405th Logo Update

[Art Andrews]

As with so many other things within this community, we are bringing a fresh approach to the look of the core logo.

Logo History

Now... I won't claim to know the entire history of the community's identity, but this is one of the earliest versions of the logo I could find from around August of 2007.



Which eventually appeared on the website around Oct of 2007.



I am not sure exactly when the current logo was first created (roughly ~2008) but Adam shared some of the very earliest versions of it with me:





This triskelion-styled design with three hexagons and the (Halo) ring eventually gave way to our current logo:




Updated Logo

In approaching the new logo, we hired Ever and Oak to help us. Douglas is a friend (and long time RPFer) and understands these type of communities, where a typical design company probably wouldn't truly get the nature of what we do. In talking with him I told him that I did not want a NEW logo as much as I wanted a new take on the existing logo as so many within the community identify with it. I asked him to keep the core elements of the logo:

• The ring - representing Earth.
• The three stars - representing the core values of our community: honor, armor and unity
• The three hexagons - represent you, the building blocks of our community, who hold our values at your core
• The eagle - which has long represented a fighting force, most notably in history, the Roman Legion, but more currently, the US Marine Corps
• The wreath - from the UN and UEG insignia, a symbol of the peace the UNSC are striving toward

I also asked that Douglas give us a design that didn't exactly mimic any specific Halo design, but had a feel that would fit into the Halo universe. I also asked him to limit the color palette to two, subdued colors (in addition to black and white) and make the logo something that we could easily break down into more simple forms for various uses. For anyone who knows anything about design, it is much harder to recreate something than to create something from scratch and my list of needs was no small task.

With that being said, Douglas brought back to me a stunning update to our logo that addressed EVERY concern I had and did so in a fantastic way!

I hate to start on a bad note, but before you scroll further (stop scrolling... stop!), PLEASE DO NOT USE THE NEW LOGO FOR ANY IMAGERY AT THIS TIME! Over the next few days, we will be setting up new logo usage guidelines and providing high-resolution artwork for approved usage. Again, please do not use this logo in part or whole at this point!

Here is our new full logo for the 405th Division:



Here is a horizontal variation:



And very importantly, the logo can be broken down into smaller components... such as ranks:



... or it could also be used to represent the progression that so many of us make from small and simply things to complex and difficult things:



And here is just an example of me playing around in Photoshop...


No matter how you look at it, this is a strong update to the community's identity, paying homage to what has come before, while giving us something more versatile and usable for what is ahead!

Here is a chance to see the evolution of the community identity, side by side:



I know I said it before, but I want to remind you again - DON'T SKIP THIS!
While I am confident you are excited about the new logo, PLEASE DO NOT USE IT FOR ANY IMAGERY AT THIS TIME! Over the next few days, we will be setting up new logo usage guidelines and providing high-resolution artwork for approved usage. Again, please do not use this logo in part or whole at this point!

So, where do we go from here? As we continue to update the site and social media venues, we will be adding in the new logo (as well as offering swag with the new logo). We will also be setting new guidelines so you too can use the logo in support of your community!

 

[Dagger06]

There isn't a like system in place? Crap, guess I've just been giving thumbs ups to my phone screen all last week

Edit: didn't there used to be a star rating system for threads at least? Maybe I'm imagining things

 

[Art Andrews]

In regard to a couple of things that have come up here... we are still working on the Club Covenant (Charter) and we have two things RELATIVELY nailed down:

Levels of the club will likely be:

Division - entire club
Regiment - large regions
Battalions - local groups (roughly single states, possibly smaller)

Our membership will likely be a 5 tiered system:

Tier 0 - Member (literally just a member of the site itself, not associated with any specific Regiment or Battalion)
Tier 1 - Trainee (someone who has committed to building a costume and has been taken under the wing of their local Regiment or Battalion)
Tier 2 - Enlisted (basic costume build/1st costume build. No matter how complex your costume is or how good your costume is you will have to pass through this level)
Tier 3 - Hero (intermediate costume build. More advance than a basic build, showing more detail, more skill and more effort. Again, you cannot skip this level)
Tier 4 - Legend (you are a god walking among men and your costume draws the attention and reverence of all... but more importantly you have a track record of helping others within the community)

Outside of the tiered membership, for administrative purposes, you would have administrative teams at the Division, Regiment and Battalion level, most likely consisting of three people at the Battalion level (for each Battalion), three people at the Regiment level (for each Regiment) and six - eight people at the Division level. These members would be in place to serve the members and oversee the logistical and administrative needs of the group.

