AJ Flooring - Logo design

[kevincdg]

here are two of my preliminary concepts. i started sketching earlier today and picked the two best and made some renditions of them.

background on aj flooring: aaron is a self-contractor who deals with vinyl, carpet, wood, and all types of flooring. he doesn't do residential flooring much, mainly contracting for local carpet companies and corporate contracts. his logo techincally doesn't have to be understood by the mainstream public, but rather people within the profession that hire individual contracters around the area.

the first concept is obviously tile, with his intials built in. i was debating on wh ether or not to make the intials resemble a tool of some sort, or rather something more symbolic than just his name, but i wasn't sure if adding something else would work over the tiles -- even though that might be a good idea. :)

the second concept is a simple carpet razor that he uses -- it mainly only implies carpet flooring which could be a bad implication since he plans on doing a lot more than that.

a couple other ideas i've beem fumbling around with are the ideas that the "J" looks an awful lot like a dexter vinyl knife, http://www.brunsflooringsupply.com/images/images_big/cr061.gif, or another tool such as a carpet roller.

let me know what you guys think, back to the drawing board of develop one of these? any suggestions are greatful.

thanks!
kevin

concept 1:

http://www.mrjonesdesigns.com/images/ajflooringlogo1.jpg

concept 2:

http://www.mrjonesdesigns.com/images/ajflooringlogo2.jpg

[bigrich1]

I Like the 1st option. Bear in mind that the man on the street may not relate to any of the tools he uses. They want an end result and product.

I think the text could be flush with the edges of the squares, and a little more leading between the two lines of text....

[Crimson]

the second logo looks like it will hurt me. The first one feels a bit flat but has the most potential- I thought window first before I went back to read that it was tile. I kind of like the bottom text with the Icon above but not sure you want that much text in the full logo???

[razuel]

The first one has potential, but the letters clumped into the left hand corner don't do it justice. The J has a great swoop to it, so I'd try swooping it further throughout the window. I'd try angling the A some more which would angle the J and then swoop it down to the right hand corner and around to the left hand corner to help balance the image and make it a little more interesting.

Possibly vary the curviture of the A and J a little more to make it more dynamic. As long as you keep the letters considerably thicker than the negative space of the panes I'd say it'll workout well.

The type is also a little unbalanced with the various caps and period for the middle initial. If you change the shape of the window itself so it's not square (in turn making it more modern as well) then you can expand on the type some more and not be so limited-- you'd be able to increase tracking.

The windows logo is a good example of what I'm talking about,
http://www.ensight.com/images/stories/images/windows_logo.jpg

As long as you have those four divisions, the shape of the outline can change quite a bit really.

[kevincdg]

The first one has potential, but the letters clumped into the left hand corner don't do it justice. The J has a great swoop to it, so I'd try swooping it further throughout the window. I'd try angling the A some more which would angle the J and then swoop it down to the right hand corner and around to the left hand corner to help balance the image and make it a little more interesting.

Possibly vary the curviture of the A and J a little more to make it more dynamic. As long as you keep the letters considerably thicker than the negative space of the panes I'd say it'll workout well.

The type is also a little unbalanced with the various caps and period for the middle initial. If you change the shape of the window itself so it's not square (in turn making it more modern as well) then you can expand on the type some more and not be so limited-- you'd be able to increase tracking.

The windows logo is a good example of what I'm talking about,
http://www.ensight.com/images/stories/images/windows_logo.jpg

As long as you have those four divisions, the shape of the outline can change quite a bit really.

shit, well that might put that idea out the window. however, maybe not. this logo will be seen by only construction companies that specialize in flooring, so they should make the connection to tile rather then windows. he doesn't work for the public and only gets hired by contracting floor companies.

thanks for all the comments so far, very helpful in deciding how i can develop on it a little more. anymore new ones from anyone else would still prove useful, though. :)

thanks!

[razuel]

shit, well that might put that idea out the window. however, maybe not. this logo will be seen by only construction companies that specialize in flooring, so they should make the connection to tile rather then windows. he doesn't work for the public and only gets hired by contracting floor companies.

thanks for all the comments so far, very helpful in deciding how i can develop on it a little more. anymore new ones from anyone else would still prove useful, though. :)

thanks!

Oh, I'm dumb-- I read flooring and somehow connected it to window. I guess that says something about it looking like a window though ;)

Maybe if it weren't four squares and an odd number instead?

[ellamac]

Perhaps you could add a perspective element to the tiles so they look like laid tiles? I like the first idea better too, and a 'floor' perspective may translate better to the different kinds of flooring he is offering, more so than you think the razor will.

And I like the simplicity of the text underneath, however it looks like a comment, not a company name at the moment. It needs a bit more strength, or to tie in better to the imagery.

[cjoe]

maybe you could make the logo itself tileable e.g. here is a tileable logo I developed as a concept for a fashion brand 'fashion house'. I didn't end up using the logo, but the idea is useful because you can replace the solid areas with textures and patterns.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1825/fhclogo2iw6.png (http://imageshack.us)

[calebm12]

I like your first concept. The squares look like flooring. maybe work that angle....i think it will be difficult to people when you have to post a pic of the tool to get them to understand the logo.

[kevincdg]

here's an updated rendition of concept #1.

http://mrjonesdesigns.com/images/ajflooringlogo-2.jpg

i laid the tiles back to simulate flooring better, and tried working in the text in a more dominant fashion in both the bottom and symbol.

how's it hold up?

this is a secondary concept i was contemplating, with a more curvature to the entire flooring -- i'm not sure if it sends a positive vibe or not, though. thoughts?

http://www.mrjonesdesigns.com/images/ajflooringlogo-3.jpg

[graphicsmama]

I like concept 1 of your original post best. The "J" looks like that tool...to me, that (no pun intended) hit the nail on the head more than these newer concepts....here's why...

As for the curvature of the tiles...I wouldn't go with that. It makes me think of tile that is bowing up from the floor. Also, my mind just doesn't automatically say "tile" when I see it. As for the "stacked" tiles, I don't care for the way the A and J have been transposed onto them. I think you did a better job with concept 1 with that because it looked like the placement had a purpose (and again,the J looked like that tool. The new concept just looks like it was put on there for no particular reason and I don't see why it's necessary.

I like concept 1 the best...perhaps you could make the lines of the tile a little smaller (or at least make them the same...the horizontal line looks like it's a wider stroke to me...) Maybe the spacing could be increased between the A and the J a little. Then fix your tracking on the bottom in the text, like razuel said.

I personally think it's a good concept...I think they'll look at it and get it...

[ZippyTheWonderMonkey]

here's an updated rendition of concept #1.

http://mrjonesdesigns.com/images/ajflooringlogo-2.jpg

i laid the tiles back to simulate flooring better, and tried working in the text in a more dominant fashion in both the bottom and symbol.

how's it hold up?



BEST! IMO, that is.

[calebm12]

the second one reminds me of bank of america!
https://www.bankofamerica.com/www/en_US/global/mvc_objects/images/mhd_reg_logo.gif

i would try slanting the tiles less and rotating the AJ ccw a bit. or if you keep that slant...maybe tilt it back some so it loos like is laying more on the floor. you could also play with putting the name at the top and the floor covering a the bottom.

[Navian]

Why is his business his name: Aaron E. Jones Floor Covering..

I mean A.J. Floor Covering is short and sounds pretty good. That way you can have your A J icon then Floor Covering, underneath or to the right.

[Crimson]

I think it is better with the slant too. I would add more the sides and balance the top and bottom. It looks like a "z". The curve was cool but made it look like a supercharged "z" then...

[ellamac]

Do floor tiles get stepped like bricks (like your 2nd logo option) or remain straight (like your first option)?

The tiles in my house are inline. I have attached an example of how I thought the perspective could be achieved based on your first drawing...