Journey of a Halo/Destiny Banner

One of the things I see a lot in Halo communities is people helping and giving to one another. Sometimes there’s “something in it”, like recognition or generation of new content, but you can really see it in some community leaders and creators that they are simply givers at heart.

I myself am a giver, and I find great joy in showcasing others’ talent and giving props to people who deserve it, especially if those people are also givers.

I also enjoy designing signatures and banners for people, ever learning the fabled PhotoShop (which I’ve told non-users you could take a 5-year course on the thing and still discover stuff you never knew! Exaggeration? Maybe, but I’m only on year two so the jury is still out).

0IAH (spelled 0iah with a zero) is one such community content creator. A power house of Halo information on YouTube generator, 0IAH posts regular, quality content spanning from news to mods to map features. Recently I approached him about creating a new banner for his YouTube page. He told me he wasn’t sure what he might want, but to go for it. So off I went.

When I create a sig or a banner for someone, I take what information they’ve given me about what they want, check out what graphics they might have already, and then start peeking around the ‘net for inspiration. This time I looked at a ton of “gamer banners”, and found one that looked pretty cool. So I set out recreating the “feel”, while using Halo-themed textures and patterns. Here is the first banner I came up with:

(click images to view full-size)

0iah_terminal-youtube-banner0iah_terminal-youtube-banner

1st 0IAH banner prototype by CHa0s

 

I liked how this one turned out, but then I realized that I had used an “L” instead of an “I”. Then I set that one aside, to change if it was one he liked, because I wanted to create one that had somewhat of the look of his original banner, which is like his logo and people are familiar with it.

0IAHs_default_YouTube_banner

0IAH’s original banner, currently in use on YouTube.

 

 

So I set out to DaFont.com to check out fonts and see if I could find one that was close. I did one better than that – I found the font! So I tried the above banner, but with his logo font:

0iah_terminal-youtube-banner_2

CHa0s’ 2nd version prototype for 0IAH’s banner

 

 

This wasn’t bad, but the text was small enough that it really lost the mirrored effect of the background pattern. It needed MOAR! Here’s what I added next, for a pop of color and striving for something that looked, that “felt”, just right:

 

 

Again, not bad, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. For those of you who don’t know, the sections of this graphic that aren’t behind the darkened top and bottom are what shows on your YouTube page for regular computer use. If you are viewing someone’s page on a TV, you might see the entire graphic. Next I wanted to see the orange on top of the “screened off” section:

CHa0s’ “2c” prototype of 0IAH’s banner

 

 

Now if you can’t tell from my own YouTube graphic, I like color! So my eyes really enjoyed looking at this version, but it just wasn’t right! So next I turned to creating a new look for the 0IAH text:

CHa0s’ 3D 0IAH prototype

 

 

It took me a bit to create the above text, and it looked really cool with just a dark background. But when I tried to get it to work with what I already had, it just wasn’t happening. Besides, from the start I’d had this image in my head of a collage of sorts, combining the two main sources of news that reporters like 0IAH and myself are focused on: Halo and Destiny.

But I didn’t want to stop there. I felt I wanted to build two banners, one dark and one light. So I spent my Saturday working on these.

CHa0s’ Dark 0IAH Halo/Destiny banner

 

CHa0s’ Light 0IAH Halo/Destiny banner

 

 

Now these were starting to look pretty sweet! As I worked on them, I appreciated the talent and hard work that went into creating the characters and backgrounds I was working with. Although I can draw like them, it takes me a very, VERY long time, and I don’t usually have the motivation. So I content myself with working on design, redesign, and playing with beauty that already exists.

For the last touches, I spent a couple of hours finding images that fit together just right for the collage: (don’t forget to click and view full size!)

 

CHa0s’ Dark 0IAH Halo/Destiny banner – filled in

 

CHa0s’ 0IAH Light Halo/Destiny banner – filled

 

 

And those are the finished product. Josh (0IAH) hasn’t even seen these last yet – who’s first? Will he like them? Who knows! What matters is I got a ton of great experience working on these and I find them to be very pleasing to the eye.

I wonder what my next project will be…

 

Here’s a version of the first 3D banner, that I did reversing 0IAH’s name to make it say “Halo”. Feel free to download it, but don’t forget it was Designed by CHa0s!

HALO_terminal-youtube-banner_3-3D_by_CHa0s_HaloDiehards

 

What? you’re still here? Feel free to check out my sigs at DeviantArt >>

Want a new sig or banner? Go to Halo Diehards Official Request thread >>

 

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