Wow Factor Gardens Logo......

Sandy8 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-17-2005, 04:58 PM

Hi

After submitting my site for review I received some good and bad feedback regarding my logo. Any more feedback appreciated.

It isn't clear enough seems to be the main problem, particularly the bottom part (Garden Design, Build & Maintenance) - I've played about with it but I'm struggling as to the best way to make it better.

Could anyone suggest a resource I could use that would help me tidy it up and make it clearer?

http://www.wow-factor-gardens.co.uk/..._Logo_2005.gif

I'd really like to keep the colours, font, logo centre and direction of the text. The Garden Design, Build & Maintenance text is meant to be going away from the main part of the logo.

If I keep it like this what problems am I likely to experience in the future - especially with regards to stationery and signage on a company van?

Thank you in advance.

Sandy8

Evic · #2 (**permalink**) 08-17-2005, 05:07 PM

Hmm... What are you making this graphic in? Have you given Photoshop a try?

It looks to me like you made the graphic rather small and saved it as a gif, and then upsized it (bad bad bad).

I would completely remake the logo, with these suggestions:

1) Try not to make it so flat, a 1px border around the orange words will make them stand out so much more.

2) Give up on whatever style you're going for on the blue text, it's not working. Doesn't look like it's coming away from the main logo, just looks like someone was cross-eyed when trying to center it. Try something else, I can almost guarantee it will work better.

3) Design your logo at 2-3 times as big as you really want it and save it as a PSD. Then you can always scale it down to the actual size you need and Photoshop will scale it appropriately. Scaling up should never, ever be done - always design big and scale down.

4) Most letterhead, stationary, etc. is limited to 3-4 different colors. The cost factor when going more than that is quite large. Many companies design 2 logos, a full-color logo for their website, emails, etc. and a low-color one (usually greyscale, or a sepia-esque effect) for print.

Hope this helps!

JKomp · #3 (**permalink**) 08-17-2005, 07:44 PM

I agree with everything above. The logo needs redoing completely if possible. You could have the central flower if that is what you are committed to but the text surrounding it has got to go if you want to achieve any level of brand recognition. If you are looking for inspiration, simply check the logos of your competitors. Be sure not to copy as that will simply cause bigger problems.

Good luck with it. Looks like you have a lot to do but i do look forward to seeing the finished product. Please post any improvements/update.

Sandy8 · #4 (**permalink**) 08-17-2005, 11:57 PM

Hi

Well I've been up all night and now got to the stage I can't tell if it's going the right way or not. :-(

Thanks for your input guys - have a look at this and let me know what you think.

http://www.wow-factor-gardens.co.uk/...go%202005%.gif or have a look at it where it's meant to look the part - www.wow-factor-gardens.co.uk

Thanks again for your feedback.

(Oh Evic I used a trial version of Macromedia Fireworks to do this. If it doesn't do the trick then I'll try and get a trial version of photoshop.)

Evic · #5 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 12:40 AM

Well... it's not bad, but not good either. It's definitely not something of professional quality, yet it's 100x better than what you did have.

Seeing it on the website, it does seem to fit in with the overall design, but that's not really a compliment (unfortunately).

Evic · #6 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 12:41 AM

If you're serious about making this into a business that earns you money, I would seriously consider contracting someone out to do your web development and logo design.

Look at your competitor's websites - do you think you can compete against them at this stage?

That's a very important question to ask yourself, and should be one of the firsts.

JKomp · #7 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 05:24 AM

Yeah i would probably have to agree, i dont think the online design is worth your man hours, hire a professional who can get it right first time and work with you on it. It doesnt have to be expensive

MarcieZoob · #8 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 06:17 AM

There's no balance to either logo (especially the first one). On the second one, the top line of text arcs the wrong way.

I'd recommend staying away from curved text, you can see it does not reproduce well.

**JMuncy** · #9 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 10:33 AM

Everyone here has made very strong valid points. I think that your "new" logo seems to be very dull, and isn't very exciting. Your site is called "Wow Factor Gardens"... your logo needs to reflect this.

I agree with the statement made earlier, you might want to design two (2) seperate logos one for web/ etc. and the other for print. The web/ etc. logo you might want to incorporate some "bright colors" play up the whole garden thing.

webhost1 · #10 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 11:48 AM

Logo as is looks out of balance. I would bring more balance to it if your going to use the circle.

