New Logo... Critique?

[DesireeM]

You are correct. The associated tag line for the business which has been printed on several of our apparel designs is "Cause a Reaction". After all the main purpose behind putting up signage is to cause a reaction from the public, to make them purchase what you have to sell.

Then aren't you reinforcing the mispronunciation of your name as Wreak-tor?

 

[mgriff]

Then aren't you reinforcing the mispronunciation of your name as Wreak-tor?

That's not how I see it at all. If anything they associate the pronunciation of reaction with the name of the business and it makes sense to them. But hey, people interpret things many different ways. Who is to say whats right and wrong.

 

[peavey123]

Just effing around. lol

 

[Rick]

Do you have any other ideas?

 

[oksigns]

The "R" is gold.. leave it at that. Lose the weak type face for the rest of your title and stick to the same strong typeface. The "R" can stand on it's own perfectly fine.

 

[player]

"Wreak" means "To cause", not "Smells Bad". Like Wreak havoc....also not good for business though.

Sorry, my bad spelling. Reek. "To give off or emit a strong unpleasant odour; smell or stink."

But once I hear it is supposed to be reactor, then it is cool...

 

[DrCAS]

My thoughts...

I do like the "R". The lettering inside, not so much

I understand your reasoning behind the spelling.

I have attached my interpretation of the name since others have jumped in. It is clean. It is simple. It is bold.

Yes, the radiation icon might be considered trite but your name is Reaktor...

Just thinking...

 

[Rick]

I do like the "R". The lettering inside, not so much

I understand your reasoning behind the spelling.

I have attached my interpretation of the name since others have jumped in. It is clean. It is simple. It is bold.

Yes, the radiation icon might be considered trite but your name is Reaktor...

Just thinking...

Very nice... I'm about to warn him about stretching type... yours is consistent and appropriate, it's obvious Dr Cas knows how to push type around...

 

[Rick]

Until you get used to using typefaces together.
Stop stretching and squeezing type to fill in a space.

Your logo/layouts are very inconsistent.
Outlines can kill legibility.

The design is honestly a product of numerous hours of sitting in front of a monitor and mixing and matching fonts and styles.
This may be part of your problem, RESEARCH!
Google "R LOGO" "REACTOR LOGO" "REAKTOR LOGO" and any type of logo you are trying to attract.

Get better typefaces... look at good design.

These 18 people... can you trust them, or would they tell you...
"Yeah, you sing so good, you ought to be on American Idol"
Then you step join stage and sound like this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPr7k6dBzqs

The logo is not the worst, but mechanically needs help... see image below

 

[Rick]

When I first said this thread, I got the reactor thing... but only a few people got it over here.

I think having a confusing name can have some adverse effects on your brand, or a topic
for discussion... engaging a client while making a sale can be positive. Those who might think
it's lame, you may not want to work with.

i looked at your name, thought how could it read better... I showed these too different people
and the got "reactor" every time, though a few started to say "reek" Also adding imagery to
support reactor helps too.

 

[bob]

Change your name. You have a name that no one has ever before encountered. That being the case and along with the fact that words are seldom actually read, merely seen and interpreted, replacing 'Reaktor' with 'Reactor' is going to happen no matter how you spell it out for people. Worse, you add a symbolic 'R' and then instead of 'Reaktor' you get 'Realtor'. Especially when this 'r' is in lowercase Roman.

I have some experience with this phenomenon. My last name is an uncommon spelling of a very familiar sound and, worse, one letter away from another very common word. Thus it invariably gets spelled as the common sound or the missing letter is added and it ends up being spelled as the other common word. All due to no one actually reading it, just looking at it. Pronunciation is all over the map.

Do yourself and everyone else a favor and change your name to something with unmistakable pronunciation. Preferably something that doesn't easily morph into something else should a letter be added or dropped in what passes for people's minds.

 

[geb]

Wow, thanks Rick for the detailed breakdown on page 1 and all the posts and thought processes.

