Designing graphic images requires not only talent but skill at using the available tools. You may either hand-draw something on paper and then scan it, or use a vector drawing program. Then you can manipulate the image to its final form, adding effects and final touches using an image manipulation program.
If you are going to use a vector drawing program, there are several for Linux.
Kontour or now Karbon14 - A vector drawing program for KDE which is bundled with Koffice as well.
Gestalter - a free vector drawing program. The user interface is loosely modeled after Adobe Illustrator. The central element is the Bezier curve used as a base part for almost every other object. Complex paths are possible, compound paths can be constructed, grouping of elements is enabled, and everything can be screened by a mask. Adding and deleting of nodes is implemented as well as transformations (translation, rotation, scaling, and skewing).
Sodipodi - a general purpose vector drawing application which uses a subset of W3C SVG as its file format. It uses an advanced imaging engine, with antialised display, apha transparency, and vector fonts.
Once you are satisfied with the image or if you don't use vector drawing programs to begin with you can manipulate the image itself. This can be done by programs such as GIMP.
We are constantly looking for new designs for logos and banners for Arabeyes, as well as the various individual projects. There is a distinction between a logo and a banner that many people (incorrectly) fail to make.
A logo is a small graphic that is often simple (due to its small size) and generally excludes text. That is unless it is a calligraphic type of logo where the entire logo is essentially a drawn word/phrase. On the other hand a banner is bigger and generally has text in it.
To give a better idea, let us look at the specifications of each (and those to be used for Arabeyes logos and banners).
There are two types of banners for Arabeyes. One that is displayed on Arabeyes.org pages and another are the ones deployed on other sites to advertise/recruit volunteers. Because the latter may have other specifications imposed by the hosting site, you may have to check with them. However, a good rule is to follow our standard and adjust as you are being asked to by the host.
Fill type (background) must be transparent.
Image file format must be open and free from license restrictions. We recommend PNG.
Dimensions should be 160px (length), 100px (height), or very close to it, give or take 10 pixels.
Icons are those little nifty looking images that identify an application on your desktop or in your menu. They are also found inside GUI applications (e.g. Open File icon, Save icon, etc). The following are some of the most popular free icon editors.
KIconEdit - The KDE Icon Editor is a small graphics drawing program especially for creating icons using the standard KDE icon palette. It has most of the tools which are needed for easy creation of icons including Line, Ellipse, Circle, Rectangle, Freehand, Eraser, and Spraycan.
GNOME Iconedit - The GNOME icon editor[2].