Sandy8 · #11 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 04:57 PM

Hi

I've taken on board your views - much appreciated.

I managed to download a trial of photoshop this morning and have been trying to learn it all day long. :-) Anyway, this is what I've managed to produce:

http://www.wow-factor-gardens.co.uk/...rdens-logo.gif

or see it on the site:

www.wow-factor-gardens.co.uk

I know it's not perfect but better than the previous two? Going the right way?

What should I try and do to improve this one?

Thanks again.

Sandy8

Evic · #12 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 05:26 PM

Better than the other two, but I think you went overboard on the effects this time. Still not worthy of putting on a site, but you're getting better.

I really can't think of any other suggestions other than what I have already given you - sorry.

JKomp · #13 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 06:40 PM

Better but still loads and loads of room for improvement. Lose the curved text!!! Thats as outdated as animated gifts or blinks.

Sandy8 · #14 (**permalink**) 08-18-2005, 09:45 PM

:-)
Ok - point taken.

Surely it's almost there now?

www.wow-factor-gardens.co.uk

No more curved text - looks kinda "Wowy" too. :-)

Still have a bit of a problem with the clarity - looks great after I reduced it's size and then Unsharpened Mask Filter but then after I "Save for Web" and have a look at it........a lot of the quality has gone. :-(

First time I've used Photoshop was today - so I'm probably doing or not doing something I should or shouldn't. :-)

Anyone know how I can get rid of the last bits of fuzzyness? Apart from that, almost there now?

Just discovered I've got a problem with Forms on the site - I'll post that one elsewhere on the forum.

webhost1 · #15 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 11:07 AM

This one looks better. You have at least balance to it now.

Evic · #16 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 03:36 PM

Try saving it as a JPG, looks like you are using up the limited color pallette a GIF allows through your use of gradients, beveling, etc.

Not saying it's a bad thing, I just thing a .JPG would perform better than a .GIF in this instance.

Eagle Imagery · #17 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 05:18 PM

Hi

If you're looking to get your logo onto stationery and especially signage, you'll need to get the logo created in 'vector' format so that it can be enlarged to any size you want without any loss of quality. Vector format is the industry standard method of creating commercial artwork and for that you'll need CorelDRAW or Illustrator... and a lot of practice! ;)

The concept is there - it just needs developing. :)

webhost1 · #18 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle Imagery

Hi

If you're looking to get your logo onto stationery and especially signage, you'll need to get the logo created in 'vector' format so that it can be enlarged to any size you want without any loss of quality. Vector format is the industry standard method of creating commercial artwork and for that you'll need CorelDRAW or Illustrator... and a lot of practice! ;)

The concept is there - it just needs developing. :)

What is the cost for either of those programs?

I just did a search on this
CorelDRAW $300.00
Illustrator $500.00

Some users, like myself, can not afford either of these price tags. Does not leave a small site much room to do that much with graphics.

Eagle Imagery · #19 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 07:14 PM

*
It's a tiny outlay for professional software. :) How much is Dreamweaver?... :)

Evic · #20 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 07:20 PM

You'll be fine with an upsized PSD (from Photoshop). Most graphics studios these days can support PSD and if not, well, find another because that one prob. isn't worth it.

I worked for Lyons Digital Media in Tallahassee which was primarily a print studio. We designed letterheads, stationary, brochures, magazines, etc. Yes, vector is what they would prefer, but if you send them an large-scaled PSD, they can easily convert it to vector and achieve little to no loss of quality.

Sandy8 · #21 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 08:58 PM

Mmm - well I tried converting it from a Gif to a Jpg but guess that's not the done thing cos it still looks the same.

And yeah - I was saving everything I done as Gifs - looking like I'm going to have to do the whole thing again. :-(

Having a day away from it all tomorrow because the "auld Firm" are playing. :-)

When I do it again I'll save a master as a PSD - hopefully that'll see me alright for the future.

Thanks again for all your help!

Evic · #22 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 09:48 PM

Yeah, if you save the gif as a jpg it won't change anything - always keep a master PSD around, as it can be converted to any file format with no degredation in quality (virtually).

Eagle Imagery · #23 (**permalink**) 08-19-2005, 09:51 PM

Hi

If you'll accept it, have this until you get sorted. Not quite what you had - but tidier! :)