IMPORTANT: should we change the forum look?

[Artemiy]

Hi all!

Since we shifted to phpBB, many complained that the forum looks too generic, too much like other forums. I am now playing with other theme styles and here are two I found that look nice. BTW I looked at some commercial themes, pretty much all of them are horrible - over-designed, bloated, inconvenient.

You can preview the forum with new themes below. The first theme is similar to the current one but looks closer to our old forum. The second one is more stylish but maybe the different contrast is too much of a shift.

Blue/gray on white theme:
index.php?style=4

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Lime on dark gray theme:
index.php?style=3

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[halo7]

Hi Artemiy, I like the Lime on dark grey theme. I think viewing this color theme for hours wouldn't cause eye strain or eye fatigue after hours of viewing especially in a dim room with no indoor lights or outside light coming through. Just my opinion. Either way they both look good.

[Artemiy]

Yes, the lime on gray is my favorite too. It's very refined in terms of colors and margins here and there, very pleasant to look at for a long time.

[halo7]

Yes, I agree.

[piaknowguy]

I agree as well!

I still like this logo idea or some version of it. I find it quite amazing that the word 'clan' can fit into the word 'Roland' and think it rather clever! =)



Any thoughts?

[halo7]

Cool, if the letters clan can be in red that would be cool.

[piaknowguy]

Thanks! Technically, it could be any combination of colors to suit the website.

[halo7]

PERFECT!

[V-CeeOh]

Sorry to disagree but I tottaly hate the lime layout. I miss the light blue color scheme from the previous Clan :´-(

(BTW I was about to ask you to change the green color of our nickname)

[Artemiy]

V-Cee, I see you hate the green color? :-)

[Artemiy]

After some testing and thinking... The issue is, the lime on gray doesn't really look like Roland Clan. And that blue on white theme, while looks similar to the old Clan, it's top and menu bar don't scale well in the browser. But I like the blue colors and will see if we can tweak the existing theme.

[dbijoux]

You could make the text smaller like the old clan, although we might all need those most excellent glasses you have.

Anything like charcoal reminds me of Fruity Loops, definitely not Roland Clan. The beauty here has always been simplicity and rather neutral colors making it easy to read. IMO, even this basic layout and font is a bit fancy.

Good example of a bad design update is over at DOA. Bloated, slow loading, and only minimal improvements aesthetically. I guess there could be a comparison made with DnB, so maybe it makes sense.

Maybe the clan should be all [ w h i t e ] ?

[Septimo]

I like the grey and lime green all the way... I prefer the dark background and the light characters.... It's nice and easy on the eyes... You don't constantly have that bright white light bashing your eyes... If you change it, I'd suggest the Lime green and dark background...

[halo7]

Yes, lime green on grey is the way to go.

[dbijoux]

I was just joking about all white.

Thing is, unless you're in a cave all the time, dark backgrounds with light text are harder to read and cause more eye strain. Contrast is your friend.

I don't disagree that black/grey/charcoal can be pleasing for some design but there is a reason you don't see it on anything text heavy(news, google, etc.). Okay, there is Future Producers that uses something similar; although have you ever read the posts there? As I mentioned DOA does too, but they are dark and mysterious by definition. I can't think of any other examples right now. IDMforums?