Logo

[Dakota]

If you get a chance could you please critique my logo. It is for a packaging company.

Thanks

[J-C]

well i like the second one most ... 'cause the blue "pac" in the first one is to bright - remember: a log must work in b/w and even if it's been xeroxed 1'000'000 times ... (approx. )

hum don't know what else to say :/

[Legacy~Art]

Love the 2nd one, it has more of an impact!!!

Nice work hun.

[PatrickB]

Maybe you should make the gaps between the package sides a little bigger!

I have a plain old Laserjet here to print my correspondence and it cannot print any gray tones. So if you try to print a gray tone it comes out dotted, hence if I would print your logo the blue tones would inevitably produce some zig zag lines and it would look as if the sides would fade into each other

Just a hint

Patrick

[Kraellin]

Dakota,

one question first; is the white background going to be standard with this logo or did you simply have to add that to post it here?

Craig

[Dakota]

Thanks alot everyone for the feedback.

Originally Posted by Kraellin

Dakota,

one question first; is the white background going to be standard with this logo or did you simply have to add that to post it here?

Craig

It all depends on the website header we end up with ( not sure yet if we will try to make it or hire it out if we can find a someone good with webpage headers).

Thanks again

[Kraellin]

Dakota,

thanks.

ok, here's the simon (from american idol ) critique. it lacks punch. you've got all the elements. they're done fine, but it lacks punch. if it was a song, you did it technically correct, but it doesnt have much 'sell' behind it. the blue-gray is too blase', too weak. the lettering is smaller than the box. 'Isle Pac' shld be at least as tall as the box and i'd reverse the order too. put the 'Isle Pac' ahead of the box and the box at the end. add a bit more color and contrast.

a logo is like a first greeting, a first impression, a first handshake and is something that you want to stay with folks. you've kept it simple, which is good, but it just doesnt 'sell' me. in a world of mega advertising, you want something that sticks out a bit. you dont want to beat folks over the head with it, but you do want them to notice it. color and contrast are often used for this. the colors that tend to catch the eye the best are reds, yellows, oranges, and golds, the warm colors. blues and greens are the cool colors and dont do this quite as much. short of color then you want contrast.

i've included a couple of quick examples. they arent cleaned up; i just knocked them out quickly to show you what i mean.

again, you did a technically fine job. there's nothing wrong with it and if the company you're doing it for is happy with it, then forget everything i said. but, i'd give them some options. do up several and see which they like best.

Craig

[Caitlin]

Well I'll weigh in with my 'Janet' opinion here (To continue the American Idol analogy...) - and say - I like your version Dakota. (Though also would lean towards version 2)

I think it's elegant while also being simple which is important. Kraellins's is a bit too rough for my tastes, and the proportions aren't as balanced. Also, I think traditionally logos do appear in front of the text - not after.

[Dakota]

Thanks everyone, I will keep you posted on the finished logo.

Thanks again

[Kraellin]

Dakota,

in light of a little bit of sleep and caitlin's response, i've come out of 'simon' mode. your logo is basically fine. you've all the elements that a logo shld have. you've the company name, a brief description of what they do and a little graphic saying the same thing and the technical rendering is fine.

my basic criticism is still the same though. it does need a bit more punch. how you might want to do that is between you and the client. my examples were just quickly thrown together possibles and not meant as you shld do this or that. just give it something a little extra to make it stand out a bit more. that's all.

and saying all that, i'll again say that, the bottom line is still what does the client need and want. if the client is happy with it, go with it. caitlin's and my different responses is a perfect example of why you consult the client. everyone is going to have a different idea and opinion.

looking forward to seeing what you decide.

Craig

[Hunter]

I'll chime in as Simon mark 2 then
What app are you creating this "logo" in? If you're not creating this in a vector app, then it's not a logo, it's a web banner. As was mentioned before, a logo must work in b/w (faxing, photocopying). If it's working in a single color, adding other colors probably won't help it much either. And you have to use a vector app to create the logo. You're going to have to resize it so many times for the various materials it will be printed on that the flexibility of the vector object will be a necessity. Which vector app you choose to use is not relevant - Draw, Illustrator, Freehand, Xara - any of them will produce a good EPS file for the SB. So if you've not created this as a vector file to begin with, scrap the file and start over. Otherwise, the kerning on the letters could use some work... and you might want to read up on some logo theory, etc. Jeff Fisher, a great logo artist, has just started a new article series over at Creative Latitudes on logo work... you might wanna give it a read:
http://www.creativelatitude.com/logo_notions/index.html

[Bujo]

Thanks for the link to the article...I've sent it to work so I can pass it on to our graphics team.

I'd agree with Hunter...I work for a company who deals with hundreds of clients and many only have a jpg of the logo and that's all they've ever had for many years. They want us to use it for web and various print ads and the jpgs don't look as good as the eps (vector file).

As far as the two logos you have...I like both, but lean towards number 2.

The punch aspect of the logo is relative to the whole style of the company. I live in the midwest and many companies don't have catchy logos or even logos for that matter. They spell out the name of the company in some font they liked and that's it. They still pull in millions of dollars a year, because they have a small list of customers they deal with and don't advertise in the same sense as NIKE or APPLE. They just don't need punch. I think if it needed a big punch, they'd know they need it and would ask for something a bit more flashy.

After that you get into the whole branding issue and we could build another wed-site for that theory alone.

[Swampy]

Logos are the heart and soul of my ad specialty business. I can tell you from long experience that half tones are lovely on the web, but the ablsolute no no for many other print applications. (Doubly true for gradients which just can't be duplicated in something like embroidery)

That gray will either have to print as a thrid color (more expense for the customer) or won't print at all if they want to do a promotional item that might be printed in hotstamp or die cast.

What others have said about use a vector (EPS) format is absolutly true. I've had logos printed on billboards using an Illustrator file that lost no resolution when enlarged to that size.

I've recolorized your logo (didn't have your Cryllic font loaded) so that it can be reproduced in 2 solid colors or 1 color. Also, red is the color of attraction so it has more "punch"