TheAgitator.com
Monday Morning Poll
Monday, August 30th, 2010So as I mentioned previously, I’m going to start a Nashville blog soon. The idea is to be sort of a “journalist explores the city” theme, with photos, interviews, interesting stories, etc. And of course lots of music.
Below are three photos I took around town that I’m thinking of as the blog’s header. I thought I’d see which one Agitator readers prefer.
Incidentally, the font is called “Nashville,” and is inspired by the legendary Hatch Show Print company. You can download it for free here.
1.
2.
3.
Ok, I’ve been questioning your Nashville move for a while now. But, now I think you’re just a genius.
Do you envision individual reporters BEING the news in the future, and you feel like you have a better chance of becoming THE Nashville guy by moving to a smaller pond?
Number two has the shooting star in it, nuff sed!
I think the third picture emphasizes the distinctive Nashville skyline most effectively (though it wouldn’t hurt to be slightly brighter/more contrasty…).
I voted for #3, solely because it has the “Bat Building” in it. I’ve always liked seeing that on the skyline.
There’s no “none of the above” option.
These are all just generic feeling postcard pics. I get the whole “byline/skyline” thing, but I don’t really find the pictures interesting.
Judging from your many other photos posted, I think you can do better.
Like #2, but think it would look better were it more panoramic. I don’t know what it takes to do a panoramic shot in terms of equipment, but if you crop about 30% off the top it would look more like a webpage header. I’d think you want a height to width ratio of something like 1:4-5.
I prefer #3 primarly because the other two are so “pretty”. I think you have captured the distinctiveness without over dramatizing the picture. Having been a visitor to your site for about five years, I presume that you will be getting into what is really Nashville. #3 does that — still a great picture, but without the traditional glitz and glam.
[...] at the Butcher who is trying to sleep and who has no idea who Radley Balko is. But look! It’s Matt’s font! I knew that font when it was a [...]
#1 and #2 have a distracting vertical black line, presumably some sort of antenna, in the left foreground. Therefore, I like #3.
I would like to suggest that you use more than one photo. If you are talking about Nashville night-life, use one from night-time. If you are talking about Nashville day-life, use one from day-time. I think you get the idea, just use one that relates to the topic.
#2 is a combination (As far as lighting and distinctive buildings are concerned) of #1 and #3. #1 is too dark at along the bottom 1/4 and #3 the sky light is too muddled. #2 is the perfect because you can still clearly see the buildings, but at the same time you get the twinkling of the lights. Not to mention, how can you beat the color of the sky, its gorgeous.
On another note…I am not sure about that font.
Numero uno (am I risking arrest for using that language?), because night suggests danger, which represents your redemptive nose for trouble.
I prefer #3. It magnifies the downtown more and doesn’t have the large darkly exposed regions of #1 and #2. Not sure the black byline text is contrasty enough with the sky, though. Also, the Nashville typeface has a kind of old-timey feel, which makes me think it would be more fitting with, say, a picture of a historic saloon. In contrast, the skyline pano looks more modernist, creating a juxtaposition. I’m hardly a design expert though.
Definately 3, because it features what my 5 year old calls the “Batman Building”
I agree with the “less pretty” comments about number 3, and also with the wider aspect ratio. Take about 20% off the top of #3 (down to just above the antennae on the building), and you’ll have a winner.
Now about that typeface…ugh.
So, are you liking Nashville better than DC?
I did.
Most people wouldn’t think so, but Nashville is simply a cooler place than DC.
And lose the font. It may say Nashville to some but it says country fair to me.
Not a fan of the font either.
Question – why can’t the answer here be ‘yes’? Using php it would not be hard to randomly select an image for the header.
“Definately 3, because it features what my 5 year old calls the “Batman Building” ”
That’s what *everyone* calls the Batman Building: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=off&prmdo=1&biw=1110&bih=683&tbs=isch:1&sa=1&q=%22batman+building%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
Yes Franklin, everyone calls it that, but not quite as enthusiastically every time we drive by downtown.
photo 2 for sure. Why people are asking for the (comparatively) drab #3 is beyond me. The lens flares are exactly the kind of drunken tint that you want in a blog that will surle feature a lot of the city’s night life. Or perhaps you should just keep rotating the photos as you take more of the city.
I like #1 the best. It’s a wonderful nighttime picture that brings the city to life, more so than a day time picture would. I think #2 looks weird with that contrail (not a shooting star) and I don’t like the close up of that building on the left that looks like a robot referee saying “touch down” in the #3 photo.
Gotta agree with noseeum.
Of those, #3, but don’t use black for the letters.
And yeah, I’d encourage you to do something other than a generic skyline…something more intimate.
Well, I’ve never been to Nashville, so I can’t comment on how representative those pictures may or may not be, but based on purely aesthetic issues, I like #3.
Number three is the best of the three, but I think you need something totally different.
I’ve never been to Nashville. All I see is a generic city skyline, belonging to some city to which I’ve never been (of which there are quite a few, besides Nashville). You should have something that can be identifiable as Nashvillian by anyone. Even if it’s something as cliched as the Grand Ole Opry.
The font, otoh, is good.
I voted for 3 just because it was a clear/sharper image.
Number 3. Something about the color. Kind of 70′s-ish.
@MacK: I think that’s a dog hair on the lense…