Hi Francois, Just made some changes to the demo 'infobox' - how do you like the white text on the blue background? If I do it the other way round, I will loose the nice white border/frame of the 'infobox'. Below is a mock-up of my thoughts on the customised Allied cemetery marker: If we could get Nicholas to change the top of the centre marker (circled in red) to the Jewish symbol, I think we might have this one sorted. Here is an example of the Jewish marker design in the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. Unless Nicholas knows some graphics trick to make the 'A' (for Allied) letter stand out when the icon is down sized, I don't think it should be included as it appears illegible at life size. We may also have to remove the letters from the Horsa and Waco icons for the same reason. Regards, Pat
White on blue works much better for me indeed ! And yes, the little characters will probably be lost in icon-size..... Lets see what Nicolas comes up with
Hi All, OK, Nicholas has sent me a first draft: <table width="500" border="0" align="center" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0"> <tr bgcolor="#66FF99"> <td width="150" height="20"><div align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Allied Cemetery </font></div></td> <td width="150" height="20"><div align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">German Cemetery </font></div></td> <td width="150" height="20"><div align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Horsa Glider </font></div></td> <td width="150" height="20"><div align="center"><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Waco Glider </font></div></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFF99"> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFF99"> <td width="150"><div align="center"><img src="http://www.normandy.whitebeamimages.ie/google_maps/icons/cemetary-allied.png" alt="Allied Cemetery" width="22" height="22" /></div></td> <td width="150"><div align="center"><img src="http://www.normandy.whitebeamimages.ie/google_maps/icons/cemetary-german.png" alt="German Cemetery" width="22" height="22" /></div></td> <td width="150"><div align="center"><img src="http://www.normandy.whitebeamimages.ie/google_maps/icons/horsa.png" alt="Horsa Glider" width="22" height="22" /></div></td> <td width="150"><div align="center"><img src="http://www.normandy.whitebeamimages.ie/google_maps/icons/waco.png" alt="Waco Glider" width="22" height="22" /></div></td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#FFFF99"> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> <td> </td> </tr> </table> What do you guys think? To my eyes the letters are just about discernable and therefore worth keeping in my view; perhaps increased by one font size? I like both the cemetery icons; they have a common theme but can still be distinguished from each other. Black and white colours like Nicholas's default cemetery icon would be more suitable in my view. The gliders; I wonder if we rotated one of them to point at the ten o'clock position - would that make them easier to recognise one from the other? It looks like there is no point in attempting to show Niels's hard won invasion stripes. I'll ask Nicholas about that feature as I think it would add significantly to both icons. Let me have your thoughts guys before I get back to Nicholas. Thanks, Pat
I like them, and yes, the characters can indeed be made out. If you put the stripes on the gliders, you'd need them to have a darker color. Dark green or black I would say. Rotating might indeed provide a larger difference between the two types. Not sure if you need the icons to be one color only? For the gliders maybe light background, dark glider, white stripes?
Thanks Francois, I have sent Nicholas the link to this thread and asked him to hold off until Friday before implementing any changes in order to allow members here to submit their thoughts. He has sent me an email just now with some recommendations:
Hi Pat, I would rotate one of the gliders AND use another background color... You may also have to relocate the letter on the rotated glider icon. Respectfully, John
Hello all, I know they're small to start with, but at the moment the Horsa is smaller than the Waco (opposite from the full-size versions)[/i]. If you made the Waco noticeably smaller and/or as suggested rotate one, it would make the difference more noticeable. I would stick to the same colour. Another colour could be used for powered aircraft. Just my two penn'orth.... Cheers, Sean
Hello my thoughts : - Why to do want to make a difference between german and other cemeteries? A military cemetery is a cemetery , american, british, canadian, polish or german.. and the country is written on the map. - markers for cemeteries must have different backgroung than the other markers. The black marker which is actually on the map is good I think - I don't like the green background for the markers.. beurk NEVER count with my participation to give location of crash sites of powered aircraft on a public map!
