University Business Club Logo

[jm1786]

So I'm designing a logo for the "Business Turnaround and Transformation Management" Club at my University.

They take struggling or businesses that have tanked and seek to help them turn it around. When meeting with them they wanted to stress togetherness and upward trends.

So I came up with this logo that sort of has a ying yang this going on and a curve that represents their actual "business turnaround curve" which is something they wanted incorporated into the logo. The arrow points up and the whole thing looks like a road. It also looks phallic I've been told by several people...is that too distracting?

They want the logo to use the school colors, Red, White, and Blue. However, when I use those three colors as I did below all I can see is a modified Pepsi logo.

Any suggestions/comments? This is really my first REAL logo design.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/8985/btmvector4alt3uz0.jpg

[budafist]

I see Pepsi too. If you need to use those colours, try using them in a different way - example red and white circle with a blue arrow.

It does look a little phallic, but varying the thickness a little so that it looks like a line or a ribbon instead of a solid object might help that.

The font doesn't interest me at all. It doesn't suit the design and looks like it's just be stuck on top.

[Corey]

I'm not sure how yin-yang (re: balance) relates to turnaround and transformation.

Browse online for other school logos and get a feel for what works, then brainstorm your own ideas.

And as budafist suggested, explore other fonts. Typography is critical in logo design (take a look through the forums for discussions on logo design, I think there are quite a few with some useful information).

[jm1786]

Here was another alternate. The top of the arrow is more slanted and pointy downwards. A bit devilish looking. I actually think I prefer it though. I used gradients in this one, which they werent too keen on for printing reasons. I told them I could give them a black and white version or a 2 color version also.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1954/btmvector3ry6.jpg

I think this one might be my favorite. But they feel that leaving out the blue and having only red and white is too devilish. I like the font in this one but they felt it wasn't bold enough.

I agree with your comments about the font in the other versions budafist. What do you think about this one?

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3118/bttmvector2us6.jpg

[jm1786]

I'm not sure how yin-yang (re: balance) relates to turnaround and transformation.

Browse online for other school logos and get a feel for what works, then brainstorm your own ideas.

And as budafist suggested, explore other fonts. Typography is critical in logo design (take a look through the forums for discussions on logo design, I think there are quite a few with some useful information).

the ying yang thing is sort of there...but not completely. That was just me thinking out loud I guess. It really isn't something that is intentionally meant to be in the design. Which might be a bad thing. I don't know. As I said this is the first real logo I've designed.

We did look at other business club logos from other schools and organizations and we drew inspiration from them.

But I agree 100%, the type needs work.

[double A-ron]

I'm not feeling any of the typefaces you've chosen at all. As budafist stated, they just feel like they're stuck on, almost as if it's an afterthought. You need to see if you can find a font that will flow well with the design, which the fonts you've used don't. Also, while, it doesn't bug me too much, I'd be willing to bet somebody is going to make mention of the fact that gradients don't belong in logos and despite knowing what colors are going to be used, you really should start off in black and white.

[budafist]

Focus on the arrow and the circle. Forget about the yin yang, it's not really a symbol a business like this needs to be associated with. What does a Chinese symbol about opposing concepts have to do with business management club in Detroit? I think you should try to go a little more corporate.

Have you tried the arrow with a more dynamic path upwards? This could represent the path to success. Not always a smooth path.

[Navian]

Watch your curve transitions..

Who can spot them, and where are they? :)

[jm1786]

Focus on the arrow and the circle. Forget about the yin yang, it's not really a symbol a business like this needs to be associated with. What does a Chinese symbol about opposing concepts have to do with business management club in Detroit? I think you should try to go a little more corporate.

Have you tried the arrow with a more dynamic path upwards? This could represent the path to success. Not always a smooth path.

The ying yang as I said was really an after thought. The opposite coloring was their idea...I wish I had never brought up that it reminded me of a ying yang...haha

There was talk about certain versions of the logo using the circle as a globe of the world.

As far as a dynamic path upwards, do you mean a little more edgy? The point was to follow an actual curve like the business turnaround and transformation curve.

Here is the business turnaround/transformation curve. It is the solid line.

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6655/picture1eu8.png

Do you like the downward pointy edges of the arrow or the flat ones?

Also does anyone have a suggestion for a typeface that would work well with this design?

I think I'm going to stick with a solid red circle and a white arrow.

My contact person for this project just told me they want to see how the arrow would look in purple :eek:

Additionally you may have noticed one design says BTM and the other BTTM. The club is just starting up and they voted to drop the 2nd "T" even though there name is the "Business Turnaround and Transformation" Club. I don't think it is a smart idea to just have the one T. Plus if I do something custom with the typeface I could make the double T stand out in some fashion.

[budafist]

Purple isn't a very good "businessy" colour.

Plus if I do something custom with the typeface I could make the double T stand out in some fashion.

Go on then, I double doggy dare ya :)

[jm1786]

Purple isn't a very good "businessy" colour.



Go on then, I double doggy dare ya :)

haha yeah...I'm playing around with the type...not going so well, haha.

Any suggestions for typefaces?

And I agree about the purple. They reason she mentioned purple is because it is a mix between red and blue...and so it'd symbolize togetherness...:rolleyes:

[jm1786]

I don't know if this is a correct direction for the typeface or not. I think by connecting the T and the M it makes it hard to read too...

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4391/btmvector5zg1.jpg

[garricks]

The arrow points up and the whole thing looks like a road.

JM, where did the road metaphor come from? I'm not feelin' the split arrow idea.

Let me throw another idea out: Turnaround and Transformation = Change. The symbol for change is the Greek upper case Delta (an equilateral triangle). Consider changing the circle to a triangle. The line in your graph after the "Transformation management" point reminds me of a jet soaring, so consider having the arrow follow a parabolic curve upwards. (But don't ask me to do teh maths, that was way long ago!)

[jm1786]

http://img352.imageshack.us/img352/9915/btmvector6bz6.jpg

Well I got rid of the split end of the arrow and went a bit of a different direction with the logo.

I got some feedback and suggestions from a friend who offered up the idea of two separate paths coming together and moving upwards as one.

this also follows the turnaround and transformation curves a bit closer.

It also helps rid the phallic likeness :D

Is this direction better and more original?

[budafist]

It's getting there. There is still a bit of a kink in the road. The line doesn't flow very smoothly.

Perhaps the road could actually start outside of the circle?

[odizzle]

I think it would look better if it started on the bottom outside of the circle. The way you have it starting right inside the circle looks a little off and if you do have it start inside the circle, I would make it follow shape of the circle, the curves on the bottoms are a little off. I would also lose the drop shadow on the white road/arrow. Looking better though.

[cjoe]

Flatten the whole thing out. You have applied drop shadows and gradients way too soon in the process. Simplfy the design and I will probably turn out a lot stronger than this is currently.

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6573/66051433om1.png


Separate the type and the mark, they seem to have no connection. Doing this will help clarify the short comings of the mark.

[mojoprime]

^^i agree. you might back off, regroup, start with 1 color and then move forward.

[*the girl* ryan]

two things m'dear....

Thr red one looks like a giant phalice...

second one, please see link with our Sacramento Regional Transit...
http://www.sacrt.com/

[*the girl* ryan]

ok, i must be in a bad mood cause I am posting like an a**wad. sorry.. better crit to follow...

Why do you have the initials crwded, it reads like BTIN. seperate or pick another font maybe?

also. have you explored any other shape concepts? you seem very married to this aroow coming out of circle idea. It is called the 'Business Turnaround and Transformation Management' so why not have a u shaped arrow that ends at something? going up just says improvement... not transformation.