prob has a copyright.

Rough, but you get the "idea":

Rehashed suggestions from last May's Puzzlethon. Note to Arnott: the original (and better imo) font was 'Bedbug' but somehow I've lost it : (. The bedbug font can be seen here: http://d1np3q5ggw0og6.cloudfront.net/uploaded_files/0056/2629/Puzzlethon_white-black.jpg

Same with white background.

'3D' puzzle.

3D white background. Sorry about all the posts, but you can only include 1 image per comment.

[6]

Are you sure?… LOL

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[7] How does that work? If I try to upload a second image it replaces the first one. Let me in on the secret & I'll clean up my mess lol!

That raises a second question: is there a way to remove an image from a comment once you've put it in there? Bueller? ...Bueller? ...Anyone?

Last one, the bastard offspring of [2] and [3].

I think I like [5] and [8]. And [6]. I can't quite decide if I like the white or black background better on Lake's originals. But I like the lightbulb better on black.

Oh, and Lake, I wouldn't bother trying to put more than one in a post on this thread. It's much easier to say "I like [5]" than it is to say "I like the third one in [7]" or "I like the one with the little doohickey below the thingamajig, not the white one though, the black one.. with the little swirley."

Oooh, I really like [8]!

I like the orange/blue. Seems like 'overall impression' should carry more weight than detail. Detail will likely come into play only the very first time someone looks at it, after that it's much more overall impression.

One of the things I liked best in my original suggestion was the way the text kind of circled the center image, giving the impression of a round patch or badge. It does require using a slightly smaller lightbulb, but not so small that it loses it's impact imo. And the 'text circle' gives a very polished appearance to me. What about something like below if I can figure out how to reverse the direction of the word 'PUZZLEMAKER' (while keeping the same curvature)? Tweaks (if this is worth pursuing) could include reversing the '?' in TAN?A as per [13], and thickening the 'rays' coming off the bulb and repositioning them a bit so they stand out better.

Thoughts?

Definitely like the orange lightbulb better. I still think I like the black background better but don't mind the white. I think I kinda like the circle method in [15] better than [13] but maybe just barely. I wouldn't like the circle if the direction of Puzzlemaster was swapped. And I like the backwards '?' for the G in TANGA.

Hmmm... as I look at it more, the rays are kind of in the way of the letters in [15]. I like the way they look better in [13]. And I like them blue more than purple.

gray

black

[16] Ha, I'd already changed the purple rays back to blue before I read your comment. Removing the rays at the top would not only eliminate them from bleeding into the text, it would also allow increasing the size of the light bulb. BUT, I'm not gonna do any more at this point based on our opinions until we hear back from Arnott.

Edit: clarification, that would be reverse AND flip 'PUZZLEMAKER' so that it reads the same as in [13].

I like both the gray and the black backgrounds better than the white. I'm fine with [13] or with the rounder look on the other details, but definitely like the darker backgrounds better.

One more observation: looking at it again, I think a 3rd '?' in PUZZLEMAKER should replace the 'R" rather than the 'K". With just a quick glance it's too easy to interpret the word as depicted above as PUZZLEMASTER; leaving the 'K' intact keeps the key meaning clear.

ok, I found that 'bedbug' type font I originally used and couldn't resist one more mockup on the theme using it. 'Bedbug' doesn't have a '?', but I'm sure we could find a different font that is close enough to substitute a replacement '?' if so desired. Not gonna take the time to do it now as I don't know if this is even still under consideration or if Arnott's leaning towards one of his own mockups. Black background here, got it in white and gray as well. but won't clutter up the post any more unless someone specifically wants to see one or the other.

Looking at them all on the BadgeBoy page, the second badge (also shown in [24]) is definitely my favorite.

I also like this version of that badge with rays colored orange:

I see what you're saying about the black; it's an awesome badge by itself but it does dominate the profile page. I really like the 'bedbug' font used in the one below. If I can, I'd like to withdraw all of my other 'lightbulb' mockups in favor of the ones with this font.

Since the black background seems to have been kind of ruled out, I'd reduce my submissions to this one and the one above.

[28] Obsess much? Now I know where "crazy as a bedbug" comes from.

[30] Gotta love the irony of that statement coming from a resident of the Eugenia Psychiatric Hospital lol! I take it you're not a 'god is in the details' kind of guy : ).

[31] I don't suffer from mental illness. I enjoy it.

I like [29] a lot. But I also like the current badge, too. Am I the only one?

