Banner contest

[AlexLachance]

Hey,

There's a little banner made at the top that's very basic that says ''CAD Forum''. I suggest having a mini-contest inside the forum to have people submit their own stab at a banner. I'm sure people would be fine with the eternal glory of having created the first banner

I'm sure some very interesting things could come out. Who knows, maybe Paul would model one entirely from SolidWorks? I know I'd pick up Photoshop and give it a go. Used to create forum ''signatures'' when I was a teenager so it'd be fun to give it a go

-Header dimensions should not exceed 1200 pixel x 100pixel. The banner can be made bigger and then resized accordingly afterwards, but not the other way around.
-There are no colors imposed, altough it would be neat to have a logo that matches the actual default template.
-Banner must contain "CAD Forum" and "A place for CAD users by CAD users"
-Bonus points for creating some of/all of it with a CAD program
-Do not use copyrighted material

Reward:
Eternal forum glory

[matt]

Hey,

There's a little banner made at the top that's very basic that says ''CAD Forum''. I suggest having a mini-contest inside the forum to have people submit their own stab at a banner. I'm sure people would be fine with the eternal glory of having created the first banner

I'm sure some very interesting things could come out. Who knows, maybe Paul would model one entirely from SolidWorks? I know I'd pick up Photoshop and give it a go. Used to create forum ''signatures'' when I was a teenager so it'd be fun to give it a go

Yeah, let's do it.

[mike miller]

Bonus points for doing it strictly with CAD!

Seriously, what kind of forum did you think this was anyway? (need a dope-slap emoji)

[mattpeneguy]

The other place has this:

Shouldn't be too hard to come up with something better...

[Jaylin Hochstetler]

The other place has this:
image.png

Shouldn't be too hard to come up with something better...

Now I have to clean the coffee off my monitors.
That is hilarious @mattpeneguy!

[mattpeneguy]

I don't know why I used the sarc tag...The platform already bogs down and doesn't refresh right, now. When all the old forum content is over there and there's more than 3 people using it, it may be more like this:

[mike miller]

I've got a little time to tinker but..................I need ideas!

Someone want to post some screenshots for inspiration?

[matt]

I've got a little time to tinker but..................I need ideas!

Someone want to post some screenshots for inspiration?

You could make a collage of a bunch of different models - maybe SW marketing models, or splash screen models, models you collect from the forum or internet ...

You could make a billet machined bulletin board heading with machined polished text...

You could make something that looks like marketing materials with a bunch of beautiful young people of assorted races pointing mindlessly at a screen with nothing on it.

Make a header image that uses as many different CAD techniques as you can think of, assemblies, sheet metal, welded frames, surfacing, electrical, piping, bolted connections...

[mike miller]

I've got a little time to tinker but..................I need ideas!

Someone want to post some screenshots for inspiration?

You could make a collage of a bunch of different models - maybe SW marketing models, or splash screen models, models you collect from the forum or internet ...

Are they public domain?

You could make a billet machined bulletin board heading with machined polished text...

@matt , for your own health and well-being, don't mention "machined from billet" to a machinist. That is a mutual pet peeve on par with "aircraft grade aluminum".

You could make something that looks like marketing materials with a bunch of beautiful young people of assorted races pointing mindlessly at a screen with nothing on it.

Uh......hmmmm.......*clears throat*......nah. I'll pass. I'm not woke enuf.

Make a header image that uses as many different CAD techniques as you can think of, assemblies, sheet metal, welded frames, surfacing, electrical, piping, bolted connections...

Now that's an idea! Except I don't have Electrical or Routing add-ins......but I could do the rest if I have an idea for something other than a dream-catcher's primary canuter valve.

[AlexLachance]

Some basic guidelines (@matt please confirm if I'm mistaken)

-Header dimensions should not exceed 1200pixel x 100pixel
-There are no colors imposed, altough it would be neat to have a logo that matches the actual default template.
-Banner must contain "CAD Forum" and "A place for CAD users by CAD users"
-Bonus points for creating some of/all of it with a CAD program
-Do not use copyrighted material


I will try picking Photoshop back up this weekend and have a go at it, unless I totally forget about it.

[matt]

Some basic guidelines (@matt please confirm if I'm mistaken)

-Header dimensions should not exceed 275pixel x 90pixel
-There are no colors imposed, altough it would be neat to have a logo that matches the actual default template.
-Banner must contain "CAD Forum" and "A place for CAD users by CAD users"
-Bonus points for creating some of/all of it with a CAD program
-Do not use copyrighted material


I will try picking Photoshop back up this weekend and have a go at it, unless I totally forget about it.

Yeah, that's all good except the header can be up to 1200x100. I like to keep it narrow at the top so we don't waste a lot of space, forcing too much scrolling.

The mobile version of the theme I use is reasonable.

We might trim down the available themes to those that work with all of the extensions we have added in, and that will make adding a header to all of them easier.

The header should be something that looks good to CAD users. Hang the rest of them.

[matt]

Damn. Didn't use enough purple!


