Watch Your Step
SaulGadsden | Sun, 06/18/2017 - 18:17
Brief from client
Design a logo for a shoe store that has a modern feel.
This the rough draft of a logo for a shoe store. They have no preference for colors. Need constructive criticism.
12 Comments
What is the name of the store? Watch your Step or Shoe Depot?
The name is Watch Your Step. It is a shoe depot company.
What are the shapes that say "watch your step" supposed to be???
It is suppose to two pair of shoes crossing each other. I was trying to be subtle about it.
I think it may be too subtle- I still can't see shoes and I know to look for them. This could benefit from simplification. Definitely study some shoe store logos, and shoe stores as a whole (signage, product tags, etc.). That should give you some direction.
Even after the explanation, I feel this misses the mark by far. Nothing holds together well, it's a very confusing logo. The text is also a bit clumsy. I would suggest researching a bit for more inspiration.
Okay I made some improvements based on the critiques so far.
Now I can definitely see shoes.
However I still don't think they need to be that large. Scaling those down will help improve this even further. Are you going for boots? If not, why not shorten that ankle/leg?
Also, some technical advice.
The shape that "Shoe Depot" is in should be centered directly under "Watch Your Step". "Shoe Depot" should probably be in a font that contrasts the main name of the logo, so that you can show hierarchy in the importance of each name. I would choose a font that doesn't have such a low descender on the "p"
I feel like this could be an effective logo if every graphic on top was removed. This could definitely benefit from simplification.
I enjoy the geometry at the bottom that the triangles create. Why not stylize those smaller triangles at the bottom, create a stylized shoe to match, and go from there?
Oh yeah you are right ErinsSonicYouth I could see how that section could also translate into this logo as well!
Yeah, I don't any shoes in there. All I see is pointy sticks.
I think you're main problem here is a lack of a proper creative process. I'm sure I'm not wrong to think that you've created this directly on the computer. That's your first mistake.
Here's a short summary of how it should go:
- First, do some research. Learn about the type of market you're dealing with, look at what it is doing in terms of brand identity, strategy, etc.
- Then, get inspiration on nice websites like www.logopond.com, www.fromupnorth.com and create a Pinterest account if you have not already done so. Inspiration is the fuel of your creativity. When you have ingested a lot of great logos, you will feel invincible =)
- Finally, turn off your computer, pick a pile of paper and pencils and sketch, sketch and sketch again. And when you think you're done, sketch again! You will see, the ideas will magically come into your mind, provided you spend enough time on it. It's a much more organic process than tweaking tricks directly on Illustrator and letting yourself be guided by the tools that the software has to offer. at the beginning, this might turn out a bit difficult as you will probably have a hard time translating on paper what you have in your mind. But like all things, it will come more easily with hard work and dedication.
I hope that will help you a little. If you follow these steps, and keep working on a lot of different logos, in a few years, when you look at this, you will say "how I could do that !!" =)
Do not hesitate to submit your logos here. Just don't get too upset when you get negative reviews ;)
Keep it up!