Opinions on new logo idea

A

Anthony O.

New member
My apologies first to the moderators if this is out of place and also for my business name being in the logo. Please inform me if it is in violation of forum rules. I am not seeking any business from this just valued opinions on the general idea of the logo itself, thank you.



I already realize that I need to redo the business name, or better, where the location of the name is. I need to raise it up a bit and then re-mask it to conform to the contours of the car. The picture of the car is of a real car I have detailed with some heavy manipulation added to it to achieve the desired look. It now almost looks as if it was airbrushed.



This will be for my new website that I am designing, going on the splashpage.



Appreciate the input and any other ideas.



Thanks,

Anthony





yelloplasticgt3logocopy7vx.jpg
 
Anthony,

Post pictures and such as long as it doesn't contain your phone number or email and web address.

Go ahead and put 555-555-1234 on the picture and [email protected] for an email address so we can see how it would look on the card.

We love to help and will as long as the rules aren't broken.





Now for the card. I like the idea, but could the letters be a bit darker so they show up better?

I like the color of the car and everything else. :xyxthumbs
 
Personally I would keep it a little simpler or move the company name so its not actually on the car, to make the company name stand out more.
 
Yep, just follow what Jon said and all is well.



The text looks a bit "squished" along side the side of the car;especially the word "Ultimate". I'd follow more along the lines of what Pontman suggests.
 
Hard to read. Simple photoshop filters like that plastic one do not look the best and with logo's remember its always good to keep the colors down and image simple for people to remember them and cost of printing.
 
peak8newsmall.jpg




here is an example of a more recentl logo I made for a client. This is the web verison so its a bit more flashy but you get the idea of being simple and being able to be used on multiple items. For this removed gradients and the logo is then 3 colors easy to print/resize/ brand.
 
anthony...i deal with branding all the time as it's a facet of my job. the more you try to be stylistic with your imagery the more you lose its intended effect. aim for something more simplistic that captures the eye and what Ultimate Reflections is all about. of course it's easier said than done, that's why big companies pay $10s of thousands for branding.
 
Anthony: I do agree with the rest as well. It's hard to read.



My suggestions will be:



1) Keep the car looking like the way it should be. Reduce opacity or whatever but don't add such effect since it'll not show how the car looks.



2) I suggest keeping fonts in a solid color. Gradient fonts are quite tacky and are troublesome to print.



Just some suggestions...



Oh, here's a simple logo that we made for one of our services, it's simple but we made it so that when it gets printed into a sticker, it'll be easily visible.



opti.jpg
 
I like the pic of the car, but I sure wouldn't have the company name inside it like that. It's too difficult to read and by the time the logo is reduced in size to go on a business card for example, it would be so small you'll hardly see it. I'd try to do something that makes the company name stand out more than the picture itself.



Also, posting your logo on Autopia for people to comment on is always gonna leave you scratching your head, as you'll get so many differing opinions - no matter what you do with your logo, there will always be something that people won't like about it. For this reason, I've never bothered posting my logo up for opinions. lol
 
Everyone has given some good advice here. There are a few things a logo SHOULD do:

- be simple - it should "read" at a glance

- reflect your business specifically - not just your industry - it is the mark that identifies YOU - it should SAY SOMETHING about your business, product or service

- be unique

- work at different sizes, in color, in b/w, over a fax, etc.



A logo is a mark, not a stylized photograph.



You wouldn't expect your clients to know how to detail their own cars, that it's more than WHAT products you use and more about HOW you use them - you have the training, the experience, the skill and know-how to perfect a finish, right? Hand a client the tools to do the job and chances are they're going to come up short, right? That's why they pay you.



Consider a budget for your logo design and consider hiring an experienced logo designer to learn about your business, understand it, research the competition (don't want to do something that's been done!) and present you with design options. This isn't a one-off detail, so to speak - a successful logo design is more appropriately analagous to a high-quality paint and prep job - the base for the best LSP - in this case, that LSP is your branding, which you're likely to spend a good bit of money on, right? Tshirts, hats, vehicle graphics, business cards, invoices, letterhead, envelopes, web site... Why not do it right? Why not budget enough to build a solid logo that reflects your business?



You don't need to spend $10k. In fact, a solid well-designed logo can be had for as little as $1500-$2000 from an experienced professional logo designer. There are logo chop-shops out there, too - they pump 'em out in a few days - hardly enough time to understand, research and CONCEPT a good logo design (it's all about the CONCEPT).



I'd volunteer my own services, but I'm not here to do that (and quite frankly my logo design skills aren't what they should be!). I just want you to have a well-designed logo that reflects your position at the top tier of pro detailers, judging from what I've seen and read here.



I can, however, highly recommend The Logo Factory, which is a professional logo design firm and not a logo sweatshop. Also, Glitschka Studios, the home of Von Glitschka. (here are some of Von's logos in PDF format)



Good luck with it!
 
Well said, animes2k!



Unfortunately, computers have made it easy for anyone to design a 'logo'. I see it all the time in my business. Every week, I have to tell at least one client "That will not print"-when the whole idea of a logo is to be able to use it!

Yes, hiring a profession can seem expensive, but it should pay off in the end. If you figure a 10 year life-span of a logo (and perhaps some tweaking after that), even at $1000, you're only looking at $100 a year. How many new clients does that logo have to generate a year to cover that cost? Less than one.

Large companies spend tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands to design a new logo-they're either just stupid or understand how important it is to their business. My guess is the second one. I'm not saying that you have to use focus groups, trials, etc., but hiring a pro is a step in the right direction.

Incidentally, I've been redesigning my logo recently. Been working on it for 3 months, using an artist and copywriter, as well as my 15 years experience in printing logos. Probably another 3 months for final tweaking, different layouts (for everything from envelopes to embroidery, but always with some consistency), and then another 6 months to convert everything to the new logo for the launch. Yes, it's that important...
 
Hey I wish to thank everyone for their input, great ideas.



Since this is for my website an dnot my biz cards and such I am going to go ahead and keep the car design and place it somewhere on the site but not on my front page.



I have been working though on this:





328ULTBANNER.gif






It is simple yet gets my name across I believe. Shouyld i add a bit of a blur or ripple to the shadow? Let me know your thoughts and suggestions, thanks.



Anthony
 
DANG!



That's a HUGE something :LOLOL



That looks pretty cool, I have never thought about off setting my biz name before. Maybe I should fiddle with that concept.



Looks great and I greatly appreciate your time and effort :xyxthumbs



Anthony
 
Looks good adam but the ultimate font would be hard to embroider. Also the drop shadow and gradients would give some problems when facing some types of print media.
 
No doubt..



Any good monogramer will be able to fill in the ultimate part. If he was to get it digitized it should be no problem to get it monagramed the way it is. ..No drop shadow is no problem and a grey, silver, or lighter black would work well with the Reflection part..



Adam
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top