Rebranding Corona

Getting Started Announcements
#141

Sorry @ggurak but you said “the execution is lacking; feels dated, gives the wrong message about the usability of the product and dare i say, it feels cold. i think the logo should be inviting, warm and give an impression of “easy to use” nature” and I’m just not seeing any anything about your own logo that counters this opinion?

It’s fine to dislike the new logo - the world would be boring if we all liked the same things and so we’ll never have something that everybody feels is perfect - but I’m just a bit baffled by your submission. Why does the 2D placement give an “ignite and science feel”, and why is “a science feel” important? What’s welcoming about lowercase? What makes your logo more modern than the chosen submission? How does your logo give the impression of “easy to use”?

Submissions are closed and Solar2D has its logo so this isn’t particularly important really and I’m not trying to antagonise. I just feel that if you’re going to post such a strong judgement of the winning submission and then your own concept, you kind of need that concept to nail the criteria you’ve outlined.

#142

@richard11 fair enough. i do not claim the logo i provided is “the one” or should be used. far from that. it is just to demonstrate my feeling about the selected logo and now i can see i acted impulsive, i guess i’ll delete the post.

but there are some points you mentioned that needs to be clarified. the science feel or the spark is not important for me, rob said that they are for them: “it represents the spark igniting the community”, “We really like the Sci-fi feel of the font”. i tried to show that these elements can be presented in a different design language. i still do think that the selected logo feels like it belongs to some software company from 90’s. sure, i may be alone in this but when you think of the trends and the evolution of some famous logos, it’s there.

Screen-Shot-2020-04-24-at-19-38-27.png

ok. i’ll leave this here. i’d like not to be late for the conversation but what’s done is done. all i want is the best for solar2d :slight_smile:

#143

That does clarify some of your points to be fair and from the evolution of that Xerox logo I can see where you were going now with your own.

No need to delete your post. It’s a valid submission and your points are now backed up. You’re just late to the party, sorry.

#144

Just want to point out that the logo that is selected will need to be refined and improved before use. The strokes dont appear to converge at a common origin, which is surely how it is intended to be

Just saw the logo on the solar2d website and realised that this may have been overlooked and it looks really off at the moment

#145

@famousdog - I do believe the logo is intentionally asymmetric and all the better for it in my opinion as it creates a more dynamic feel.

#146

I just took a look at the Solar2D website and my biggest suggestion is to use “Multi-Platform” as a key selling point. That’s a big reason why I started using it, and now with desktop support it’s even better. Put the various platform logos on the site (including Steam) for some more visual clarity amidst all the text.

Also, “Effective 2D Game Engine” reads petty boring. how about “Incredible 2D Game Engine”

And link text (i.e. “slack”) is same color and no underline, very hidden. Would be good to advertise what’s clickable.

Good movement guys :slight_smile:

#147

@famousdogstudio, The spokes on the logo are as the artist intended. We see no reason to go against her vision. It caught your eye didn’t it :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

@doog, the website most certainly a work in progress.

  1. We can’t activate the Slack link until we have a way to process a form and send an email. Part of this adventure is getting away from a heavy back end. 

  2. I just got my first crack and copy editing the page a few minutes ago. “Effective” is changing, and will likely be changed further. There are a couple of other phrases I’m looking for the right words for.

  3. Yes, we do need to get multi-platform/cross-platform on there. It’s a major selling point for us.

BTW: Keep the feedback coming, we need to get as much polish on the site as we can. We do appreciate it.

#148

I feel that power words like “Incredible” as well as “Awesome” are too generic and not really telling people anything about the strengths of Solar2D. They could just as well be used for any other 2D game engine, and we want Solar2D to stand out from the crowd, right? Why is Solar2D incredible? Why is it awesome?

What if we try to find some words that sound more professional and at the same tell people that Solar2D is actually a game engine with a strong history and not just the new kid on the block? A lot of that information is already given in the texts on the new site, so maybe we can use some of that for the slogan too?

I’m thinking about words like: complete, proven, full-fledged, robust, quality, production ready… 

English is not my first language so I have a hard time picking the perfect words, but I think you understand my point.  :slight_smile:

#149

I didn’t chose Corona because of the name, the icon, the words, the history, the owners etc etc.

I wonder who did…

  1. Solar2D is simple and easy for all

  2. You can create any game or app you want (almost)

  3. Code once and build for iOS, Android, Mac, Pc, Web

  4. Huge collection of plugins

a. Monetization: Appodeal, Admob, Pollfish (I really don’t get why people here don’t talk more about pollfish)

b. All other

Even the biggest noobs want money first :stuck_out_tongue:

Let everyone knows that Solar2D offers all these things in first page of the new website.

