another version...im still not sure, the dark blue is kind of....i dont know....too windows ?

esper: that's definitely too creative for windows! i think it looks like the startup screen (don't know the correct word) for an old video game escaped into web 2.0 . maybe it's a bit tiring for the eyes with all that detail though? could the diagonal "gimpchat stripes" in the background be toned down a bit?
i like how you solved the problem of "where imagination meets innovation", i thought that was the trickiest part. your solution is very elegant!

thanks for the input, AnMal

yes, its a bit like an old video game, thats on purpose (although im not a gamer)

you think the overall design and the diagonal stripes are too busy ?
i will think about that

the text along path bit is better, i think so too
i tried it with yellow first, but it steals away all the attention from the logo, so that doesnt work

i still think the colors dont work, the blue GimpChat looks good in purple, but i think purple is just horrible zeitgeist

tried to invert the colors, which looks great, but this is not ChocoChat, im afraid

hehe, with that edible banner some of us (no names mentioned but i know her well) would completely loose concentration . hmm... tricky to find just the right shade, especially with those coloured echo layers. but what exactly was it about the dark blue that you didn't like?

Very creative design, Esper. The blue color themes will probably integrate better with the site. Well done!

dunno, im not too happy with the whole thing
im a bit of a perfectionist and i feel when im struggling to much with finding a way to make it work, something is wrong

whatever, it was worth the experience

Thanks, i will leave it that way for the moment, i think, and have another go some other time

Here is my design, I hope you like it.

Yes it is very nice, I like it.

beautiful design! it looks so proffessional. impressive how you got so many details in it without making it feel overloaded.

my thoughts exactly

i like the "dreamy" theme as well

Eye looking up and the rays are a nice touch to set off the catch phrase.

That is really beautiful and professional looking.

i did some more tweaking, so this is my final version (i think)

That's really cool Esper. I like the echoed writing. There's a lot of really good work in this thread.

I like it a lot Esper. Do you think it would have more depth if you lowered the opacity a bit on the watermarks of the BG and maybe a 2 or 3 blur.

like this ?

To me that is better, maybe lower the opacity a bit more, it still seems to be fighting with your main text I just think when everything has the same color value, it looks too flat with no depth. JMO

Edit: maybe the water marks would be better behind the glass reflections too instead of on top. I am not being picky just observing.

I agree with Mo - that does look better.

yes, that's it! with the diagonal text layer toned down it's a lot less busy and the gradient on the blue text makes it less harsh - good job, esper i was actually a bit disappointed when you said you wouldn't work anymore on the banner, your design is so fun and different with that video-game-goes-web 2.0-look. are you happy with it yourself now?

EDIT:
oh, that post was ninjad, AnMal

i must say i liked the crisper version better, but i can see why people think the molly version is better
ask me again in three months