So I'm getting closer to being able to run a vocal studio out of my house, been working on designs for logo, any thoughts? (this is a revised version...)

 

hello, lampwiikk,

congratulations for the work...
the fonts could be have at least the same (rather bit more) thickness as the decorative elements (for better readability from some distance), the hues, the saturation, of both could be modified, strengthened somewhat (this here me likes those dark cobalt blue hues, green half or third of the blue content), the base plate could have the opposite hue (with half or two thirds the green content of the red) but with very light saturation, bearing the hue just for some contrasted feel...

in the hope that this might help somewhat, wish you all the best...

 

Hi lampwiikk. Visual designer here.

Good concept! I agree that the font should have more weight than the graphic elements. I would probably try this and see how it works for you:

- I'd make the bars start from below the "S", so they go along the whole name "STUDIOBLUE"
- I'd make the bars a different shade of blue or a different colour, so they can be more easily differentiated from each other.
- I'd avoid gradients. Bold flat colours work a lot better with logos.
- What does the concentric circle and dot mean on the "O"? Is this necessary?

Also, I just though of a slightly different approach, but with the same. At the moment you have the bars being accommodated to fit with the text. Maybe you could also try making the heights of the bars random, and the text accommodate to them, so some of the letters are higher or lower according to where they are sitting. This would also be interesting considering that the letters on this font have different widths, it could be a very dynamic logo with some extra movement. Just a thought, it might not work at all.

Big kudos on starting to run this from home. I only do music as a hobby, and would only dream of making it into a business. Like we say here... "good on ya"

 

The S is horrible...it doesnt appear to line up with anything and it just looks odd

 

Thanks for the input! I guess I should have clarified that this is actually a treatment of the actual logo, like for a sign or something. I was studying design for a bit, and I remember being irritated about how people I was designing for wouldn't differentiate between the actual base logo and different treatments for the logo lol, and I'm doing the same thing. I like the idea of extending the bars all the way across, it made things way more cohesive. And again this is a treatment of the logo, so the gradient bars wouldn't be a part of the actual base logo, I agree with you that in print gradients can look cheap and not translate at all the way they do in RGB. The concentric circles in the 'O' are meant to evoke a record, it looked a bit like an eyeball or a boob or something so I added the extra inner circle.

Yeah, I had that reaction from someone else, and tried a bunch of different fonts for the 'S' (as this is the 'S' from the particular font I used, and that I like) but nothing really seemed to work any better... any suggestions? Perhaps extending the bars all the way to the side helps the 'S' incorporate better?


Here is the updated with some of the suggestions incorporated...

 

hello, lampwiikk,

great second (third, four, etc.) iteration...
if the character s could be made somewhat closer in sense to the design of the character b, d, on the plan, could help, me thinks, also the o could bear some more resemblance to the possibly intended simplified cd-rom shape (throw out the thin circle, use the same line thickness for the smaller one in the center as the outer but with one radius sized to make it similar in sense to the disc), also the frame could, if any needed, use the same line thickness, colour, to keep it more in communication with all the other elements... *yes*

sorry if me seems too critical, no such intention here, really, just hoping to be, if anything, some use...

all the best, keep iterating (will check back soon)...

ooops, as me scribbled (fighting with all keys to find) this, the new designs came up...

would keep it with one colour, am sure (studio blue), also the tudio, the lue, parts could be in the same lines (horizontally, as block outline designators) as the s (on the top), the b (on the base), character (giving some more space to the vu meter elements), keeping still the line thickness uniform...

one other thing, the middle of the character e has radial ending, quite good if every line ends with it but mixed versions will not live together well, me thinks (keeping it without such things seems better)...

me knows, it is one of the most tedious tasks to keep it up with different input lines...

one last thing, you do not always need to use readily available fonts...

one more last thing, could try to keep the vu meter elements in the same hue as the lettering but for some variety there, with one more faded colouration...

now really will close this, then will check back soon, until then, all the best, keep iterating (as always)...

 

The absolute worse thing in the world is when you ask someone for input and they say, "hmmm, yeah looks good". It's hard to hear critiques of something you've been working on for hours and finally are happy with, but it is the most valuable thing in the world to the creative process, so thank you

 

lampwiikk = Very Nice!

