stixstudios

I've always found Hawkwind quite rewarding.

I've always found Hawkwind quite rewarding.

You really shouldn't be using bitmap editors like gimp to create logos. You can use inkscape which is an open source alternative to illustrator. It will allow you to create vector shapes that scales to any size or can be edited without reducing quality.

Nillervision is right, you need to be using vector program's to create logos, look up the difference between bitmap and vector images to understand why it's best.

Here's an idea to simplify your last submitted image. Use the logo-type combined with the circle and the square that surrounds the figure. The figure it self is way to complex for a logo. Remember a logo must be fast and easy to interpret in all sizes and resolutions.
EDIT: BTW I like the new concept: The Vitruvian Man symbolizes proportions which is one of the main elements in graphic design (which I asume is one of the services you offer) Also da Vinci tells a story of visionary creativity and innovation which every brand should have as an ideal. The inspiration source is not bad and the figure could easily be used as a background element for your header, businesscard etc. It's just to complex to use as a logo.

Just curious why are you transfixed on DNA strands? Your not offering any form of medical service are you?
 
The whole concept needs a complete rethink, I am sorry to say that the logo and concept you have does not stand up to being relevent to web development at all, I don't see the connection, your logo is far too complicated and the idea flawed
 
Sorry to be a killjoy but you need to start again, this time research things properly.
 
(Looks like I sad the same a while back too) - only just noticed.

Thanks teodora and Nillervision, very much appreciated. Both critiques are thoughtful and offer constructive ideas with 'real' possible alternatives that I could explore - what more could I ask. Well done (that's my critique on your critiques )
 
Certainly much much much better that this alternative that I received from the Client. (please note I have highlighted the text that really peeved me off!).
 
 
In my view that part was completely thoughtless, unnecessary and without any regard to etiquette. So, in my mildly enraged state I replied in kind:
 
 
Touche. I'm usually pretty thick skinned but this one was sort of like a 'compliment sandwich' soaked in 'bin juice'.
 
I think this post has served it's purpose in that:
 
It shows a good example of an important aspect of the design process, ie. client brief, concept, rationale and critique (positive and negative) with perhaps a final re-worked version? The critiques were meaningul and positive and now feel I've had the recommended dose of 1 1/2 cups of validation. I'll try to post up here as a final entry (hooray) a re-worked version with a less complicated sans serif font.
 
Thanks, Steve.

I first saw your post now and I realize that comments on your work at this point is not very useful. But I want to applaud how structured and well thought out your post is. Many of logos posted on this forum is imposible to judge because the posters does not provide any info about the context, the identity of the brand or the wanted message/values that the logo should signal.
Had I seen your post in time I would have said that the shape (the tree) works very well but that the logo type is a bit to complex (the shadow effect adds even more complexity to it) One of the main purposes of a logo is that it should be quick to interpret so a complex shape with many colors combined with a complex font might be to cluttered.
The color scheme works very well and represents the properties of the actual product and I also think the aesthetic values is expressed very well with the tree.

Looks good to me.
 
Chris

Ooos, I should have read your second post...
 
I would say don't give up, there will always be a demand for design, which is not off the shelf and you'll find the right clients / people to work with

I would say the logo fits the brief. I quite like the tree / hand symbol and for me the meaning behind the logo is clear. I think it should be perceived without any difficulties by the end user.
 
You mentioned you have used a few different fonts, could you show them here? I am not too keen on the font you used, as it is too "organic" and too casual in my opinion. I would have gone with more "standard" font, as I would prefer to have the logo symbol stand out and not be overpowered by the font.
 
Hope that makes sense

Design is mostly based on theory, the underpinning of things like colour, typography and the history of such things as well as things like the rule of thirds and figure ground etc etc would all arm you with enough knowledge to create things that look pleasing.
 
Learning how to use software is not the challenge though, the challenge is to create and whatever you create make it have meaning, always question why did you do that and evolve design like this,then you won't go far wrong.
 
Although art and graphic design seem very alike, they are two different things, an artist conveys a message that he or she wants to send the audience, a graphic designer has the harder job of conveying other peoples ideas and messages, an artist draws what they want to express and a graphic designer has to interpret what the audience needs to see in order so pass a clients message

Sorry Cherry, none of the logo's tickle my fancy at all except for perhaps the one with the 'pole dancer'
 
As you have not explained anything, there is little to critique. None of the logo's "say" anything at all about fitness except for the text that actually spells it out!
 
If you want positive critique, please try to accompany your logo's with some sort of rationale.
ie. Why you chose that font, colour, image, ideas, combination of shapes etc. and how it fits in with your prospective clients wants, needs and desires etc.
 
In other words, explain it in the way that you SHOULD explain it to your client - afterall, how else can you sell them your idea?
 
