Drumroll, please...

After days of deliberation, countless emails, and only a few instances of blackmail, the DBO admins have finally selected an official logo for the site:

I'd like to thank Dean Hofmeyer (unhh) for creating this logo; it's clean and simple, yet elegantly fits the Bungie.Org logo into a Destiny-esque shape. I think Kermit put it best when he described the design as "Kubricky." Dean, your first DBO shirt is on the house. (Once DBO shirts exist, that is. We're still figuring out the logistics of that endeavor.)

I'd also like to thank everyone that participated in the DBO Logo Hunt threads. While we can't reward you all with free clothing, your contributions will not be forgotten! (Especially if we end up using one of your images for a shirt. I can assure you that we'll consider them all when choosing a design - feel free to post suggestions in the thread!)

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So... now what? Well, now we put our new emblem to use. Various DBO pages will be adorned with fresh iconography, so don't be surprised when your browser tabs look different. I also have some secret plans for the logo that will be of interest to anyone attending PAX East next week... (Unrelated question: Buttons are cool, right?)

Judging from the Logo Hunt thread, it's obvious that DBO has an abundance of talented artists. If you'd like to work your own magic on our new logo and perhaps create some DBO-themed desktop or phone wallpapers, you can find the vector file here:

http://destiny.bungie.org/extras/DBO_Logo.ai.zip

For convenience, here is a quick rasterized image:

DBO denizens, you rose to the challenge - and made it really hard for us to pick only one winner! Keep an eye on the forum for the next challenge...
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Looks awesome! To be honest it wasn't my favorite, but that isn't saying much since all the submissions were pretty kick-ass! I'm very happy with it, and look forward to the t-shirts.

I like the default (I assume?) color you picked for the logo. Great choice over all.

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I could not be happier!

So simple, so perfect! Congratulations, Dean!

And I find it hilarious that in ncsuDuncan's original chart, it was ... D7.

You might say it was destiny. :)

Awesome! It's going to look great on the site and shirts!
Congratulations Dean.

Glad we finally have a logo! I don't know how you guys ever made a decision

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I don't know how you guys ever made a decision

…and a can of whip cream.

Don't ask.

I don't know how you guys ever made a decision

…and a can of whip cream.

Don't ask.

The logo may be what the devil wanted...

The wait is over! :P

It wasn't my favorite design, but I can definitely see why you picked it to go alongside the existing HBO logo. It's simple, familiar, and still differentiates between the two sites.

Still, I'm gonna keep my favorite, breitzen's design, close at hand. ;)

Congrats on the new logo! :D

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The selection process was crazy difficult. Everyone came up with such awesome designs! I liked Colin's suggestion about just using everything. :)

Yeah, I'd buy that jacket!

Judging from the Logo Hunt thread, it's obvious that DBO has an abundance of talented artists. If you'd like to work your own magic on our new logo and perhaps create some DBO-themed desktop or phone wallpapers, you can find the vector file here:

DBO denizens, you rose to the challenge - and made it really hard for us to pick only one winner! Keep an eye on the forum for the next challenge...
[ominous music plays]

Awesome design, excellent choice... But one thing I was wondering about what it would look like to implement the Traveler into the design. It's definitely busier, but this doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.

Looks great! Good work, gentlemen. :)

Nice logo pick by the way.

Awesome design, excellent choice... But one thing I was wondering about what it would look like to implement the Traveler into the design. It's definitely busier, but this doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.

Now shrink that down into favicon size. ;)

Cool idea though! Certainly worth pursuing as a variant of the clean/official logo.

Judging from the Logo Hunt thread, it's obvious that DBO has an abundance of talented artists. If you'd like to work your own magic on our new logo and perhaps create some DBO-themed desktop or phone wallpapers, you can find the vector file here:

I'm untalented, but here's some quick and dirty (you can probably cut yourself on some jaggies I didn't account for) iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5 sized wallpapers that are in no way ripped-off or inspired in the slightest by the OP:

DBO Blue Devils (I'm so sorry):

iPhone 4/4S

iPhone 5

Smoke:

iPhone 4/4S

iPhone 5

Also, here's a few apple-touch-icons.png's so we weirdo iOS users can have a pretty logo on our homescreens:

Can't wait to see what real artists make!