Yeah, public domain. Tell you what. You can use anything you find on my dezignstuff.com site or in the SW Bibles or Mastering SolidWorks books (just run it by me first to make sure it's mine). Although I don't have a lot of (ok, any) electrical stuff. Hold it, I do, actually... in the chapter on automated assembly features I have some stuff that looks like wires and connectors.

[mattpeneguy]

My apologies for the off topic posts...I read it as a "Banter contest"...

Kidding aside, I think the important part is to make sure the aspect ratio is what @matt needs. It may be better to supply him with a higher res picture than what he needs, say 2400 x 200 instead of 1200 x 100. You can always reduce image quality but getting it back is near impossible.

[AlexLachance]

My apologies for the off topic posts...I read it as a "Banter contest"...

Kidding aside, I think the important part is to make sure the aspect ratio is what @matt needs. It may be better to supply him with a higher res picture than what he needs, say 2400 x 200 instead of 1200 x 100. You can always reduce image quality but getting it back is near impossible.

Very valid point Matt!

[matt]

[mattpeneguy]

Also @matt,
Thinking about this some more. You may consider upping the quality because going forward monitors are all going to be 4k minimum. So getting as good quality original images now may be best. I know our Department website logos and such look terrible on 4k monitors because they're all low resolution.
What would be the best is if you could get the image in SVG, but I don't know how to do that in SW (may be possible in Composer or another CAD package).

[jcapriotti]

My banner entry for the win:

[matt]

My banner entry for the win:

oh, geez.

[Tom G]

I've got a fine idea that I'd like to work up. Is there a time-frame? I'd like to work on this after I have captured what I want from the old Solidworks forum - that is, after this week.

[matt]

I've got a fine idea that I'd like to work up. Is there a time-frame? I'd like to work on this after I have captured what I want from the old Solidworks forum - that is, after this week.

If I'd been on top of things, I'd have had something like this going for April 2, but ... I know it takes volunteers a while to do stuff, but if you don't give a deadline it doesn't get done. So... We'll start a poll for choosing the winner on April 21. Get your entries in by then.

[mattpeneguy]

Here's my suggestion:

image.png (7.71 KiB) Viewed 21416 times

[zwei]

Dropping mine here...
Just a rough sketch at the moment.

Update:

• Upload a higher resolution version (see attachment)
• Adjust lighting to make side edge more visible
• Font use: OpenSans (It should be under Apache License 2.0, should it should not face any copyright infringement...)
• Logo created using SOLIDWORKS and Powerpoint

Preview (Open image in new tab)

Light Mode	Dark Mode
logo_lightmode.png	logo_darkmode.png

[matt]

Dropping mine here...
Just a rough sketch at the moment.
image.png

Looks great!

We'll start voting on April 21, so ~2.5 weeks to go!

[zwei]

Dropping mine here...
Just a rough sketch at the moment.
image.png

Looks great!

We'll start voting on April 21, so ~2.5 weeks to go!

Made some updates in the previous reply, so i am done

[matt]

My banner entry for the win:

You've got to do better than this to win eternal glory in the CADForum logo contest. Still a pretty low bar. Entries due by April 21, when we'll start a poll. Gloating starts for one lucky individual on April 26.

We don't have any prizes aside from eternal glory right now, but that might change. Still, eternal glory in a bunch of over achievers like we have here is pretty good!

[jcapriotti]

@matt, you mean you want me to enter a serious entry?

Cause I can do this all day.

image.png

[AlexLachance]

I tried downloading Photoshop this weekend but it seems it's a lot harder to get then it was 10 years ago, besides Gimp is there any other software that's free that I could use..?

[AlexLachance]

@matt, you mean you want me to enter a serious entry?

Cause I can do this all day.

image.png

That kinda wins it in my book

[Roasted By John]

I just seen this thread this morning, so here is my entry "Bed Of Nails" which was done using SolidWorks, this one is also Dave Bear's favorite SW Art, so anyone that remembers the Dave Bear story will recall that they applied a Skin on his laptop using the "Bed Of Nails" picture.

I can supply a copy of the original pc, it's rather large, but it can be resized to whatever you need.

image.png

[zwei]

I just seen this thread this morning, so here is my entry "Bed Of Nails" which was done using SolidWorks, this one is also Dave Bear's favorite SW Art, so anyone that remembers the Dave Bear story will recall that they applied a Skin on his laptop using the "Bed Of Nails" picture.

I can supply a copy of the original pc, it's rather large, but it can be resized to whatever you need.

image.png

Amazing...

Some suggestion:
It will be even more amazing if the pic provide some indication that it is done using CAD as i think this will make it serve better as our CAD forum logo..
My thought is that if you still have the original model, maybe you can try render two view (full color like the pic, wireframe/mesh/hidden-line view), cut them in half and combine them

image.png

[DennisD]

I just seen this thread this morning, so here is my entry "Bed Of Nails" which was done using SolidWorks, this one is also Dave Bear's favorite SW Art, so anyone that remembers the Dave Bear story will recall that they applied a Skin on his laptop using the "Bed Of Nails" picture.

I can supply a copy of the original pc, it's rather large, but it can be resized to whatever you need.

image.png

Amazing...

