Both pictures speak to me in very personal ways. The Willingham illo (used as the cover art of the combined volumes 1 to 3 of TSR's Dungeon Geomorphs) pretty much depicts me as a D&D novice: a red-headed, freckle-faced kid gleefully stocking dungeons full of monsters. On the other hand, the Otus cover of D&D Basic is my personal starting point for me in this hobby. Not only did that illo grace the cover of my first set of rules, but the picture is the whole reason I noticed that weird pink box on the toystore shelf. I totally understand what Maliszewski is talking about when he waxes poetic about the black-and-white Sutherland pieces, but my heart always goes back to the gaudy colors of Otus, Willingham, and Roslof.
Kind of like the other one better... the pink is a bit too... pink
ReplyDeleteI think they're both great! The Otus is a personal favorite of mine because I have that boxed set. But the top one is really a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteAs for it being 'too...pink', I think we're all big enough to overcome such a silly notion. ;)
I say rotate them quarterly!
Oh man, the top one for the win. Looks great.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the new logo earlier tonight. I like the pink one, personally. It captures the sense of wonder much better, methinks.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, for deeply personal reasons, I prefer the top one.
ReplyDeleteThey're both way too tall. I personally prefer the Otus image, but the Geomorphs one is used a lot less often. But either way, I would clip them down into a banner about 1/3 the height of the Geomorphs image. They just take up too much real estate and look clunky otherwise.
ReplyDeleteRed spot-ink is one of the finest and most beautiful substances in the universe. You chose well, jeff :)
ReplyDelete(It's the honest-to-gosh truth that the core regreat I have about my decade of slaving in the RPG salt-mines, pre-liberation, is never doing enough spot-ink projects ... my very first book was both spot-inked and had a Holloway cover, so I took it as a good omen, but things never panned out that way, because the 90's started happening and there was nothing I could do to stop them) :(
Got to say I like the top one. They are both great, but the one captures the sense of "WOW!!! I can fight dragons!", That kind of child-like, not particularly sophisticated wonder is what old school is about (for me anyhow)
ReplyDeleteI'd scale 'em down a bit, but I'd rotate them on a monthly basis or something. The Geomorphs one definitely gets less love online, so if that's a consideration...
ReplyDeletelovely! long load time for us slow-netters...but lovely!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely I prefer the one you have used :)
ReplyDeleteGood choice. Used logo is very "retro". :)
ReplyDeleteThe Otis cover was also why I (rather belatedly) picked up the Moldvay edition. It doesn't have the same nostalgia value for me as Sutherland's work for Holmes Basic and Module B1, though. Dragons & mushrooms ... ?!
ReplyDeleteThe pink one looks like the kid's nose is about to drip onto the board. Not a good look. Go Otus!
ReplyDeleteJeff,
ReplyDeleteTo me, your blog is about "fun" in gaming. Your writing style, the choice of topics you discuss, and the overall look and feel of the blog and it's contents (like the wizard robot), create a feeling of youthful (but not necessarily immature or sophomoric) excitement for the hobby of role-playing games.
To me, the illo you have posted up right now fits that theme perfectly.
The pink is my pick, definitely.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't resist trying my hand at an alternate version of your logo. Just think of me as an occasional reader with too much time on his hands:
ReplyDeletehttp://s541.photobucket.com/albums/gg386/grifonetto/?action=view¤t=jeffblog.jpg
I like the pink one at the top. That's despite the memory heart strings going 'twang' when i saw the alternate. To me, the top one catches the gamer, the alternate catches the game. Tough choice, though.
ReplyDeleteI think the top one suits your style better. However, the Otus art is one of my "first ever" pieces as well. When in doubt, magic missiles and tiny green balls of fire, AFAIC.
ReplyDelete"... my heart always goes back to the gaudy colors of Otus, Willingham, and Roslof."
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I like the Willingham that you've got up now, and I think the height is good too. But with the empty space on either side you could have all three:
http://i41.tinypic.com/23vxs9u.jpg