George

 

[TimToad]

I kept thinking about some of Rick's comments and examples he was kind enough to post and realized the weakness in the OP's initial concept was that he was trying to do too much with too little imagination and all text without a real good grasp of typography.

I also think the only way to strip the slight risk of confusion from a few people's minds and clearly define the name is to add an illustration of some sort. I'm not in the camp that thinks we need to club people over the head with extreme literalism or dumb things down as if nobody can't stretch a little on the rare occasion they see the word Kat and not get that it means Cat.

The isotope graphic seems the most obvious and predictable, but I could see a cooling tower, an atom with glowing rays, etc... as all being viable.

 

[Rick]

Another thing about your existing logo is, you use the complete layout (the "R" with "REAKTOR", "MOBILE SIGNS AND GRAPHICS" and your phone number) on everything

You don't need all that on your instagram/twitter/facebook/signs101 avatar. The "R/Reaktor" should be able to stand alone, then let your layout support it.

What's it going to look like on your trailer, card, sales layouts?

On your layouts/website/marketing materials, try using a font family that will be used throughout all your marketing... that way it's cohesive, clean and strengthens your brand by being consistent... but you can still add graphics and play with your logo to fit the application.

 

[peavey123]

Rick the factory trailer design (bottom right) is...dope! lol Love it.

 

[nikdoobs]

FWIW I think you should spell your name correctly. There are tons of name combinations you can make that have available domain names. Just checked go daddy, reatorsign.com is available for $10.

There seems to be a trend going on with spelling your business name wrong. I guess some people think it's cool but it really just makes you look less professional IMO. Rick came up with some nice looking logos for you. I'd pick one of them and use it with the proper spelling.

 

[mgriff]

Another thing about your existing logo is, you use the complete layout (the "R" with "REAKTOR", "MOBILE SIGNS AND GRAPHICS" and your phone number) on everything

You don't need all that on your instagram/twitter/facebook/signs101 avatar. The "R/Reaktor" should be able to stand alone, then let your layout support it.

What's it going to look like on your trailer, card, sales layouts?

On your layouts/website/marketing materials, try using a font family that will be used throughout all your marketing... that way it's cohesive, clean and strengthens your brand by being consistent... but you can still add graphics and play with your logo to fit the application.

RICK!!! You have certainly gone above and beyond! I greatly appreciate all of the insight and design ideas you have provided. I am sitting down tonight to go over all that you have contributed and take all that I can from it!

 

[TimToad]

FWIW I think you should spell your name correctly. There are tons of name combinations you can make that have available domain names. Just checked go daddy, reatorsign.com is available for $10.

There seems to be a trend going on with spelling your business name wrong. I guess some people think it's cool but it really just makes you look less professional IMO. Rick came up with some nice looking logos for you. I'd pick one of them and use it with the proper spelling.

One man's "fat" is another one's "phat". Maybe the OP is trying to distinguish himself from all the safe, totally obvious businesses out there.

I see far less issue than many here with the spelling and the minute percentage of the public that might stumble on the pronunciation because they either lack imagination or aren't tuned into pop culture in the slightest.

So if a client came in and wanted a full branding package from you, but had registered their name with a unique or offbeat spelling, would you take the job and then start trying to talk them out of their choice?

 

[mgriff]

One man's "fat" is another one's "phat". Maybe the OP is trying to distinguish himself from all the safe, totally obvious businesses out there.

I see far less issue than many here with the spelling and the minute percentage of the public that might stumble on the pronunciation because they either lack imagination or aren't tuned into pop culture in the slightest.

So if a client came in and wanted a full branding package from you, but had registered their name with a unique or offbeat spelling, would you take the job and then start trying to talk them out of their choice?

This is exactly what I was going for. Out of the few people that have had a problem with pronunciation it certainly was not enough to keep them from being loyal customers. Every time I go to pick up supplies at my local warehouse the salesman always says "Its reaktor with K, right?".

 

[thinksigns]

Another vote for correct spelling. At any rate, my attempt.