Very nice. I'll be looking for the t-shirts.

Who all is going to be at PAX East?

Very nice. I'll be looking for the t-shirts.

Who all is going to be at PAX East?

I'm on the wrong side of the country :( I will definitely be at PAX Prime though.

And no sign of retiring so far maybe when Claude kicks it :-D

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The wait is over! :P

It wasn't my favorite design, but I can definitely see why you picked it to go alongside the existing HBO logo. It's simple, familiar, and still differentiates between the two sites.

Still, I'm gonna keep my favorite, breitzen's design, close at hand. ;)

Congrats on the new logo! :D

There was a huge amount of contenders in my opinion - almost everybody's was squeezed in between 'great' and 'awesome' at the top of my list.

I think for logo-purposes, the simple D fits the bill perfectly. It's quick and informative. But I'm hoping to see folks make shirts and other cool things using all the other great designs that were made! Just because this is the main logo, doesn't mean people can't use their own designs to represent their own corners of DBO, just like you did there!

Congrats to you Dean, hope you get that warm feeling inside every time you log on :)

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Very nice. I'll be looking for the t-shirts.

Who all is going to be at PAX East?

Looks like I will... with both sons. ;)

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Loved the logo. Looks really good even next to HBO's logo (which is the case right now on my browser :P ).

Anyway, here goes the peeve: I noticed the background is not set as transparent, but a shade of grey. As such, I can see a clear square around it, unlike HBO's logo, that blends in no matter which way I color my tabs.

DBO Blue Devils (I'm so sorry):

Speaking as a bull city resident: niiiice

Is that any way to refer to Miguel and Grim? ;)

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Looks elegant and simple.

Also, shirts!

Hah, yeah. A transparent favicon was on the to-do list from earlier today and I didn't get around to it until this evening. :)

...seriously...seriously...?

...I'm on to you Levi...

Good job "Dean" ;)

Also, shirts!

Seriously though, I'm honored that my design was chosen. There were so many great ideas floating around, I was kind of shocked when I found out I'd "won". Mostly, I'm just pumped to have finally made a tangible contribution to the community I've been lurking for so long.

Here's a desktop I made for myself from the Traveler concept.

Very clean logo. Good choice.

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Meeting you last year makes the logo that you created a little more special to me. It almost gives me a sense of accomplishment. Like I made it... I made the logo. YOU'RE WELCOME, EVERYONE!

- CC Seriously though, Dean, excellent job!

Likewise, it wasn't my own first choice, but it certainly flows with what I feel is important in a base logo - simple, solid, recognizable, and lots of room for stylish variants :)
Congrats Dean, looking forward to what spawns from this new face of DBO :)

I certainly don't envy the stress TPTB had to endure to narrow down the choices; so many amazing artists and designers here!

So far we (mostly?) just have the (awesome!) HBO regulars. Just imagine this place once all the new Destiny people start flowing in!

"... it's a very exciting time." - Tank.

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...gonna buy you. Now don't be sad, cause two outta three ain't bad.

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That logo is ace. I LOVE IT! Congrats to the designer!

You will have my money like always kanbo.

Crap, I was gonna finish the lyric and then you went and did it yourself!

Padraig, I feel like we might have some musical taste in common after all.

Agreed. This needs to be a purchasable thing.

So cool to see one of my personal top two favorites make it!

(I wonder what that would look like on a set of personalized dog tags?)

hahahahaha
it's just the bungie.org logo on filled in D with rounded corners? hahaha
to be clear, I'm not putting down unnh here (congratulations unnh), and I'm not saying the admins are stupid or don't know what they want or are even necessarily uncreative

hahahahaha
it's just the bungie.org logo on a D with rounded corners? hahaha

hahahahaha
It's just a curve? hahaha

hahahahaha
It's just an X with some pixelation near the top? hahaha

hahahahaha
It's just an S in a rounded box? hahaha

Sometimes you make me shake my head in sadness, GV.