My votes on the ideas so far:

1st: [29] I really like the text-circle 'patch' look. And in spite of how much I like the idea of the lightbulb, I like the way the puzzle in this one looks even more. It seems to pop out of the page in an almost 3-D way. And since the puzzlemakers are the lifeblood of the site, I think this badge should be one of the best looking ones on the page, which is a tall order given how flashy the 'Love Bomber' badge is.
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2nd: [28] Again, the text-circle 'patch' effect.
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3rd: [24] I do like what the lightbulb represents.

Just thought I'd throw this concept into the ring. The relative sizes of each element can/should change, but I kind of like the concept of actually building a puzzle, too.

(That's a construction crane, btw)

Maybe better...

[36] One reason I like the puzzle piece designs over the lightbulb is that, to me at least, the lightbulb represents the act of solving or unlocking the puzzle, while the jigsaw pieces (in all the designs that have them) represent "building". If there were a "I solved my first Tanga Puzzle" badge, then in that case I think I'd prefer the light bulb one (or like a sherlock holmes-themed magnifying glass/detective themed one, maybe).

Edit: Changed again. Cut off the top of the crane. Maybe cleaner that way, although less recognizable..

Ok, sorry to also spam the thread. Cleaner, yet?

[40] I like that one (the textless crane on the badge page) a lot. I think I'd like it even more if the crane got bigger. Might have to photoshop a bit of the length off of the arm supporting the puzzle piece to get it to fit.

[36] I can see your point, and realize that as the gatekeeper your 'weightings' are going to, well, carry more weight lol.

[38] I could see see your point about the imagery of puzzle pieces vs. a light bulb if only images were involved, but doesn't the fact that there's a ''PUZZLEMAKER' label pretty much negate that as an issue? In the overall context of the badges proposed here it seems clear that the 'idea' (lightbulb) relates to puzzle creation rather than to puzzle solving, at least to me : ).

Arnott: You might want to choose what you consider to be the best of the realistic contenders and clear out the rest of the mockups in BadgeBoys profile. There are so many similar designs it's a bit difficult to compare because of the 'clutter effect'. E.g., get rid of black backgrounds if you feel they're too overwhelming to use, drop the images you don't feel are representative enough, and keep only what you consider to be the best of the similar lightbulb designs ( [24] seems to have a lot of support and I hope [28] might deserve consideration as well). It would probably be more efficient to address finer details (such as whether to include any '?'s or certain color choices) after a design is chosen rather than to try to include all possible options at this point. Just a suggestion : ).

Oops, hadn't refreshed the page between when I started typing my last comment and your latest posts. I'm not quite as much a fan of requiring a viewer to scroll over a badge to get an idea of what it represents, but that's just one man's opinion.

Here's one more suggestion before I have to get out of here. This discussion has been pretty much dominated by a few people which is fine since we're doing the lifting w.r.t. getting something done. But once you've got several good, feasible candidates, if you still want input from the Tanga community, what about starting a new thread with just those selected candidate badges and leave it up for a couple of days since Tanganites schedules are so varied. Include a link back to this thread for those who might want to pore through details, but the new thread would be like a finished report as compared to this one which is more like a working document. (Obviously remind folks that while you're looking for input, it's not a vote and that you will choose the final design)

Just a thought : ).

I was thinking making a new thread if you wanted to allow people who might not be around an a weekend the chance to provide input on a (mostly) fixed set of completed badges, not keeping open the creative process it's been today.

If you haven't absolutely ruled out black you should display the one below instead of what you've got on BadgeBoys page. I didn't upload it 'cause it seemed like black wasn't really an option for you. Same for the gray one you've got displayed.

Just to weigh in, while I like the idea of the crane and what it represents, I have to say I don't care for it nearly as much as a badge. Not just the aesthetics, but more that it seems like a picture of a toy rather than a badge. Do you see it in any of it's current forms meshing well with the rest of the badges?

One last submission and then I'm gonna bow out. I kind of like the idea of being able to identify it as a Puzzlemaker badge without having to scroll over it as I'm thinking most aren't likely to do so. It was months before I realized that there was text associated with the badges that you could display by scrolling over them ('course I might be a little slower than the average Tanganite lol). But your comment made me realize that the word 'Tanga' is pretty much superfluous. The badge below uses 'Puzzlemaker' as much a design element to create the 'patch' look as it is an identifier. It uses a gradient fade for the background to simulate the effect of the bulb actually being lighted. This allows dropping the 'rays', a bit cleaner look imo (I realize that others may disagree).