A client appreciates an explanation of how you (the designer) have arrived at a solution - even if some of it is contrived, they will at least respect that you have thought about it (them) and not just thrown some random elements together in the hope that......
 
Also ask yourself, are you satisfied with those 4 designs? Be honest. If you are, then fine - if not, then ask yourself why not and how can you improve on them. If you're not satisfied with the design yourself, how can you sell it to your client?
 
A bit harsh perhaps?... maybe.
 
The positives: I like your own 'cherry designs' logo - it's simple, attractive and easily conveys the message. That's the sort of thinking that you need to put into all your designs. You also need to find your 'style' that you are good at.
 
Cheers, Steve.
 
ps. Anyway, so as you don't think that I'm "All tip, and no iceberg" and just a self opinionated ******* who says stuff without anything to back it up - as an exercise I'll post one of my logo's for critique... and wait for the ricochet..... youch!
 
[EDIT]: btw. I hope this is taken in an overall positive light - it's not meant to be nasty even though some of it may come across that way.

Hi Stephen,
 
Graphic Design ability has nothing to do with painting. As Cosmos pointed out, it's more about an eye for detail and the effective balance between objects, colour and typography. Then communicating all that to yours or your client vision of what is being said... if that makes sense.
 
In another sense, anyone can do a "painting" - and you can argue anything you like about it's meaning - but is it art?
 
As an example, this is one of my 'artistic ideas' for an abstract painting:
 
[step 1] Lay out a large piece of canvas (let's say around 4 x 5 mtrs) on my lounge room floor.
 
[step 2] Throw a few litres of random coloured paint on it - sometimes over my head, so I can't determine where it lands.
 
[step 3] Glass of red wine, flailing hands in the air, stamp up and down on it - in a fit of rage combined with joy - (an occasional pirouette would certainly help) all the while screaming "bastards, bastards, bastards".
 
[step 4] After a rather deserved restful nights sleep.... . . . in the morning, saunter over to my masterpiece and casually vomit on it (although I'm not sure yet, as that seems a touch uncouth) My plan 'B' is to just spray it with the leftover froth from my espresso machine.
 
[step 5] Take it outside to 'rest' for a few months and let the local cockatoo's and other wildlife make their mark.
 
[step 6] Dry it out then frame it.
 
I think I will call it "the devaluation of human creative thought vs the system, tyranny, weather fluctuations and native animals"... - dunno, I may well shorten it.
 
The thing is, what I'm really trying to get at is that . . . hang on a bit . . . sorry . . . hang on... hang on... Sorry, I have to stop typing for a bit . . . ... ... ... ... Whoa!... I think I just won the bid on ebay for a rather large piece of unused canvass!!... hang on... yep.. nup... yep... nup... yeeeiooo.... nahhhhhh....... bastards.
 
Looks like another dream... and wasted talent gone to dust. Oh well, I'll keep you guys informed.
 
----
 
But seriously Stephen, what say me is that I don't know. I'm in a similar situation, as in, 'to focus on the coding or the design'??? - I'm a "mid-weight" designer that works for a print media company that enjoys programming. I'm starting to learn html/css but have been distracted in the last few months by thinking that perhaps 'design' is the way to go...
 
In my view 'coding' is design - a craft... all the little pieces that fit into place for a reason, but it 'has' to work. Whereas artistic design? who cares - the whole thing is not going to break if the 'visual integrity' is broken? I like to think that visual design makes a big difference to selling your product.
 
I'm a bit jaded myself at the moment about a direction to take - hence my hopefully amusing little story.
 
Anyway, log on to 99designs.com (or similar 'crowd sourcing' solutions) to witness the awful truth - if you dare. It will be the subject of my next rant!... oh dear!
 
Cheers, Steve.
 
[EDIT] I love classic painters such as Turner, and Van Gough's starry starry night. simply beautiful.

Hi Stephen,
 
Graphic Design ability has nothing to do with painting. As Cosmos pointed out, it's more about an eye for detail and the effective balance between objects, colour and typography. Then communicating all that to yours or your client vision of what is being said... if that makes sense.
 
In another sense, anyone can do a "painting" - and you can argue anything you like about it's meaning - but is it art?
 
As an example, this is one of my 'artistic ideas' for an abstract painting:
 
[step 1] Lay out a large piece of canvas (let's say around 4 x 5 mtrs) on my lounge room floor.
 
[step 2] Throw a few litres of random coloured paint on it - sometimes over my head, so I can't determine where it lands.
 
[step 3] Glass of red wine, flailing hands in the air, stamp up and down on it - in a fit of rage combined with joy - (an occasional pirouette would certainly help) all the while screaming "bastards, bastards, bastards".
 