Awesome design, excellent choice... But one thing I was wondering about what it would look like to implement the Traveler into the design. It's definitely busier, but this doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.

http://i.imgur.com/dZkRLM5.png

Now shrink that down into favicon size. ;)

Cool idea though! Certainly worth pursuing as a variant of the clean/official logo.

I assumed the favicon would be something iconic from the game like with HBO. *looks at an HBO forum tab* The b.org logo by itself can barely even fit all its parts in a favicon recognizably. You already have the Traveler there too, just done in an unusual way. That's what I get for assuming, of course. I'm sure whatever you do will be easy enough on the eyes.

hahahahaha
it's just the bungie.org logo on a D with rounded corners? hahaha

hahahahaha
It's just a curve? hahaha

hahahahaha
It's just an X with some pixelation near the top? hahaha

hahahahaha
It's just an S in a rounded box? hahaha

Sometimes you make me shake my head in sadness, GV.

If one of those companies was a subsidiary of a company with the same logo that subsidiary has only a little more simple, I'd look at it the same way as this. I'm not saying it's bad. The funniest thing, I think, is that you could've saved a lot of time and effort if one of you (one of the admins) had thought of this in the first place-- which is not to say I didn't value the art and discussion produced.
Also I like how you made a directory just for me.

The funniest thing, I think, is that you could've saved a lot of time and effort if one of you (one of the admins) had thought of this in the first place-- which is not to say I didn't value the art and discussion produced.

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Literally had a giggle fit.

My coworkers are wondering about me.

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Needs more sound! :D

This must be seen more.
lol

That's pretty. Nice work!

Literally had a giggle fit.

Me too.

My coworkers are wondering about me.

Luckily, I work in my basement. At least today.

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The funniest thing, I think, is that you could've saved a lot of time and effort if one of you (one of the admins) had thought of this in the first place-- which is not to say I didn't value the art and discussion produced.

[mature_and_distinguished_man_facedesking.gif]

what? it's not like one of you couldn't have thought "what if we put the b.org logo on a big D?"

what? it's not like one of you couldn't have thought "what if we put the b.org logo on a big D?"

Meh. A big part of the contest, I'm sure, was for the benefit of the community. To simplify it, saying, "Why didn't you just think of that" is quite the jerkist attitude. I highly enjoyed all the great work people put in even though I didn't contribute directly. Even if you don't like the logo is giving the admins and the winner the big ole "I'm not saying..." backhanded insult really necessary?

The admins could do whatever they want, they run the site. But that would defeat the purpose of having a community. Between asking for logo contributions and holding these weekly DBO Challenges, the admins are doing a good job of getting people to be active.

Since we know Destiny is intended to be played socially, it's great that they're working to get that social interaction started now. By the time Destiny is released we'll all have a greater sense of what the DBO community is all about (something very helpful to people only recently discovering the Bungie.org network), and we'll be used to interacting with each other on a regular basis. Hopefully this community interaction will blend well with in-game interaction =)

/I tend to lone wolf it in Halo but I am super excited about running around Destiny with my many DBO comrades!

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and I'm not saying

Oh yes you are.

You're being a right douche here. The admins had a competition and went for the best thing that the community could come up with.

If you aren't impressed by the result then it's the community that you should be taking issue with. You are a member of that community so you share responsibility for the result. Did you contribute a better logo?

Do you think that there was a better submission that they should have picked? If so: which one?

Good logos tend to be simple. I like the D. Anyone can come up with a complicated solution and anyone with 20/20 hindsight can say that the D was too easy but it took some time before it was suggested so it doesn't look like it really was such an obvious idea.

Still: things needn't be obscure to be good. The D logo is good. (IMO)

and the Favicon is AWESOME! Love how it looks. I don't know why that of all things got me so excited.

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Spare, elegant designs are the most difficult.

If you aren't impressed by the result then it's the community that you should be taking issue with. You are a member of that community so you share responsibility for the result. Did you contribute a better logo?

