A logo with a Popmate for the O
A game called Popmates, about balloons, has an O sitting right there in its name, and it seemed a shame not to use it. This post covers day 6, when the logo was settled.
Three directions
Three directions were tried, each made in code with the same pixel-art tool as the rest of the game, and each checked at full size and at real game size over the title screen's sky and meadow:
- A, Balloon Twist, builds every letter out of a shiny balloon, in the five Popmate colours.
- B, Popmate Peek, puts a Popmate in place of the O, so the logo also introduces the character.
- C, Prism Marquee, sets chunky gold capitals on a gentle carnival arch.
The one that won
I chose Prism Marquee, with the coral Popmate standing in for the O and its string hanging below the word.
The letters follow the same rules as the rest of the art: gold ramps that are lit from the top left, a plain indigo outline instead of black, no magic colours, and strokes thick enough that the word still reads as eight letters at real size.
Small sizes are their own drawings
A logo also has to work small: on the loading screen, and as the tiny icon in a browser tab. Shrinking the big logo would smear its details, so the small versions are drawn separately, not scaled down. The small logo is about half the size, with thinner strokes and its own little balloon:
They are not perfect yet. The balloon O is a little shorter than the capitals, the A in the small logo nearly closes up, and the tiniest icon is busy for its size. Those are noted for a later pass.
The logo now sits on the title screen, on the loading screen and in the header of this blog.