Logo & Web Banner for Youth Eco Site

We're looking for a simple, funky logo for the Manitoba Environmental Youth Network as well as a header banner that will set the tone for our new social networking website (http://www.mbecoyouth.org) for environmentally-minded youth in Manitoba. The banner should incorporate the logo and welcome young people to the site, conveying an atmosphere of energy and action.

Manitoba Environmental Youth Network

We need a logo that represents who we are as the Manitoba Environmental Youth Network. The logo should then be incorporated into a banner designed for our new social networking website (http://www.mbecoyouth.org) that will help environmentally-minded youth and youth groups in Manitoba connect with each other.

The Manitoba Environmental Youth Network is a newly formed network of youth groups in Manitoba that come together to exchange ideas, share skills and resources and plan joint actions and campaigns. We gather once a year for an in-person forum, called Greenspace, and intend to use this website to help us stay in touch in between. (Note that while the current banner reads "Greenspace", banners designed for this contest should read "Manitoba Environmental Youth Network".) This group is affliliated with the Manitoba Eco-Network.

The logo should be roughly square in proportions and have a resloution of at least 200 dpi.

The banner MUST be 955 pixels wide and should be a reasonable height (probably similar to the current banner in height, but not necessarily). PSD and JPEG format files are REQUIRED.

- appeals to youth aged 15-25
- open, bright, colourful
- feels 'natural' or 'green'
- represents communication, networking and collaboration
- has an energetic and action-oriented feel
- banner incorporates the title: "Manitoba Environmental Youth Network" (could also include a tagline)

- something childish, something that 'talks down' to the youthful users
- something clichéd