Who has them for free?

Please Vlad, don’t miss the forest for the trees.

Perspective is everything and the first months will be crucial.

#150

I was, for a moment, pondering as to why the new website isn’t just using WordPress like the old one, but then I hit a 404 page and saw that it’s hosted on GitHub pages. That’s a great step towards zero cost infrastructure, but how will the forums be integrated given that Discourse isn’t supported on GitHub pages?

Also, I would recommend ditching the logo’s colour palette when designing the website. As someone who designs websites relatively frequently, I don’t see how you can create a beautiful and modern looking website by using the colours in the logo.

#151

I also think it should be emphasized that Solar2D is a game engine for programmers.

#152

I’m not sure about that: for me Corona / Solar was invaluable in coming to coding from an artist’s side. Having something branded too much as a coder’s tool would have scared me off.

#153

Interesting. I hear what you’re saying, but it sounds like you at least had an intention to become a programmer in some way?

My thinking is that we won’t lose many customers by branding Solar for programmers, because most non-programmers will drop off quite quickly anyway when they discover that there are no visual tools to help you. Because let’s be real, there’s no escape from coding if you want to build something in Solar.

On the other hand, as a programmer reading something like “Robust & flexible 2D game engine for programmers” would immediately catch my attention!

Seeing visual tools, drag n drop interfaces etcetera is what would put me off, because I know that it will take me more time to learn the tools than the actual code required to do the same things. Also, “visual coding” tends to make a mess of your code, and give you little or no flexibility when it comes to doing things that fall outside of the template.

Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that most Corona/Solar users would definitely consider themselves programmers, or at least aspiring programmers.

Would be interesting to hear what other people think on this matter.

#154

Maybe something along the lines of “Robust & flexible 2D game engine for programmers of any level.”

So that beginner programmers won’t be put off either, thinking it’s only for people who already know how to code rather than people that want to code.

#155

I think I shouldn’t include the word programmers, because the solar mechanism should be a tool for everyone, regardless of whether it is, or wants to be a programmer, sometimes you just want to solve a software problem by creating an app without actually having to log in. programming world. A good programmer is actually a problem solver, so Solar should be emphasized for its ease and zero cost of usability, in addition to the range of plugins and people using it.

#156

I was not a programmer when I started using Corona.

It was very easy to learn the basics and create a pong game from scratch.

The learning curve was amazing and in two or three months my first game was ready.

I wouldn’t touch Corona if it was a programmer’s tool.

Unity is for programmers too?

Or the UI makes it the best tool for non programmers?

When I was learning Unity, I was a programmer (ty Corona) and it was much harder for me.

Corona was “sold” to me as the absolute SDK for noobs and non programmers.

Right now I couldn’t agree more!

I would really like to know what more people think about this too!!!

#157

FWIW, I remember reading something along the lines of “build an app with just one line of code” followed by a demonstration with display.newImage(). The simplicity of it was a big factor in encouraging me to stick with it. I had tried other software, such as game maker, but found it all too overwhelming and gave up. But I stuck with Corona. I think anyone coming to the solar2d website should very quickly be able to find such a demonstration. It should encourage newbies, while not being off-putting for experienced programmers.

#158

I absolutely disagree that Solar2D/Corona is an engine for “programmers”.

Sure, a person needs to at least learn some basic Lua to get by, but Lua is easy compared to C++ or C# that other engines may require. Again, sure, you could create a game in Unreal using only blueprints or in Unity using only playmaker (or whatever it is called), but I wouldn’t say that Unity and Unreal are engines for “non-programmers” when I know that developing games on said platforms is much more difficult and arduous than on Solar2D/Corona.

Also stating something like that outright would definitely scare off newbies.

#159

Okay, I guess that’s enough answers already to realize I was probably wrong about Solar being for programmers. No hard feelings.  :wink:

But you all bring up other interesting points why people should choose Solar, such as being accessible, using a simple programming language, fast learning curve. That’s exactly the type of information that should have a central place on the new web site.

About the new web site in general, I understand that it’s not finished in any way, but I think there’s way too much text on the landing page right now. I doubt most people will read more than the headlines. Keep it short, keep it simple, and promote the most important things first. People who want to learn more details can always scroll down or follow links to sub pages.

#160

Years ago, I came from the art/design side and morphed into a Flash developer.  The same things that attracted me to Flash are what brought me to Corona - namely, the ability to jump in quickly and sketch out an idea (rapid prototyping) with the added benefit of being able to a deep dive afterward.

I’ll try to think of a way to say that.

@Markus Ranner - there’s this 3rd-party transition library for Solar2D that is great for rapid prototyping . . . if I could just remember the name  :stuck_out_tongue: