Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

olePigeon · Mar 30, 2006, 03:01 PM

http://olepigeon.trolans.net/serenity/Serenity.eps

Howdy,

I made a vector version of the Serenity logo. I dunno if anyone else has made one, but here's mine. I'm gonna post it on a few of the Firefly boards as well.

Absolute basic vector, nothing fancy. I suppose someone can put that sucker into Photoshop or Maya and make it look really nice. Before you do, you might want to remove the shadow beneath the main Serenity part, or you'll have 2 "Serenity" there.

The "SERENITY" part is interesting. It's kinda the Papyrus font, but not. So that typeset is unique.

The Chinese was fun.

That took a little research to find out what those characters were since I don't speak Chinese.

Dark Helmet · Mar 30, 2006, 03:03 PM

I seriously can't figure out why everyone thought that movie was the second coming of Christ. It started off OK but the last 30 min was just a run in the mill zombie movie which Mila Jovovich could have handled just fine.

greenamp · Mar 30, 2006, 03:05 PM

Papyrus is the new comic sans.

Dakar · Mar 30, 2006, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by greenamp

Papyrus is the new comic sans.

Been for like 3 years.

Kr0nos · Mar 30, 2006, 03:32 PM

Did you use actual Chinese fonts to make those characters or did you use the pen tool?

Kr0nos · Mar 30, 2006, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

I seriously can't figure out why everyone thought that movie was the second coming of Christ. It started off OK but the last 30 min was just a run in the mill zombie movie which Mila Jovovich could have handled just fine.

Yes, maybe, but the TV series was absolutely amazing, IMHO. The movie also cleared up a lot for me in terms of the general plot…

ghporter · Mar 30, 2006, 03:56 PM

The series was fantastic, even given the limited support Fox gave it and the limitations of the TV format. The movie was great; way past the TV format and any production limitations. And it not only was a good story well told, but it sort of answered a number of questions Whedon hadn't been able to get to in the series and then opened the whole 'verse up for more stories. It was a wonderfully done film.

Dark Helmet · Mar 30, 2006, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

And it not only was a good story well told, but it sort of answered a number of questions

Since I never watched the TV show (I couldn't get by the country song opening title) the movie raised more questions for me than it answered.

I was getting worried when right in the beginning the escape ship is parked hundreds of miles away from the place they are robbing for no other reason but to have a nice chase scene for 20 min. That is something I expect more from George lucas.

olePigeon · Mar 30, 2006, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by Kr0nos

Did you use actual Chinese fonts to make those characters or did you use the pen tool?

I started with fonts, but none of them looked right. So I just put he characters in there, separated the paths, then just changed it all to look like that. Took a lot of manipulation to make it look like strokes.

Same with the Papyrus. I started with the Papyrus but it's not the same. It was obvious while doing it that the original artist smoothed it out and extended the serifs to make it a little more Chinesish. That took the most time.

Oh, and Dark Helmet... [Mr. Garrison] You go to hell! You got to hell and you die! [/Mr. Garrison]

ghporter · Mar 30, 2006, 04:21 PM

I thought of the opening song as more of a bluegrass/country mix. It certainly shows some significant heritage from the Scoch-Irish who escaped both the British and the costal aristocracy to go it on their own in the hinterland... Sort of symbolic, ya know?

Anyway, there was a significant couple of lines about "sneaking up on" the town instead of letting eveyone know that there was a space ship right there. And it looked to me like they'd just landed on the other side of a range of hills and had to swing around them. It was a COOL chase!

Get the boxed set of "Firefly," (plug your ears during the theme if you must) and watch it in order (which was one of the worst blunders Fox did with the series; they didn't run it in order so new viewers didn't get a chance to figure out what was going on), and you'll see. Fantastic television, really good stories with well built characters, and an overall different take on just about everything.

davesimondotcom · Mar 30, 2006, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by Dakar

Been for like 8 years.

Fixed.

I hate Papyrus so much!!

People around here use it because they think it looks "rustic."

I actually had a client start doing their own ads, removing any use of the beautiful Houston Pen (could have been Texas Hero, I'm not sure anymore.)

Kr0nos · Mar 30, 2006, 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

I started with fonts, but none of them looked right. So I just put he characters in there, separated the paths, then just changed it all to look like that. Took a lot of manipulation to make it look like strokes.

Looks like it.

Good job though!

Dark Helmet · Mar 30, 2006, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

Anyway, there was a significant couple of lines about "sneaking up on" the town instead of letting eveyone know that there was a space ship right there. And it looked to me like they'd just landed on the other side of a range of hills and had to swing around them. It was a COOL chase!

Well I only saw it once but I remember it like this.

The ship lands somewhere, they get on that hovercraft and quickly end up in town.

When they are running back to the ship they are traveling REALLY fast for a LONG time. On top of that the ship is flying towards them really fast over large hills.

To me it sounds like they were at least 50 to 100 miles apart which is kinda over doing it.

::maroma:: · Mar 30, 2006, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Well I only saw it once but I remember it like this.

The ship lands somewhere, they get on that hovercraft and quickly end up in town.

When they are running back to the ship they are traveling REALLY fast for a LONG time. On top of that the ship is flying towards them really fast over large hills.

To me it sounds like they were at least 50 to 100 miles apart which is kinda over doing it.

Geez, nit pick why don't ya.

Anyways, what do those Chinese characters mean? Good job on the vector, btw.

ambush · Mar 30, 2006, 05:52 PM

why did they use a cheap ms word font for the logo

olePigeon · Mar 30, 2006, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by ::maroma::

Geez, nit pick why don't ya.

Anyways, what do those Chinese characters mean? Good job on the vector, btw.

They both mean something like "serenity" or "peace." Just different ways of spelling it, I guess.

greenamp · Mar 30, 2006, 08:11 PM

I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one who hates Papyrus with a passion.

meelk · Mar 30, 2006, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Well I only saw it once but I remember it like this.

The ship lands somewhere, they get on that hovercraft and quickly end up in town.

When they are running back to the ship they are traveling REALLY fast for a LONG time. On top of that the ship is flying towards them really fast over large hills.

To me it sounds like they were at least 50 to 100 miles apart which is kinda over doing it.

you dont park your getaway ship in town where every idiot can identify it to the authorities.

meelk · Mar 30, 2006, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

I seriously can't figure out why everyone thought that movie was the second coming of Christ. It started off OK but the last 30 min was just a run in the mill zombie movie which Mila Jovovich could have handled just fine.

you never watched the show. that probably has something to do with the "I seriously can't figure out why" part.
get a clue. why is it that EVERY post you make is a complaint about something? And thats coming from me, and I complain about a lot, but you annoy even me.

ghporter · Mar 30, 2006, 08:38 PM

Originally Posted by ambush

why did they use a cheap ms word font for the logo

Way to go! No interesting input? Fine! Say something negative instead.

It is NOT a "Word" font; it's a font that's available for anyone who wants it. It certainly didn't come with MY copy of Word-either for PC or Mac. The font has an Asian feel, which makes it fit with the Chinese characters, and it's also not starkly new and modern, making it fit with the spirit of the show.

andi*pandi · Mar 30, 2006, 09:02 PM

It's a word font, oh yes it issss... It's sitting right there in the apps>office>fonts folder. There were many disgusted posts by designers on the Official Board about the lack of actual design that went into the logo, (not meaning the chinese/seal thing, that's cool) the posters, and the #$%^&* DVD cover.

if they'd wanted asian/handdrawn, they could have done so so much better.

that said, good job on the illustrator Ole... I once started to remove the letters from the seal because I liked it better without papyrus... but I got bored.

::looks on idisk:: darn it, I made a darling little gif that shows how I feel about papyrus... but it's at work.

greenamp · Mar 30, 2006, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

It's a word font, oh yes it issss... It's sitting right there in the apps>office>fonts folder. There were many disgusted posts by designers on the Official Board about the lack of actual design that went into the logo, (not meaning the chinese/seal thing, that's cool) the posters, and the #$%^&* DVD cover.

if they'd wanted asian/handdrawn, they could have done so so much better.

that said, good job on the illustrator Ole... I once started to remove the letters from the seal because I liked it better without papyrus... but I got bored.

