Critique and suggestions, please

[GoodPeopleFlags]

I'm having a tough time with this one. It's a guy who does dj, audio and lighting for weddings and other parties. He likes blue, swirls, wants something modern, not femine, not too formal, not too casual. He wants wedding business but wants to appeal to more than weddings. I came up with this and I have some issues with it, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say first. (This is easily converted to 1 color. Did it that way first but here you're seeing the bells 'n' whistles.)
Thanks!

Edit: The name THRIVE comes from the fact that he started the business with nothing and now it's Thriving.

 

[Pat Whatley]

The swirls coming off the turntables should have musical notes on them, not flowers. Only thing that stuck out to me.

 

[signgal]

I agree with Pat and I'm not sure why your box has rounded corners but the inline has square. I like the idea of using the totally "in" swirl effect though. That will appeal to women and the blue is good too. Maybe the "in your face" volume bars are too much. That's all for now.

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

Eww! I don't know why the inside rectangle corners are showing up square, either! They're not supposed to be like that.

Love the idea with the music notes. Why didn't I see that? It's so obvious now! I'll work on that tonight.

I was thinking that I may have too many things going on, with the guy AND swirls AND the volume bars.

Here's some other ideas I was working with before I came up with the one above.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

music notes in the swirl was actually the first thing i thought of when i looked at this, the next thing was a font change...i think it works the for the "thrive", but i would using something different for the rest of the text.....the "professionally....." line could definitely be made smaller too....

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

Any suggestions for the font? I really struggled with that for a long time and am still not 100% happy with it. The whole thing is so busy that I wanted to keep the font clean. All suggestions are welcomed!

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

1st thing I saw was the thrive font all of the copy is the same font no contrast you have all rounded ends font try either main name copy or bottom copy with squared ends.
yup musical notes, the sound wave bars could fade maybe, your eye kinda goes to them and look like speakers so not sure.

The other 3 nope what you got is way better and really like it. great start.

 

[rjpjr]

1st impression... the character looks bored.
Only after studying the logo and reading all of your post did it become apparent to me that the character was a DJ.
Also, IMHO the logo looks lopsided with the DJ offset to the left. Maybe center him up and make him look like a symphonic conductor controlling all of the lights and sound.

 

[signmeup]

It's too busy. The black one, top left in post #4 is much more professional.
If Thrive is a recent idea to change the name... get him to change it again. All I can think of is gum.

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

Excellent suggestions! Thanks! I'll get back to work on it tonight.

I went with the rounded font because it seems more "friendly" than harsh, squared text. Like I said, I really struggled with the font and not 100% happy with it. Can't go with script, not a serif, nothing crazy... so I tried Swiss Rounded. Suggestions are welcomed!

Signmeup - I agree. But he's thrilled with it and not changing. He legally changed it last week. It's not a horrible name, but I personally like the name of a business to tell me what it is. Of course, there are lots of successful businesses that I wouldn't know what the heck they do based on the name.

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

1st impression... the character looks bored.
Only after studying the logo and reading all of your post did it become apparent to me that the character was a DJ.

Ha! He does look like he's about to fall asleep, doesn't he? I didn't even notice. Someone else told me that it wasn't obvious that he was a dj. That means that other people won't know at first glance either.

Back to the drawing board!

 

[Jillbeans]

There's a lot going on in that.
Take Pat's suggestion about the music notes/swirls.
Take your top right version in your second post and use that as the base.
The stuff on the sides is really distracting.
Try using something like Minstrel Poster for the name and Louisiana for the subcopy.
Love....Jill

 

[Shovelhead]

:signs101:

 

[TheSellOut]

I think the idea of music notes is great and the DJ does look like he is resting, making it not so obvious that he is a DJ. The other thing is that nothing represents the "lighting" aspect of his business, which it might not have to. Instead of the stuff on the sides I was thinking adding circles around the boarder, much like marquee lighting, or in the letters, or possibly as the letters

 

[Billct2]

Anyway to make the guy look more "DJ" and less like Norm pushing something thru the table saw?

 

[GoodPeopleFlags]

Anyway to make the guy look more "DJ" and less like Norm pushing something thru the table saw?

Ha!

I might be able to come up with something that will let people know he's a dj without having a pic of a dj. In fact, it bugs me to do stuff like that. Like when someone has a lawn care biz and wants a pic of a lawnmower. But, since his name doesn't really tell what he is, I felt I needed to do something with graphics to let people know immediately what he does without having to read.

hmmm... other "dj" stuff... turn tables, records (what are those?), music notes, headphones, equalizer bars... just brainstorming.

I like starburst backgrounds. Add that instead of the stuff on the sides?

 

[signgal]

If you're talkin' backgrounds, I love the "grunge" look that's creeping in. Probably what you meant by starburst. I like the idea of a turn table and some notes, maybe a turntable as a lower case "e" with the shine on the vinyl as the opening. It might not hurt to try a completely different direction when you get to work on it more.

 

["Deposit Please"]

At first Glance, thought the dj was a gardener digging a hole for the plant. Don't forget the Microphone

 

[SignManiac]

I think a simpler approach would work better if trying to for a logo and not a sign.

 

[TheSellOut]

This is what I was thinking when I said marquee lighting!

If you are curious on the font it's Alba...I think it was a freebie