Logo: Kay Fisher - REALTOR [Archive]

peterbrowne

07-10-2006, 04:29 AM

Hi!
I did this and would like some criticism on it. It will be used online, in ads, on letterhead and business cards, on forsale and sold signs and on open house signs. Possibly cut in vinyl and used on the side of a car or in a window. What do you all think? The design was done in Illustrator CS/11.

EDIT: SEE POST 5 FOR CURRENT DESIGN

Neballer

07-10-2006, 04:35 AM

I wouldn't really call this a logo, more of a...I don't know, but there is too much going on. I would try to isolate the name and bring in some imagery that relates to Kay Fisher. The realty/mortgage/title industry has been flooded with logos of houses and buildings etc. I would try and find something more personal to Kay and maybe combine that with a home or building. I just don't think that this logo will have any impact in the already saturated realty industy.

balou

07-10-2006, 04:40 AM

To be honest Peter, I would start over. First, what is your actual logo? You've got a whole ad here, not a logo.

Here's some good resources for you:
http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=83361&postcount=2

07-10-2006, 04:44 AM

This isn't a logo its a sign.

A sign with terrible typography.

I would rethink this and learn what a logo is.

peterbrowne

07-10-2006, 04:45 AM

Samakimoto Graphics

07-10-2006, 07:50 AM

Hi peter!

Ok. I went and dug up the link to Logomotives' site - blog-omotives- there's a paper here on logo development. I hope you find it helpful.

http://blog-omotives.blogspot.com/

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

07-10-2006, 02:41 PM

legally we must say Kay Fisher(Company name), Real Estate Brokerage (REBBA 2002 Designation), and Mortgage Broker (MB Act Designation). She wants REALTOR mentioned (shows CREA membership). I'm going to see what I can do.

EDIT: SAMPLE 2
I'm going to show it tomorrow and do the colours then too.

Having worked with many real estate professionals over the years you legally need to incorporate all those elements into any advertising, signage, etc. - but not the logo identifying the business or person. The designations can actually be secondary, supporting information to the logo or logotype for the business. The clutter of type incorporated with the client name just makes it all more difficult to read and comprehend.

- J.

Logo-Mechanix

07-10-2006, 02:48 PM

Definitely way too crowded, simplify things. Like Jeff mentioned all the things you are trying to incorporate into the logo do not need to be there, they can be added to things like business cards and letterheads without being part of the logo. Check out other realtor logos like Weichert or ReMax, they do not have those things as part of their logo, they add them to the bottom of the business card or letterhead. I don't think they have them on their for sale signs or their building signage either.

carter the artist

07-10-2006, 08:36 PM

also, the website doesn't exist. www.kayfisher-realtor.ca nor .com. It needs a bit more professionalism. With realty you need clean, and professional. That is an edge, since most realtors don't put a professional edge to this aspect. They use the same look as everyone else or they don't put the extra $$ to have it professionally done.

here's a quick clean example. needs to be adjust as per kerning, i believe. but it was a quick thing.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v458/carterartist/Roll-Ups-ready.jpg

peterbrowne

07-11-2006, 04:44 AM

carter the artist

07-11-2006, 04:15 PM

oh, see, the impression from the layout was www.kayfisher-realtor.ca . I think you should steer clear of implementing it so jumbled.

chriscrooz

07-11-2006, 06:00 PM

I agree with Carter on this one. Placing type is not going to be enough. I would work on emphasis, contrast and symmetry. The example that Carter gave you on page one is a great start to the professional look you should be going for.

What I do when I go to create a new logo is crack open a logo book and bookmark every logo that matches the type of style I'm looking to achieve. I then bring out the paper and pencil and start roughing out the design. Then I refine the 4 or so designs that I like the most and then scan those in to use as a template in Illustrator. Hope this helps ya out.

Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

07-11-2006, 06:01 PM

I do understand what is "legally" required, but this is what she wants. I was designated her office administrator by RECO today :)

BTW, the website is kayfisher.ca - the initial one showed.
www.
KAY FISHER - REALTOR
.ca

I didn't read the web address that way either. It is very confusing as set up in that example...

- J.

SharkFinStudios

07-11-2006, 06:24 PM

I have to agree... the web address reads very different than the way you intended. One small suggestion might be to have it read "Kay Fisher - Realtor" and then underneath put "www.kayfisher.ca". Carter had a good idea when he made the realtors name pop in larger type and the other words minimized. It brings more emphasis to her. You can do the same thing if she really wants "Realtor" to follow it.

