[SOLVED] What do you think of these logo's for my new design, Which one is the best.

[Ninjakreborn]

What do you think of these logo's I am starting a new design, when I get a good logo, I am creating 4-5 layout ideas in photoshop, and getting some opinions on layouts to match the logo.
http://www.freelancebusinessman.com/testfolder

[redbullmarky]

can you put some image files there instead of something we have to unpack first?

[Ninjakreborn]

yes, one second and I will upload them.

[redbullmarky]

lol i meant JPG's or something that us poor, non-photoshop owners can look at :)

[Ninjakreborn]

Ok, yes give me just a few minutes, let me get the psd's up, then I will do jpg conversions, and upload htem too.

Ok I have put up all of my pictures.  If you like any of the logo's give me advice on them, if I find more than 1 I like then I will make a user module so the visitor can change out the logo's and save the results using sessions or something, but for now I need to get a good logo, what do you think?

[redbullmarky]

as logos, they wont work. 2 and 7 are particularly terrible, closely followed by 4/5 and 6. CURVE3 looks like you gone to work with clip art or bannerMania (anyone remember that? lol) and slapped it over a nice picture.
MA4 is your best bet (if you have to use any of these for logos), but a logo shouldnt really be anything complicated. take a look at Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay and Google, for just a few examples. No flash photography in the background, but just a simple, straightforward logo - and possibly 4 of the most recognisable logos in the world.
The ones you've produced look like youre trying far too hard to make things look pretty, without really putting much thought into it beforehand.

[Ninjakreborn]

Ok, this is where I need clarification.

As far as logo's go, what looks good and what looks bad generally.  I have seen websites with banners, and logo's like big banners across the top, with very complicated logo's and they end up being extremely popular.  I also have seen some basic logos, some get ahold of an idea and go with it, but some logo's are considered "good" and some are considered "bad".  Give me something to go by, something to work with, I didn't do these, my graphic designer did, I am getting to where I can do some stuff with graphic design and photoshop, but I have to learn what is good and what is bad as far as logo's and buttons are concerned, I am already getting better at layouts, and I have been studying color schemes, for a few days now, and getting better at it.  I am pretty sure I am doing a white background on my site this time, I have a lot of ideas for everything.  The thing is, I am not using a template at all but building the entire thing from scratch.  I want to get an idea of something for a logo, everyone I ask so far(clients), say I shouldn't change logo's because that one looks good, but I don't know if my current logo is good or not, and if not then what can I do about logo's.
Should they always be just text, or should you try crazy fonts, one clients wanted a "psychotic font with one letter a middle finger", so what exactly is good, and what exactly is bad,.

[redbullmarky]

actually, i'll put my neck on the block a little here, because I suck at graphics too. but when i was designing a logo for my news site, i wanted it to be relevent to the type of site, hence my choice of typography and background. here: http://www.thedinnertimes.com (ps, this is not a shameless plug :) )

so i'm not saying its good - in fact in many ways its awful - but it fits, is simple, and is relevent.

the point being - youre proving that you know how to use photoshop. thats great. but you need to at least put more thought into it and what relevence it has to anything.

[quote author=businessman332211 link=topic=109986.msg443844#msg443844 date=1159552802]
I didn't do these, my graphic designer did
[/quote]
sack him.

[Ninjakreborn]

1

[jcombs_31]

I wouldn't really consider any of those a logo. you pasted some text over random images. 

[Ninjakreborn]

I have had an idea now, I don't know about a logo, but when I build my site, I am going to have a drop down menu, it's going to have about 40 logo's if someone doesn't like my logo they can change it.  I am creating a couple of better logo ideas myself right now, so I am going to see how that goes, but I am going to do a few things differently, the drop down menu, will have every logo idea I ever had, and will default at the one that was liked the most, then if someone doesn't want to see it, they can just change logo's I am tired of fighting with the logo thing.

[koolaidman52]

Think about waht you see on the net.

Php freaks logo has <? in it; the name is very closely realted to the graphic.
One of my favorite sites, lostpedia.com, has a book embellished with stuff from the show's mythology as their logo.

For a freelance business man I think you would want something formal and professional looking, maybe a fedora hat or what about an open briefcase with "Freelance Businessman" printed on the back (maybe burnt into the leather). You won't have to fight over the logo if you take it slow and think it through before you go ahead and have someone else make them.

[Ninjakreborn]

I will use that as one of my ideas, I scraped all current logo's I am creating about 20 logo's not randomly but over the next few months, while I work on planning, and content writing.  Then I will have a drop down menu where the logo's can be changed, or a place where atleast I can change it, and have a display page of all the logo's I have created for my site.  I don't know which yet, I m ay just allow the user to decide which logo they would like to see, and have the default one as my favorite.

[redbullmarky]

you're slightly missing the point. when a user goes on the hunt for web design services, and come across your site, its not THEIR job to change the logo to make it look good. its YOUR job. YOU look at the 20 or so logos, and YOU pick out the best one

[obsidian]

[quote author=businessman332211 link=topic=109986.msg443903#msg443903 date=1159557013]
I have had an idea now, I don't know about a logo, but when I build my site, I am going to have a drop down menu, it's going to have about 40 logo's if someone doesn't like my logo they can change it.
[/quote]

forgive me for being blunt, but that's really a horrible idea. your logo (along with your name) is what defines you. it is how people know you. if you have 40 different logos for people to choose from, you will lose that aspect of "concreteness" that logos help to build. i'm all for giving people the option to change a color scheme or style sheet, but your logo should be [b]your[/b] logo and should be recognizable across all the different options.

[Ninjakreborn]

That's where I fall short, I could create 50 logo's and look at them all, and pick my favorite 5, but that doesn't mean there any good, I don't mean 5 minute logo's I mean ones I set down and really took the time to build properly.

[Ninjakreborn]

Your right, but how, I mean I can go and sit down and create a logo, I have a few ideas, and I can probably create them if I try, but I know people won't like them, or I feel that way. I have the idea he gave me up there, or the idea, another one I have is a lance, and the words freelance businessman sitting atop the lance, or free above it, lance engraved within it, and businessman back up at the top, or bottom, I have some ideas, I am just not sure how it's all going to turn out, I really want to do this, I really want to become more than just a programmer, I am rewriting all my content, being a lot more honest about anything I have not been honest about, change all business practices, and start anew.  I have gotten very good at programming, I don't doubt that at all, but I want to get good at design, pretty good at graphic design, I just want to be able to build a site from the ground up, and be able to do it good, I want to learn, I want to finally build my own site, completely from the ground up, and more than anything, have people on php freaks, say they like it, point out a few issues and other than that it's great, like they do with most of the sites that pop up on here, most of my clients are happy with my site, or they wouldn't hire me, they definitely end up being happy with there own sites, but that's not enough for me, I want more than that, I want to be better than just average, I want people to look at my stuff, and say like they do with other sites, it looks good, you could probably do this, and this and this, but other than that, it looks great, or something.

[redbullmarky]

the biggest problem i find with your last post is that, in terms of knowledge, have gone full circle and forgotten all the advice people have given you in the past. it leaves me to say that maybe a new profession that allows this kind of learning would be the best thing for you.
in striving to be a jack-of-all-trades, youre actually getting knowledgable - i dont dispute that - however you've actually demonstrated nothing that suggests you actually excel at any of your disciplines that you claim to know about.
no doubt you can code a site, so stick at that. give up graphic design because you're terrible at it. yes, in some ways you can learn it, but some people just have the knack - its an art. stick to the coding, get good at it, and leave the design to a designer. leave the ideas to the clients, because your ideas are about as confusing as your "ethics".

sorry for being so frank, but this is the umpteenth time we've walked down this road, so thats it for me.

good luck
Mark

[Ninjakreborn]

