Logo Direction | Freelance Business Identity

[KitchWitch]

Originally Posted by engineer

I've been working in engineering for 26 years, but still learn more about it everyday. Does that not happen in graphic design?

I learn something new every day as well, engineer. But when I was going to college for graphic design I did not think of myself as ready to charge money as a designer, not until I had graduated. That's what I meant. Sorry for any confusion.

[JesterGraphics]

(Muuust resist urge to rannnnt ) It is not my intention to be critical or sound snarky while defending my current carrer decisions. Misinterpretations of graphic design jargon aside, I am fully prepared to take the criticisms of the logo and its direction but not of my academic and career path. I'm not sure I'll ever be done learning. The logo, as I've mentioned, is unfinished and is merely the image representing my blog and twitterings at this current time with no intention of making it to print in the near future. With that said [keming matters] From you, I would truly appreciate & benefit from a critique specifically on the logo. And from anyone else who has some comments or pointers lay them down.

I feel like I've made substantial progress on the next phase of the design already.

[JesterGraphics]

Originally Posted by KitchWitch

I'd keep the hat off center or off-kilter. Jester and symmetry don't match for me. The symmetry implies seriousness, calm and balance, while a jester hat implies goofy, unexpected, loud and unbound. I like the sketches better than the program done versions. To me, that ragged, thick line quality jives more with jester. If you want to also create a sense of balance or solidity, you could pair the hat with text that is subdued and serious.

I'd also work in black and white, add color later. Just my two cents.

YESSS. This is more like it. I'm at the easel already and not admitting defeat. I want to convey the essence of the jester's unexpectedness while still implying a sense of professionalism. A sort of, "I'm for real...but goofy in the process."

Check back later for some fresh sketches.

[kemingMatters]

I'm not attacking your current career path, I'm trying to help you look out for it. If you are passing off files with poor make-up to your clients and those clients then get charged additional fees from the printer to fix your errors so they can print your files, they aren't going to be happy... The printers also aren't going to be overly happy, because they most likely have to go back to the client and tell them "sorry it will cost you $$$ more than originally quoted to print/vinyl cut/etc because..." and that never goes very well.

So then you have unhappy clients and unhappy vendors, clients talk and so do vendors.

Besides all that, freelance work without prior experience carries very little weight with potential employers.

I would suggest referencing some more jester type accoutrement.

[Buda]

Designers do learn new things every day, but they should have a few years experience under their belt before freelancing. Do engineering students take on real life engineering projects while studying?

To JesterGraphics, your sketches have much more personality than your computerised logos. Something is getting lost in the process. For a fun sounding company name, you need to decide if you want a fun logo too or to go in the other direction - the clean, minimal and simplified route.

I think the to left sketch on the second page is cute. Anthropomorphising the hat simply with two eyes suddenly gives it attitude.

[JesterGraphics]

Keming Matters: I really do appreciate the advice, it's hard to depict the right mood via forum text. The [few] clients I've done work for were aware of my student status prior to hiring me. I'm assure you I'm not trying to fool anyone into believing I'm a professional, just working towards that classification. The examples I'm planning to put in my portfolio are a variety of works outside of what I've freelanced. Expect a forum post to critique the portfolio sometime soon.

Buda: I'm glad you like the sketch that you've referenced. I've been sketching most of the day based off of that sketch and others similar. I've decided with this new direction to leave the eyes out of it.

Is it a consensus that this sketch is more successful with its symmetry than the current "top left" version?

[JesterGraphics]

NEW PSD SKETCHES

[kemingMatters]

I think organic nature of your sketches lines is getting lost when you bring it to the computer. I would suggest experimenting with varying line weights and working in black and white only before you go about adding colours.

The three bells being exactly the same size is killing any depth the graphic is trying to portray.

IMHO Buda picked the winner.

[sscottcreative]

Buda's pointer about the cute hat-face seems the most fun and interesting direction at the moment

[Sketcher]

These concepts look more like clip art than a logo. Forget about color right now. Work in strictly black. How do you want it to look when it's one color?