I'm currently redesigning my logo and as I've been staring at all the different variants for many hours now, I just wanted to get a bit of feedback on my latest one to see how people like/dislike it.
Not a bad start. A few things I noticed is that you're applying shadows where they don't need to be placed ('t') and somewhat incorrectly. I would also change the letter placements (basically opposite of what they are now). Additionally, I would probably go with an alternative typeface on "WEBDESIGN" and "WORDPRESS". Preferably a slab serif.
I guess with letter placement you mean that U should be above N, N above E and so forth?
For the "webdesign" and "wordpress" I wanted to use a webfont so I can later use the real typeface on my website. Any suggestions for nice slab serif webfont? It is Droid Sans at the moment.
EDIT: I tried Museo Slab as a typeface which I think fits not too bad in there. But I'm still not really sure about those shadows. I got two variants here.
Like @jshjohnson, I'm going to disagree with myself also on the letter placement. The top looks better.
Hmm. You might want to try small-caps for "WEBDESIGN" and "WORDPRESS" since the cap-height seems too much compared to the above lettering.
There are kerning issues (see 'e' compared to the rest) but I think if you fix that it will be even more illegible. The shadow needs to be worked on as well.
@TheDoc that is correct, but I guess readability might be a problem.
@chrisburton I noticed that the 'e' is not positioned correctly in terms of kerning but when it is, the whole thing is illegible like you said. Sometimes I feel like I have no clue about typography at all. I just play around with it until I think it looks right.
@chrisburton Do you mean just merging the letters into each other or can you explain that script idea a bit more? I tried merging U and N before cause they share the same vertical line but it was even less legible.
Connecting the strokes is what I'm referring to. Did you draw this? There's one logo in my head that would be a perfect example for me to show, if only I could remember the exact site.
I sketched it out on paper and then just grabbed the pen tool in Illustrator and drew it, yes. I had something like this but I think the U and N are not seperated enough to be legible.
While I agree with the others that details are highly important, my piece of critique goes another direction: I can’t read the name. “Uneort”? “Uneart”? “Unemt”?
After seeing the original concept I was able to get it but as it is I couldn’t read it. I think you need to tweak the letterforms, especially the A.
@uneart I like the original better than that example. I think if you give some of the appropriate letters a tail, you can connect them there. That might help the legibility.
You could even try giving the letters a white stroke, expand the appearance and then Cntrl + Click on the stroke and trim it.
@chrisburton I don't really get what you mean with tail. I'm not a native speaker so it might just be me interpreting the wrong thing. Sorry for beeing stupid about that ;)
@chrisburton Thanks clearing that up. But wouldn't that be a bit like adding serifs? I really want to keep the style as simple as possible. Sorry I'm not a typo guy at all.
@chrisburton
Just read some stuff about all those typography terms and realised how stupid my last sentence was, it's already late in Europe ;) I'm still strugling with the tail idea, sketched a bit but got nothing good going so far.
I did try that stroke idea though and I like the look of it. Not sure it that really solves the readability problem, maybe a bit. Played around with the color a bit as well. Here it is.
By the way: Thank you for taking your time to help me out here I apreciate it a lot. I hope there will a point in the future when I can return the favor.
@uneart Hey, it's my pleasure. I don't know. I think the 'a' still needs improvement for legibility purposes.
The logo I'm thinking of starts with a 'c' and it's somewhat similar to yours but in script form. Hopefully someone sees this and posts a link. It's bugging me.
One of the first things I saw that would be possible point of improvement is the gaps in the e and the a are so different. Maybe if they were the same distance apart it would lend consistency. I'm not much of a typographer though.
Love the critique discussion! And I love seeing hand crafted logos with hand crafted type.
@chriscoyier Thanks for the additional input, I'll give that a shot. I'm not at all a typo guy as well but I at least want to try to solve this with something selfmade. Having watched countless screencasts and talks by you and now getting comments from you about my own little project here... love it ;)
@chrisburton I guess that would change the style of the typeface fundamentally but I kinda like the idea of it beeing a bit more "fluid".
Oh, that logo project will cost me some freetime :D Sometimes I find myself wondering if I should work on the name itself again (I have it since about 1,5 yrs) because it sure causes some legibility problems by beeing a non-word.
If your logo is drawn in Illustrator or by hand, it's not a typeface. Just wanted to throw that out there.
Well you're only giving the letters a negative line space so you're not really joining the strokes. There are a number of ways to tweak this for better legibility but you should be consistent in the process.
I really like to watch this logo change over its several edits. I also like that it could work in black and white which is one rule I like to ask myself.
@ChadL Thanks for that inspiration. I'm still not quite happy with and like new ideas and helpful tips.
@rctonnie and @marshallford Readability is the biggest problem I see. Cause like you said the name isn't common which makes it really hard. I'm even considering a name change since my little business is still very young. But if I stick with the current it definitly has to be more legible.