[47] Ooh is right. Very nice. I like the crane a lot too but that last one looks really polished.

[46] That's the first one I really like. Took ya long enough.

Sorry to prolong this, but I had to add one more into the running. It combines a couple puzzle types. The font might be a tad small (fixable...) but you can click on it to get the big picture if you need to.

Also I think [46] is my favorite lightbulb one, too.

Ok, bigger font. Hopefully big enough.

ok last one for now, I promise. This is the same as [51] but I've manually downsampled the image instead of letting Tanga do it for me.

FWIW, and I hate crasing the party at such a late hour seeing that some people have put a lot of efforts into their submissions BUT, I too, like armyknife, associated the lightbulb more with "solving puzzles". However, I had no idea what would represent "creating puzzles". I must admit that I really like the crane and the crossword puzzle pieces, especially in that they convey more the idea of puzzle creation.

I know what you guys are saying about the lightbulbs, but I also see the point that the puzzlemakers cause the lightbulb moments for people... and it does clearly say "puzzlemaker". I like [55] and [46] because they really stand out and aren't too busy. However, if we go away from the lightbulb, I also really like the crane - that's my favorite non-lightbulb. And I do like it quite a bit so I'll be happy whether you go with the crane or the lightbulb. I really like how the crane is building a puzzle - so it clearly (imo) communicates PUZZLEMAKER without actually putting that in text.

Would it be easy to try something like [55] where the outer color fades to the default tanga badge background color (like behind the fruit and other badges)? I think that could help it fit in among the rest more easily. I think the triple-"puzzlemaker" is my favorite style of the lightbulb ones. Really hammers the point home.

For the crossword/puzzle pieces one, I actually think the thicker-text version came out better on the badge page (i.e. it's more noticeable and legible). Perhaps theres a optimum balance in between the two versions.

I'm not sure I can quite see the crane one becoming as polished as the other two. As [45] said, I'm not sure how we'd move away from it looking like a toy and towards it looking like a badge...

To me , a lightbulb conveys coming up with (dare I say "inventing"?) an idea--the first and most important, most difficult step in creating a puzzle. The "AHA" moment I get when solving a puzzle might be better represented by this image:

Also adding a version that looks more like a hypercross than a crossword. Not sure if it'll be better or not. Might be too boring.

[59] ha, nice. I also found (err, google did) this image below. It's certainly part of the same process :)

I also like the symbolism of the crane the best. What I'm hung up on is a comment Arnott made when people were mocking up badges for the Oscars contest where he pointed out that the new badge needed to 'fit in aesthetically' with the current ones. To me the mockups of a crane themed badge are a pretty big departure from the tone of the current badges. But ultimately that determination is up to Arnott (maybe with input from the monkeys?) and if he's ok with it I am too. Heck, that might even open up our options with respect to the design of future badges : ).

I am a bit surprised that so many people see a light bulb as a poor symbolic fit with puzzlemaking. Isn't a light bulb traditionally synonymous with an idea? Since the puzzle idea is the most important step in creating a puzzle (as compared to physically 'building' it), I don't see it as being a bad symbol for association.

Back to more practical matters: since yesterday was the first time I've played with gradient shading in my photo editor, I played around a bit more after sending in my last mockup. The one below is a version 1.1. A bit nicer shading imo and I tried to depict a 'lighted' bulb.

EDIT: oops, didn't see Jewelia's comment before I posted this one. Pardon my redundancy lol.

[62] For me, the lightbulb fits better with solving puzzles than with making puzzles. I really like the symbolism of the crane, but the newer lightbulbs are imo much better than the earlier ones. I like the triple puzzlemaker circle. It looks classy.

I agree on the triple 'puzzlemaker' circle. version 2.0

Agree with [59] & [62] about the light bulb. Of course solvers are going to associate it with solving because that's all they've done. But I've had a very similar a-ha feel when coming up with a puzzle or tweaking it in a certain way.

The light bulb variations are definitely the best aesthetic fit, I think. I find the crossword ones boring and hard to read (sorry, armyknife - I hope you won't take offense since I absolutely love your crane).

And I personally don't have a problem with the Puzzlemaker badge standing out a bit more than the various Puzzlethon and fruit badges. After all, if we didn't have such a great group of puzzlemakers, most of us wouldn't be here.

See, when I come up with a puzzle, I don't go "a-ha" (i.e., lightbulb), instead I go "mwhhaa-haaa-ha... mwhaaa-ha-haaaa"! :-)

[66] That's the 'evil puzzlemaker' in you displaying itself lol.