::looks on idisk:: darn it, I made a darling little gif that shows how I feel about papyrus... but it's at work.

Marry Me.

Dakar · Mar 31, 2006, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by davesimondotcom

Fixed.

I hate Papyrus so much!!

People around here use it because they think it looks "rustic."

I actually had a client start doing their own ads, removing any use of the beautiful Houston Pen (could have been Texas Hero, I'm not sure anymore.)

All I have to do is say the name "papyrus' at work and the department chuckles.

ghporter · Mar 31, 2006, 07:47 AM

...Then what version of Word does it come with? I've owned Word in various versions since about v1.2...

And just what is the problem with using a font that happens to come with any particular app if it fits your design (ignoring the disgust so many people have for the design in question-which just happens to be the name as it's painted on the ship...)?

Dark Helmet · Mar 31, 2006, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by meelk

you never watched the show. that probably has something to do with the "I seriously can't figure out why" part.
get a clue. why is it that EVERY post you make is a complaint about something? And thats coming from me, and I complain about a lot, but you annoy even me.

Do yourself a favor and add me to your ignore list then.

wallinbl · Mar 31, 2006, 08:50 AM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Well I only saw it once but I remember it like this.

The ship lands somewhere, they get on that hovercraft and quickly end up in town.

When they are running back to the ship they are traveling REALLY fast for a LONG time. On top of that the ship is flying towards them really fast over large hills.

To me it sounds like they were at least 50 to 100 miles apart which is kinda over doing it.

The reason for not landing near the town is obvious. The reason for the long trip back was that they intended to arrive at the mother ship at a precise moment, as it was part of their escape tactic.

andi*pandi · Mar 31, 2006, 10:10 AM

Showing the trip flying in to the town, the whole length of it, would have been pretty boring.
One can also assume that on the trip back they were weaving and evading and not exactly going straight back.

Glenn, I have office 2004. And the stigma to Papyrus... or Comic Sans... or any microsoft/system font is that a design has less chance to be stunning and original if it uses the fonts that come standard on every Tom Dick and Jane's computer. It doesn't show a whole lot of thinking for a large movie studio like Universal, or whoever they farmed this out to. The final version is only slightly better than the first version fans saw, where the type was straight outta the box.

What if the Matrix logo and titles had been done using Arial?

I was also hoping that for a movie set in the future, microsoft would have been finally thwarted and maybe some other fonts would have evolved.

olePigeon · Mar 31, 2006, 10:14 AM

Papyrus is an ITC font, not a Microsoft font. There're probably 5 different foundries that have Papyrus.

ghporter · Mar 31, 2006, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by andi*pandi

Glenn, I have office 2004. And the stigma to Papyrus...

What if the Matrix logo and titles had been done using Arial?

I was also hoping that for a movie set in the future, microsoft would have been finally thwarted and maybe some other fonts would have evolved.

I spend most of my time on my PC because the iBook is my wife's (and she'll let you know in no uncertain terms too!), so the fact that I hadn't encountered Papyrus may be forgivable. I hope. It ain't that bad as fonts go, but I do see the point about using a font that's so widely available not being as creative as it might be. And I wonder why it didn't come with my Office XP...

The producers of "The Matrix" seemed to work hard at avoiding any connection to a current, real computer, so they had to do something else. On the other hand, just how unique is Papyrus, anyway? I mean, it looks a lot like the type on a number of signs I've seen-maybe those were modified from Papyrus.

You have to admit that, for painting a two or three foot tall name on a space ship, this font does work; it's got enough straight lines that it can be masked easily for the most part, and the embelishments are simple enough to freehand...

And what the hell, I liked the show and the movie! So

to anyone who gripes about it!

christ · Mar 31, 2006, 03:43 PM

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

I seriously can't figure out why everyone thought that movie was the second coming of Christ.

Nothing to do with me.

Dakar · Mar 31, 2006, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by christ

Nothing to do with me.

Your girlfriend has been talking then.