Forum:New Banner

Hey everyone! I'm seeing a lot of changes in the layout of this site from the main page to the site logo and it strikes me as odd that nobody has brought up our site banner. We've had it for two or three years so far and truth be told, I haven't liked it from the start. I mean no offense to the original creator of the banner, but the placement of the elements (planet, Halo+Substance, and the battlecruiser) seems all out of place and appears to be something done on Microsoft Paint than anything. More so, its contents seem very skewed to the Covenant and their perspective in the Bungie Trilogy whereas the banner for a wiki with such an expansive field of content as ours should have a relatively neutral or all-inclusive focus (to include Human, Covenant, Forerunner, etc.).

Right now this forum isn't meant to vote on or even decide if we should choose a new banner for the wiki, rather, just to pool together our resources into seeing if people are interested in doing so. Saying that however, I do have some recommendations and guidelines if you're serious about having it being elected as the new banner:

body { background: #FFFFFF url(/images/5/59/Halopedia_Banner_2.jpg) repeat-x left top; }
 * Image resolution — 1920x200 (or whatever Subtank recommends us to have)
 * Format and size — PNG or JPG and under 500KB
 * Characteristics — Crisp and clear quality and void of clutter and an unnatural composition. Elements should be neutral to the universe (landscapes, stellar imagery, etc.) or have an "all-inclusive" focus (to include Human, former Covenant, Forerunner, Flood, etc.).
 * Tips — Before submitting, create your own nimbus.css page to test out how your banner would look. To do so, create a page with the title User:USERNAME/nimbus.css and enter the following code. Note, to see your image presented as the banner, go to its unique file page and click on the image itself. From there, copy and paste the url to match with the following example:

Anyhoo, good luck and I hope to see some awesome submissions! :)

Love,

Grizzlei
Using the background from the Halo 4 Interactive Guide on Waypoint, I cropped out the Warthog section and the unshaded section from the right on the original panorama, and flipped it horizontally. On the "main" banner above, I very slightly lowered the brightness to reduce it being such an eyesore. :P

Comments
Tested it out on my css page and it looks good. I have no problems changing it. :)-- 14:44, 31 October 2012 (EDT)
 * Did you upload your own banner?
 * Not yet, but I'll get to it eventually. I was just saying that you're banner looks real nice and pretty. :)-- 14:50, 31 October 2012 (EDT)
 * I hope you do! While I'd love for my submission to take the crown, I still want to see what other beauties people have. And I can't take credit for it at all really when all I did was flip it around really. :P
 * The Grizz's is pretty cool. I wish we could make the green stand out a bit more. I thought at first it was Flood biomass. Tuckerscreator (stalk ) 17:56, 31 October 2012 (EDT)
 * Are you referring to the grass to the right of the Forerunner spire/object?

Your banner works rather well with the new site logo as well as from a visual standpoint. However, I think that instead of simply having a mostly neutral and random image, the site banner should be able to instantly encapsulate the Halo series. Yours has a Forerunner structure so that's one such element, but the rest is mostly cliff faces. I also don't like the current banner all that much; having a Halo there is a good choice if we're going for iconic elements (and I think we should) but aside that it has too much clutter. The last time we voted, I and many others proposed this one - it certainly fills the criteria for iconic, having some of the most recognizable visual elements of the series. Though it probably wouldn't work as well with the current logo, I'm still in the favor of something similar; that is, scenery that evokes the first game's level Halo. Maybe something from the Installation 04 Firefight map, along the lines of this image? I might try and come up with something. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 16:26, 31 October 2012 (EDT)
 * On second thought, don't think I need to come up with anything - I've found a favorite among the ones from last time: this one. It has a Halo to make it sufficiently relevant to the site's focus, a neutral enough coloration so it doesn't stick out too much, and it works very well with the Chief logo. Don't think we need anything more than that. --Jugus (Talk  | Contribs ) 16:32, 31 October 2012 (EDT)
 * The first one you listed with the Halo ring and the facility on Forge World looks neat, but the emphasis on the blue is a bit displeasing. The second one looks pretty boring and makes us look like an environmental conservation wiki.