New logo, comments please.

[RyanLilly]

Well, I been wishing that I had some business cards for a long time now, but tying to nail down a website and log, so I have somewhere solid to begin.

Here is my first attempt at a logo, Let me know what you think about the colors, composition etc. I want to keep it clean and simple, preferably 2 colors so printing cards and such is cheaper.


Thank,

Ryan
BTW, What about the font, I'm just not sure. Any suggestions would be great.

 

[visualpoetry]

I dont think there is anything creative about that logo. As a photographer (or any other creative service provider) I think it's important to think outside the box and that design is a little boring.

I'm sorry.. I really dont want to offend you. Just my honest opinion.

(80 views and no responses.... I had to)

 

[holga girl]

i see where you are going with the concept, but i think the font is a little too hard. the whole logo looks hard to me. perhaps try taking the same filter concept and making it more abstract. it doesn't necessarily need to be an exact image of a filter in order to elude to what it is.

here is a link to a logo my hubby designed. the client is a dj and his father used to take him fishing all of the time. the clients name is joe. he wanted to incorporate his name, fishing and dj-ing all in one logo. by making it more abstract, he was able to successfully do all three. you can see a j, a fishing hook and a turntable and arm all in the image.

you are off to a great start. an idea of the direction you want to go is the hardest part. i would suggest changing the font and tweaking the image a bit for a softer, more creative logo.

http://www.joekopasek.com/

 

[Aggressor]

I agree. There is something about the logo that, to me, does not exude creativity. If anything, it communicates a message to me that you are more technically inclined than artistically... Applied to photography, your exposures may be bang on each time, but your composure leaves something to be desired. Whether or not that is correct is irrelevant. That is what your logo, at this time, tells me.

Just a few specific comments/suggestions:
- Your logo is rather 'tall', meaning that: it may not scale well to business card size, or it may make designing a site around the logo rather difficult without compromising readability or your logo's aspect ratio.
- Although you and I see 2 colors, that filter is much more than 2 colors due to gradients/antialiasing. I had 1-color business cards done before with something of a gradient for a monochromatic image and they denied me the 1-color price, trying to charge me instead for the full color price.
- Using a filter as a logo mark is a good idea, however, the execution of it in this case, to me, doesn't work. It makes the already tall logo, even taller; photo-like (as in pictures) images is difficult, at best to pull off and, in my opinion, defeats the purpose of a logo. As you try repositioning and scaling your filter image, you may also want to try a different perspective on the filter.
- With logos, often, simple is better

 

[tirediron]

What I do with my cards is shoot an image that is specifically tailored for the card (subject, crop, etc) print them onto photocards and about 60% opacity, and keep all of the text (I prefer Arial or other san-serif fonts) fairly small other than the title. That way everyone who gets a card also gets a sample of my work.

 

[nynfortoo]

It's a start, but I'm not keen on it as a professional logo (they take a lot of effort an knowledge, so don't be disheartened if your first attempt isn't a masterpiece)

The filter is a bit too ambiguous and vague. We all know what it is, because we're photographers, but will your target audience? They'll likely just see a ring and not appreciate the connection. I'd steer clear of using actual photos in logos, preferring to use vector shapes for a cleaner professional look.

The font is a bit too harsh, and the drop-shadow looks very unprofessional. It's difficult to use shadows on fonts without looking tacky; unfortunately you fell into the trap and didn't succeed. While the red of the font does splash out somewhat and grab your attention, it's more of an aggressive shade; I'd look at changing that, either making it darker or lighter - that's up to you. Instead of a drop-shadow, think about using a stoke (outline) instead, to give a cleaner more-elegant feel to the text.

I don't particularly like the typeface used here, though typography can be very difficult to get right. Have a look at http://www.ilovetypography.com for some inspiration and knowledge on this subject. It's vast, but understanding how fonts work is a great step in improving your design. The type is the main focus of any logo like this (unless you're going for symbolism) so try to get it right and give the most attention and time to this.

If you want inspiration on logos, check out http://www.logopond.com. For other inspiration (though this is more web-oriented), check out http://www.designmeltdown.com.

Let us know how you get on!

 

[flipsidestudio]

I too am not that fond of this logo. It's not something that anyone will really remember or recognize because it's just words. You need a logo that people can remember, otherwise, what's the point?

Also, a trademark that is like this isn't going to be very well protected under the law. If someone else decides to use the same logo you're not going to easily be able to keep them from doing so. It's text with a circle around it, not all that distinct. Think of logos like the Nike swoosh as something to aim for. The more distinct, the better.

Don't worry about using your whole name in the logo, it's unnecessary. Also, don't use a photo, instead use an illustration. Keep it as simple as possible, keep in mind you want to be able to use the logo when it's really small as well as when it's larger.

I just had a business lunch with a graphic designer who does logo work. If you're interested I can get you in touch with him. He does all the research and will show you multiple sketches to choose from.