Logo for FVD

Worked on this logo last night. It was hand drawn first and vectorized in Inkscape. Let me know if this works.

It looks like stairs. I like the 3d effect, it is similar to my personal logo.

It feels really off balance to me because the F is much larger than the other 2 letters. The negative space in the D and F should be the same width and parallel. Make the F the same angle as the D.

Try not to rely on gradients to push the look you're trying to achieve. I can imagine without the aid of tones and shades to emulate a 3-dimensional object, it would look much less impressive. If this were to be embroidered on a cap or engraved somewhere, where you wouldn't be able to take advantage of gradients, you would only have the solid shapes to work with. The "D" looks quite odd, even assuming it's skewed for the sake of perspective. It's really best to follow one plane, and not try to hard to form shapes with text.

That being said, there are other problems here. The letters are too stylized, and the letters are barely distinguishable. Your spacing is a bit inconsistent too. There's a hair of space between the middle line of the "F", but plenty of room for the curve of the D.

Keep trying. No one said logo design was easy.

I understand the pull towards gradients, a lot of my work lately has worked around the concept of making a "gradient" effect, without actually using the gradient tool.

There is a fine line between dated and innovative when it comes to gradient use, and we always need to be careful to be on the forward end of things.

That being said, I think if you work out the logistics of this one, you could be on a really cool path. I know you said you weren't much of an illustrator, and that's fine. But even quick 5 second thumbnail sketching can really help your brain figure out how to make these shapes work.

Keep at it, the hardest logo you will ever, ever design is the logo you design for yourself.

Also, maybe try this with the blues like you had before. I love green as much as the next person, but blue is such a color that has so many options and great print aesthetic.

Sorry but this version even if executed better (the weights of the bars are al awkwardly different) is not memorable or current. Green and black while good for farm equipment is not what I would ever recommend for a design firm. To be honest none of the designs presented so far would inspire me with enough confidence to hire your firm.

Being successful designing marketing collateral, brochures and such doesn't always translate to logos. In my own department we have several outstanding designers and they all have strengths and weaknesses and we play to them. It might be time for you to call in some outside help.