RPF New Look Feedback Thread

[Angelus Lupus]

Put me down as another one not liking the fixed width. If the reason for it is advertising... well then I'm glad my Opera setup auto blocks ads.
I do think the new logo is boring, but I like the logos for the sections.

 

[JD]

We will be keeping a keen eye on this thread as well as the countless PMs we are getting over the next week or so. Change is almost always met with resistance (and honestly, the overwhelming enthusiasm with which these changes are being embraced is uncanny) and we realize for many, there is a necessary adjustment time for any change..

So rather than deal with things that people are having issues with you're going to wait for that banter to die down instead of dealing with those issues? :confused

Are you being facetious or are you serious? If you are being serious and can't understand why we would would want the RPF to have a consistent look and branding... I am not sure I could explain it.

Totally serious. I can understand having a logo, etc. What I can't understand is getting rid of specific themes that a user can change to at their whim.

For some reason it appears that you guys want to lose the community and create something colder and less interactive. You want to appeal to the masses at the cost of the true members of the forum.

You're already giving us the option of light/dark but robbing us practical interfaces that both work and cater to our specific tastes. YES, I understand that you can't have a theme that every single person here might want to use... I guess that's the price we pay for Star Wars being as popular as it is (but that appears to be a bad word nowadays).

You say that as if creating a homogenized site is a bad thing. I have no shame at all in saying that is EXACTLY what we are doing. We want ANYONE with a love for props, costumes or models to feel welcome here. Our hobby and community is already fractured and divided beyond belief, which only serves to hurt the community as a whole. Of course we are working to create a site that is more welcoming to everyone and not just one clique or segment of the greater prop community! If I am looking for a Star Trek uniform and come to a site where the leaderboard is a giant Star Wars graphic, how welcome do you think I am going to feel? We have very purposefully create a look that doesn't discriminate and welcomes anyone with an interest for what we do. If you can't see the value in that, again, I don't think I can explain it further to you.

I think bland is a bad thing. I think making thimgs too sterile is a bad thing. I think lack of character is a bad thing. I think mass appeal can be a bad thing if you're making things too homogenized.

You have your basic header/design/theme that welcomes people when they come here - it has no SW/Trek/etc overtones (in fact it seems to lean toward Apple/Tron Legacy). Nothing wrong with the adding the option to have our Legacy theme... except the mod team appears to want every single user to see the single same thing. I don't get that.

The name 'RPF' is non-descript, it tells us nothing about the site - so there goes your mass appeal, right out the window.

The membership will always have an impact on the direction the site goes, but this site has never been a typical democracy. However, you still have the ability to 'vote' by your presence or lack thereof. A lot of what we do is run by the numbers and where we see trends and opportunities, we try to take them. In addition to that, we do provide opportunities for feedback (this thread is a perfect example). I think some mistakenly equate us not doing every single thing a minority wants as not listening, but that is not the case. We are definitely listening and always will.

I hope this holds true. I hope you simply don't let the issues fade away with time.

 

[Charles Kline]

Check out how wacked out parts of this thread looks with the photos all off center: (after page 2)

http://www.therpf.com/f9/daft-punk-thomas-bangalter-helmet-build-103963/

Art, check out post #54 in that thread, we know you like widescreen, stop pretending you don't.

 

[Art Andrews]

I didn't know we were trying to shift AWAY from "replica prop"....I mean,
that's the NAME of the place and what people here do. I think custom
work and original pieces belong on an art forum. IMO, replica prop/costume
making is a very unique skill set that encompasses much more than making
original pieces, and this is/was a place to show and grow those skills.

I misspoke in saying we are trying to make a shift AWAY from "replica prop." We are shifting away from replica prop ONLY in our look theme and name in an effort to have our look, theme and name match our content which encompasses a lot more than simply replica props.

but then if the identity of the forum is changing....???

Again, it is not so much that the identity of the site is changing that the membership and content have changed over time and we are realigning ourselves with what is going on here at the site as well as within the greater prop community.

I don't like the new line-up, that Replica Props and Replica Costumes are now separated by Screen Used Props.

The lineup may or may not stay this way. We like the way the icons are currently grouped and we are definitely interested in seeing the screen used section have more prominence, but we will see how it goes.

The new look is a little too generic, too Public Signage Pictogram-ish
to me. But I visit this forum for what the members contribute, not to look
at layouts, logos and icons and as long as that doesn't become too generic
or change too much, guess I'll be sticking around.

