I'm building a 4chan stock exchange called MemEx (meme exchange) that you can buy and sell shares in memes and boards. See related thread on /biz/ >>>/biz/1357338
This thread is for the discussion of the general design, layouts, copy, slogan, logo, aesthetic, GUI's, and so on.
Everyone is encouraged to get involved. This is only phase 1. Please stick to discussing stylistic influences only for now, typography, general overarching themes and styles before moving onto actually trying to design anything. This project will be run as if it's a real live project, no skipping phases.
My initial thoughts are something that is a cross between 80's/90's finance business style crossed between the messaging you get from dystopian mega-crops in films like Tron, Blade Runner, etc. American Psycho meets Ghost in the Shell.
Treat this initial thread as a sort of scrapbook for ideas.
Ideas for a straplines also welcome. "MemEx, Where Memes Become Dreams" etc.
Here's some ideas for a Text-Based logo
I think this is a really fun idea, I'd love to see it come to life. Are you planning to monetize it at any point?
>>276285
that would take the fun out of it. Maybe create a crypto currency that would be awarded whenever a meme you've "invested" in gets posted on any board. But that would need pattern recognition (there are thousands of variations for each meme, there would have to be a way for the platform to automatically recognize it )
>>276275
I'll be honest, I couldn't tell if this was a joke. It's called MemEx (not Meme Ex) and this thread is for discussing style influences only, less so actually trying to produce final designs yet.
>>276285
I don't plan on monetizing it at all. At most I might try and find a way for it to fund itself if it manages to take off to cover hosting costs and stuff like that.
>>276331
The problem with attaching a crypto currency (or any kind of currency) to it is it enters a completely different legal domain. If you've been following the recent crisis with the CS:GO gambling sites you'll understand what I mean
I think I might have overdone it
>>276337
>MemEx
fuck
>>276341
>>276343
>>276342
what colours are you going for or are you creating it from scratch? also why not name it memex on it's own and let "about us" explain the meaning
>>276345
My intention at the moment is to name it MemEx with Meme Exchange just being the formal definition.
Colours haven't been decided. What would be good is if people could post logos and designs for similar things that they think would suit it so we can cherry pick the aesthetics that we like. Even just example colour palettes from https://color.adobe.com/ would be a start.
>>276346
bitcoin is a start
orange, yellow or maybe blue
Cleargothic-Serial maybe
>Idunno I'm just spitballing here
since it seems like you're going to be modelling it off stock exchanges i did some preliminary research on some companies that revolve off money markets, investment groups, brokers etc.
the majority of the modern ones seem to feature blue as their primary color. i figure this represents to a degree the formality and etiquette of their areas of expertise.
second most common was probably red, this most likely represents aggressiveness and assertiveness in both strategy and execution
most of the black and white logos seem to be trying to appeal to a more upper class, richer market. more formality and trying to appear fancy, you get the idea.
where to go from here im not so sure, as you want to combine this some cyberpunk aesthetics. which could certainly be interesting and really cool but likely hard to pull off well
>>276358
I actually think it looking professional is part of the "joke". I want it to look serious to the point that it looks like a real exchange handling real money with the joke being that it's just us trading in memes. We act like real wall street traders when we're investing in '>tfw no gf'
Imagine the logos in >>276356, but instead of BMFN it says MemEx. Imagine a generic trading firm introduction video with a soft womens voice talking about the market cap of a new meme that just hit the market.
>>276356
The blue ones look more approachable and more friendly for the average person. The red ones feel slightly more dry corporate but the black and white ones definitely look more elegant. Like the kind of companies that handle 10 billion good boy points on most valuable meme exchange in the world.
Something between the tone of the blue ones and the black and white ones would be perfect. Something geometric, representing speed, stability and heritage (it should look like the exchange has been around a long time).
>>276362
>double irony
no. you'll just make regular users leave without even trying it out.
>>276363
It's important to identify who the users are. The primary userbase at first will be people trying it out from /biz/ and potentially /pol/. People who have no issue with taking things seriously for the sake of irony (see Trumpcoin, etc), /pol/ especially so. If we make it look like a geocities website with some vaperwave influence it will go out of style very quickly, these things are temporary trends. As much as I genuine enjoy those styles.
The secondary userbase will people from boards like [s4s], /b/, etc. The layers of irony will definitely not be lost on them.
You also have to imagine that although the style will be professional, the iconography, symbols and general wording of everything will be immediately recognisable to anyone that would actually care to get involved in a meme stock exchange. Imagine the Stratton logo >>276356 but instead of the head of a lion it's an elegantly drawn illustration of Pepe (just as an throwaway example).
This is a mood board of images relating to "flow" and "connections". Two concepts that exchanges embody.
Just trying to get an idea for shapes and geometry that make sense.
>>276369
I like the idea of a test pattern of some sort getting broken up at some point but your color schemes might turn off some users from this being something positive
>>276372
Agreed on the colour schemes. It shouldn't be too brooding. Do you mean TV test patterns?
wJB from the /biz/ thread, thought I'd take a crack at a logo.
>>276411
The gradient is really bad but I other than that I like it.