Army's [60] series reminds me of the ear of Corn that was recently added to the fruit. It looks great in full size but when scaled down to badge size so much of the detail is lost it loses much of what made it look so good in the first place (although if it did scale I'd suggest somehow adding some color).

Arnotts [65] series: I like the 'three Puzzlemaker' circle better than just two. And while the added colors make the badge 'pop' what I don't like is that they also detract from the focus on the lightbulb; I'd like to see it almost jumping off the page as if it's shining brightly.

[58] Not only do I like your 'fade' idea, I think we could take it even further. The badge below is a gif image on a transparent background. All that will show up on the page is the circle, so it will actually look like a round patch regardless of the pages background color. I think that might make a nice distinction to highlight the Puzzlemakers badge while still keeping close to the general feel of the rest of the badges. The shading and text font could of course be tweaked, but I thought I'd throw it out there to display the possibilities. I'm curious to see what it looks like amongst the square badges on BadgeBoys page.

Badge preferences: I prefer light bulb for its symbolism as I think the idea comes first before the construction / tweaking (the crane many imply that this is "heavy" work). The light bulb sheds light which may symbolize spreading enjoyment to others. For me the crane symbolizes what is happening now with the construction of various designs based on original ideas.

I prefer some wording on the badge, but any wording needs to be clear. Three words in a circle means the font is relatively small and the words not so easy to read, but the choice of background may affect that.

My personal preference is for a vertical light bulb, but the one on an angle could symbolize the "twist" that is part of some puzzles.

I'm glad we do not have to vote for any designs. Arnott, I hope you enjoy mulling it over.

[68] I probably should have phrased that differently; it sounds like I'm emphasizing your previous comments while I meant to reiterate the concept. I included the reference to your previous comments because they were what initiated my appreciation for keeping the badges similar in tone. Kind of a Monster (me) / Dr. Frankenstein (you) thing lol. But, like I also said, a shift in tone may open up a lot more options in the future, so if that's the decision, onwards and upwards!

I'm going to be direct; sorry if this comes off as rude.

I don't see anything significantly better than the current badge -- I actually think the current badge is pretty decent. All but two on here & on BadgeBoy seem to be clear downgrades to me, the two exceptions being...
• [4]/[6] (decent, but the related versions on BadgeBoy seem garish and trite), and
• [51] (I like what the image is doing here, but esthetically should be more crisp). I think this might be an upgrade to the original. Nice work!

...yep, that was pretty rude. Sorry.

Edit: I should clarify as to what inspired the words "garish & trite" ... it was the frequent presence of bright lightbulbs pasted in front of fluorescent backgrounds; or, exactly the type of overused in-your-face images I see too much of elsewhere on the internet, billboards & the like. And it looks like a third sorry is in order: sorry.

[72] Let him apologize. There is no reason to be rude or sarcastic on these forums.

Reminds me of years ago, sitting at the dinner table with the family, when my wife would say to our daughters, "Your Father has an opinion he'd like to keep to himself!" I still laugh at that line now 20 years later.

[71] I tend to agree. I'm having a difficult time getting excited about any of the options presented. I just don't see any of them as clearly superior to what already exists. I'm far from a GD pro, so I feel like I'm unable to contribute anything myself.

[71] Your clarification confused me. You said that the variations of [4]&[6] look "garish & trite" on the badgeboy page and then clarified that that was because of the overuse of lightbulbs... which aren't in [4]&[6].

I can't help but wonder if your feelings towards the others have to do with so many bright lightbulbs being grouped together in one place. I find it hard to look at the badgeboy page and do anything but gloss over.

To me, the existing badge recedes into the background. The bargellos-thon badge is much more eye-catching. So are several of the other thon badges and most of the fruit. Maybe others feel differently, but I am much more proud of being a puzzlemaker than I am of having solved 50 bargellos cryptopii in one weekend. That's part of why I gravitate toward the brighter ones with more of one single image instead of a bunch of tiny detail. My desire is for it to stand out more. Giving to this community by making puzzles is a big deal, imo. So I'm still partial to [62][55]... and [39], even though I like referring to the "idea" stage of puzzlemaking more than the "construction" stage. It's still fun.