Hi Guys, Thanks for the feedback - all good points you raise. The actual wing span difference between the two is quite small; 83ft for the Waco compared to 88ft for the Horsa if Wikipedia is correct. However, the Waco did look smaller overall and this difference in size could be reflected in the icons, thereby helping to differentiate them when used side-by-side on the Map. Regards, Pat
Guys, Don't worry about the colour; that can be easily changed - see Nicholas's custom colour picker on his site here. C-47 crash sites will not be shown on the Map for many reasons, the main one being I don't want the 'metal detector brigade' making money from sites where brave men may have died in crashes. Regards, Pat
Patrick, I agree totally, but meant what you might call "known" sites, for example where there's a monument, or where there were forced landings as opposed to crash sites, an example that springs immediately to mind being the P-47 on the beach in St Aubin sur Mer, that sort of thing. Just thinking aloud. Cheers, Sean
Hi All, I agree with Pat Elie because I think it should be black and I dont care for the green either. But I do like the letter for a nationality on the icon, I personally dont have a great desire to ever visit a German cemetary, so it would aide in informing me and others. I would consider removing the top smallest cross from the icon too, it is so small it gets lost. Is there any interest in creating other icons? I know there wont be a C-47 one, but what about one for a ground combat incident location worth noting. I would suggest crossed rifles for that. Respectfully, John
Hi John, The only reason I am having custom icons done up for the different cemeteries is to be able to acknowledge the Jewish faith in the Allied locations. Consequently, a different icon is needed to mark the German cemeteries. Yes, over time we can add more custom icons for many different locations but at €10 each, I don't want to use up funds in this area at the expense of other resources such as NCAP reconnaissance photos. Initially, we can just use the default Google icons for now and replace them over time with more suitable customised versions. Nicholas has a set of modern military icons already done up on his site here but as you can see, there are only a few we could use 'off the shelf' - I like the 'Military' icon a lot BTW and the blue colour used in this set is also ideal for all American icons (apart from the cemeteries). What about blue for American, red for British & Commonwealth and green for German icons? Regards, Pat
Hi Guys, The only reason I am getting customised glider icons made up is to be able to mark a field, in which both types have landed, with clearly recognisable icons. Yes, I could just use the default Google Map markers such as the one seen here but for gliders at least, I had hoped to be able to produce a Map which the general reader could look at and say "Ah yes, there are five Wacos and two Horsas in that field" without referring back to a marker legend to see what colour/type icon is marking each type of glider. This appears to be just about possible with the Waco and Horsa but I doubt if it would be so for comparisons between say a M4 Sherman and a M7 Priest. One could argue in any case that there would be no need to sub divide down armour icons to the dept of individual vehicle types. Prudent use of InfoBoxes would also help alleviate such problems. The only reason I am customising the cemetery icons is to be able to handle the issues already discussed with care and sensitivity. So beyond those four icons, I do not propose to get too bogged down in customisation. What do you guys think of my proposed overall colour scheme for markers – American (blue), British & Commonwealth (red) and German (green)? I would like to use another colour for all other Allied countries – anyone any suggestions? Thanks, Pat
Hi Pat, I'm not that picky over the colors, but if grey is an option I agree with Francois on the grey. Then I would go like this... Grey = German Green = American Blue = British (or red) Red = Canadian (or blue) But if this is only for Cemetary icons, then just leave them all black... As you said there is information boxes to include further details on the subject. Plus I am going to make a donation to the cause, and I am hoping we could as a group develop an icon for ground combat locations or incidents. If the map is to help educate others on events I think it would be needed. My suggestion would be for crossed rifles, but maybe there is a better idea... any thoughts? Respectfully, John
Hello all, If we stick with traditional symbols, John's "crossed rifles" idea for ground combat I think is best. Whilst on the subject of "traditon", though, should it be borne in mind that red is traditionally used for "enemy forces", with blue for "friendly"? Again, just musing.... Cheers, Sean