Member Avatar for Dani

Hey there everyone! Happy end-of-Turkey Day. This first contest of ours is to celebrate us reaching 10,000 posts on Thanksgiving! :)

Here's the deal ... we're in need of a 468x60 banner that we can use for web promotion or to give out to people. Since I'm certainly no artist I've decided to turn it into a design-a-banner contest!

All you artists out there, you have until December 31st to come up with a banner for us. (The deadline may be extended if we don't receive enough submissions at which time it will be announced.) During the month of January, all of the submissions will be entered in a poll.

The winner will receive a $15 US gift certificate to buy.com, a great place to buy computer stuff, music, dvds, and so much more!

Rules:
Only one submission per person.
The banner must be 468x60 in size.
The banner must be less than 10000 kb
The banner can advertise TechTalkForums.com, DaniWeb.com, Dazah.com, or any of their subsections/subforums.
If you choose to use a slogan, use "where cool techies unite."
Please post submissions as attached files as a reply to this thread.

[edit] I have decided to push this contest back a month. Therefore, submissions will now be accepted until January 31st. Voting will take place during the month of February ... keep the submissions coming!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by banners2go

Dani AI

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Practical, compact guidance for producing a high-impact 468x60 banner that stays lightweight and readable on slow connections. This thread already shows several solid approaches from , , and others; the notes below focus on decisions that make artwork work at that tiny size and tight file budget.

Design fundamentals: keep the layout minimal. A single focal graphic plus one short line of text reads best; avoid small serif strokes, very thin weights, or cramped tracking. High contrast between text and background preserves legibility at 468x60. Leave breathing room around the logo, place the site name or mark where it anchors the composition, and keep any call-to-action visually distinct. If animation is used, make motion subtle and purposeful so it emphasizes rather than hides the message.

Optimization workflow: design at the final 468x60 pixels; flatten and crop to remove wasted space; limit the color palette (try 64 or 32 colors first) and reduce dithering; avoid large photographic textures and heavy gradients; for animated GIFs cut frame count and restrict per-frame colors so the overall palette stays small; export with a "save for web" workflow and then run a byte-level optimizer to shave bytes. Oversize examples in this thread (for example 's two larger GIFs) typically fall well under targets after palette reduction and frame trimming.

Compatibility and archival: although asked about Flash and accepted SWF at the time, Flash has since been deprecated and should not be relied on for long-term delivery; include a static GIF/PNG fallback or an HTML5/CSS-friendly alternative for modern reuse. Final prep should include verifying exact dimensions, checking legibility at actual size, confirming the file-size goal, adding alt text for accessibility, and attaching a layered source file so the winning design can be adapted later.

Recommended Answers

All 46 Replies

Member Avatar for Dani

Doesn't anyone want to come up with something for us? :( Please? (Gee, I really hate to have to beg to give out money)

Member Avatar for Zachery

ill start working on sumthing after the weekend ^^

Member Avatar for Dani

Hehe thanks.

Member Avatar for MikeJ

Well... I would, but it's too big. EDIT: It's at

Member Avatar for Dani

I really like that banner. Could you come up with a non-animated version (so this way it will be under the desired file size).

The reason for the file size limit is because many banner programs that I might use it for won't accept anything over 10-12kb. In addition, it should still be quick loading enough for dial-up users.

Member Avatar for MikeJ

Here it is. :D

techtalk.png 29.33 KB
Member Avatar for VolteFace

Here. :)

ttfbanner.gif 21.46 KB
Member Avatar for MikeJ

And that's why I'm a failure at graphic design. :D

Member Avatar for rodzilla

Here is my banner design. Happy Holidays!

[img][/img]

Member Avatar for Dani

Love it!

Member Avatar for camelNotation

Are we only allowed to use definitive expressions like " Where cool techies unite " ? as text input ?

Member Avatar for Dani

Yeap!

Member Avatar for camelNotation

Let's see.
p:s:I didn't know a better way to insert the text.happy new year and happy christmas.

negativevideocard04100071.jpg 10.24 KB
Member Avatar for Dani

Very cool, thanks for your submission. Good luck everyone!

Member Avatar for jayant

my exams end 29th. will complete a few pending tasks (my laptop is down, getting it fixed is top priority). lets see if i can make something by 31st.

Member Avatar for Dani

very cool ... just remember, the contest has been extended by a month. So you have a whole month to come up with something.

Member Avatar for Frank Milick

i'll make one also

Member Avatar for Mazon

I've got two banners, both are just under 20 kb. I know it's above the limit, but if you like these and you find an advertiser who is willing to use them feel free.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

I'll try to make another banner under the limit later.

Member Avatar for Dani

cooool thanks :)

Member Avatar for rixius

I don't see why you don't just combine the two txt's in your header right now. Then the banner would match the color scheme of the site too :)

Member Avatar for Dani

Huh? Ya lost me ;) Sorry

Member Avatar for )BIG"B"Affleck

Free of charge all rights not reserved. Resize for a better banner.
PS:I had to throw in that algebra in the background just because life relize on it.

101.jpg 32.69 KB
Member Avatar for Dani

I really like the algebra :) Could you shrink it a bit so it is 468x60 though? That is the default size for all ad banners. Thanks :)

Member Avatar for jayant

there you go

simple one that suits current color scheme.

daniweb_logo.jpg 19.92 KB
Member Avatar for camelNotation

Really good but it seems that someone has spitted over the "o" in "com."

Member Avatar for jayant

Really good but it seems that someone has spitted over the "o" in "com."

I was eating paan. so had to spit somewhere. couldn't spit on road (keep the city ...), so did that 'o' :p

Member Avatar for zer0render

Here's my banner:

Member Avatar for gkdmaths

...

Here's the deal ... we're in need of a 468x60 banner that we can use for web promotion or to give out to people. Since I'm certainly no artist I've decided to turn it into a design-a-banner contest!

All you artists out there, you have until December 31st to come up with a banner for us. (The deadline may be extended if we don't receive enough submissions at which time it will be announced.) During the month of January, all of the submissions will be entered in a poll.

...

Rules:
Only one submission per person.
The banner must be 468x60 in size.
The banner must be less than 10000 kb
The banner can advertise TechTalkForums.com, DaniWeb.com, Dazah.com, or any of their subsections/subforums.
If you choose to use a slogan, use "where cool techies unite."
Please post submissions as attached files as a reply to this thread.

For clarification: must the banner be a static jpg or gif, or can it be a flash swf that meets the size requirements?

tia-
-gkd

Member Avatar for Dani

Flash is acceptable :)

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