Glad to see you are focused on the right thing; content. The look of the site is just the wrapper and while we want it to be pleasing, content will always be king. If you want proof, check out Craig's List... That is one ugly site, but content brings the masses.

 

[The Dude]

Guys,

I've seen every RPF board style from day one, and was an admin for more than one significant change in board software and themes.

I really like what you've done with the place. The logo and icons are excellent, imo, so please don't let anyone talk you out of them. The color schemes and font treatments are really, really nice. Such a huge improvement over the previous iteration, and I'll be first in line to get a new shirt. You guys have clearly been thinking very carefully about this change, and it shows.

And while I'm a hi-res, widescreen kind of guy myself, the decision to go with a fixed width is understandable. IMO, folks will be used to it by tomorrow.

Great job guys, and thanks for all of the hard work!

What Beaz said....

It looks cool. The logo will take a little getting used to but that is expected. It is new. (The new logo immediately reminds me of the Facebook logo for some reason. Maybe due to the color.)

And thanks for allowing the feedback. You could have just said...

"These are the changes...deal with it."

But you opened it up to the members. That needs to be recognized.

 

[asemblyrequired]

As a new member to the site I wanted to ask if there was a contest or submissions solicited for the new logo ? Also was some really paid for the logo and other icons ?

great work to the staff overall . Beyond the new look , the content is great.

-James

 

[Art Andrews]

Well, fixed width is much easier to sell advertising on, since you can insure a specific banner size and an experience where people will see the banners.
I have missed this change though, since I am still seeing the legacy Star Wars theme.
Sorry to hear that the variable width won't be supported.

The only thing that drew my attention to this was the missing Junkyard! When I went to the Off Topic to read or start a thread, I saw the notice.
That, too, it seems is done to homogenize the site and make it more palatable to more people, i.e. advertisers.
I guess if you are trying to sell ads and make money, this is all great progress. You want more ads and more people to see them.
I wonder , though, what it will mean as more people come in, including the people who hold trademarks and copyrights nearer to their hearts (well, I guess lawyers, too!)
I like the new logo though. I guess I need to go check out the new settings and see how narrow this fixed, commercial-friendly site is!

None of our ads have changed and at this point we aren't introducing any new ad positions to the site. We will continue to work with advertisers for the ad blocks we currently have and we are always looking for new opportunities to provide ads that are relevant to this site, but the change in the styles had nothing to do with advertising. It had to do with a more refined and finished look to the site. I know a lot of people loved the Star Wars style but it was about as busted as could be. Take a look at the icons alone, with the jagged edges... etc etc... Qui did mention to me this morning that we now had the site set to allow background ads, like you see on sites like ugo.com and I suppose that is true, but that isn't the direction we are currently moving.

EDIT: Oops, just caught a few more comments on this thread. I see the homogenizing is intentional. If the goal is to roll in other prop forums and attract disparate groups, like the Dented Helmet or others, then I am all for it.

Don't misunderstand. While there may come a time where we would be interested in absorbing smaller forums which are generic prop forums, we are absolutely NOT looking at absorbing niche sites which excel at a particular subject. What I would love to eventually see is the RPF become a true hub with the best of the best niche sites like Brotherhood of the Bat, the Hunter's Lair, TDH, Aliens Legacy, etc, becoming spokes in an effort to bring more unity to the greater prop community. Having run TDH for a decade (happy anniversary TDH) I have a strong belief that niche communities like that fulfill a need the RPF could never fulfill but could the greater prop community benefit from better relationships between those sites and the RPF? Absolutely. How would that be done? I have no idea... yet. That is long, long term kind of stuff. We have to get our own house in order before reaching out to others.

Great to have everything in one place. It seems like the look of Star WArs though, is what brought so many people here and kept them here, is it really so offensive to people now as to be not worth the effort to port over the design of that theme?

It isn't about being offensive. It is about the fact that Star Wars is one franchise out our HUNDREDS which are discussed on this site. As I pointed out recently, when looking over our stats for searches performed on the site, there are no Star Wars terms in the top 20 searches. Same with Google Analytics. Star Wars is not drawing the masses, so why would we try to shove Star Wars down their throats? In regard to porting it to vB 4... I can't see a legit justification for doing so.

What about allowing users to create and upload themes?

We'd certainly consider it if they were willing to create a full-on style, but I would encourage you to check out vbulletin.com to see just how much effort is involved... it is no easy task as it used to be in days long gone by.

Also, I had never equated "Junkyard" with Star Wars. Maybe that reference was from the prequels?

