Another logo - Cowgirl Jean Company [Archive]

typographics

01-31-2006, 04:00 AM

ce,

is the name "american cowgirl jean co" or "cowgirl jean co"?

i like the typeface youve chosen for "cowgirl". i also like it on that curved baseline. but have you tried connecting the letters? at least connect the "i" and the "r". right now there is a 1 point line separating them, and its a small eye sore.

im not a big fan of the huge head on top. you have already communicated "girl" with the pink girly typeface (which again i like). you can communicate "western" a lot of different ways. i dont think a huge cowgirl head is the best and most creative solution to do that.

i think this has some great potential. good job!

matthew~

rockem

01-31-2006, 04:13 AM

I agree with typo, the type does needs sometweaking, where the strokes are disconnecting the letters, the little thing on the inside of the "o" is a little wierd.
The placement of american and the other type is competing and doesnt flow right.
The illustration is cool, but like typo said not a huge fan of the big head.
I think the illy could work in more of a branding sense throughout the companies pieces but for the logo I dont think it works.
The kerning on cowgirl and american should be fixed.
The BW version makes the type even compete more, not flowing right. I famerican cowgirl jean company is the way it has to read there are a few more options to explore

AlexNJ210

01-31-2006, 04:32 AM

Hi CE,

I really like this one. The feel of this logo, from what the brand appears to be about, seems right on target. Im not sure that the head is such a bad idea as typo and rockem have advised. One thing that does bother me, IMO, the expression on the cowgirl's face seems a bit strange. I think that if you were to give her eyes a more relaxed look(3/4 open) it would give her more attitude(Not really sure). It seems to me that she is straining to smile or "faking" a smile. Maybe use some celeb lips as a template for the illustration. I guess its the lips and not the eyes that are making me feel that. If this logo will be blown up, that will become apparent. Also, work more with the layout of the type, and fix that character connection issue said above. Im a fan of the cowgirl in the logo. However, one thing to consider is branding, it is after all a jean company so you have to think about whether you want your audience to remember the product in terms of the "Cowgirl" typeface, or the head. Which will become a signifying element? Now that i think about it. There could be a hierarchy issue created by the dominance of the head in the logo. Not by size but placement. Maybe you could try arching the "Cowgirl" (w/jean co.) underneath the right arch of the "American" line. Then center the head underneath, or place it somewhere where it has a nice nestling place. All in all, great artwork, good idea, and great logo treatment. Good Job!!

Logo-Mechanix

01-31-2006, 12:51 PM

Like Alex, I don't think the Illustration is a bad idea I kind of like it and it is a memorable mark that once established could be recognized alone without the text. I do think it is a little overpowering but that could be fixed with downsizing or place ment or most likely both. In the black and white version I would make the cowgirl text solid same as American it gets kind of lost in the black and white. I wouldalso maybe move the text to the top with the illustration underneath. I like this logo though with a little tweaking it has great potential.

G-Man79

01-31-2006, 12:54 PM

I dig the initial concept and also agree with most of the comments. I'd like to see American and Cowgirl with an identical arch, one above the head, the other below with the Jean Co. exactly as you have it now. That would square up the logo a tad. Well done though. Keep us posted!

C.E.

01-31-2006, 01:10 PM

Thanks gang! I showed this draft to the client also and she doesn't really care for it - she thinks its too "whimsical" and not "rugged" and "western" enough. So I guess I'm back to the drawing board. I'll definately keep this for further use tho.

C.E.

01-31-2006, 10:08 PM

Well I've received word from the client and she says the more she looked at it the more she liked it, if we could change colors and tweak it a bit more, plus said her husband liked it too, so I've worked on a couple more layouts, changed the font to give more of a western flare, and changed the color to something she liked. Suggestions/comments appreciated.

C.E.

01-31-2006, 10:10 PM

And another layout.

C.E.

01-31-2006, 10:23 PM

One more, changed the placement of "jean co"

broken mold design

01-31-2006, 11:08 PM

Love the first one, think it was best. How did you do that background, I can do it the hard way.Wondering if you had a better way?

01-31-2006, 11:15 PM

I can definitely see how incorporating the western font and changing the girly pink to more rustic colors would hit their target market a little better.

I am not a "western jeans" type of gal, I like pink. lol I think this is a nice progression, I like the last version best, with the "jean co." together. (Though that might need to go up just a wee notch in size?)

angerisagift

01-31-2006, 11:20 PM

i like the second and third of the new ones best. in the first one the A and N are way to big compared to the rest. of the second two im not sure which i like best yet....its such a minor difference...i actually thought u posted the same picture twice innitially hehe. i think i like the second of the new series best, with jean and co separated by the g because it spreads things out a bit more than the third one where theres the head, the end of cowgirl and the jean co all on the right side

my 0.08 quarters

-sean

[EDIT] actually now that i looked at it again i like the third one.....oh dont listen to me i cant make up my mind. the last two are good is all i know. hehe

C.E.

01-31-2006, 11:29 PM

Ec, yeah tell me about it. I mean, I'm a western jeans type of gal, but I like the bling and pink is just an awesome way to toss in femininity. I'll bump up the type size on that last version and send to client and see if she likes it better.

broken mold -- I followed a tutorial. Let me see if I can find it for you -- http://biorust.com/index.php?page=tutorial_detail&tutid=72 -- hmm, nope that's the Photoshop one. What did I do with that Illy one? Ah, here it is -- http://www.hughroper.com/journal/index.php?p=249

JPnyc

01-31-2006, 11:30 PM

VERY nice work but somewhat anachronistic, that is unless a retro look was the intention?

01-31-2006, 11:31 PM

retro is huge right now.

emmerse

01-31-2006, 11:36 PM

I like the one on the top of this page the best. It reads well and is balanced nicely.

"Jean Co" might get lost in smaller reproductions if you use the second verson. thats why I picked v1 over v2.

vast improvement over the initial attempt.

JPnyc

01-31-2006, 11:57 PM

Ok, then I agree the top of this page is the best one. It's straight out of the 50s stylewise but it's striking and memorable.

TenTwenty8

02-01-2006, 12:09 AM

I'm jumping on EC....his wagon that is.
I was totally all for the first one (pink). However with the retro fad, go with your last one.
Your typesetting and layout works well..my eye flows perfectly through it.

Is this logo being sewn onto the jeans? maybe I missed that note. if I did, don't answer

rockem

02-01-2006, 12:35 AM

The first one I did like the best of the three, but it doesnt have a huge western feel like the client wanted.
Im not a fan of stroked type, I dont like the black strokes or the red ones. I dont see why you need the type to be stroked, I would take it off. The type looks better connected now, but the new font isnt meshing well witht he other fonts IMO two fonts in a simple logo is hard to pull of, hard to find ones that compliment each other nicley, these are competing to much.
The very large J & C is kind of distracting, the jean company is kind of a side thing but it is trying to stand out the way it is here I would keep it the same size as other letters ean & o.

Kool

02-01-2006, 12:45 AM

I don't really care for the big J little ean big C little o either and the period under the o looks kind of off. :)

C.E.

02-01-2006, 12:51 AM

Is this logo being sewn onto the jeans?

The logo will be in the tag inside the jeans, and possibly some other clothes (such as screenprinted on tshirts and so forth). Thats why there needs to be a very simple 1-color version.

Thanks everybody else, I'm sending to the client and see how she wants to procede, and will work on some of the changes mentioned (since most of them were along the same lines).

rockem

02-01-2006, 01:48 AM

A tag inside a jean is very small, I think you will need to simplify this even more or just stick with a type based logo for the jeans. Like I said earlier nail a nice typface down would be great for going on all things, then incorporate the girl into the branding and keep her off the identity. Just a thought.

Silence04

02-01-2006, 04:05 AM

great work! i think your 3rd version is the best.
it has really matured from the other designs.
much better balance, easier to read, such a "classic" feel...

but i don't really care for the use of your symbol. not to say your illustration of the girl is bad, its very good. :) i just think that your logo is losing some impact it could have with a less detailed, and more bold symbol.
plus stitching something that detailed can become very troublesome at smaller sizes.

What would it look like if you only used a bigger hat as a symbol instead of a girl with a hat? just a thought...

Rocketpig

02-01-2006, 04:31 AM

I would just like to state that I'm really digging the third version.

Try eliminating the stroke on "cowgirl" and pulling off the illustration.

If that works, I think you have a pretty solid logo for embroidery, print, and web.

Nice job. Vey nice progression with this piece. IMO it was good to start off and only got better from there.

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

02-01-2006, 05:02 AM

It seems to me that she is straining to smile or "faking" a smile.

Looks like the perfect "rodeo queen" smile to me - and I've been going to rodeos for over 40 years!

- J.

JaCkinbOx

02-01-2006, 05:40 AM

I don't have too much criticism to offer, right now. I've been pleasantly following the progression in silence and liking what I've seen. I actually like the girl mascot you've incorporated, I think that's marvelous. I would consider, perhaps, changing the nose -- but as it is I feel it greatly fits classic old-fashioned illustration.

Great work, and welcome aboard.

@BLACC360

02-01-2006, 06:21 AM

I Love it, nice

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

02-01-2006, 12:28 PM

I like the third one a lot - but would be concerned about the "Jeans Co." disappearing when the image is used smaller for any purposes other than a label or hang tag.

- J.

Logo-Mechanix

02-01-2006, 12:29 PM

The third one is definitely the best so far and much more balanced than the first one. Theonly thing you may have trouble with which was stated earlier in the thread is embroidery or printing the full logo in a small size, definitely a great logo though.

C.E.

02-01-2006, 02:02 PM

LOL Now the client wants a different font for "Cowgirl"............ hmmmm

02-01-2006, 02:05 PM

bummer. :(

C.E.

02-01-2006, 02:06 PM

Oh, and just thot I'd share with you a 2-color version of the same logo (number 3)

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

02-01-2006, 02:06 PM

LOL Now the client wants a different font for "Cowgirl"............ hmmmm

CLIENTS: Can't kill 'em - because we can't live without 'em.

I seldom have an issue with clients "playing" around with fonts as I always tell them why a specific font will work for them and/or why I have used a given font in the design.

- J.

C.E.

02-01-2006, 02:08 PM

And then I wonder about having to have "Jean Co" in the actual logo for the tags? I mean, does Levi have "jean co" in their tags? What kind of protocol do you think that would require? For the tag, maybe leave "jean co" off, so that it doesn't get lost, and then for the regular logo (letterhead, website, bizcards, etc) to include it?

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

02-01-2006, 02:08 PM

Oh, and just thot I'd share with you a 2-color version of the same logo (number 3)

Nice! How do you treat the black/white version so the dot over the "i" doesn't look like a blob coming out of her hair?

- J.

C.E.

02-01-2006, 02:18 PM

Nice! How do you treat the black/white version so the dot over the "i" doesn't look like a blob coming out of her hair?
That's a good question!!! LOL. Haven't got that far, but if she wants a new font, it may be a moot point. I'll keep it in mind tho. The problem I'm having is that most of my "other" font choices for COWGIRL happen to look about the same. I want something to contrast that bold western slab font in a girley sort of way, so something scripty looks right to me....

02-01-2006, 02:21 PM

it looks right to me too. personally, I think finding "just the right" script font is always challenging anyway.

02-01-2006, 02:23 PM

Hey C.E. I don't know if this is helpful at all, but something about your logo reminds me of Letterhead Fonts. Maybe check them out -- I like to look at the individual font pages (i.e. http://letterheadfonts.com/contributors/tomkennedy/tonic.shtml) and see them in action. Maybe you'll spark an idea? Lots of western fonts http://letterheadfonts.com/styles/western.shtml

C.E.

02-01-2006, 02:49 PM

LOL EC - I have that page bookmarked and have gone thru the gallery a couple of times. I need to sit down and look thru it again and see if anything helps. I love their fonts! I plan on getting their 6/$179 deal (or whatever it is) when I have the extra cash.

02-01-2006, 02:54 PM

reuber1

02-01-2006, 03:04 PM

Nice! How do you treat the black/white version so the dot over the "i" doesn't look like a blob coming out of her hair?

- J.I think you could get away with moving the head over to the right a little more; I wouldn't think the "L" in cowgirl would obscure too much of her hair.

Zenobian Grey

02-01-2006, 03:08 PM

That's a good question!!! LOL. Haven't got that far, but if she wants a new font, it may be a moot point. I'll keep it in mind tho. The problem I'm having is that most of my "other" font choices for COWGIRL happen to look about the same. I want something to contrast that bold western slab font in a girley sort of way, so something scripty looks right to me....

0.5 white stroke around the dot of the "i" will take care of that. Possibly.

I like the theme of the designs, all of them. Very retro.

My major concern is the elongated versions. By having the design more horizontal instead of more symmetrical, (cubed) you may run into future problems when the logo has to be scaled down for various products and collateral. (such as a business cards or product labels) You'll have to scale down the logo more than usual to fit small confined spaces which could lose a little impact just based off legibility alone.

Another suggestion is that when you transition this logo in 1 color form onto various collateral, go with a monotone sepia color scheme. Will give it that rustic look, and naturally red works well with these tones if you wanted to include an additional color. The marketing implications of red is immense, it's difficult to go wrong.

There are a lot of elements in this logo. If you can find anyway to reduce that I would greatly suggest it. Keeping things relatively simple always is a great policy when designing logos.

Great development, keep it up, sooner or later you'll find gold in them there hills Tex. ;)

rockem

02-01-2006, 03:53 PM

I like the revisions, I still think that jeans co is a little to large, as for not thinking that far about the dot on the i looking like a blob in her hair, is kind of going backwards in logo design. Yes it can be over come, if started in black and white there wouldnt have been the issue at all.

C.E.

02-02-2006, 06:41 PM

Well I believe I talked the client into using the current script font for "cowgirl". She's sending me a sample of the tag, which she hopes to be more of a rectangle than a square, so we'll see how that goes when I get it. However, she wanted me to work a bit more on the logo, the main thing was bumping up the size of the word "american". Now the problem I was running into was because that word sort of "sat" inside the letter C of Cowgirl and the dot in the letter 'i". Can I remove the dot? Does it still read okay? Or does anybody have any other suggestions?

Logo-Mechanix

02-02-2006, 07:00 PM

I'm not liking the dot removed from the i it makes it harder to read, I can see the problem your having and opening up the space between the 2 lines is probobly not going to look good either. Wow this is a tough one, maybe try making the C bigger again and moving American left inside the C so you have room to add the dot above the i.

Craig B

02-02-2006, 07:05 PM

AlexNJ210

02-02-2006, 07:14 PM

Even though I like "american" being bigger. The earlier versions had a nice accidental alignment (I'm assuming), where the cowgirl's head seemed to be coming out of the vertex of the "r". Which sort of looked shirt like.

Now, I know it's a jean company, but I thought that was nice how that lined up. Just my 2 cents.

I Agree with that, it gave the head a certain stability which inturn helps stabilize the rest of the logo. As for the spacing problem for American. I was thinking about somthing similar to what Logo said about "tucking" amercian into the "c". Have you made a version where "american" is lowercase, that would also save you some space without sacrificing readability and i think would mesh better with the script type while still retaining a "western" feel. lol sorry for the runon sentence.:rolleyes:

C.E.

02-03-2006, 03:50 PM

Okay I tried the tucking-in suggestion, but something bugs me about it. It almost reads "Cowgirl American" instead of "American Cowgirl"... thoughts?

Logo-Mechanix

02-03-2006, 03:56 PM

Yeah my eye keeps going to Cowgirl first as well. Going back to the last design what if you were to just make the C a little smaller and move American over so there is room for the dot over the i. The right side now looks a little squeshed as well with the illustration between the dot and the L.

rockem

02-03-2006, 03:58 PM

Yah that harms it alot, The C is really messed up especially on top, throughout cowgirl to there are a few kwirky spots that need to be reworked. Im not sure if I am sold on that cowgirl font, fonts like that that are connected and then not connected and connected again, always make the kerning look really wierd and hard to read. The O should be fixed on the left side kind fo in the middle, where the O connects to the W is a little blobby, the W itself looks ununiform and where it connects to the G is wierd to, the i almost read like a U and the irl looks very out of place in the word as a whole

C.E.

02-03-2006, 04:08 PM

Okay I'm gonna breakdown and buy a font or two from Letterhead right now... any suggestions on a script font for "Cowgirl"?? I'm sick of these damn free fonts.

rockem

02-03-2006, 04:13 PM

Dont just breakdown and buy one or you rjust gonna waste money, well you wont be wasting because fonts are the designers crack, but gind as much western material you can find search those fonts, before you even think of purchasing study that font and find out if it is going to work or not. Veer alwasy has some cool stuff check them out

rockem

02-03-2006, 04:15 PM

http://www.veer.com/search/results.aspx?producttype=typ&clarify=false&keyword=wood+type+or+western+or+wood
there is a western search option for there fonts there, eehh just look ed through the western ones not much there

C.E.

02-04-2006, 02:59 AM

rockem

02-04-2006, 03:03 AM

what do you think?

C.E.

02-04-2006, 03:06 AM

Oh fiddlesticks. I seem to dig myself deeper the more I work on this, and now the client wants it done by the end of the weekend.

C.E.

02-04-2006, 03:07 AM

what do you think?
I think my brain is gonna explode.

rockem

02-04-2006, 03:09 AM

one question I always ask designers when they post me comps and what not, not just you I see it all the time. What is with the giant numbers???

For the logos, there are a few posibilities here, and some that dont fit at all. I still think your having a tough time finding two fonts that flow good together. getting better though

rockem

02-04-2006, 03:10 AM

I think my brain is gonna explode.

LOL ok, but what do you think of that revision

C.E.

02-04-2006, 03:16 AM

rockem, I dunno, I just snagged the giant numbers idea from here -- figured it would be easier for folks to say "I like #7" than saying "I like the one on the right three rows down below the one that's above the bottom one" or something...

At anyrate, the first revision I posted a few min ago bugs me too, I mean, I dunno. Like I said, I feel like my brain is gonna explode. Too many swirlies and loop-D-loops. But that's what the client said she liked, so I'm trying to work it in somehow. I think some of those revisions on the giant-numbers comp actually look alot better, cleaner, smaller, better recognizable. (Wait, that can't be proper grammer.)

I just need more constructive criticism.

02-04-2006, 03:49 AM

Ok this might drive you crazy, but have you tried pairing the ballpark script (without the swash) with the western font from #1? (Number one, just swap the top font). Just curious. I love those two fonts, wondering if they would work well together.

rockem

02-04-2006, 03:53 AM

The loop d loop things is a good concept, just needs to be refined its not qworking the way it is now, the lasso could be comming off the C towards the top left, but make sure the rest of the type goes with it. Well I hope the lasso idea was what you were trying to run with here. If not it will be 5 million dollars for the idea LOL. Instead of throwing all the different type setting down, if your set on the lasso feel to it start sketching how your gonna incorporate it into the type

02-04-2006, 03:57 AM

^ nice.

C.E.

02-04-2006, 03:36 PM

Welp the client has spoken. She likes the loopy loopy one so that's the one I'm going with! EC, I'll keep those 2 fonts in mind for future logos, as I'm sure I'll have another one to do sooner or later.

I'd just like to say a big THANK YOU to everybody who helped me with this! Logos are definately not my Forte, but they're always a fun learning experience. Thanks for puttin up with me!