@danielhughes I try to achieve that it works in balck/white as well as in reversed colors.
I had trouble reading it and then when I went back and looked at your post and saw what it is supposed to be I could see it clearly. But I still have a problem with it because there is no clear pronunciation of the "name" or "non-word"
@chrisburton That's a little hard to explain. My lastname is quite similar to a word with a delicate meaning in german. It's not exactly that word but close. So it's not one you gotta be ashamed of but still not usable as a business name. As I said, hard to explain ;)
I came up with this artificial name a while back. Should be a mixture of the french word "une" for one (person), "unity" as I'm doing code & design and "art" which is sopposed to stand a bit for the design part but obviously art isn't quite the same as design. Well at least that's about how I came up with that word "uneart".
But yes, I kinda see that this "non-word" as a business name dowsn't seem to work well as people can't read or pronounce it correctly. I did hours of mindmapping and stuff like that so far but I can't come up with a good name that is neither taken already nor has free domains for it.
In my head I pronounce it like unearth, but ending like inert.
I did not associate it with unity or art, since my go-to pronunciation didn't make it sound like either of those two words.
I'm not sure either of those matter necessarily, but obviously you want a name that is memorable and easy to communicate with others (it has to be spelled how it sounds).
I'm not sure either of those matter necessarily, but obviously you want a name that is memorable and easy to communicate with others (it has to be spelled how it sounds).
It seems that many people split the syllables "un" and "eart" instead of "une" and "art. I'm more and more convinced that I should come up with a better name thats pronouncable and easier to understand.
Hey guys,
I'm currently redesigning my logo and as I've been staring at all the different variants for many hours now, I just wanted to get a bit of feedback on my latest one to see how people like/dislike it.
Here it is.
I appreciate any constructive feedback, thanks :)
Not a bad start. A few things I noticed is that you're applying shadows where they don't need to be placed ('t') and somewhat incorrectly. I would also change the letter placements (basically opposite of what they are now). Additionally, I would probably go with an alternative typeface on "WEBDESIGN" and "WORDPRESS". Preferably a slab serif.
Thanks Chris,
I guess with letter placement you mean that U should be above N, N above E and so forth? For the "webdesign" and "wordpress" I wanted to use a webfont so I can later use the real typeface on my website. Any suggestions for nice slab serif webfont? It is Droid Sans at the moment.
EDIT: I tried Museo Slab as a typeface which I think fits not too bad in there. But I'm still not really sure about those shadows. I got two variants here.
I disagree with @chrisburton actually. I like the letter placement and shadows although I do think there are nicer fonts for the words underneath.
I'm not sure I can quite read it. Is it "uneart?
Like @jshjohnson, I'm going to disagree with myself also on the letter placement. The top looks better.
Hmm. You might want to try small-caps for "WEBDESIGN" and "WORDPRESS" since the cap-height seems too much compared to the above lettering.
There are kerning issues (see 'e' compared to the rest) but I think if you fix that it will be even more illegible. The shadow needs to be worked on as well.
@TheDoc that is correct, but I guess readability might be a problem.
@chrisburton I noticed that the 'e' is not positioned correctly in terms of kerning but when it is, the whole thing is illegible like you said. Sometimes I feel like I have no clue about typography at all. I just play around with it until I think it looks right.
Oh man... this one's gonna be tough
@uneart
That's a process of typography. You might want to think about joining these letters into a script. It may produce a more legible result.
@chrisburton Do you mean just merging the letters into each other or can you explain that script idea a bit more? I tried merging U and N before cause they share the same vertical line but it was even less legible.
Connecting the strokes is what I'm referring to. Did you draw this? There's one logo in my head that would be a perfect example for me to show, if only I could remember the exact site.
I sketched it out on paper and then just grabbed the pen tool in Illustrator and drew it, yes. I had something like this but I think the U and N are not seperated enough to be legible.
You could try putting a tail on the 'u' and extending that into the shoulder of the 'n'.
While I agree with the others that details are highly important, my piece of critique goes another direction: I can’t read the name. “Uneort”? “Uneart”? “Unemt”?
After seeing the original concept I was able to get it but as it is I couldn’t read it. I think you need to tweak the letterforms, especially the A.
Hmm. I don't see an 'm' in any of the examples.
@chrisburton Well I tweaked around a bit trying to merge the letters in a better way. But I'm not sure it got better... There you go
@dougoftheabaci Thanks for your comment. I'm aware of the readability problem, can't figure out a good solution so far.
@uneart I like the original better than that example. I think if you give some of the appropriate letters a tail, you can connect them there. That might help the legibility.
You could even try giving the letters a white stroke, expand the appearance and then Cntrl + Click on the stroke and trim it.
