Which Banner?

[landbeforetimelover]

I've been contemplating creating a new site banner for the LBT funsite and I've been having a bit of trouble.  I've created two so far, but I don't think I'm happy with the new one.  Here are the choices:

Old banner:



New banner:



When deciding which one you like the best, please take into account how they look on my website.  Here's a snapshot of each of the banners on the site:





So, which one do you like better?  The old one or the new one?

NOTE:  I could not round the corners on the image because it's a GIF, which is limited to 256 colors so it wouldn't look right if I did.  Thankfully, corner rounding can be done using a little bit of CSS and Javascript in my website, so the image will look different on my website than just pasted here.

[Vilstrup]

I like the new banner. It's more alive than the old one, and I think it matches better with the website. The website is blue... so is the banner... match!!
blue+green= no go mate.

That is my oppinion... and mine alone. I'll kill anybody trying to convince me otherwise    (Joke)

[Mumbling]

Same as Vilstrup's opinion.

[Malte279]

I agree the new one looks better. The colors fit better to that of the webpage and there is kind of an "empty space" on the left side of the old banner, which is not the case with the new one.

[landbeforetimelover]

Thanks for all your replies guys, but...well after I saw how horrible the GIF colors really were on my desktop computer (my laptop always makes images look better than they really are.  I hate that.), I was horrified so I had to create a new banner in the PNG format.  You guys should have told me it was that bad. Anyway, here's the new one:



Here's how it looks on the site:



So......What d'ya guys think?

[Mumbling]

It didnt look bad to me. But I like this one too.

[Kor]

I liked the old one, the gang is bigger & easier to see and I like simpler designs, but I guess you've already decided.

[landbeforetimelover]

I liked the old one, the gang is bigger & easier to see and I like simpler designs, but I guess you've already decided.

Just because I have that banner applied doesn't mean I've decided yet.  I just need to check it out.  I would work on it some more, but I'm working now and I don't have time anymore until later today.  I'm also thinking of making holiday banners 'cuz I think that'd be fun.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll find a banner I want permanently in the process of making holiday banners.

[Kor]

Or make a few regular banners that you can change between.  When you get tired of one of them you can switch to another.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

I'm with Kor. It feels to me like the old one's colors clash a little. Land Before Time has always seemed to me to be more green and brown than red and white.

[landbeforetimelover]

Well, I suppose you mean the NEW one. The old one doesn't have any red.

Anyway, this one's staying up until I can design some more.  I'll make a new poll once I make a few of these banners to see what people like the most.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Is the new one the one with the lava in the background? And the mist?

[landbeforetimelover]

Is the new one the one with the lava in the background? And the mist?

Well, I've never made a reply this short before but.......yes.

[Malte279]

When it comes to content of the banner it might be a good idea to fill up some of the empty room in the old banner (with some plants, a treestar or the like). However apart from the banner of its own it is also of interest to see how the banner looks integrated into the webpage and there the colors of the new banner, less peaceful as it may be, harmonize better.

[Petrie.]

I think the new one tries to be too much, meaning you try to add a lot of stuff to the image when all you really need is a title and an image.  I would stick with the old one.

[landbeforetimelover]

Well, I'll make a poll later after I've designed some more.  It will take some time though and the new banner will stay until I decide on one to replace it.  I have decided that I like the new one better than the old one, but I don't like the new one either so I'm going to try my hand at some other ones.  

It should take about a week to get 3-4 of them done.  I just don't have time to do any more at the moment and since it takes from 1-3 hours to make a new banner, it's going to be hard to find the time to do it in my hectic schedule. -_-

[Vilstrup]

Interesting.. hope you come up with some good ones. Happy worktime, mate.

[Littlefoot Fan]

I think the new one blends waaay better than the old one. What you do need to do is dim down that thick white mist you've got all over it. It's just too strong, and probably explains why, like Petrie said, the second one looks like it has too much going on.

[landbeforetimelover]

I wish I could tone down the mist, but this is what the image looks like without it:



As you can see, I have to cover up the ugly crap that makes up most of the banner.  Ya see, you only have a small square image that's say 160px by 150px and you have to make a 780px by 150px banner.  You have to fudge the rest from thin air and it doesn't work very well.  That's what the smoke is for....to cover up the crap.  It's the same story with GOF's new banner.

[Vilstrup]

Better with the mist on, far better.