Maxwell Designs
OilMan | Tue, 05/19/2015 - 22:04
Brief from client
Custom jewelery creator wants new logo. Of the designs we showed them, this is far and away the favorite. We like it because of the simplicity, but I just don't feel is "polished and completed" any suggestions would be fantastic. Thanks!
12 Comments
I would suggest to take a look at a first letter " M " and pay attention to a top part of it - can you see that negative space between crossed over bars of " M " ? I can picture a diamond resting right there with total authority. That could be your starting point to make it simple and very effective symbol/sign in my opinion. Also, take a look of " W " , as well...Keep trying a different fonts for " designs ". I would keep all in upper case. Color(s) could be a bit different too. Not bad at this point, but a bit dry for my taste. Good luck!
BOPOTA,
Thank you for the feedback. We showed them multiple design with the negative space in the M as a diamond. They think too many jewelery companies have a diamond as a letter or part of a letter in their name. And as for the color, They WANT this green, lol. I'm still trying to talk them out of it!
"Not bad, but a bit dry..' is exactly where I'm at also. i will keep experimenting with fonts as you suggest. Thanks again!
Would be interesting to know more about a variations of their designs. For example a " W " in " MAXWELL " can be done as a necklace... In my humble opinion a ring with a diamond for a symbol is kinda overused and boring.
Please don't exchange letters for objects Oilman, or anyone else for that matter. 99.9% of the time reads poorly, is confusing, and looks amateurish.
Using creativity is always a better idea.
As for this logo I think that the symbol needs to be tweaked if it is to be used. The shadow is inconsistent, and it looks a bit dull. (Which the colour isn't helping, but you are stuck with) Refine the heck out of that ring, try a bunch of variations, sketch some things out, then retry it. It can still be neat and simple.
I also think the text is a bit flat. Designs isn't matching, but because I think that is the same font.
Try something new!
Good luck!
Well since you are faced with using this image and colors I won't really comment other than to say keep trying to talk them out of the neon green, it doesn't really say 'class'. Some suggestions to polish what you have would be to lose the drop shadow on the icon, reduce the size, clean up the kerning and replace the lower case g (it really jumps out at you and looks out of place). Anytime you are looking to clean up a logo just start deleting things and simplifying until you get to the basics.
There's no polite way to say this, but adding elements to type like a diamond in the M or necklace on the W would be the most cliché, overused and poorly thought out solution. It should have never even been suggested.
Sorry, but this logo is pretty poor. The symbol is very pointy and overly aggressive. Also, totally plain, simplistic (not to be confused with simple) and feels disconnected from the word mark.
I'd like to see what the other proposals were.
Thanks Shawali. I'm with you on plain, not seeing the overly aggressive. Client is fairly religious, so the "ring" portion is based off of an Ichthys. Honestly, I think that is what had them choosing this design.
I would love to get them to change colors, but so far no luck. And I will continue to experiment with the typeface, because I agree that it just doesn't fit.
This is one of those projects the client loves and I don't. lol So I'm trying to take this from a 4-5 out of ten up to at least a 7.
Thank you for taking time with your feedback!
Don't forget, many clients know exactly what they want - until you should them what they need. Make something 10/10 and slap them in the face with it.
It reads less as ichthys and more as omega - and really not clearly as either, but (because of the sharp bottom 'tail') it also doesn't read as a ring.
I'd explore with the client what jewelry they actually specialize in - many custom craft jewelry makers don't work with diamonds, so having that atop the ring shape doesn't really fit their brand - - but maybe they do work with diamonds, then it could be okay. But that symbol should be scrapped in favor of the 10/10 idea mentioned above.
For that color ... sorry & good luck! (could you suggest less of that color? Maybe have it as just an accent or something? It is too bad, especially because you know it's not right for them.
I came up with this idea. I stylized and welded " MD " into one symbol serving as a top of the diamond's crown.
Another one...
And one more...