 

[Art Andrews]

There isn't a like system in place? Crap, guess I've just been giving thumbs ups to my phone screen all last week

Edit: didn't there used to be a star rating system for threads at least? Maybe I'm imagining things

There was... and it is terrible. As soon as we get back from SDCC, we will get the LIKES system in place, which works very similarly to FB's like system.

 

[Dagger06]

My main thing with the tiers is there needs a way to ensure 3d modelers, people who only do props, etc feel included, Even if they don't build any actual costumes, they are an important part of the community.

 

[Art Andrews]

Good point. I wonder if there needs to be another branch that is created for support units (REMF)? While numbers vary wildly, in the US military, there are betwen 3 and 7 support staff for every combat troop. I wonder, in a club structure, what that number would pan out to be.

 

[Ashuraa]

Good point. I wonder if there needs to be another branch that is created for support units (REMF)? While numbers vary wildly, in the US military, there are betwen 3 and 7 support staff for every combat troop. I wonder, in a club structure, what that number would pan out to be.

Art, you could do something like what my other club has done. We have a seperate overall regiment that is not dedicated to a specific reagion of the world, but is all inclusive. Our regiments are based on general time zones being it is a gaming group. The final regiment is called the MFB, or Mobile Field Base. THose of us who cannot play the game for some reason, but support the community in other ways, such as Artwork, story writting, Technical information upkeep, sitemanagement, and such, all things that support, are in the MFB. The exception to this is our Command Brigade. Again, some of our command brigade cannot play the game often, or at all, yet we support the group as a whole.

As for the number break down it tends to be a much smaller number of strict support to people in the field. More along the lines of 1 support per 25 players or so.

 

[Art Andrews]

Art, you could do something like what my other club has done. We have a seperate overall regiment that is not dedicated to a specific reagion of the world, but is all inclusive. Our regiments are based on general time zones being it is a gaming group. The final regiment is called the MFB, or Mobile Field Base. THose of us who cannot play the game for some reason, but support the community in other ways, such as Artwork, story writting, Technical information upkeep, sitemanagement, and such, all things that support, are in the MFB. The exception to this is our Command Brigade. Again, some of our command brigade cannot play the game often, or at all, yet we support the group as a whole.

As for the number break down it tends to be a much smaller number of strict support to people in the field. More along the lines of 1 support per 25 players or so.

I like this idea VERY VERY much!!!

 

[Gaming239]

I would be European,from Slovenia with love!!!

 

[Ashuraa]

I like this idea VERY VERY much!!!

For our full breakdown of people in command/ officer-ship of active units it all falls down like this. You can also come over to our main site to take a look how we have things set up over there Art if you wished.
You will find much more detailed descriptions of each one of our Command here


I know not all of this will be applicable here, but it might give you a few ideas.

COMMAND POSITIONS:
Brigade/Skye Front Commander (SFC) _-Owner/ founder/ Leader of the club as a whole
Executive Officer (XO) 2nd in command. Does much to assist SFC. Only SFC 's decisions can trump XO
Tactical Officer (TAC) Promotes, and sesigns online community warfar agains tother teams/clubs. Helps with communicatins with those leagues/tournaments/clubs. Works with QMR to upkeep tactical training/ write ups.
Master at Arms (MaA) Lead of our training regiment/new recruits. Helps position new recruits into community as a whole. Helps develop training materials for new recruits
Communications Officer (COMM) He who runs and details our teamspeak server
Officer of Internal Affairs (OIA) (Currently vacant) Head of the MFB, As well as being the lead on any disciplinary issues. Works to resolve disciplinary issues before they need to involve XO or SFC
Quartermaster (QMR) Keeps up our techical information of maps, weapons, vehicles, tactics of useages of various weapon systems
Intelligence Officer (IO) our spy *Smiles* Keeps rack of other clubs/ general news of games
Ambassador (AMB)

LINE POSITIONS:
Regiment Commander (RCOM) Head of Regiment. They make all decisions for their regiment final, unless issue is to big/complicated for regiment alone. They choose their staff, with approval from Command. They do not have to fill out every slot of their command staff exactly. They can choose who and what works best for them within reason.
Battalion Commander (BCOM) Up to 3 per regiment. One is XO of the regiment, They are next level of command
Company Commander (CCOM) up to 3 per battalion.
Lance Commander (LCOM) up to 4 per battalion. this is your most basic level of command, and they are supposed to lead a group of 4 total, one drop group.
Mechwarrior (MW)

TRAINING POSITIONS:
Cadet (CDT)

 

[Art Andrews]

That is very very close to what we have mapped out in a lot of ways!