I see what you are saying, but if that is true, what about these people that do it all.  I am not asking to be a "graphic designer" necessarily.  I am asking to be able to do what I need to create a layout, which to tell you the truth I have been practicing at, doing layouts in photoshop, and doing buttons have gotten easy to me, I can do those very well now, and the buttons actually look good, they actually look like they are something people would look at and like.
As for design, to tell you the truth I have gotten a lot better with color schemes and general design, adn things of that nature.  I don't want to be a master of all trades, a worker of all things, I just want to master my one field, what is wrong with that.  As far as graphic designer, I just want to be able to make layouts, banners, logos, and buttons at this point. I am not worried about buttons, or layouts anymore, I have gotten good at those.  And if you want to know the truth I have ever gotten good at banners in general when I know what they want the banner for, but it's just something to do with my own site, I have 2 ideas, I am going to make them happen in photoshop and get some opinions here.
I am taking the first idea and makeing a briefcase, or something similar, with freelance businessman burned in the back, the other ideas is to have a picture of a lance, probably one I am going to create, and have it across the logo.
it is going to have free above the lance, lance, engraved within the lance and businessman below it, but sort of each section to the side like this
Free
      Lance
              Businessman
but the free is going to be above the lance ,lance is going to be engraved within the picture of the lance, and businessman will be below it, this is one of the 2 ideas I am brainstorming over.
I am working on that lately.  As far as buttons, and layout I have gotten 3 times better at that, and learnt a hell of a lot about color schemes as well.

[AndyB]

Trying to be positive here .... I'm positive none of those graphic extravaganzas is even close to a what a logo is (unless the concept of logo has changed overnight).  A logo is not text on a psychedelic background.

A logo is your unique corporate identity. It's recognizable at a glance.  It appears on your web site, your business card, your stationery, your vehicle, your coffee mugs, your hot air balloon, etc., etc.  It's scalable, it's everywhere.  It also tries to convey your message through it's form, colour, etc.

Throw away all those things you have.  Go look at the logos for the Fortune 500 companies.  Go look at any of a zillion places that design logos professionally (I don't mean we_do_your_logo_for_five_bucks.com), I mean real design firms.

Mark's given you some examples of logos that are simple, unique, instantly recognizable.  Simple and clean. Look at what works for the billion-dollar companies, and maybe you'll get some ideas about what will work for you ... or spend money on getting one to your specifications.

[Ninjakreborn]

So should I, or should I not work up some picutre, right now I had a lance, and i was putting clouds throughout the background, and carefully working with the photo, I was going to do the freelancebusinessman thing in it, or should I jsut find a good text logo, and look around some, what do you think?

[AndyB]

[quote author=businessman332211 link=topic=109986.msg443981#msg443981 date=1159565335]
... what do you think?
[/quote]

Personally, I think you should re-read my post and follow my advice.

[jcombs_31]

wow, you just don't get it do you?  Just running around in circles completely lost.  Do comprehend anything that people keep telling you in numerous threads?  You need to slow down and stop typing, because you just keep rambling.

[Ninjakreborn]

I have come up with a logo idea, I am associating my name with pictures, something simple, something that can help them remember my name, I will show it later in another post, after I get the first design stages up for my site.

[Ninjakreborn]

THanks andy, and everyone else for the advice.  I finally tried, I am more creative than I thought, during this process I learnt so much about photoshop.  even if this logo isn't good I can recreate another one off another idea, of try agian, this has taught me so much.
1. I am more creative than I thought
2. I just need time for my creativity to kick in
3. I learnt a lot about photoshop blending stuff
4. I learnt about free transform, and transform selection and how different things work different.

I may never be a full graphic designer, but I know now, after some work, patience, and trying I can atleast do stuff like logo's for clients, banners, layouts, buttons, I definitely have an idea for my buttons on this site, I just have to get better.
What do you think of this logo, should I add a background color, is there anything else I can do to it, to make it look better, or should I scrap it and try again.

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