Logo critique/suggest/help

[cvayala]

Hey, guys, I usually don't post pics here since I'm a newb at the artwork. But....I've been trying to come up with a design for our company logo. Some of you may recall I had a request up before, well, that idea is kaput. The company once again is Consolidated Real Estate. This is what I have so far.

Well, I mean I have more, but they're all pretty much the same. The big questions I have are the colors, and the text. The colors are supposed to be purple and sage. I've been playing around, but I'm still not really satisfied with what I've gotten.

The text question is this, some of us like the text in the middle, and some of us prefer the Name on the top right and some other text on the bottom left...address, phone number....etc.

So which do you prefer? And any suggestions please? I know there is lots of talent in this forum, I lurk often.

 

[Bobby]

The text question is this, some of us like the text in the middle, and some of us prefer the Name on the top right and some other text on the bottom left...address, phone number....etc
Well, logos ideally should only contain relevant description of a company. Other text such as address, phone numbers, email, etc... should be left out completely. With that in mind, your last iteration might then look a little unbalanced. So if you have some sort of company slogan, you could use that in place of the address/phone/email, so things balances out a bit more. If not however, your initial two samples will work just fine.



Well, I mean I have more, but they're all pretty much the same. The big questions I have are the colors, and the text. The colors are supposed to be purple and sage. I've been playing around, but I'm still not really satisfied with what I've gotten.
First thing I'd do would be to look around for more type faces, assuming you lack a large font library at your disposal. Something basic, professional and preferrably free .

Second thing I'd do would be to maybe play around with how the text is displayed. You could for example shrink the character tracking to get a bit more of that professional look you might be going for. Likewise, you can also go for the alternating bold look that seems to be in style at the moment. Italics works sometimes as well. All these effect of course varies from font to font.

For color, well the best advice I can give you is to simply experiment some more. Besides filling shapes and letters directly with colors picked from a palette or a color chart, I'd look more into playing around with layer blending filled with different colors. It sometimes gives you surprising, and attractive results you otherwise wouldn't expect. Another option would be for you to do gradients, very slight mind you, and that should help you achieve quality results as well.


Good luck.

 

[cr3do]

First thing you should do is inform yourself, just cause graphic design isn't technical doesnt mean it doesnt have rules. Read these Articles.

http://desktoppub.about.com/od/logos/ss/logobasics.htm
http://desktoppub.about.com/gi/dyna...//www.bamagazine.com/Ligature/Ligature01.html
http://desktoppub.about.com/gi/dyna...=http://www.turtlesweb.com/articles/logo.html
^ the one i bolded is a good one

Last but not least read these two parts, its really a before and after you learn alot from other people's past mistakes.

http://desktoppub.about.com/gi/dyna...pub&zu=http://www.webreference.com/dlab/9701/ - part 1

http://desktoppub.about.com/gi/dyna...pub&zu=http://www.webreference.com/dlab/9702/
-part 2

Have fun if you really enjoy this they are interesting reads!

 

[MadJuggla9]

i dont think this is such a good representative company logo. main reason is because its bulky. with the shape, it is also an inefficient use of space. id recommend making the logo much smaller and having text go over it if you intend to keep it. personally id try a different design/shape though.

may i ask what this logo will be for? a webpage's main logo? a printout? or what? im assuming its for a webpage.

good luck

 

[cvayala]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check out those links later. I know I have much to learn.

Well, whatever logo we come up with should eventually be able to be used pretty much everywhere, business cards, marquee, website, letterhead.

I don't understand the wasted space comment, I do think it's an odd shape however, most logo's as I seem to recall are more square of lean towards the taller side vs. wider.

One more thing, any ideas for graphical representation of the term "consolidated"?

 

[j0k3r]

It's not very good for a logo. When trademarking a logo, your lawyer will definitely suggest that it be clearly readable in black and white and in any size. I don't really feel any of those fit the bill. Consider revising the colors you are using as well. Blue and green colors according to most studies make people think of technology companies.

A general rule of thumb when designing a logo is the simpler the better. Take a look at some of the most recognizable brands in the world. McDonalds for example, everyone knows the golden arches. In your industry look at ReMax's hot air baloon, everyone knows it. Your logo should be simple, very easily distinguished and look good on a 40x40 poster or a business card. Good luck.

And please for the love of Pete avoid the cliche circular design around your name. For example this is a now defunct company I used to work for:

This is the company I currently work for, our logo is in the middle of course:

It's so generic and overused.

 

[Inquisition]

I dunno if this was covered but, just a suggestion.. dont do logos in photoshop if u plan on printing or putting htis elsewhere. the best tool is illustrator for logos..

i like the second one myself.. just get rid of the extra space on top and below by reducing the length of the shapes

 

[Inquisition]

heres a quickie done in illustrator

 

[Joves]

Well the only thing I can think of is, bowing the consolidated in the top half and, putting the realestate in the bow. Then it will fill the space more and, the lower half is whateverelse you wanted to add. But I agree that#2 is more eye pleasing than the other examples.