[step 4] After a rather deserved restful nights sleep.... . . . in the morning, saunter over to my masterpiece and casually vomit on it (although I'm not sure yet, as that seems a touch uncouth) My plan 'B' is to just spray it with the leftover froth from my espresso machine.
 
[step 5] Take it outside to 'rest' for a few months and let the local cockatoo's and other wildlife make their mark.
 
[step 6] Dry it out then frame it.
 
I think I will call it "the devaluation of human creative thought vs the system, tyranny, weather fluctuations and native animals"... - dunno, I may well shorten it.
 
The thing is, what I'm really trying to get at is that . . . hang on a bit . . . sorry . . . hang on... hang on... Sorry, I have to stop typing for a bit . . . ... ... ... ... Whoa!... I think I just won the bid on ebay for a rather large piece of unused canvass!!... hang on... yep.. nup... yep... nup... yeeeiooo.... nahhhhhh....... bastards.
 
Looks like another dream... and wasted talent gone to dust. Oh well, I'll keep you guys informed.
 
----
 
But seriously Stephen, what say me is that I don't know. I'm in a similar situation, as in, 'to focus on the coding or the design'??? - I'm a "mid-weight" designer that works for a print media company that enjoys programming. I'm starting to learn html/css but have been distracted in the last few months by thinking that perhaps 'design' is the way to go...
 
In my view 'coding' is design - a craft... all the little pieces that fit into place for a reason, but it 'has' to work. Whereas artistic design? who cares - the whole thing is not going to break if the 'visual integrity' is broken? I like to think that visual design makes a big difference to selling your product.
 
I'm a bit jaded myself at the moment about a direction to take - hence my hopefully amusing little story.
 
Anyway, log on to 99designs.com (or similar 'crowd sourcing' solutions) to witness the awful truth - if you dare. It will be the subject of my next rant!... oh dear!
 
Cheers, Steve.
 
[EDIT] I love classic painters such as Turner, and Van Gough's starry starry night. simply beautiful.

Hi Stephen,
 
Graphic Design ability has nothing to do with painting. As Cosmos pointed out, it's more about an eye for detail and the effective balance between objects, colour and typography. Then communicating all that to yours or your client vision of what is being said... if that makes sense.
 
In another sense, anyone can do a "painting" - and you can argue anything you like about it's meaning - but is it art?
 
As an example, this is one of my 'artistic ideas' for an abstract painting:
 
[step 1] Lay out a large piece of canvas (let's say around 4 x 5 mtrs) on my lounge room floor.
 
[step 2] Throw a few litres of random coloured paint on it - sometimes over my head, so I can't determine where it lands.
 
[step 3] Glass of red wine, flailing hands in the air, stamp up and down on it - in a fit of rage combined with joy - (an occasional pirouette would certainly help) all the while screaming "bastards, bastards, bastards".
 
[step 4] After a rather deserved restful nights sleep.... . . . in the morning, saunter over to my masterpiece and casually vomit on it (although I'm not sure yet, as that seems a touch uncouth) My plan 'B' is to just spray it with the leftover froth from my espresso machine.
 
[step 5] Take it outside to 'rest' for a few months and let the local cockatoo's and other wildlife make their mark.
 
[step 6] Dry it out then frame it.
 
I think I will call it "the devaluation of human creative thought vs the system, tyranny, weather fluctuations and native animals"... - dunno, I may well shorten it.
 
The thing is, what I'm really trying to get at is that . . . hang on a bit . . . sorry . . . hang on... hang on... Sorry, I have to stop typing for a bit . . . ... ... ... ... Whoa!... I think I just won the bid on ebay for a rather large piece of unused canvass!!... hang on... yep.. nup... yep... nup... yeeeiooo.... nahhhhhh....... bastards.
 
Looks like another dream... and wasted talent gone to dust. Oh well, I'll keep you guys informed.
 
----
 
But seriously Stephen, what say me is that I don't know. I'm in a similar situation, as in, 'to focus on the coding or the design'??? - I'm a "mid-weight" designer that works for a print media company that enjoys programming. I'm starting to learn html/css but have been distracted in the last few months by thinking that perhaps 'design' is the way to go...
 
In my view 'coding' is design - a craft... all the little pieces that fit into place for a reason, but it 'has' to work. Whereas artistic design? who cares - the whole thing is not going to break if the 'visual integrity' is broken? I like to think that visual design makes a big difference to selling your product.
 
I'm a bit jaded myself at the moment about a direction to take - hence my hopefully amusing little story.
 
Anyway, log on to 99designs.com (or similar 'crowd sourcing' solutions) to witness the awful truth - if you dare. It will be the subject of my next rant!... oh dear!
 
