On Wednesday, 2 July 2014 at 08:27:06 UTC, w0rp wrote:
Ah, thank you. I think that looks pretty good.
I can redo it so that the lines are pixel aligned for sharp edges when the design is final. It depends on the actual size of the logo so it should be the last step in the redesign.
I know what you're saying about drawing gradients being a bit slow.
They can be, especially on low-power machines. Though, I suspect CSS gradients are faster than SVG gradients on some browsers.
Getting fast reflow of the layout is important for how people perceive a website like this, I think. So simple is sometimes better than fancy.
I tried using a linear gradient in the background coming out from the logo, so it looked a bit like light reflecting from a Martian moon or something, but it very negatively impacted the smoothness of scrolling through a page on every browser I tried. Rasterising the logo to fit a gradient in like the current logo I think is an acceptable option though. It stays at one fixed size pretty much.
Yes, unfortunately SVG and image fills are buggy in some browsers, but scaling up a blurry gradient is of course not a big issue either. It is possible to get some of the same visual feeling with flat shading and a modified design.
However, I'd rather suggest doing a layout redesign where you avoid the rectangle and thus don't need the same kind of balancing act. Like having an off-white page with a dark colour side bar on the left and impose the white logo on top of it. Or embed the the D logo in a red circle (a very powerful symbol, think of how recognizable Lucky Strike branding is).
I'll come up with a suggestion later.
