Could use input from you folks

anonymouscuban · January 8, 2013

Hey guys...

I'm kind of stretching the rules a bit here and saying this is related to portraiture since it's for my website. I can put this up in Mind Your Business but I trust your guys' feedback a lot more than the weirdoes that frequent that forum. :rofl

Which of these logos do you think looks best, keeping in mind that this will go on my site and I want to keep it simple/clean in design. BTW, I did these myself (I know, hard to believe. LOL) and I'm not graphic artist but they came pretty cheap.

1.

2

3

4

5

OR... Maybe they all suck and I need to go back to the drawing board. :dunno

BTW, I have a favorite but want to see what you all think.

Travel · January 8, 2013

Why do you have

in your logo? I know it is not but it is what I see first. Then I start to think and I have to ask is your photography a joke? IMO I would steer clear of the

.

Dreadnote · January 8, 2013

I get what your trying to do with the camera and all, but I think that you are losing your name and that the website belongs to Alexsote and not AlexSotelo.

sweet caroline · January 8, 2013

Of these, I like the first one, but your name does get kind of muddled at the end. What you are trying to do is clever but not quite working. And your new avatar/self portrait is hot.

anonymouscuban · January 8, 2013

Thanks guys. Although none of these seem to be a hit, it was helpful to get your input. I think I see where I can make some improvements.

Caroline,

I too like the first one best. I will on that one some more. And thank you for the compliment on the avatar. Yours is quite smoking too.

Mike J · January 8, 2013

Honestly - I don't think any of them work and represent you. As others have said, your name is getting lost. Have you checked out http://www.48hourslogo.com ???
BTW - our websites are on some sort of parallel journey. It seems you are running into problems about a week before I get to them...

anonymouscuban · January 8, 2013

Thanks Mike. I haven't checked out that link but will. You guys were right, these all pretty much suck so I went back to the drawing board and came up with this...

Better?

a

And here are variation of it:

b

c

d

puzzledpaul · January 8, 2013

Am no expert, but to me, 'b' is the cleanest of the options to date.

As soon as other concentric circles are placed around the last 'o', ambiguities start creeping in about what your surname is - at this point, methods of re-establishing your name have to be considered ... as in 'a'.

I'd consider trying a few things at this point - if t'was mine - with 'b'

Remove the vertical edge of the 'camera' competely - leaving just the top plate / prism bump - possibly also using a different col for the cam 'accent' (maybe even try this over the middle 'o'?)

Instead of joining the cam underside with the main underline, make the RHS of the cam from a mirrored 'L', with the horizontal at the same height as the last 'L' of your name - ie make a consumer cam body, rather than a pro one

... and possibly increase the vertical gap between the 2 words. (col)

Making the lines used for the 'cam' (and possibly underlining too) thinner than name might also keep viewer's eye more on name.

Drop shadow associated with cam top plate looks odd (to me), since the rest suggests the name is in a box - but top drop shadow messes with that effect.

Since you've already got 'photography' in the mix, do you need to hit reader / viewer between the eyes with more than a hint of cam graphics?

pp

denisegoldberg · January 8, 2013

I think using camera imagery in your logo makes the site look less professional. I much prefer just a clean name.
(But then again, that's probably just my clear preference for clean and simple.)

--- Denise

Lightsearcher · January 8, 2013

B is the best option.

Marcelo

Mike J · January 8, 2013

denisegoldberg wrote: »

I think using camera imagery in your logo makes the site look less professional. I much prefer just a clean name.
(But then again, that's probably just my clear preference for clean and simple.)

--- Denise

If I had to choose, it would be B but I agree with Denise on the use of camera imagery in a logo.

anonymouscuban · January 8, 2013

Excellent feedback guys. Really helps. I'm going to try working with some different font combos for a text only logo. I will post it up for some input when I have something. Not ready to completely ditch the idea of a graphic but will change gears here to see if font only works better.

puzzledpaul · January 8, 2013

Just wondered if you'd considered separating a logo / graphics from the text ... and creating a cam /photography based bit of artwork on the 3 initials involved?

pp

sweet caroline · January 8, 2013

Getting closer! My vote, of course, would be "b."

anonymouscuban · January 8, 2013

puzzledpaul wrote: »

Just wondered if you'd considered separating a logo / graphics from the text ... and creating a cam /photography based bit of artwork on the 3 initials involved?

pp

Am considering it. I could use the initial based logo on cards or whatever and a full logo for my site. I have some new ideas that I will explore tonight. Will post ASAP. Stay tuned and thanks for the continued help everyone.

anonymouscuban · January 9, 2013

OK folks. Went a completely different direction this one. Whatcha think? Too tired to try any others but I have some other ideas as well but this I kind of like.

