Website advice, logo design

[Demontec]

Hey guys,

Me and a good friend are trying to set up a friendly, non revenue generating website for bikers to discuss motorbike shops/service centers around the UK.

Initially it will be via a forum but hopefully going forward we could create some sort of database behind the site which will contain details of all retail outlets in the UK that sell or service bikes. Then people can leave written reviews about each outlet that others can then see. Perhaps even a scoring system i.e. 1 to 10.

I have very little knowledge about websites but rekon I can create the homepage (admittedly from a template) which links into the forum and then learn over time how to implement the database/voting system.

My problem is when I come to design the logo for the site. The site name is www.bikernation.co.uk and want a simple yet eye catching logo that people will remember.

Can anyone recommend a good piece of software for designing the logo? Or if anyone is feeling generous and has some time to spare maybe help me out with design?

I feel I should have a logo design first before designing the homepage.

Any help or guidance will be really appreciated and of course if anyone is a motorbiker and thinks this would help them then please also comment.

Thanks

OJ

 

[philio16]

Although I cannot help with the logo design, for the website itself, you are best looking at a content management system such as joomla, it has plugins which pretty much do everything you want...theres a small learning curve to begin with but its easy once you're up and running

 

[Demontec]

Hey Philio,

Thanks soooo much for the suggestion of Joomla. I have just managed to install it and it looks a very simple way to create a nice looking website.

Is there anyone that can help with the logo?

 

[SpicyDuck]

The problem is, that doing 'design' is not something you can just do, or learn by reading a book/web page.

Whatever your imagination desires, determines what software you'll need to use to create a logo. But, saying that, learning a complicated program like 3DS Max just to create a logo isn't a step most non-designers are prepared to take. Not to mention that most of the ability in proper design is artistic; something that needs to be developed over time.

You could find a freelance designer to do the work for you. If you have the funds and the imagination to properly speak about what you want, you will end-up with some very nice results, no doubt. Though, bare in mind that there are a lot of designers out there who are, to put bluntly, as imaginative as people who spend $50,000 on 'Elephant Art'. That is - an Elephant standing in paint, then walking on a big canvas. ********, in other words.

If you have no money nor imagination, you'll just have to leave it all down to luck, and hope it all comes together nicely. It could cost from as little as £20 to as much as £10,000.

 

[Sic]

google says that elephant art can be pleasing to the eye