Need professional feedback and help with this logo!

[red hills mama]

Hey everyone! I'm new to this forum and need some professional advice, feedback, whatever on this logo I am developing for a civic association in the heart of Oregon wine country. I'm faced with appealing to a diverse group of members (long time residents and business owners and new residents and business owners with fresh ideas). I was provided a very old logo that was used perhaps 20 years ago- I suspect it was produced on an old Macintosh. They wanted something derived from the concept, but perhaps with a slight contemporary twist. After viewing several of my designs, this one appealed to them most, but they still want something closer to the original, but I have concerns about how it will translate to embroidery, screen print, etc.
5379

5380

Thank you for your feedback.

[budafist]

Which one is the new one?

[red hills mama]

Are you kidding? The top one of course.

[budafist]

The top one is the new one? That's not what I thought...lucky I asked.

You're not going to like this, but I prefer the old one. By a lot.

What are the 2 balls under "civic association"?

[furiouSPEED]

It might be two nuts :D

My first sight said that the first logo was agriculture related stuff.
Albeit you draw for a wine country, I don't think the wines have relationship with automotive world, to make it in the bottle perhaps look better. :)

[SurfPark]

Someone needs to move this to the showcase section, since it is a critique.

I think the new logo has some issues that need to be delt with. The logo appears to be a two-color logo, but with some mysterious gray scale balls, nuts, figs, or whatever those are. You want those things to be as easily recognizable as the grapes. I'd suggest you also do those in the same iconic bold style as the grapes.

[redneckrodney]

Bottle may look better, however I saw the "two balls" as being grapes. IMHO I would have to go with the new one. The old is in black and white, at a smaller scale, and does't look as good. De-sat the new one, shrink it, and have a look.

[Kool]

http://koolsplace.com/images/movingtruck.jpg

Moved to the showcase section.

[furiouSPEED]

The nuts and the stem resembles more to areca or coconut than grapes, while that building looks like factory. I get a bref look at it an agriculture industry.

[Gregory]

I'm sure that anyone from Dundee will know that they're hazlenuts, but if you want to make it clear try showing the nuts in their husk, or maybe with leaves.

[icekitty37]

i see a house, leaves, nuts and grapes. thats a lot of elements in one logo.

[DesignStudio]

I thought they were buckeyes, but I did grow up just minutes north of the buckeye state.

I'm afraid I have to agree with Buda, I like at least the composition of the old logo better as well.

[budafist]

Ok, I'll be constructive.

What works in the old logo:
The balanced composition
Well chosen serif typography that works well with the traditional illustration
Aesthetic of a wine label design
Traditional and elegant design

What doesn't work with the old logo:
It's not obvious what the logo is representing
Very fine details that will not reproduce well at small sizes

What works in the new logo:
Strong solid shapes
Includes the text "civic association"

What doesn't work in the new logo:
Too many non-connected illustrations
Fonts do not work well with illustration or each other (some logos should be sans, some serif, this logo should be a serif)
Illustrations feel very generic and non specific clipart?
Nuts look out of place as they are the only things that are grey scale
Generally feels very heavy

[martyng]

I prefer the original one as well

[PrintDriver]

No one has addressed the fact that those nuts will not reproduce in embroidery and also appear to be raster art. Raster art has scaling issues when going large.
All work should be vector (illustrator or Corel or Freehand, or one of the Signwares.)

[WannaBrie]

There's way too much going on here. The type is poor. This is not working at all. You need to focus on a concept. Go back to your sketchbook and do some brainstorming. After that, take PD's advice and create in vector.

[createdirector]

Any ideas what they liked from the original logo. The simplicity in the original is nice and it is easier to read.

Try scaling back a bit, removing some of the pieces to make it more simlistic and maybe come up with some why for the name to stand out more because I agree with your fear that you have part of the name starting in red and ending on the outside it could get lost on a t-shirt, etc. The most important part is that people know what it is or have a better understanding of what the company does after looking at it.

[furiouSPEED]

At the end, I have to say the new logo is preferable, just reform the two nuts (balls) or get rid of it altogher, good job :)

[Optimusdinkus]

I was bored this morning
http://img392.imageshack.us/img392/6895/69768958qo2.th.jpg (http://img392.imageshack.us/my.php?image=69768958qo2.jpg)
But come on, just simplify, if they are being pissy about having farm houses and silo's with small ass hazel nuts that really don't have a noticeable silhouette

[frankster]

Punlee?

[budafist]

I wonder if the OP will ever come back? No activity since their second and final post.

[Optimusdinkus]

bleh, in that case, what do you guys think of what I have? Im using the concept for something simelar now

[budafist]

Optimus, You should start a new thread discussing your brief and logo.

Frankster is right, you have lost the legibility of the D.