>>276411
The gradient is very bad but I think OP didn't want any final designs yet
>>276411
It's not bad but I think we need something more refined. The gradient makes it difficult to read and the graph cuts into the text a bit too much. There's a conflict of visual hierarchy with Meme Exchange being more prominent that the actual name above but that's probably because of the gradient.
As a rule of thumb logos are designed in black and white only with little to no gradients (unless it adds something, rules can be broken, pic related). With colour added afterwards.
If anyone is interested in the general process this will be helpful: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
Pic related is the New York Stock Exchange logo.
>>276456
>>276468
>>276471
I have any no idea why I had the "MEME EXCHANGE" text as dark blue last night.
>>276472
I like it.
Two things:
The graph is a back arrow (bad). Put the arrow angle on both sides to avoid this.
Meme Exchange should be shorter to stand out.
>>276555
>>27627
Holy shit dude
This words memex is a slang in my country which means vagina
>>276572
What country?
>tfw inkscape crashes halfway through the project
>>276576
.ID
>>276584
It looks pretty dope
Maybe have the Banner or whatever in the center change every 15 second or so, with a few different images
>>276584
I think people are skipping a bit too far ahead. Before any site designs are even thought about I want to decide on an aesthetic/theme/colors which will then influence the logo and branding. Then finish a site map so we actually know which pages need designing, then produce low fidelity wireframes and only then an actual design. I fully intent to build this project properly as there's no reason to rush. I'm happy to guide people through this process if it's not something they are used to. It's good to get used to it if you're interested in design more than a passing interest.
The reason people do it in this strict order is so that you don't waste time perfecting a pixel perfect layout in Photoshop only to find out you've put stuff on the page that won't even go in it in the actual site. Doing these extra steps actually saves time in the long run.
I don't want to rip on people who are just trying to help but I want to it to look professional too.
>>276561
>>276556
>>276555
>>276344
>>276343
>>276338
I have to be honest and say I don't think these would work. I'm happy to go into more detail as to why if anyone just wants some general feedback.
>>276472
I don't dislike this logo in fact I could imagine a company actually using it, I just think it looks a little too generic. Not a fan of the fonts or the graph but it's simple and it makes sense. Pic related is how I imagine the same idea but refined a little.
>>276597
That site mockup was more something for me to do than an actual design; it's not meant to be taken too seriously.
There were a few parts I actually ended up liking, like the BERG&STEIN logo in the corner of the news feed, and the "Last Tick" pane.
Regarding the logo, I'm not a fan of the logo's fonts either, they're the most fitting that I've found in my font library so far.
>>276602
The BERG&STEIN bit is actually the bit that caught my eye at first.
What do you think of the idea of having contributor posts on a news section with pundits writing articles about the latest in the meme market? Kind of a parody if insider-only feeds
>>276603
It would be a good addition, so long as there is an actual editor in charge of maintaining a level of quality. If I were a contributor, though, I would be hesitant to attach my name to articles like that.
>>276331
Wouldn't that just encourage people to spam memes they've invested in?
>>276604
I don't think many people would willingly attach their name to it including myself (although I'm sure someone will dox me very quickly should the site take off).
Maybe I'll add it to the phase 2 list. Would be cool to have articles about kek and "meme magic" and it's effect on the markets (real and imagined).
>>276605
This is addressed in the original thread >>/biz/1357338/
The gist being that memes are valued on many more things than just number of times posted.
>>276606
Pseudo/Anonymous posting is also an option; so long as there's some sort of attribution to the article authors, I'm sure someone would be willing to write and edit for it (especially if there is some sort of compensation, memex or otherwise)
what memes are you think of starting with? we have to be weary as to not intimidate users with an enormous amount in the beginning. also what will happen to a meme once it becomes stale/irrelevant? will it just drop to the bottom of the market and stagnate there? or will there be some kind of elimination system in place to keep only a certain number of memes in circulation.
>>276735
I don't have a specific list yet but in the beginning I'm imagining a hand picked list of maybe 20 or 30 well known ones. I don't want to disable memes that could potentially make a come-back but I'll make it such that they don't get in the way of every day stuff on the site.
>>276584
I love this
what about something less washed out and more similar to 4chan aesthetic?
>>277319
i like the irstone
Okay, generally it's bad to start conceptualizing a logo and typography and visual aesthetic before your brand identity is fully formed, because "how it just looks" is kind of a small part of the whole perception of the company, and are usually informed by the company's size, background, audience. That being said, my interpretation from your suggested style examples is that humor will be your main objective. I don't know exactly, but it sounds like you want this service to be ironic on a basic level, i.e. "Memes are serious business". Tell me if I'm wrong. Personally, I don't know how well that's going to hold up as the basis for a whole project, because if that's all you've got then every element is going to be stemming from a silly idea and nothing is going to have any real meaning as design. Again, I could be wrong. Nevertheless, Here is a small reference logo based on what you've said you like. In this situation, I think unobtrusive is what you should be shooting for visually, so nobody gets sick of it too quickly.
>>276343
this is fucking awful
>>277599
It's so bad it's good, imo
would you invest?
>>278073
first one look ok
>>277319
pretty dank
>>277319
First one's great
How much is this meme set at?
fucking trash give it up