC00357.jpg)

-Stefan

[Raja]

:D <img src='http://www.webfellaz.com/4fun/vondollen.gif[/img]

[Huhhso]

Hi here is my entry
Thankshttp://www.waila.com/freelance/weblogo.jpg

[sdollen]

ondarox - glad to see you enter something. I like the curves and the colors, but worried about the size of what you made. The font on "Von Dollen" is a little thick, and could you include the word "family" so that it says "the von dollen family website". Also, is it going to lock me into using only those links that you added? Or, are you trying to just show me what the header would look like on a webpage? I was a little lost on that.

Huhhso - The green and black colors really didn't make me feel welcomed. The overall design is rigid.. perfect circle, perfect straight line bewteen the words. Does that make sense? Maybe you can change the colors and make it more flowing?

Thanks for your entries so far! I didn't realize how hard it would be trying to pinpoint the pros/cons and try to verbalize it. But, something jazzy but not too jazzy... something that makes you say "wow" that is a cool header with that family's pic in it.

I hope that feedback helps?

[sdollen]

ubergerl - I just saw the final version of the web template for the CTM Ministries contest. I wonder what your second version would look like with clouds like the CTM header? Just a thought.

Just a note to everyone.... keep in mind that I'll be doing a template contest later which will be built around the header/logo from this contest.

If I don't hear from anyone, happy Easter and have a great weekend. I will be back at work on Monday (in case you wondered why I was lurking so much this week, I was on vacation)... and I'll be traveling on Tuesday and Wednesday. So, I hope to give feedback each evening if it is needed.

Take care :)

[Zoe]

Howdy, I thought I would try something a little fun. :)

This design is for the splash page of the site...

<img src='http://www.demexdesign.com/vdf_splash.jpg[/img]

And to carry the theme into the main site you could use this for the header...

http://www.demexdesign.com/vdf_header.jpg

[Raja]

:notworthy:

[haxorboi]

****, Demex, skilZ :eek:

[sdollen]

Demex,

That entry made me go "wow"! I thought it was really creative and fun. I wonder who the legs on my wife belong to though??? ;)

The only constructive thing I can think of, would be the hat that you placed on Caleb. It looks a little out of place next to Rachael's. Do you think you can find a more real looking hat and be able to place it on him?

You know, looking at your entry, it just came to me who Caleb reminds me of....Hoss from Ponderosa ;) LOL. Before he was born, and we were going through our list of potential names, I wanted to call him Marshall Dillion Von Dollen (the sheriff from Gunsmoke).... my wife wouldn't hear of it and said that I might as well name him Festus (sp?) He was Marshall Dillon's deputy sheriff on Gunsmoke. I was kidding course... but, I never thought of "Hoss" ;)

Great work...

Oh, before I hit the "add reply" button... I just had the thought... our friends from the north may not even be familiar with those shows :(

[Zoe]

I don't think I know these shows either... :(

I am sure I will be able to find a photo of a hat to replace the one I drew. :)

Your wife's legs came from someone elses photo. You probably noticed I did a few manipulations to the photos. I took the best pieces from a few photos and bought them together.

I would really like to implement you next to your wife behind the sign and if you have a picture of your wife standing I would be happy to give her, her own legs. :blink:

At your site I noticed a lot of images were not available. Would you be able to put them up again?

[sdollen]

Hey Zoe,

I've been having problems with my website for the last couple of weeks. I switched hosts and since I switched, there has been a problem with DNS propogation. If I pull up my website with my main ISP, it pulls up my old website files... My ISP is a local cable company. But, if I use something like AOL, it pulls up the current site with the current files just fine.

I went to using a gallery like the one used here - I uploaded quite a few pics yesterday to the gallery. Cruise through those if you have a minute and see if the ones you wanted/needed are there.

I don't have many of myself - I'm the one behind the camera generally. But, I'll scan through some pics to see if I can find anything of me that won't scare people away at first glance. LOL

Thanks!

[Zoe]

Hi Stefan,

Thanks - I had a look through the photo album and I kinda like the photos I have now but would love a picture of your wife standing on her own or even standing with one of your children beside her. I need her legs with shoes... lol

Do you think you may have something I could use?

Thanks

[Zoe]

Hi Stefan,

Please take a look at the post I first posted in to see the updates. :)

[sdollen]

Zoe,

The only thing I can suggest, to make it any better would be - Anyway to find a good looking guy to put in place of me???? ;)

Great work!

[Zoe]

Stefan,

I just wanted to share something on the side...

You have mentioned on a number of occasions that you are always the one behind the camera.

Well last year my uncle was diagnosed with a brain tumor and only had approx 4-6 weeks to live. He was married with 4 children and of course this was quite a shock to the whole family. He died 4 weeks after his diagnosis and before the funeral I decided to put together a video of him to give to his close friends and family. Out of approx 120 hours of video footage I sifted through, I managed to collect about an hour of bits and pieces of Simon, because he was the one who was always behind the camera.

The moral here I guess is that it doesn't matter what we look like to our family and friends, they love us for who we are and if something tragic was ever to happen it is nice for the people who are left behind to be able to look back on the memories....

I hope you do not mind me sharing this... I just wouldn't want the same situation happen to others... :(

[sdollen]

Zoe,

Thanks for sharing - I have often thought that I should get my wife to take some pics of me with the kids - I'm the 4th of 5 boys..so, growing up we didn't do a lot of picture taking. And by the time my parents reached the 4th I think they were worn out with the camera - so not many of me as a kid either. So, that's why I take so many pics of the kids (not quality, but quantity ;) )

What I thought someone was going to reply to my attempt at humor would have been the following -

"dam*it Jim, I'm a surgeon, not a magician!" which is what Bones said to Captain Kirk while trying to operate on Spock in one episdoe. You see, the internal organs of the Vulcans are not situated like yours and mine :blink: You do have Star Trek in Australia?????

And, in regards to an earlier post about Aussies ( I think the post was made in the Outpost area), you guys did give us "Men Without Hats" I think??? A pop band in the 80's?

Great work on the contest... did you scare everyone else away??? :ph34r:

[TwistedNewMedia]

....yes..... *hides from Zoe's design skills*

[sdollen]

I just wanted to post to see if anyone else is going to enter this contest. Let me know if you are - otherwise, I'll close this contest early and end it at 6pm (central time) tomorrow, Tuesday, evening.

Thank you,

[sdollen]

Well,

I want to thank everyone for their entry... I decided to cut this short because it seemed that after Zoe entered the contest, everyone threw in the towel ;) ubergerl's 2nd entry really had my attention because I really liked the colors and the font... she did a great job. Then Zoe entered and I just thought, wow, this is really different and cool.

So, with that - Congratulations to Zoe! My wife really loved your design.

Palmer, here is the official word. Demex :)

Thanks again to everyone. I'm going to be starting a web template contest in the next week I think... I hope to see some great entries built around Zoe's header.

[Palmer]

Yeah for Zoe! :clap:

Thanks Stefan. Looking forward to the template contest. :tup:

[Zoe]

yippeeee... :clap:

[Mike]

Some l33t skills there Zoe ;)

[cre8or]

That was an awesome design, Zoe.

[Zoe]

thank you everyone... I got the idea from Rachael's dress up outfit, and then it all just came together. A lot easier to do when the idea is there. :D