That doesn't follow at all. If you disagree with a decision made by a minority, you don't blame the majority. Whether or not he contributed is irrelevant.

what? it's not like one of you couldn't have thought "what if we put the b.org logo on a big D?"

Meh. A big part of the contest, I'm sure, was for the benefit of the community. To simplify it, saying, "Why didn't you just think of that" is quite the jerkist attitude. I highly enjoyed all the great work people put in even though I didn't contribute directly. Even if you don't like the logo is giving the admins and the winner the big ole "I'm not saying..." backhanded insult really necessary?

What? I put that in to pre-empt anyone thinking I was meant it in an insulting way (and yes, I realized someone might take it this way anyway). Plus like I said above I enjoyed seeing people's work and the discussion and playing off each other and all that.
I thought the bolding and facedesking I replied to was about the impossibility of what I said, but really I don't know, if he'd like to explain it....

The admins could do whatever they want, they run the site. But that would defeat the purpose of having a community.

yeah, but what they picked was entirely by one person, where a lot of other stuff had multiple people's effort going into it

and I'm not saying

Oh yes you are.

oh no, I'm not

If you aren't impressed by the result then it's the community that you should be taking issue with. You are a member of that community so you share responsibility for the result. Did you contribute a better logo?

Do you think that there was a better submission that they should have picked? If so: which one?

I wasn't going to say this but I think there were several better ones.

Good logos tend to be simple. I like the D. Anyone can come up with a complicated solution and anyone with 20/20 hindsight can say that the D was too easy but it took some time before it was suggested so it doesn't look like it really was such an obvious idea.

Still: things needn't be obscure to be good. The D logo is good. (IMO)

Again, I didn't say it's bad, I just thought it was funny so many people put in so much effort and thought in and the end result was something so simple by one person.

What? I put that in to pre-empt anyone thinking I was meant it in an insulting way (and yes, I realized someone might take it this way anyway). Plus like I said above I enjoyed seeing people's work and the discussion and playing off each other and all that.

There are much simpler ways to preempt without "not" calling the design bad, and the admins stupid and so on. No, I think you were being a jerk and are now trying to... I don't know... cover for it or something. If you didn't like the process, or the logo, then just say so. Cut out the roundabout insults and name calling.

Again, I didn't say it's bad, I just thought it was funny so many people put in so much effort and thought in and the end result was something so simple by one person.

I'm pretty sure we all understand now that you don't think the best choice was made. Personally, I had my favorites as well (kapowaz, your patches were awesome!). But I have come to realize that this is the best choice for the purposes it serves (props to Dean Hofmeyer (unhh)) I think NsU Soldier said it best when Dean first posted his submission back in the logo thread:

"A 'D' for Destiny and then the Bungie.Org logo? It says everything it needs to, and remains very minimalistic. Good stuff!"

You seem to see the simplicity of the logo as a bad thing; everyone else (at least everyone else who has spoken here) seems to think that the simplicity is great and the choice is an excellent one. I haven't seen any of the artists who contributed complain about the choice that was made. I think they were just happy to participate and share something with the community. Plus, I'm pretty sure we'll see their work on some awesome t-shirts here soon.

I'm pretty sure we all understand now that you don't think the best choice was made. Personally, I had my favorites as well (kapowaz, your patches were awesome!). But I have come to realize that this is the best choice for the purposes it serves (props to Dean Hofmeyer (unhh)) I think NsU Soldier said it best when Dean first posted his submission back in the logo thread:

"A 'D' for Destiny and then the Bungie.Org logo? It says everything it needs to, and remains very minimalistic. Good stuff!"

You seem to see the simplicity of the logo as a bad thing; everyone else (at least everyone else who has spoken here) seems to think that the simplicity is great and the choice is an excellent one. I haven't seen any of the artists who contributed complain about the choice that was made. I think they were just happy to participate and share something with the community. Plus, I'm pretty sure we'll see their work on some awesome t-shirts here soon.