@chrisburton I don't really get what you mean with tail. I'm not a native speaker so it might just be me interpreting the wrong thing. Sorry for beeing stupid about that ;)
@uneart Look at the green part of the bottom 'a'. That's a tail.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZZbwGoG06VI/TNq0tQ09zkI/AAAAAAAAAII/SZ8WMKPryD4/s1600/typography-anatomy_b.gif
@chrisburton Thanks clearing that up. But wouldn't that be a bit like adding serifs? I really want to keep the style as simple as possible. Sorry I'm not a typo guy at all.
No. Tails are not the same as serifs.
@chrisburton Just read some stuff about all those typography terms and realised how stupid my last sentence was, it's already late in Europe ;) I'm still strugling with the tail idea, sketched a bit but got nothing good going so far.
I did try that stroke idea though and I like the look of it. Not sure it that really solves the readability problem, maybe a bit. Played around with the color a bit as well. Here it is.
By the way: Thank you for taking your time to help me out here I apreciate it a lot. I hope there will a point in the future when I can return the favor.
@uneart Hey, it's my pleasure. I don't know. I think the 'a' still needs improvement for legibility purposes.
The logo I'm thinking of starts with a 'c' and it's somewhat similar to yours but in script form. Hopefully someone sees this and posts a link. It's bugging me.
I wonder if I should maybe just go with a "normal" semibold script font to assure readability?!
One of the first things I saw that would be possible point of improvement is the gaps in the e and the a are so different. Maybe if they were the same distance apart it would lend consistency. I'm not much of a typographer though.
Love the critique discussion! And I love seeing hand crafted logos with hand crafted type.
@uneart What do you think about turning that 'a' into a double-story?
Note: If you go this route, you will most likely have to give all the characters some weight variations.
@chriscoyier Thanks for the additional input, I'll give that a shot. I'm not at all a typo guy as well but I at least want to try to solve this with something selfmade. Having watched countless screencasts and talks by you and now getting comments from you about my own little project here... love it ;)
@chrisburton I guess that would change the style of the typeface fundamentally but I kinda like the idea of it beeing a bit more "fluid".
Oh, that logo project will cost me some freetime :D Sometimes I find myself wondering if I should work on the name itself again (I have it since about 1,5 yrs) because it sure causes some legibility problems by beeing a non-word.
If your logo is drawn in Illustrator or by hand, it's not a typeface. Just wanted to throw that out there.
Well you're only giving the letters a negative line space so you're not really joining the strokes. There are a number of ways to tweak this for better legibility but you should be consistent in the process.
@chrisburton Sorry for beeing stupid again, it is not a typeface but I think you still understood it.
I'll see if my (still very limited) skillset can produce something better.
sometime simplifying the shapes down can help. And then finding their small distinctions.
hope this helps
http://db.tt/W1bu8dLJ
I would say it looks great... very savvy design, but actually practically difficult to read what that word is.
Just one point to make: If your brand or company name isn't a common noun like dog, clock, or design make sure the text is readable and very clear.
I really like to watch this logo change over its several edits. I also like that it could work in black and white which is one rule I like to ask myself.
@ChadL Thanks for that inspiration. I'm still not quite happy with and like new ideas and helpful tips.
@rctonnie and @marshallford Readability is the biggest problem I see. Cause like you said the name isn't common which makes it really hard. I'm even considering a name change since my little business is still very young. But if I stick with the current it definitly has to be more legible.
@danielhughes I try to achieve that it works in balck/white as well as in reversed colors.
I had trouble reading it and then when I went back and looked at your post and saw what it is supposed to be I could see it clearly. But I still have a problem with it because there is no clear pronunciation of the "name" or "non-word"
@uneart Hmm. Question: Are you trying to create a 1 person company?
@chrisburton That's what it is so far, yes
@uneart Why not use your name?
@chrisburton That's a little hard to explain. My lastname is quite similar to a word with a delicate meaning in german. It's not exactly that word but close. So it's not one you gotta be ashamed of but still not usable as a business name. As I said, hard to explain ;)
I came up with this artificial name a while back. Should be a mixture of the french word "une" for one (person), "unity" as I'm doing code & design and "art" which is sopposed to stand a bit for the design part but obviously art isn't quite the same as design. Well at least that's about how I came up with that word "uneart".
But yes, I kinda see that this "non-word" as a business name dowsn't seem to work well as people can't read or pronounce it correctly. I did hours of mindmapping and stuff like that so far but I can't come up with a good name that is neither taken already nor has free domains for it.
In my head I pronounce it like unearth, but ending like inert.
I did not associate it with unity or art, since my go-to pronunciation didn't make it sound like either of those two words.
I'm not sure either of those matter necessarily, but obviously you want a name that is memorable and easy to communicate with others (it has to be spelled how it sounds).
@BenWalker
It seems that many people split the syllables "un" and "eart" instead of "une" and "art. I'm more and more convinced that I should come up with a better name thats pronouncable and easier to understand.