What Makes For A Good Profile Icon?

[Pigs]

I have been playing around a bit in gimp trying to make a profile icon. Looking around at other peoples profile images, it seems like its a split between just using a picture of their bike or a simple text/clip art combination. I have came up with a couple things so far (can't post images till 20 posts otherwise i would have linked it) but I can't decide if I want to use that or a picture of my bike. What did you end up doing for your youtube profile pic and what do you think makes a good profile pic.

 

[TriumfAnt]

I just found a font I liked and stuck with it for all my social media.

 

[lupin]

Mines the one to the left.

It's just me on my kick ass bike.

 

[Clint Love]

I use the logo. It's recognizable even for an old guy like me who needs reading glasses.

 

[PistnRods]

Something simple and recognizable. You get a very small amount of space so don't do too much, it'll get lost. But most importantly whatever you choose stick with it even if you get bored. You need to build brand equity in it.

 

[BluePixel]

As above. Simple and recognisable. Mine is a silhouette of a CBR600RR which I have tweaked slightly and then put my YouTube name underneath.

 

[Clint Love]

I did mine the old school way, drawing with a pencil and paper, scanning it, and then coloring it in photoshop. There's probably a more efficient way of doing that these days, but that's what I know how to do. It's not a bad way to do things if you really want to make something unique. I think I used a can of tuna to draw the large circle. lol

 

[BluePixel]

I did mine the old school way, drawing with a pencil and paper, scanning it, and then coloring it in photoshop. There's probably a more efficient way of doing that these days, but that's what I know how to do. It's not a bad way to do things if you really want to make something unique. I think I used a can of tuna to draw the large circle. lol

That's the way I was taught in school / college but now I can't be arsed so jump straight into making it in Photoshop. If there's something I'm not too sure about it's much easier to edit / remove in Photoshop than it is with pen and paper.

 

[Lurch]

I just found a font I liked and stuck with it for all my social media.

So which one did you like? Looks like you're still trialling them!

I think logos, especially when small need to be distinctive. For example a pic of a green Ninja against a hedge or open fields isn't going to stand out much, needs contrast.

 

[F4celess]

Painted mine in Photoshop with a pen tablet, And will probably do so whenever I'm updating it until I make a proper logo in Illustrator. A typical cropped pic of the bike or yourself might look more like the average user who doesn't produce their own content.

As mentioned above, people will learn your logo by color and shape, the actual name isn't that important visually, Since the mind tends to read the shape of the word before the actual letters.
Logos is a whole industry in itself.

 

[lupin]

[QUOTE="F4celess, post: 107390, member: 3950"As mentioned above, people will learn your logo by color and shape, the actual name isn't that important visually, Since the mind tends to read the shape of the word before the actual letters.
Logos is a whole industry in itself.[/QUOTE]

That's why I created a new one which was as simple as I could make it look.

 

[F4celess]

As mentioned above, people will learn your logo by color and shape, the actual name isn't that important visually, Since the mind tends to read the shape of the word before the actual letters.
Logos is a whole industry in itself.

That's why I created a new one which was as simple as I could make it look.

Yeah, you have a easily recognizable logo. And it will do well inverted and backgroundless too. Which is one of the main things one should focus on when designing. Could need some space around the sides though.
Maybe a stickied thread where one could find info about having logos made or guides to making them could be useful?

 

[Lurch]

Quick search brings up fiverr. It's not really discussed that often. Get a few threads asking for feedback accompanied by a few wanting info on logos.

 

[lupin]

Yeah, you have a easily recognizable logo. And it will do well inverted and backgroundless too. Which is one of the main things one should focus on when designing. Could need some space around the sides though.
Maybe a stickied thread where one could find info about having logos made or guides to making them could be useful?

Have a reversed one and another more detailed one. Stickers I have on order have a small white boarder around the outside. I'll wait and see what they look like though.

 

[Pigs]

I can finally post pictures now so I can better ask for some more specific critique. I like the name Cynical Pigs a lot more because it is more unique and having the word Moto in name just seems overdone but I also feel like Cynical Pigs is too far out there and MotoPigs seems much more friendlier. Ill probably play around some more with the positioning of the layers and the colors. If its crap, let me know how I can improve it like is there too much detail or whatever.

 

[lupin]

If there is just the one of you shouldn't it be pig not pigs.

Why not combine them to cynical moto pig.

 

[SighBored]

Obviously a copyrighted image, but there's the concept, the idea behind it. All I found was hogs on cruiser images, hardly none on a sports bike. There's where you come in. Change up the Nazi style helmet to a full face, loose the Fonzie jacket..

Just a suggestion.

 

[F4celess]

I can finally post pictures now so I can better ask for some more specific critique. I like the name Cynical Pigs a lot more because it is more unique and having the word Moto in name just seems overdone but I also feel like Cynical Pigs is too far out there and MotoPigs seems much more friendlier. Ill probably play around some more with the positioning of the layers and the colors. If its crap, let me know how I can improve it like is there too much detail or whatever.
-snip-
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What SighBored suggests is way better as it's a simpler and more defined shape that works well in black and white. Thats how a logo should be.
If you intend to monetize your channel, you should avoid all sorts of copyrighted material. Copyright strikes on Youtube can hurt a lot.

First thing you should do with what you have, get rid of the grungy backgrounds. They don't help the logo at all.
Then either find clipart that matches stylewise, or have something new made for you.
The 2nd pic, Cynical Pigs, works alright. Bigger eyes and nose would help it a lot and maybe increase the yellow edge lines too.

I doodled up a suggestion, I'm not able to make it a proper logo these days since I have a lot to do. But maybe sometime in january if you are interested.

 

[BluePixel]

Keep it simple with bold shapes. Stands out better when small and looks awesome as a sticker or t-shirt.

 

[SighBored]

What SighBored suggests is way better as it's a simpler and more defined shape that works well in black and white. Thats how a logo should be.
If you intend to monetize your channel, you should avoid all sorts of copyrighted material. Copyright strikes on Youtube can hurt a lot.

First thing you should do with what you have, get rid of the grungy backgrounds. They don't help the logo at all.
Then either find clipart that matches stylewise, or have something new made for you.
The 2nd pic, Cynical Pigs, works alright. Bigger eyes and nose would help it a lot and maybe increase the yellow edge lines too.

I doodled up a suggestion, I'm not able to make it a proper logo these days since I have a lot to do. But maybe sometime in january if you are interested.

Cool. Maybe a 45 angle look and a more defined snout would do the trick, otherwise the one you shared with just a minor white dot on the snout (for the nose hole) would make it a little bit more identifiable as a piggy in a lid. Hehe. Oh, and the piggy should be pink in color too. No mistaking that. Suddenly I'm hungry for some bacon.