New Logo need input

[mailbag]

Hi all,

I've been working on opening a distillery and have gone through a couple logo ideas.

The company name is arcin spirits and arcin is pronounced "arc in", I'm trying to convey this trough the logo.

I'm also not sure about the bottle design, it feels too generic to me.

Any input would be great thanks!

6227

[Quirk]

I read it as "arc in"... so I think you successfully found a way to convey that...

some questions for the logo:

1. Who is your target audience?
2. What are you trying to accomplish with the swoosh?
3. Is the colored square part of your logo?
4. What other imagery could you use to convey that it is a distillery other than a bottle?

[mailbag]

I read it as "arc in"... so I think you successfully found a way to convey that...

some questions for the logo:

1. Who is your target audience?
2. What are you trying to accomplish with the swoosh?
3. Is the colored square part of your logo?
4. What other imagery could you use to convey that it is a distillery other than a bottle?

1. Target Audience is 21+ vodka drinker

2. "Arc In" is a term used in ski racing when the skier is rolling onto the inside edge of the ski to arc around the next gate. That's how the swoosh originally started. It is supposed to represent the path of the skier around the bottle which is in place of the gate. I feel that some of this has been lost as the logo evolved and I'm having trouble getting the feel of snow and skiing into the design.

3. The colored square is not part of it and was thrown in as the background. I think the bottle color itself might be light and need to be adjusted for printing.

4. I was also playing around with the idea of incorporating the "still" into the design which is basically a big metal tower with a large round base that purifies the alcohol.

I'm definitely going to try to reincorporate the skiing and snow feel back into the design. Any suggestions on how to do that without making the design too complex would be awesome. I was thinking about adding frost to the outside of the bottle or maybe icicles.

Thanks for the input its definitely gotten me thinking.

[Roth]

This really is a logo that could go a thousand different ways, which is frustrating, but exciting too. Trying to catch so much in one logo sounds tough. Maybe you're struggling with that one problem though - trying to fit it all in, say everything at once. Your approach might be too literal for its own good.

A distillery isn't just bottles. There's a whole process involved isn't there, which might throw up interesting ideas or shapes.

It's waiting for that one flash of inspiration to pull it all together, which I don't think will necessarily come by putting skiiing and snow back in.

What you have so far is good. I really like the simplicity, that's definitely one element, the most important, to keep. I can imagine some ad agency picking this up, throw in all sorts of obvious pointers and gradient, and a swooshy title, and basically balls it up. What you have could be a beautiful thing if done right, and you're definitely on the right track. Especially considering the demographic.

The name - the tracking seems off and the difference between the bold 'Arc' and normal 'in' is too marked, but the basic idea is sound, just tweak it.

The bottle is a bit tall.

It's also ironic that a swoosh is perfect for your logo, and completely justified, but so overused nowadays, I'd be tempted to leave it out altogether.

So, er, what I seem to be saying is change it completely but keep it the same.

[Roth]

Sorry, I didn't see the 'still' comment. Sounds good. Go with it.

[mailbag]

This really is a logo that could go a thousand different ways, which is frustrating, but exciting too. Trying to catch so much in one logo sounds tough. Maybe you're struggling with that one problem though - trying to fit it all in, say everything at once. Your approach might be too literal for its own good.

A distillery isn't just bottles. There's a whole process involved isn't there, which might throw up interesting ideas or shapes.

It's waiting for that one flash of inspiration to pull it all together, which I don't think will necessarily come by putting skiiing and snow back in.

What you have so far is good. I really like the simplicity, that's definitely one element, the most important, to keep. I can imagine some ad agency picking this up, throw in all sorts of obvious pointers and gradient, and a swooshy title, and basically balls it up. What you have could be a beautiful thing if done right, and you're definitely on the right track. Especially considering the demographic.

The name - the tracking seems off and the difference between the bold 'Arc' and normal 'in' is too marked, but the basic idea is sound, just tweak it.

The bottle is a bit tall.

It's also ironic that a swoosh is perfect for your logo, and completely justified, but so overused nowadays, I'd be tempted to leave it out altogether.

So, er, what I seem to be saying is change it completely but keep it the same.

Thanks for input. You definitely make some good points. It is unfortunate that the swoosh is so overused but I can see where you're coming from. I'll try to work the still design in and see how it turns out.

[tZ]

I think there is a opportunity to integrate the bottle form into the typography by using the negative space between the I and N. Something to consider so you don't produce yet another mark in a market of many with image hovering above type. Perhaps you could then tip the c and make it appear as if the c is arching around the bottle form created through the negative space between the I and N.