The most important thing here is that she is the client and what she wants she gets, but you can always show her a few better ideas first and see if that will sway her. With my experience, if you show them 3 ideas and 2 you think are great and one is bad... the client will ALWAYS ;) pick the bad one.

Have some fun with it and show her some sweet ideas - you might be surprised at her reaction.

Cheers,
Al

carter the artist

07-12-2006, 06:07 PM

Sharkfin is soo right. In college we had real clients for our advertising class. I had produced an excellent poster for a local theatre group for the play "Dial M for Murder" (it's on my portfolio @ freelancingdesigner.com).

We had a second one, which wasn't so great, and we put together one in 5 mins. that was pretty awful.

Everyone, including the teacher was so sure mine would get the deal no contest. However they looked at it, and promptly pushed it aside. They deliberated a while on the crappy ones and choosed the 5 minute loser.

Becareful, you might get stuck with the loser as a winner.

cj2a

07-14-2006, 01:27 PM

That is the absolute truth...given the option, clients will choose the weakest design every time.

peterbrowne

07-25-2006, 03:38 AM

what do you think of this? The company's only ad campaign that they're planning to do is going to be planned soon, i'll have some stuff then too :cool:

seamas

07-25-2006, 04:32 AM

There are a couply realators that I have seen - both from fairly upscale areas - North Westchester, North Shore LI, that will use their name in signage, but the largest element is a symbol.

One uses a sillohette of a walking/stepping horse, the other uses a sillohette of a period-style sperm whale.

While neither symbol says anything about realty - it works very well and conveys a sense of self-assuredness, but they do say something about the herritage of the area in which the business is conducted.

Perhaps there is an iconic trait to the area that she services that you could use that says something about her territory.

Then keep the rest simple.

peterbrowne

08-24-2006, 12:30 AM

new design
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/8977/823yj7.png
Hosted at Imageshack

carter the artist

08-24-2006, 02:30 AM

No offense, and I know you are trying really hard. However I don't see any design elements.

Design elements are not flashy eyecandy nor is it cool photoshop tricks. But I don't see any design in this.

I believe you can do it.

Think flow. How is someone going to see this? first and foremost, you have alot of type, yet it's all serif font. Serif fonts are generally hard to read when there is alot of type. Try to put everything after Kay Fisher as a san serif, and clean up the gridwork. Maybe change the font on the name, and tighten up it's kerning.

that might have sounded harsh, but it's constructive.

urstwile

08-24-2006, 02:40 AM

I actually preferred your second example.

While I think Bernhard Modern is a wonderful typeface when used for certain specific situations, it's not appropriate here, at least in my opinion.

With your second example, you seemed to have much more of an identifiable logo with tagline going on. I'd expand more in that direction.

Is all of the design info at the bottom of both examples just to hold ownership? I was confused by their appearance.

logomantis

08-24-2006, 02:48 PM

you're a Real Estate company. Your Identity is very important, why, because your clients I assume are investing 100's of thousands of dollars which will take decades to pay off. You need a sense of professionalism and trust. If you want someone to invest 100's of thousands in the trust of your name I would then a least spend a couple thousand in making that name look professional and trust worthy. I'm in the sign business and have designed many real estate logos, I would hand this over to someone who truly knows what they're doing. Too much money in that business not to.

08-24-2006, 03:06 PM

a logo is not a sign.

All your designs look like signs.

A logo identifies. It tells. it communicates. Whether it does these things literally, conceptually or a mix of both is up to you.

A well done logo contains a concept. The concept drives the design and should ultimalty be communicated to the viewer to enhance a companies image.

A great logo and branding strategy makes us of consistency in color and design to enhance an image of a company.

Since, that is really all a logo is meant to do- brand and identify. Without a concept to brand and create an image on your logo will be nothing more but, decoration. people don't remember decoration, they remember and are able to recall a concept. That is why its important to build a brand with a concept and not decor'.

You have alot to work with here.

The first thing I allways do is start with the literal.

Your literal here in this instance is the name- kay fisher.

So look in a dictonary and a thesuarus to find words that relate and definations of kay and fisher. One that immediatly comes to mind is a fish- as in the type you catch. You need to look beyond decor and start forming a concept. Without a concpet its pretty much useless to create a composition. Since, the concept should drive the composition not the other way around.

Navian

08-24-2006, 04:41 PM

Shoot you can even create a logo using the K and F, print out different font face veriations, of the K and F (both upper and lowercase). print them out at a decent size typeface (20 points would be good).

an example I just sketched quickly, I took the K, mirriored it backwards, I then butted up the the mirriored K and normal F together. Then after I traced the two, I softened/rounded up the corners. Then put a rounded corner box (spaced at a good spacing around the letters).

With a nice classy serif font, type K F (as the same size) then also uppercased, but smaller size, type the "ay" and "isher" (in the approperiate places).

This is just a mockup to show you how you can make a simple logo using text.
http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/3532/kfisherlogoyr0.jpg

You can use that ^ as an idea you can work with.

*Edit* by the way that took me like 30 seconds to make. so dont laugh. :p

RWakefield

08-24-2006, 05:54 PM

When I think of the name Kay Fisher, I think of kingfisher (the bird). Perhaps a nice vector outline of a kingfisher bird could be incorporated into a logo...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingfisher

A quick hack job for inspiration...
http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/2108/kfse4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

R.

peterbrowne

12-02-2006, 10:04 PM

I just did this one.

urstwile

12-02-2006, 10:14 PM

Wow, this has come a long way since the earlier examples. I'm glad to see you're stretching a bit.

The only thing is, the symbol you're using doesn't really represent anything to me, am I missing something here? It comes across as if the symbol is eating the words. Almost like Pacman.

cj2a

12-02-2006, 10:20 PM

I would try moving the type out of the circular shape, scaling the circle down in relation to the type (maybe making it the same height as the three words stacked), and making the bottom part of the circle end with a horizontal top rather than the angle. Just my two cents, but it is definitely coming along.

PrintDriver

12-02-2006, 11:21 PM

What's the extraneous peak on the left corner of the lower circle? Looks like a sloppy trim using a Pathfinder. Any mistakes you leave while doing logo construction aren't going to be cleaned up by your printer or signman.

The K interaction with the sides of the Chimney looks haphazard and has no negative space breathing room. There doesn't seem to be any reasoning applied to the type/bug interaction. I see the house, but the lot isn't level. Does this mean your client isn't on the level? You have to be careful about subtleties like that.

While this is an improvement over the one posted months ago, it still needs a lot of work.

DesignerScott

12-02-2006, 11:53 PM

Logos convey purpose and mood.
They are not just prettied up text. (unless it's for a law firm, but only then because they are straight to business people)
Try going to your local barnes&Noble/Borders if you are in the US, and scope out the best of brands books. After you look through the book, ask yourself what you liked about each of the logos, and what they all had in common.
Try getting away from the computer and using pencil and paper to sketch out a couple ideas.

peterbrowne

12-03-2006, 12:17 AM

Thank you for your feedback.
What's the extraneous peak on the left corner of the lower circle? Looks like a sloppy trim using a Pathfinder. Any mistakes you leave while doing logo construction aren't going to be cleaned up by your printer or signman.Actually it's a circle and then I used the anchor point tool to make a shape of a house, I'm doing some more work on it tomorrow. I'm probably going to be doing some of the printing myself on a Comco Cadet in-line flexo press. I'm thinking that I could use this as one of my challenges (design a label a family member could use) The rest will be printed by 5000Cards.com - so I need to do it properly - I looked at it from an 1000% zoom and didn't notice that :) Thanks! The K interaction with the sides of the Chimney looks haphazard and has no negative space breathing room. There doesn't seem to be any reasoning applied to the type/bug interaction. I see the house, but the lot isn't level. Does this mean your client isn't on the level? You have to be careful about subtleties like that.Alright, I'll work on it.While this is an improvement over the one posted months ago, it still needs a lot of work.hey, it's still not too bad for a 16-year-old who has no experience.

urstwile

12-03-2006, 12:19 AM

Agreed. Had no idea you were only 16. Keep at it, you're definitely progressing.

morea

12-03-2006, 12:20 AM

nope, it's not bad. Everybody has to start someplace! Don't get discouraged, this is a great learning experience.

Keep at it, your work is improving already. :)

budafist

12-03-2006, 01:08 AM

I can see the house and chimney shape in your new logo, but it's just not working. I also think it would be a good idea to stay well clear of house/roof combinations for a realtor's logo. It's just too obvious. A realtor with a house logo just isn't memorable to me. I wouldn't use them.

You need to sit down and brainstorm all the qualities that this company embodies and then think of all the shapes or objects that can personify this/these ideas.