BadgeBoys page was a useful spot to keep the many prototypes as they were being developed. But to get a true idea it almost seems like one needs to see a prototype integrated into a ''reasonably decorated' members profile page. Arnott, if you're still looking for feedback, is it worth you picking your top 4 or 5 candidates and throwing each one onto a members profile page? I'm guessing there's little chance you'd realistically consider anything beyond your top 4 or 5 favorites picks . . .

[77] Is the "High Level Mystery Fruit" what Adam ate in the Garden of Eden?

I like the idea of a permanent BadgeBoy profile. Right now when I want to see the fruit I go to Philana's page but she doesn't have all of the badges.

Here's another idea for BadgeBoys profile page. Use the first shoutout to post links to threads that have ongoing relevance such as the Puzzler's Guide, Puzzlemaker's Guide, New Fruit, etc.

[77] Not to mention an interesting leaderboard month, and year. How would Philana react to not being #1 over those periods?

[75] asked how I thought Lake's original images related to the variations "garish & trite" lightbulb ones. Well, he was the first to post a circular "puzzlemaker" text around a central image. Later he pasted a lightbulb as the central image. Eventually the "?"s got taken away and the background changed to fluorescent.

There are two qualities I would want in any badge: (1) excellent and/or unique visual appearance, (2) appropriate content/symbolism.

To me, lightbulb = "idea!", and while this certainly plays a role in puzzle-making, it also does in puzzle-solving (as well as a host of other things in life; indeed, the lightbulb is an overused symbol). Also, a logo/badge consisting of (plain) circular text around an object is unoriginal (not bad, necessarily, but uninteresting).

I agree with sonjahi that it would be nice if the puzzle-maker badge would stand out more than it does; but not at the expense of appearing garish (sorry, but [55] and their ilk certainly look this way to me).

The crane is my favorite use of symbolism here. Puzzle-making is hard work! So many people have good ideas for puzzles, but how many of these good ideas actually end up as a puzzle at all? For the puzzles that do get made, the puzzle-makers I respect the most are those put extra care into the actual implementation & appearance of their puzzles. The crane certainly satisfies my "(2)". I worry about its look; is it clear what's going on in the image?

I also like the symbolism of ArmyKnife's HC badges, and they have a pretty decent look to them too. I can't figure out what, but something seems odd about them ... maybe it's too HC-specific?

I really don't think we need more prototypes (this could go on forever) but I'll throw this out to illustrate a philosophical discussion point. I think I finally figured out one of the things that doesn't seem quite right to me about the crane as a symbolic image for 'puzzlemaking'. It's such an 'industrial' image for what is actually a very creative process. To me, a better symbol would be something more 'hands on', like a potter's hands somehow 'throwing' a puzzle, or something like below. Again, included to illustrate a point, not for consideration as the badge this late in the game; besides, it employes the dreaded 'box puzzle'. (sorry Arnott, I do understand your point, that last part was said completely in jest lol!)

[85] Even though I've expressed dislike of many of the designs here, I am very appreciative of the effort you and others have put into making them. I feel like kind of an idiot throwing out my comments w/o even contributing ... lol.

So, is [85] a picture of Arnott about to chop a hated box puzzle into bits? (just kidding! cute idea actually)

[86] My interpretation was that in addition to soliciting ideas, Arnott was also interested in getting feedback from the community. And I understand that people are 'wired' differently, so I expect to see different tastes and priorities regarding design reflected in the feedback. In other words, it's all good as far as I'm concerned : ).

[86] Your second comment is much better than my original weak attempt at humor. Yup, the badge is like that photo of the Old Hag / Young Woman Wearing a Necklace. Depending on how you look at it it's either a depiction of someone forging a puzzle or Arnott smashing a hated box puzzle into bits lol.

I would like the oww puzzlethon badge to look like a big O with the words 2012 puzzlethon on top.
Kinda tired of the blocks.

Sorry, I realize now you are talking about the puzzle maker badget. I was thinking about the oww thon badge. Oh well, read the post too fast.
sorry.

I know you're likely putting the finishing touches on the new badge right now. I'm putting this on 'paper' to maybe stimulate more ideas for potential future badges. Substituted the box puzzle for a 3-D jigsaw piece which ideally should be bright red or yellow given the monotone nature of the rest of it. It isn't one of my favorites on the page, but again, might stimulate some other ideas down the road..

Nah, this one is better as a square.

It's interesting to me that the background shading in [92] and [93] is the same, but my mind perceives the shading in [92] as the picture happening inside of a globe, while the same shading in [93] makes it instead seem like there's a light source behind the puzzle piece.

[94] I hadn't noticed that before but now that you mention it it really does stand out!