I actually commented a couple of times during the process about the unnecessary complexity being put into the designs, with so many focusing on making a 'cool design'. Cool as they may be, my opinion was that logo design simplicity should come first, upon which you can build complexity and add the 'cool' factor. It's much harder to work the other way around.

(20/20, apparently my designs weren't simple enough :P)

Again, I didn't say it's bad, I just thought it was funny so many people put in so much effort and thought in and the end result was something so simple by one person.

Do you really see his design as something he came up with entirely on his own, with no influence from anything else posted on the forum that week?

Go back and read his posts in that thread, in order. Look at the designs he started with, and the changes he made based on feedback.

That D was heavily influenced by kapowaz's relatively simple circles with Halo logos in them (first with, then without a city beneath them). Yes, he came up with the D - but if you read that thread in order, you can see how all sorts of people tossed bits into the pot, and helped push the process to the point where the D occurred to Dean.

That, to me, is the beauty of this sort of activity - it's NOT 100 working in cubicles, trying to see who comes up with the best design, it's 100 people sitting around a table, saying "hey, that's cool, what if you..."

If you can't see that, I guess I feel a little sorry for you - there's all sorts of beautiful human interaction happening around you that you might be missing.

You seem to see the simplicity of the logo as a bad thing; everyone else (at least everyone else who has spoken here) seems to think that the simplicity is great and the choice is an excellent one.

It's important to note that simplicity as a characteristic of a design is neither good nor bad — it's just what it is. You can't say that a design is good because it is simple, nor can you say that it's bad for the same reason. I don't understand GV's point when he is bemused about the selection of a logo which he feels was obvious, but I do understand when he says his personal taste means he preferred others. Of course, it's harder to convince somebody that your subjective opinion is right, so I guess focusing on simplicity (which is objectively true) was one way of criticising it. Just not a very good one.

I haven't seen any of the artists who contributed complain about the choice that was made. I think they were just happy to participate and share something with the community. Plus, I'm pretty sure we'll see their work on some awesome t-shirts here soon.

That'd just be sour grapes though, wouldn't it? You're unlikely to hear people bemoan the decision in here when they had skin in the game.

That D was heavily influenced by kapowaz's relatively simple circles with Halo logos in them (first with, then without a city beneath them). Yes, he came up with the D - but if you read that thread in order, you can see how all sorts of people tossed bits into the pot, and helped push the process to the point where the D occurred to Dean.

Really? I never saw it that way, personally. I'd say Dean's logo was pretty much hit out of the park on the first go, and with very little to connect it to other proposals. Conversely there were a number of other entries which clearly were inspired by my cityscape designs (and my cityscape design was in turn inspired by Bungie's Alpha Lupi wallpaper, and it didn't just inspire me, either).

yeah, but what they picked was entirely by one person, where a lot of other stuff had multiple people's effort going into it

True, too a point. But we did elaborate and expand on Dean's design, at least I did. Still, that's not really the point. My design that was based on Dean's was busier and in the end, because of size requirements his worked better. There is always the chance that the first draft is the one the client likes, but you still want to provide other options. I would say based on what the admins are using it for, the design does work great!

It is not the destination that matters as much as the journey we take to get there.

It's important to note that simplicity as a characteristic of a design is neither good nor bad — it's just what it is. You can't say that a design is good because it is simple, nor can you say that it's bad for the same reason. I don't understand GV's point when he is bemused about the selection of a logo which he feels was obvious, but I do understand when he says his personal taste means he preferred others. Of course, it's harder to convince somebody that your subjective opinion is right, so I guess focusing on simplicity (which is objectively true) was one way of criticising it. Just not a very good one.

Note: I'm horrible when it comes to clearly speaking my mind.

I didn't mean that the chosen design was good because it was simple, but that it's quality of simplicity was something that everyone seemed to like. Whether it's a good or a bad logo is purlely subjective, but, given that we're a community here and that the majority of the community liked and approved of the logo, his continued criticism began to feel like a stab at the community. I'm not trying to force him to like the new logo, but I think there is a decent way of expressing your dissatisfaction with something without mocking or criticizing it.