Somewhere there is a Toydarian weeping in a corner.

 

[Art Andrews]

Put me down as another one not liking the fixed width. If the reason for it is advertising... well then I'm glad my Opera setup auto blocks ads.
I do think the new logo is boring, but I like the logos for the sections.

Don't know where this "styles have changed to accommodate ads" thing is coming from, but if you will notice, the ad blocks have remained the same and changing the site from variable width to fixed width hasn't suddenly afforded us more ad space except in the background. As I said eariler, we have no intentions of putting ads in the background at this time, so that leaves... well, nothing new for ads.

 

[Qui-Gonzalez]

I'm going to hazard a guess here and say that nugget is coming from the sites you are using as examples. Some of them DO have ad space in the emptiness.

 

[Art Andrews]

So rather than deal with things that people are having issues with you're going to wait for that banter to die down instead of dealing with those issues? :confused

No, it is called not having a knee-jerk response to the knee-jerk reaction that many are having due to the changes and taking a wait and see approach.

In regard to the rest of your comments, I guess time will tell who is right. If the site dies, I guess you win.

 

[Chronos]

Sorry, but I think the new logo is Bland. Does nothing for me as far as "branding" the RPF. Could be any app store icon for anything.

I'll miss the classic Star Wars banner, but I really like the new look. :thumbsup

The board is cleanly organized, easy to read, and the icons are cool.

In response to some of the logo critizisms, any consideration for a combined logo/icon look?

In any case, "the new" looks great!

 

[Art Andrews]

I'm going to hazard a guess here and say that nugget is coming from the sites you are using as examples. Some of them DO have ad space in the emptiness.

Then I suppose people will just have to take my word for it or not. The update to the existing styles was made to accommodate and promote the new logo and had nothing to do with ads. If we were wanting to accomodate for new ads, we would have pushed a couple of skyscrapers into the right side of the body content for the home page and forums pages... but that wasn't the focus.

 

[Art Andrews]

As a new member to the site I wanted to ask if there was a contest or submissions solicited for the new logo?

Not publicly, but yes.

Also was some really paid for the logo and other icons ?

Yes.

 

[JD]

In regard to the rest of your comments, I guess time will tell who is right. If the site dies, I guess you win.

That's a great attitude, Art. :confused

 

[Art Andrews]

That is an interesting combination.

This is what we came up with for the shirt. The problem with both yours and ours is that when you scale them down to fit in the banner, the icons are so small that they start to look bad.

BTW, I need to give credit where credit is due. RPF member, riskbreaker helped us with the "collaborate - create - collect" slogan and I love it as it truly defines this community.

 

[Art Andrews]

Check out how wacked out parts of this thread looks with the photos all off center: (after page 2)

http://www.therpf.com/f9/daft-punk-thomas-bangalter-helmet-build-103963/

Art, check out post #54 in that thread, we know you like widescreen, stop pretending you don't.

Hahaha. I do indeed love widescreen! That is why I have dual 24" monitors!

We are working on the image thing. Will get it resolved as quickly as we can.

 

[dualedge]

I don't think anyone should get their feathers ruffled over the logo using "the RPF" ... that's been done now for quite a long time (except for the legacy Star Wars skin/banner image maybe.)

RPF still means "replica prop forum" but the acronym took on a life of its own a long time ago by the common usage among the members - not just the staff. Besides, the url has been "therpf.com" for a long time.

With moving the forum forward as Art has done, it's easier to develop a brand identity around a logo like this which also nicely ties in with the domain name.

Having designed more than a few things for the RPF in past years, I definitely see this as a move in the right direction. I gotta give respect to some smart decisions on this.

Mind you, I'm extremely opinionated on designs (especially for something like the RPF that has been a big part of my life for a decade now) and I wouldn't have done everything exactly the same but I can recognize some solid planning and quality work when I see it.

 

[Art Andrews]

That's a great attitude, Art. :confused

Sorry, just don't have time to play "appease those who have no desire to be appeased."

 

[CJ 617]

Loving the new look to the forum! Very clean and slick! A job well done

 

[Chronos]

...when you scale them down to fit in the banner, the icons are so small that they start to look bad.

BTW, I need to give credit where credit is due. RPF member, riskbreaker helped us with the "collaborate - create - collect" slogan and I love it as it truly defines this community.

That's a very important consideration. Any good logo must pass "The Squint Test". :cool

Cheers, riskbreaker! Fantastic slogan!