As a final touch, I would suggest to make the blue a bit darker in order to create more contrast with the brown, which still seems to be dominant. Maybe changing the white for a different color background will also add more punch. After Effects will really help here. But you can still do well without it

 

I can't help to think of Mauritius when I hear that name. Damn, I miss that island.

Here's what I did quickly in PS:


I would keep it real simple and plain. I wouldn't go with the art deco font (that some might associate with some old beauty salon) or mess/mix with with several fonts or what have you.

 

mmmmm... mmmmmauritius...

thought to go back some time soon (one of the real pearls)...

 

Did this very quick (2 minutes). LOL! The title is backwards, it should be "Studio Blue." Forgive me lampwiikk. It might be too elaborated and probably not what you have in mind, but it gives an idea of masking title over background.


Mauritius - Nice place to escape from this crazy world in which we live! Are the internet connections fast there (Cable, DSL etc)? *no*

 

Hi again, lampwiikk,

Yes, I agree with making the blue the dominant colour on your logo. Also some suggestions:

• White SHOULD be the background colour to start with. You should always start with a white background as your "positive" version. Then you can try flipping the background colour with the colours you have used (negative) or use other colours as background with a white logo (negative-monochrome) or logo in one colour on white (monochrome).
• Do not go for the "pictures in the logo" approach. These are applications you can concentrate on later, when the logo is finished. Jumping into that stage can be dangerous. The best approach for creating a new logo is: central concept > draft designs > design in black and white > polish > apply colour options > polish & monochrome > finish. THEN Apply to different media.
  

Looking at your latest design, I'd suggest to make the blue more dominant, like I said above and light59 suggested. I would also apply a white stroke to the S and B, or even better a blue stroke to the other letters, so they are of the same weight as the other letters. Giving the other letters a stroke of the same color of the fill is a quick trick to make the font a bit thicker, if there isn't a bold option for the font. Keep this subtle though.

Let me say that, like others here, I would have made a different logo, with probably a different font, different concept, etc. But what I'd do is not the vision you might have in mind. This is your project and if you are pursuing on doing this on your own, just make your own vision work. It is up to you to start again from scratch. If it was up to everyone else to make your project suit everyone else only, it would be like having to make music that appeals to everyone else but yourself, right?

Good luck, mate.

 

Exactly, which is why I got out of pursuing a path in design, because I got so sick of the people who were paying you to be a designer, constantly arguing with your design aesthetic lol.

I am pretty happy with the design, and also with all the suggestions, obviously I have to go with what my vision is, but definitely some solid helpful suggestions for refinements, much appreciated. The reason I chose a more understated almost old fashioned font, is because that's actually the feel I'm going for with the studio, a big focus on solid vocal recording esp. jazz, and also acoustic instruments. I live in an area with a TON of ghetto, cut rate "producers" constantly putting ads on Craigslist with their flashy logo, a rate of $20 a song, and a picture of their MXL mic with a packing blanket behind it. Which is fine, if that's your thing, but it's absolutely not the demographic I want to shoot for, hence the direction of my design.

But again, thank you all for the great feedback, makes me so stoked and proud to be part of such a great community where not only can you pretty much count on getting solid help and support, you can also pretty much expect that people aren't going to be pretentious dicks, which from what I've seen on other forums, is a pretty rare and special thing!

 

hello, lampwiikk,

me thinks, everybody (this here self of me certainly) wants to see your finished logo design, please, put it up (promise not to leave even one word about it, except thank you for)... *yes*

hello, light59,
sorry, was there some thirteen years ago (at that time there was internet, in the capital, mostly, but certainly that was one of the most valuable things imaginable)... *yes*

all the best for all of us...

 

So this is the basic finished design, I'm happy with it, thank you for the input all

 

This

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With This:

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=Killer, lol point being cut the bars gives it that sharp look & colour too imo

Or if you want to protect your studio lol.. Electric bars in the studio lol

 

Code:

=Killer, lol point being cut the bars gives it that sharp look & colour too imo

Yeah I tried that at first, but when shrunken to like business card size, it just really fell apart, too much detail...

Code:

i like it. although S does look unnatural and it shouldn't be too hard to fix. also the O is too wide and attracts too much attention. 

Any font suggestions just for the S? I went on Dafont and looked at soooo many and just didn't find anything that worked better. Honestly, it doesn't look weird to me, but I am getting that reaction from a number of people so would like to change it, if I could figure out how...