PhilD41 · January 9, 2013

For what it is worth, I like it. A lot actually. Looks great on the site, is very clean, and is the first time I realized it was your first and last name. (I am a little slow sometimes). Then again, I think your cursive font may be the same one I used on a graphics sig a few years back. Would always be willing to look at other ideas, but this portrays a aura of elegance and professionalism I think you would be happy with.

denisegoldberg · January 9, 2013

I like it, clean and polished...

Lightsearcher · January 9, 2013

It is better than the first set your posted but I don't like the font you are using for your first name, too feminine for my taste.

What about to use the same font of your last name in red or try a different font (just for the first name).

Just my 2 cents.

Marcelo

anonymouscuban · January 9, 2013

Thanks guys. This is hugely helpful and I appreciate the time you guys have taken to give me input.

Yes. I really like this "style" better than using the graphics and such as I did at the start. Just way more clean and professional looking. So glad you guys hated those first drafts I posted.

I did struggle a little with finding a stylish font that didn't look too feminine. The one is used above is one of the better ones and although it is a little fancy, I don't think it is overtly girly. Besides, I can be a little fancy at times myself so it fits. Maybe if I try a different color than red. Maybe a slightly darker shade of something.

I'll try.

With that said, I did play around this morning with a few other versions. Keep in mind that these are not necessarily for my site banner as is since they are a bit too tall. They would be for things like business cards or other advertisements.

So these first two use the same fonts as the logo you all like so far. There are things I like about both.

1a

1b

This is uses a different a set of fonts and also colors. I haven't played around to see how I would incorporate this option into my banner but I kind of like it so far. Oh... and I realize photography is spelled wrong in this one.

2a

Again, thank you all so much for taking time to look and give feedback. BTW, let me know if you guys want any of these font names for your own use.

PhilD41 · January 9, 2013

Wow, you are going to make this hard! I personally like 1 (a & b) better than 2. Something about them has more artistic flair. I do like the dots in the PHOTOGRAPHY though. (although it is misspelled in 2) I hope you don't mind, but I tried out a little rearranging of 1a for curiosity. I don't know that I like it any better though. Let me know and I will be happy to remove it if you want.

I was looking for something more square that could be use as a logo or avatar as well. I also though you might be able to work something out with just the AS that would work as a recognizable logo to tie into your full name image. That could be another project though. Anyway... regardless of my tinkering I am starting to lean more toward 1b. I like the fluidity of it and it could be quite flexible with the "photography" removed. Just my non-expert opinion.

anonymouscuban · January 9, 2013

Philip,

I absolutely don't mind that you took the time to play with the logo. Much appreciated actually. It's funny but I actually started out with something similar to what you did but I had it arranged a little different and it didn't work as well as your version. I think I may take what you did and tweak it just a bit. You are thinking along the same lines as I am though. Basically, my goal is to end up with a logo that is recognizable. I want to be able to have just my initial and the word photography in an avatar, for example. But it should tie directly to my banner and also the logo on a business card. That's what I'm trying to create here. I think I'm close but still need to experiment more. I want to make sure I nail it because once I create it, I don't ever want to change it.

There is something about 1b that I also like but my wife pointed out that the T in my last name in that font is a little abstract as since my last name is not that common, some people may read it incorrectly. Something you all pointed out with the first set of logos I designed. That said, I don't think it's as bad and I may be able to live with it. I want to try a few other combos of san-serif fonts on my first name with the calligraphy font on my last name to see if there are any better options.

At least it seems by the latest responses that I'm on the right track. I'm actually having a bit of fun creating these.

denisegoldberg · January 9, 2013

anonymouscuban wrote: »

I absolutely don't mind that you took the time to play with the logo. Much appreciated actually. It's funny but I actually started out with something similar to what you did but I had it arranged a little different and it didn't work as well as your version. I think I may take what you did and tweak it just a bit...

Keep in mind that people will be looking at your site on laptops and tablets and possibly phones - devices that have limited space. The example that you plan to experiment with appears to be at least twice as tall as your previous logo. That extra vertical space will mean that you have less room on the page for your images.

--- Denise

VayCayMom · January 9, 2013

1a.. I like alot ! easy to read thus easy to remember.

Lightsearcher · January 9, 2013

1a

canam · January 10, 2013

anonymouscuban wrote: »

OK folks. Went a completely different direction this one. Whatcha think? Too tired to try any others but I have some other ideas as well but this I kind of like.

I like this one the best still. It is compact and font is very catchy.

David_S85 · January 10, 2013

anonymouscuban wrote: »

OK folks. Went a completely different direction this one. Whatcha think? Too tired to try any others but I have some other ideas as well but this I kind of like.

Nice job!

Hackbone · January 12, 2013

Post 20.....1a I like. You can use the AS as your logo on prints as most folks don't want the rest of the logo on their prints. Simple and clean.

coolpinsky · January 12, 2013

a

Could use input from you folks

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