Some suggestion:
It will be even more amazing if the pic provide some indication that it is done using CAD as i think this will make it serve better as our CAD forum logo..
My thought is that if you still have the original model, maybe you can try render two view (full color like the pic, wireframe/mesh/hidden-line view), cut them in half and combine them

image.png

I love your idea and your example. You should be in Marketing! How are you a lieing?

[jcapriotti]

My thought is that if you still have the original model, maybe you can try render two view (full color like the pic, wireframe/mesh/hidden-line view), cut them in half and combine them

Is there a renderer that does this with the wireframe / shaded gradient?

[jcapriotti]

I tried downloading Photoshop this weekend but it seems it's a lot harder to get then it was 10 years ago, besides Gimp is there any other software that's free that I could use..?

Not quite free but fairly inexpensive and currently 50% off ($25) is Affinity Photo. It does 90% of what Photoshop does and you get a perpetual license that you only upgrade when you want. Patches are released monthly and there is a store to purchase brushes, textures, etc.

Affinity Photo = Photoshop
Affinity Designer = Illustrator
Affinity Publisher = InDesign

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/store/

[AlexLachance]

I tried downloading Photoshop this weekend but it seems it's a lot harder to get then it was 10 years ago, besides Gimp is there any other software that's free that I could use..?

Not quite free but fairly inexpensive and currently 50% off ($25) is Affinity Photo. It does 90% of what Photoshop does and you get a perpetual license that you only upgrade when you want. Patches are released monthly and there is a store to purchase brushes, textures, etc.

Affinity Photo = Photoshop
Affinity Designer = Illustrator
Affinity Publisher = InDesign

https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/store/

Will give it a look! Sounds interesting!

[AlexLachance]

So I tried giving it a shot this weekend but I'm just unable to put up something that fits my taste because, well it's been so long since I did "artsy" stuff with Photoshop, and I'm using Gimp rather then photoshop. I still haven't tried what Mr. Capriotti told me about but I might next weekend. WIth the nice weather coming back my weekends are getting busier..

[zxys001]

My banner entry for the win:

..maybe Matt needs a pierced ear with a lure?

[zxys001]

Dropping mine here...
Just a rough sketch at the moment.

Update:

• Upload a higher resolution version (see attachment)
• Adjust lighting to make side edge more visible
• Font use: OpenSans (It should be under Apache License 2.0, should it should not face any copyright infringement...)
• Logo created using SOLIDWORKS and Powerpoint

Preview (Open image in new tab)

Light Mode	Dark Mode
logo_lightmode.png	logo_darkmode.png

Zhen,.. that's pretty good!

[matt]

Remember we start voting on images tomorrow, so get your entry in tonight. For those of you on the other side of the world, I'm not sure if you're ahead of us or behind us, so we'll play that one by ear. Tomorrow +/- a day or so.

[MJuric]

Remember we start voting on images tomorrow, so get your entry in tonight. For those of you on the other side of the world, I'm not sure if you're ahead of us or behind us, so we'll play that one by ear. Tomorrow +/- a day or so.

Did you ever have any luck fixing the image not showing issue? I'm still getting the broken links, just wondering if it's just me.

[mike miller]

This is my submission:

2021-01-25 13_15_53.jpg (39.06 KiB) Viewed 21214 times

[matt]

Did you ever have any luck fixing the image not showing issue? I'm still getting the broken links, just wondering if it's just me.

This is taking longer than I hoped. Not sure if I'll be 100% successful. I need to recover a bunch of image files.

[zwei]

Re-upload as it seem that the old image is broken

[Tom G]

I never made the free time to create my idea. I was thinking something like the letters in a foreshortened exploded view, with a few appearances thrown in like glass, steel, and plastic. Don't hold up a poll for my lateness.

[matt]

I never made the free time to create my idea. I was thinking something like the letters in a foreshortened exploded view, with a few appearances thrown in like glass, steel, and plastic. Don't hold up a poll for my lateness.

Well, hurry up! We can always add you late. I think I set Monday the 26th for the last day of the poll.

[Tom G]

Not done with this. I'll GIMP it out this evening.

[AlexLachance]

That's pretty sweet Tom!

[Jaylin Hochstetler]

My submission.
Modeled with SW
Rendered with SW Visualize
Edited with Adobe Photoshop


Edit: I may post another rev tomorrow or Monday because this one I noticed is slightly cocked and the "A place for CAD Users by CAD Users" text is a little small.

[zwei]

My submission.
Modeled with SW
Rendered with SW Visualize
Edited with Adobe Photoshop


Edit: I may post another rev tomorrow or Monday because this one I noticed is slightly cocked and the "A place for CAD Users by CAD Users" text is a little small.

Some comment, maybe try making the view "FLAT"? the 3D text make it hard to read.
To make the text stood out more in flat view, maybe also add in some draft or taper

[matt]

Let's put off the voting until Monday. Looks like there might be a couple of additional entries. Sorry @Zhen-Wei Tee .

[Edu User Anon]

I'm lazy, but maybe someone can finish this? Note: artwork is not mine, but I did photoshop the logo onto the screen.