 

[CasualCosplayer]

I don´t really know if I should say anything in regards of this but if you guys gonna make this "Rank system" then well just keep it simple.


Pat-

 

[Ashuraa]

I don´t really know if I should say anything in regards of this but if you guys gonna make this "Rank system" then well just keep it simple.


Pat-

As for our group there are only 3 levels of rank.
Cadet. _ Those who have just join our group, but have not made their first post on site/ their first drops with the club in Teamspeak
MW - Full memeber of the site, is in a regiment. Is not Command.

Command. ANyone LCOM and above. From LCOM to CCOM are decided by RCOM, with final approval via upper Command.
RCOMS are only approved by Upper Command.

There are then AWARDS/Medals that are awarded that show on our members profiles, and some as tags that show under their name when they post. To gain awards/ medals you have to meet the qualifications for them, and then be recommended for them by your RCOM to Command. Command then approves or disapproves such medals, most of the time we take the RCOM's recommendations and judgement as a full given. When Command accepts, we place the tag on the given MW in the coding for their profile.

This has worked for the other group for 4 plus years. When I joined the club 4 years ago we only had 50 members world wide. We are now a unit of over 600 people worldwide. THat number is also taking into account that if one of our members dissappears for a period of time without informing their RCOM they get placed into a "Dropship Reserve" IF they have not appeared on our website after that within 3 months, and I mean just logging into the site, then they are removed from our membership there. I am NOT recommending that for here.


As I said before, some of the restrictions for the ranks here might work for here. I am just giving ideas from the community that I have been assisting in running for the last 4 years being it seems that this is the route upper management is heading.

 

[Dagger06]

I'm in favor of keeping the organization as simple as possible. This has the added bonus of flexibility.

For Pacific Reg right now We basically have a CO, who is in charge of all club events and the default point of contact, and an XO who takes over if necessary. There is also a CO/XO for each battalion. The CO can designate people to be in charge of certain events or tasks, wether it's running an event or managing a twitter feed.

The only additional position I forsee being necessary is someone in charge of finances eventually.

I do like the idea of having an easy way to tell who has completed suits just to make it easier for when other organizations ask if we have costumes available to come over.

 

[Brandon McClain]

I know there are many of us who don't post a lot who have waited a very long time for the club aspect and a proper rank system. It's been almost 5 years for me. While many see te draw backs and possible separation it can cause, I know that speaking personally, I remember my first months as a forum member looking at the elite members and builds and having something to strive for. Though many of my builds never received that level of recognition, it nonetheless inspired me to elevate my craft, strive for improvement, and seek to learn and develop new talents. Even after five years it continues to do so. My only hope is that the system recognizes those who may be quiet, but are always there.

Also as an aside, I would really like to see something like a "wall of fallen heroes" for those members that for whatever reason, may not be active any more, but who were instrumental in the foundations and learning of this community. Members like Darren Campbell (Dogwizard), Tim Winn, Lee Calhoun (LeeKeagan), Charlie Bell (privateer) and so many who worked hard to build this community into what it is today.

 

[23Magnum]

In reference to the Modelers having a group, what about something related to Special Intelligence and I mean that in the military sense. There is ONI but I don't know how well that would go over with using it in an official capacity. I'm sure we could come up with a name either way.

Also as an aside, I would really like to see something like a "wall of fallen heroes" for those members that for whatever reason, may not be active any more, but who were instrumental in the foundations and learning of this community. Members like Darren Campbell (Dogwizard), Tim Winn, Lee Calhoun (LeeKeagan), Charlie Bell (privateer) and so many who worked hard to build this community into what it is today.

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

 

[Zaff]

Our membership will likely be a 5 tiered system:

Tier 0 - Member (literally just a member of the site itself, not associated with any specific Regiment or Battalion)
Tier 1 - Trainee (someone who has committed to building a costume and has been taken under the wing of their local Regiment or Battalion)
Tier 2 - Enlisted (basic costume build/1st costume build. No matter how complex your costume is or how good your costume is you will have to pass through this level)
Tier 3 - Hero (intermediate costume build. More advance than a basic build, showing more detail, more skill and more effort. Again, you cannot skip this level)
Tier 4 - Legend (you are a god walking among men and your costume draws the attention and reverence of all... but more importantly you have a track record of helping others within the community)

So I go from being a 2-year infantryman to being "busted" down to tier 0 simply because while I do want to build a full suit (several, actually) I haven't actually made any progress in doing so...