That D was heavily influenced by kapowaz's relatively simple circles with Halo logos in them (first with, then without a city beneath them). Yes, he came up with the D - but if you read that thread in order, you can see how all sorts of people tossed bits into the pot, and helped push the process to the point where the D occurred to Dean.

Really? I never saw it that way, personally. I'd say Dean's logo was pretty much hit out of the park on the first go, and with very little to connect it to other proposals. Conversely there were a number of other entries which clearly were inspired by my cityscape designs (and my cityscape design was in turn inspired by Bungie's Alpha Lupi wallpaper, and it didn't just inspire me, either).

Whatever the lineage of the logo, I don't doubt that he was influenced by what was tried and what was discussed before the D inspiration hit. Things like making the traveler the O in DBO could've inspired incorporating the D. He was going for something simple, which many people were asking for.

Now that I think of it, I think I'm responsible for the logo. You're welcome.

;)

What? I put that in to pre-empt anyone thinking I was meant it in an insulting way (and yes, I realized someone might take it this way anyway). Plus like I said above I enjoyed seeing people's work and the discussion and playing off each other and all that.

There are much simpler ways to preempt without "not" calling the design bad, and the admins stupid and so on. No, I think you were being a jerk and are now trying to... I don't know... cover for it or something. If you didn't like the process, or the logo, then just say so. Cut out the roundabout insults and name calling.

I liked the process and I think the logo isn't great but it's not bad either. I thought for a minute and no euphemisms were coming to mind so I just said what I said directly. I'm absolutely not trying to insult anyone.

You seem to see the simplicity of the logo as a bad thing; everyone else (at least everyone else who has spoken here) seems to think that the simplicity is great and the choice is an excellent one. I haven't seen any of the artists who contributed complain about the choice that was made.

I don't mind the simplicity itself, a simple logo is pretty much always good, as long as it doesn't overlap with something else too much. This wasn't about my having a problem with it anyway. My actual initial reaction to seeing what they picked was laughter. After that I did feel upset that it wasn't something that I viewed as better, but I got over that, and what I posted is basically exactly what I thought when I first saw the decision (I had stuff to do and wanted to get through other posts here and on HBO first so I posted it late).
I'm not surprised at the lack of negative reaction, it's not like it would change anything. I'm especially not surprised none of the artists said anything, because then they'd look jealous, even if they're not.

I liked the process and I think the logo isn't great but it's not bad either. I thought for a minute and no euphemisms were coming to mind so I just said what I said directly. I'm absolutely not trying to insult anyone.

I'm glad you said that, and I'm sorry if I seemed a little harsh in one of my other posts.

You seem to see the simplicity of the logo as a bad thing; everyone else (at least everyone else who has spoken here) seems to think that the simplicity is great and the choice is an excellent one. I haven't seen any of the artists who contributed complain about the choice that was made.

I don't mind the simplicity itself, a simple logo is pretty much always good, as long as it doesn't overlap with something else too much. This wasn't about my having a problem with it anyway. My actual initial reaction to seeing what they picked was laughter. After that I did feel upset that it wasn't something that I viewed as better, but I got over that, and what I posted is basically exactly what I thought when I first saw the decision (I had stuff to do and wanted to get through other posts here and on HBO first so I posted it late).

I have all kinds of reactions and thoughts. Fortunately, I realize that it's best not to post every single one of them.

I noticed that the new favicon didn't seem to be as clear as it could be, and someone pointed out to me it also had some weird stuff in it when you look closely:

That's the 32x32 version blown up. The 16x16 version is what shows up in my browser and it has less weird pixels but still more than a handful, and like I said it could be more clear even at its normal size. I took the liberty of cleaning up and trying to improve both versions. It wouldn't save properly in the icon format the site uses with the program I use (which is why I didn't post this two days ago, I saved and closed the file before I realized what happened), so I've linked them below in PNG format.

I probably wouldn't do this (let alone twice, four times if you count both sizes) if I thought the design was really bad. I hope these files can help make the site better in a small way. (Whether they do or not, the Great Grey One got me to laugh some more.)