Logo critique

[routierracing]

I agree about the gradient. Also the arch doesnt seem balanced. If you look at it one letter at a time it seems like they just don't flow. Ecspecially the Z when compared to the N its next to. Over all the I'd say I like the simplicity but it just doesn't feel tied together enough.

 

[Signed Out]

thanks for all the responses. I really like the design that signmaniac posted. Real simple and appealing. I don't think i'm gonna scrap my logo(at least not yet) though I may tweak it as some of these posts have suggested. routierracing thanks for pointing out the bad flow from the n to the z, your right i never realized it though. As far as the gradient, Would you guys say that it is the gradient in the arrow that is too much?

 

[HulkSmash]

thanks for all the responses. I really like the design that signmaniac posted. Real simple and appealing. I don't think i'm gonna scrap my logo(at least not yet) though I may tweak it as some of these posts have suggested. routierracing thanks for pointing out the bad flow from the n to the z, your right i never realized it though. As far as the gradient, Would you guys say that it is the gradient in the arrow that is too much?

No gradient unless it's 2 really close colors to add a little depth. (See post #15 for an example)

just my opinion.

good luck!

 

[signmeup]

It's fine. Just don't use italics for "Graphics". Looks cool at night.

Maybe give all the elements a little more breathing room. You have it all packed pretty tight. This would help legibility at a distance.

 

[Alti-Plotter]

I like your original idea, it kind of has a 50's type sign co look.

Your logo looks like something I'm working on...

 

[artbot]

man you should just cut and paste coloradosign's design suggestion. that is a really solid design. maybe send him a few bucks too.

 

[Signed Out]

Well finally able to jump back on this now that we have slowed down a bit. what do you guys think about this logo? I have taking some of the suggestions and put together this. we like it with the "& graphics inc. off to the left side but would like to know what you think as far as balance.

Thanks for all your guys help and input,:U Rock:.

 

[Marlene]

the choices of fonts aren't very good. take another look at SignManiac's layout and really look at it. what makes it work are the font choices, the way he nicked the arrow into the lettering and the spacing of it all. it works as it looks put together with a trained eye (as it was). what you need to do it to make your version work so that it looks cohesive like and put together. that's kind of a hard concept to explain but I think if you paste his and yours side by side and start looking at it, you will see what and why things work and why things don't in yours

 

[thinksigns]

I like them - maybe move "Signz" closer to the arrow.

A side concern. I know Signs First has used an arrow in their logo. That may be something they can trademark (using an arrow symbol with the name signs) and they may have done so. Probably not something to worry about, but it might be worth checking.

 

[Signed Out]

marlene could you please explaing to me why the font i used is not a good choice i am trying to improve my design skills... i agree that the space around the arrow is to much after putting it side by side with signmaniac's.

 

[Gino]

I think you need all caps for your name. You basically have two decorative type fonts with neither of them dominating a thing other than by size and color. Not enough in this case. You need a strong looking font for the main part of your name, to look strong and not frilly as it now appears.

Oh yeah.... and lose the 'inc.'. Ya don't need it and it interferes with the rest of your layout.

 

[Signed Out]

yea looks better without the inc. but would like to know what font you would suggest for the ALL SIGNZ

 

[HulkSmash]

It's just me, but spelling signs with a Z is disturbing.

Yeah i get the whole a - z thing but, just seems elementary.

 

[TyrantDesigner]

If you use and arrow, make sure that you design it with the capabilities to flip or ensure it's encorporated into the design and not a loose element. Nothing more irksome to me than to see drop shadows and/or arrows pointing in opposite directions from side to side ... right now it looks like you're implying the driver is going backwards, and the passenger is going forwards.

 

[Marlene]

marlene could you please explaing to me why the font i used is not a good choice i am trying to improve my design skills...

sure, the font for your name isn't very strong. Gino explained it nicely

I think you need all caps for your name. You basically have two decorative type fonts with neither of them dominating a thing other than by size and color. Not enough in this case. You need a strong looking font for the main part of your name, to look strong and not frilly as it now appears

there's no power in your name using that font. it's like you are ashamed to say it out loud. there are so many fonts out there because they set moods, they tell a story, they speak to the public. that may sound a little dramatic but that is what fonts do. think of movie titles. you know exactly what kind of movie it by the font. you know if a restaurant is a fast food place or a fancy-we-don't-put-prices-on-the-menu place by looking at the font. the font tells you just as much as the name does.

the font used for Graphics is a connected font but in that font the "p" and "h" aren't connected. it may seem like a small, little thing but it reads grap hics. people may not notice it on a level that they are aware of but it puts out a "something" is wrong vibe that people will pick up on even if they don't know why. it may seem like no big deal, but it can be the little, tiny things that make the difference between a good layout and a bad one.

 

[Signed Out]

Thanks for elaborating. Fonts are like a jungle to me, have no idea really what fonts were intended for, guess i could look it up... Is there a good website to look up fonts by what they were intended for? We don't do much in the way of designing, most customers have designs or we send our design work to Jill, she's great. but we'd like to have designed our own logo, with some help from all of you of course.

About the arrow not facing the same way on opposite sides of a vehicle, that bugs me too but what can you do about it? It's not like budweiser shears their name the other way for opposite sides of a trailer. Guess it's a little different with an arrow.

 

[SignManiac]

If you don't consider yourself a designer, then the worst thing you could ever do for your company is design your own logo. Pay someone who knows what they are doing. It will be the best money you invest in your business!

 

[Marlene]

one of the best ways I know of to start seeing what fonts do is to just look around you. look a products on store shelves, book & movie titles, titles for TV shows and such. it's all around us and we have been rasied to understand the cues that they give us without knowing we have been taught. just start seeing it and soon you'll just start to know what font would be right for what you want to say

 

[SignManiac]

Go to Letterhead fonts website or SignsDNA website and look at the samples designs they show and the font that was used for each sign. They are not random examples, they are used for a reason.

 

[Gino]

one of the best ways I know of to start seeing what fonts do is to just look around you. look a products on store shelves, book & movie titles, titles for TV shows and such. it's all around us and we have been rasied to understand the cues that they give us without knowing we have been taught. just start seeing it and soon you'll just start to know what font would be right for what you want to say

Marlene, I don't think a person can just pick that up by studying labels at the grocery store or looking at movie house posters. They won't understand what they're really seeing and have nothing to relate to except their own un-knowingness. What you're describing is like walking through the forest and pointing out all the various leaves, flowers, scents and trying to put a name to it all. Unless you have a guide to steer you a little bit, it will just overwhelm the average person. I do think what you're saying is good, but they need a guide with them. There are so many reasons to use this or that, but when doing that or this... it cancels the first idea out, unless you're working in reverse or a certain color combination, but if you pull it back and use a lighter stroke of the same font and spread the kerning out or tighten up the negative space it will possibly overshadow the foreground and main copy, but not as much as if you simply subdue the colors, which when in conflict with a geometric shape or graphic take on an altogether new appeal and we start all over........................

This kinda thought pattern goes through a basic designer's mind in about 2 to 3 seconds and it's hard to explain how or why.

In my experience, lettering, pictorials and other forms of advertising are all a visual and that's not easy to teach over the internet. You have to study it and you need good teachers, books along with typography and calligraphy books to get you going. On your own learning will be painfully slow for the average person coming in to this field today. It's not like the people of years ago that had basic art and print backgrounds from school. For the most part, most of these people don't know composition, lettering or discipline and it is after-all a visual art, but now produced mainly by the computer. However, there's still no magic button to communicate your interpretation.