Just something to keep in mind when considering how the ranking system will be laid out. I know I'm not the only one who has been around here for quite some time while not yet having found the time to do a full suit build, and the thought of (No offense, Art) a "newbie" taking over the group and making "seasoned" members feel like n00bs again with a system that is based entirely on one's ability to not only build a suit, but do it well.... This kind of has the same feeling as WanderTJ's suggestion that higher ranks be dependant on how many conventions one has attended. In other words, feeling like we have to' "buy in" to have any credibility while completely ignoring fundamental yet crucial contributions like modeling, unfolding, or simply being there to give advice, tips, and direction to people with questions. I mean I've pepped four helmets, only one in cardstock, and it hasn't progressed beyond that stage yet as I'm still considering what to do with it (to keep it as is, or modify/customize it). But I've also unfolded several models, subscribed to a handful of the "Help" threads to offer suggestions, tips, and the relevant experience I have, as well as often dropping by the random question threads to help direct people to the information they are looking for. So as far as being a costume builder, yea, I'm still a "rookie," but as far as being a member of the overall community, even though I know that ultimately it's just a "tag" and serves no real purpose, "Tier 0" feels like a slap in the face.

 

[MyrHerder]

Earlier some one suggested that the tiers be based on completing 3 to 5 items on a list, including years as a member, completing builds, attending cons, unfolding models, helping out in forums, etc. This makes ranking up much more flexible.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[RobotChicken]

Chipping in my 2 cents, I believe forum rankings should be forum-based, period. It shouldn't matter how many costumes a member has made, detail level, attended conventions, regiment membership, etc. These are all "extra-curricular". A forum member can potentially be extremely helpful to the forums, even be a moderator or administrator, and not have completed any costume nor attended any convention. Ranking should be a measure of value brought to the community by a member, and relevant only with regards to the forums.

 

[Art Andrews]

I do like the idea of having an easy way to tell who has completed suits just to make it easier for when other organizations ask if we have costumes available to come over.

That is a main goal for the three tiers of costumes as well as it will help eliminate hard feelings or people believing their is favoritism if an event comes up.

 

[Art Andrews]

Chipping in my 2 cents, I believe forum rankings should be forum-based, period.

But... that is part of the thing. What we are talking about at the moment isn't forum rankings and we are unlikely to ever have forum-based rankings. Why? Because they are very very hard to automate and when they aren't automated, then they are simply arbitrary and that very quickly turns into hurt feelings.

Just about the only thing you can do, without implementing a complex Awards system is give credit for post count or time since having joined. Both of those are poor measures of a member's value to the community. You may have someone who has been here from day one but never posted. Is that member more worthy of rank than a member who only joined 6 months ago, but has been answering questions and helping endlessly? Conversely, you could have someone who has thousands of posts, but all of them are simply "cheerleader" posts while another member only has 50 or so posts but each of those is a full pep build file. According to an automated ranknig system, the attaboyer is the higher rank.

We need to remember that this site exists for the purpose of building Halo costumes. It is not a Halo fan site. It is a Halo costuming site. While a certain sense of community is developed from the forums themselves, there has clearly been a long-standing need and even a few attempts to be more; to be a true costuming club similar the 501st, Rebel Legion and Mandalorian Mercs. A costuming club transcends the boundaries of the forum and creates a much stronger sense of community than a forum alone could do.

It shouldn't matter how many costumes a member has made, detail level, attended conventions, regiment membership, etc. These are all "extra-curricular".

I completely disagree. From a club aspect, those things are all extremely important. Without them, really all you have is a dicussion forum community, not a club. I feel like you are missing an aspect of this somewhere in which we are working to add a layer on top of the existing structure, not change what is here.

A forum member can potentially be extremely helpful to the forums, even be a moderator or administrator, and not have completed any costume nor attended any convention.

This is very true and something Trooper0621 pointed out above and the Ashuraa expounded on it. This will be somewhat difficult to do because again, it will be somewhat arbitrary and easy to overlook someone but again, I agree that it is important to be as inclusive as possible and not to leave out members who essentially serve the community in a support role.