academy logo

[Paj]

thought I would garner some opinions from the GDF hive mind

we recently had a client come and sit with me to design a logo. They run a dance and drama academy in Nottingham, England. I developed a range of conepts before the meeting, and they went with the style as shown in 1 & 2.

Im pretty happy with it overall, except for the blue streak through it (its meant to be an arrow, as nottingham is famous for its links to robin hood). While I like this idea, they wanted all these little sparks and such to come off it. This would have the obvious problems with printing at small sizes.

Version 1 is the initial one they liked, which I said I would clean up. version 2 is my first cleaned up version, but Im not entirely satisfied with it and wanted to see if anyone had any ideas on how to improve the 'sparky arrow' element. I would prefer it if it were gone altogether, but the client insisted it remain.

versions 3 and 4 were the ones I liked from my initial concepts, but they thought it was a bit too 'clever' and hard to read. shame! maybe i could incorporate the arrow into these somehow? ideas welcome!

[CkretAjint]

All of them will not be legible when reduced onto a business card or registration form, which are ALWAYS crammed with needed information from the dancer.

[Typically]

i like 3 it's nice and clean but the text under it will shrink down to nothing. i find 2 harder to read than 3

[Roth]

So basically they've gone for shit over 'clever'. Some people.

Well, 1 & 2 aren't shit, but they're awfully messy (lines tripping over one another, that daft arrow) and not a patch on the other two (which are not perfect but still headed in a good direction, and that text is hardly a huge stumbling block, or hard to correct). Tell them you're not a conduit for their stupidity. Go on.

[PrintDriver]

If 3 and 4 are "headed in the right direction", just make it a circle and get there quicker.


Be very careful of using brush strokes in logos. All those little bits tend to get lost in the vinyl plotters of the world and 3D is a bitch. Not that the logo would be anything other than printed, but consider the signage and maybe something a little more creative than a flat print on dibond slapped onto the building.

[Roth]

Not loving those circle logos much, huh, PD?

[Paj]

Originally Posted by PrintDriver

If 3 and 4 are "headed in the right direction", just make it a circle and get there quicker.


Be very careful of using brush strokes in logos. All those little bits tend to get lost in the vinyl plotters of the world and 3D is a bitch. Not that the logo would be anything other than printed, but consider the signage and maybe something a little more creative than a flat print on dibond slapped onto the building.

yeah, i hate the brush stroke too. i did tell them that they couldnt use it due to printing issues - version 2 uses a much simpler stroke

thanks for the comments guys. looks like they are set on 1 and 2. ill try play with the text to make it less fine, and fiddle with this bloody arrow

[evilkorn]

Is it just me or did anyone else read MAADD till they saw 3/4?

[Paj]

ive been overruled by my boss and the client - they want version 1 with the arrow thing and all the streaks and junk. Did my best to explain why they didnt want that, but oh well....

[Typically]

you can't cure stupid