[Fredonia2k]

The blockiness of the font isn't complementing the elegance of the skiing maneuver you're talking about. What about an Avant Garde or something?

Also, worry about color when you're done with the shape. This should be in grayscale.

[Broacher]

I don't get why the bottle needs to be there. Most alcoholic drinks, and especially vodkas which is essentially slightly diluted grain alcohol, rely on the branding to be not so descriptive to the product, but descriptive to the 'experience'.

So, is the marketing strategy to tie-in the brand name with the activity of skiing tightly around a curve? (I can't imagine doing this after consuming lots of vodka, but then... that's what paramedics are for, I know. Gives a whole new light to the phrase, 'tight curve'). If you drop the literal representation, the main challenge is to avoid being confused as a skiing service or product. Actually, when I first viewd the logo I saw a bottle floating in the water.

I think this sounds like the direction will be a totally 'emotional' abstract solution. The 'essence' of the speed, excitement and power of the move that the name implies, without necessarily a literal attempt to convey this.

[Riefnu]

Broacher beat me to my comment.

I agree that I don't see why you need a logo with a bottle on a bottle.

[mailbag]

Broacher beat me to my comment.

I agree that I don't see why you need a logo with a bottle on a bottle.

I should have been more clear about this.

This is the company corporate logo, not the logo or label for the actual vodka brand. I agree that would be weird with the bottle on the bottle haha

[mailbag]

I don't get why the bottle needs to be there. Most alcoholic drinks, and especially vodkas which is essentially slightly diluted grain alcohol, rely on the branding to be not so descriptive to the product, but descriptive to the 'experience'.

So, is the marketing strategy to tie-in the brand name with the activity of skiing tightly around a curve? (I can't imagine doing this after consuming lots of vodka, but then... that's what paramedics are for, I know. Gives a whole new light to the phrase, 'tight curve'). If you drop the literal representation, the main challenge is to avoid being confused as a skiing service or product. Actually, when I first viewd the logo I saw a bottle floating in the water.

I think this sounds like the direction will be a totally 'emotional' abstract solution. The 'essence' of the speed, excitement and power of the move that the name implies, without necessarily a literal attempt to convey this.

I think you may be right about trying to convey the 'essence' of skiing instead of the literal act

[tZ]

If that is the case then you should probably begin with a font that has more contrast in its thick and thins to convey the concept of motion and dynamics

[kevin107]

I see the swoosh as giving the bottle a sense of motion.. like its spinning.. on its corner.. Who doesn't like "Spin the bottle"?

On a more serious note, I agree with the others.. I wouldnt mind a different font for the name, and I'm not sure that a bottle best represents a distillery.. The industry is pretty wide open.. look into some of the stuff Guinness has done..

[J.Payne]

I think what you've done definiely looks nice. I think the best point people have made so far is that most alcoholic brands don't use icons of bottles or anything representing alcohol, and the brand is usually recognised by the text eg. Guinnes, Budweiser, Coors all have very stylised text. But the idea of movement with the swoosh is also quite nice i think. I'm not a professional but i just wanted to offer my opinion.

[MAK online]

Send me a bottle so I can experience the product. Then I will be able to give a better crit.

thanks
:)

[Broacher]

^ I love it when designers lob back a spec request.

Me, I would have went for at least a case.

Vodka rep: If we like your logo, we'll pay you for it and it'll be a coupe for your portfolio!

Designer: First, I want to try a case of your product. If I like it, I'll be back. Um.... is this a rush job?

[mailbag]

I've roughly tested out a new direction of incorporating the "still" into the word ARCIN.

I've also been experimenting with the idea of using the space between the C and the I to put in some kind of pressure gauge or opening looking in on the contents of the still

-------
I'll also post the current rough idea for the bottle label itself, because so far i've been working on the logo for the company itself and not the product.

The I'm thinking the bottle label will be screen printed on frosted glass...
The trees will be in gold ink or something that stands out and everything else will be in black lines.

I understand that the detail in the image may not easily be transferred through screen printing onto the bottle but I am looking into that.

The name of the vodka itself is still a working name and I'm not sure if this will be the final direction of the product.

The label is supposed to convey the idea of a classic New England ski town or a historic New Hampshire downtown village.

Tell me what you think so far!

http://picasaweb.google.com/alexidoid/Vodka#

This is the first time I've used google for image hosting to hopefully it works out.

You can make the images full size by clicking the magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner.