community consultants round 3
I think I'm almost there...
Using outlines now instead of filled in speech bubbles. I'm liking the name in lowercase, as many have said, it's more inviting and friendly. This is a service offered by students so lowercase is more fitting. Also, I think I got them to add another colour. I chose blue, as it's a trust-worthy colour that shows strength. I didn't want to use a dark blue as most corporations use, I wanted to add some youthfulness so I went with a ligter blue.
Thoughts?
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please refrain from making comments on kerning or leading, this isn't final. I save the kerning for the very end.
canada.com
looks nice, however i feels it's been done before..
http://www.canada.com/
i think if you just get away from the red and blue you could still keep this going.
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Architectural Technician - Multimedia Designer
www.ArchMedia.us
ouch! trust CB to find the TOO SIMILAR design
Yeah - you need to get far from more than the red and blue to make this your own.
I like it actaully. I think
I like it actaully. I think it's really dynamic, and I like how the two bubbles really intertwine. Very nice
However, I don't like the Red and Cyan. I think it's really good besides that though. (maybe it's just a personal preference as well)
Is the Blue bubble lower then the red bubble?
life is great; without it, you'd be dead.
I prefered the previous
I prefered the previous version.
With a nod to archmedia for
With a nod to archmedia for noting some similarity between your design and canada.com's, I suppose we'll always be able to come up with similarities to anything we do. Try a visit to your local East African Art museum with a book of Picasso's work in your hands, or even Matisse, and see how quickly you can connect the dots. It's not always intentional, and not always a bad thing.
That said, I like this very much. Not crazy about the cyan, but I could live with it. Both colors could be richer, I think. I'd also give a curve to the "downspout" things to make them more obviously cartoon balloons -- pointy as they are, they could be stylized bird beaks -- and make the main balloon parts a bit more ovoid to get away from the male/female symbol idea that really is overused and could be what people "see" at first in this design.
This is a huge improvement over your first tries: much more...um...communicative!
Mara
I would argue that point
" ... suppose we'll always be able to come up with similarities to anything we do..."
Dialog boxes, voice balloons, or thought bubbles are a very trendy device. Whenever a specific trend is used as it is in this critique, of course you'll be able to find many other uses with the exact look and feel. When A COUNTRY ( ! ) uses the design trend for it's own promotion ... you'd think maybe repeating it is not going to make your own work look so original. When a major cable network uses the device for it's own logo, well, then you can be sure that this is well saturated in the public eye.
It's commonly listed as one of the top design trends...
http://www.logoorange.com/logo-design.php
Symbols which have been used so often become clichés, not just similarities, because the concept they represent is familiar too.
"Appropriation" is the case when a familiar design symbol is included as the foundation of one's work. "Influence" or "inspiration" is when that familiar design symbol is used in one's work in a new and original concept, where that familiar symbol may take on new meaning. Picasso's African influence is such an example, or at least it began the design trend of 1907 ;-)
just to make clear
Canada (the country) has nothing to do with canada.com.
Canada.com is a production of CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
If it was the COUNTRY that made the site, surly they would have secured a .ca, oh and look, they did. www.canada.ca
So to say that our country (I'm canadian) uses that design trend to promote itself is incorrect. The government of Canada has very stringient policies about it's logo (there's sertainly no speech bubbles in it) and the use of it. I know, I've read their entire branding manual. I didn't even know canada.com existed...I usually go to canoe.ca. I'm weary of getting canadian news from a .com rather than a .ca
okay...
I was just being sarcastic, my bad. I see that the mentioned site is a major Canadian news portal, nothing like a national tourism or cultural site as I thought.
My point wasn't that Canada.com is following the trend, it was that the apparent stature of the site (and how quickly it was pointed out as an example), as Bravo, suggested that it was part of overall use that has established the trend. Graphic use of "talk boxes" to visualize the concept of 'communication' or 'forum' is taken ... so to repeat it in the same context just seems to me cliché ... it's time to move on.
Love the lower case typography!
I do quite like this, I just think it is not quite there yet. The bubbles are at different heights. I would do them either both the same or offset them more, as I think probably when you reduce the size they will look like you didn't line them up properly.
I agree about the colour comments from everyone here too. Have you tried using dark and light blue instead of the red? That might work.