Cheers, Steve.
 
[EDIT] I love classic painters such as Turner, and Van Gough's starry starry night. simply beautiful.

Hi Stephen,
 
Graphic Design ability has nothing to do with painting. As Cosmos pointed out, it's more about an eye for detail and the effective balance between objects, colour and typography. Then communicating all that to yours or your client vision of what is being said... if that makes sense.
 
In another sense, anyone can do a "painting" - and you can argue anything you like about it's meaning - but is it art?
 
As an example, this is one of my 'artistic ideas' for an abstract painting:
 
[step 1] Lay out a large piece of canvas (let's say around 4 x 5 mtrs) on my lounge room floor.
 
[step 2] Throw a few litres of random coloured paint on it - sometimes over my head, so I can't determine where it lands.
 
[step 3] Glass of red wine, flailing hands in the air, stamp up and down on it - in a fit of rage combined with joy - (an occasional pirouette would certainly help) all the while screaming "bastards, bastards, bastards".
 
[step 4] After a rather deserved restful nights sleep.... . . . in the morning, saunter over to my masterpiece and casually vomit on it (although I'm not sure yet, as that seems a touch uncouth) My plan 'B' is to just spray it with the leftover froth from my espresso machine.
 
[step 5] Take it outside to 'rest' for a few months and let the local cockatoo's and other wildlife make their mark.
 
[step 6] Dry it out then frame it.
 
I think I will call it "the devaluation of human creative thought vs the system, tyranny, weather fluctuations and native animals"... - dunno, I may well shorten it.
 
The thing is, what I'm really trying to get at is that . . . hang on a bit . . . sorry . . . hang on... hang on... Sorry, I have to stop typing for a bit . . . ... ... ... ... Whoa!... I think I just won the bid on ebay for a rather large piece of unused canvass!!... hang on... yep.. nup... yep... nup... yeeeiooo.... nahhhhhh....... bastards.
 
Looks like another dream... and wasted talent gone to dust. Oh well, I'll keep you guys informed.
 
----
 
But seriously Stephen, what say me is that I don't know. I'm in a similar situation, as in, 'to focus on the coding or the design'??? - I'm a "mid-weight" designer that works for a print media company that enjoys programming. I'm starting to learn html/css but have been distracted in the last few months by thinking that perhaps 'design' is the way to go...
 
In my view 'coding' is design - a craft... all the little pieces that fit into place for a reason, but it 'has' to work. Whereas artistic design? who cares - the whole thing is not going to break if the 'visual integrity' is broken? I like to think that visual design makes a big difference to selling your product.
 
I'm a bit jaded myself at the moment about a direction to take - hence my hopefully amusing little story.
 
Anyway, log on to 99designs.com (or similar 'crowd sourcing' solutions) to witness the awful truth - if you dare. It will be the subject of my next rant!... oh dear!
 
Cheers, Steve.
 
[EDIT] I love classic painters such as Turner, and Van Gough's starry starry night. simply beautiful.

I can't paint for sh*t and I'm doing alright. So long as you have an eye for detail, colour and typography, you'll be alright.

It's hard to estimate the quality of a logo without knowing the context. A logo should not be judged as an artwork and the main purpose of the logo is not to look good. The quality of a logo can only be determined on how clearly it communicates you brand values and how efficiently it attracts attention, interest and recognition from your target audience.
 
OP asked for constructive criticism. I can't see how a comment like this can be helpful (unless you, as an individual, represents the entire target group). If you want to help add a few lines on why you think it is a bad logo.

As a 'first customer design' this is definately above average. I agree that the colours work very well together. I also like the overall feel of your logo design.
 
However, (perhaps being picky ) I would suggest a couple of 'tweaks' and methods to make it a bit more 'effective'.
 
Have a good look at the kerning of the word 'decorators' - there is too much space between the letters 'R A' also the letter S should line up with the end of the letter N above it (disregarding the serif).
 
A method I have found useful for getting the kerning right is to enlarge it on screen (or paper), step back and blurr your eyes enough so you are only looking at 'indiscriminate shapes' - what you will then see is the 'optical weight' of shapes and their relative spacing between. Never rely on software programs to do it properly - trust your judgement and adjust accordingly.
 
I do like your design, but It's these little attention to details, ie. 'fairy dust' that can be the difference between an ok design and a really good and effective design. It takes time and consideration.
 
Cheers,
Steve.

Music with Designing, Yes - Coding No.
Also Alcohol with Designing, Yes - Coding No.
 
Steve.

Yet another first time post with a link to survey monkey! Is that a coincidence? Does survey monkey not get paid for getting results on their 'polls'?

which has nothing to do with the OP's problem

lol me niether!

i have done it! here is a picture of what i done.