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Creativebits is a blog about creativity, design and Macs. We also have a critique section where you can post your work to get opinions and a forum to discuss any design related topics.
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none of them..
why on gods green earth would you want to not only be called SAD, but then REALLY use a sad face. believe me, a client is NOT going to go for it, they'll look at that and say to themselves "wow, thats grim, why would we want someone that's depressed to give us a new design/brochure/site/logo/anything! it'll probably be some drap depressing unmotivated design"
your first name Shiwon is really unique, take that and run with it. this "sad" concept is like digging your own grave..
sorry to sound harsh, but you'd regret it down the road, believe me.
____________________________________________
Architectural Technician - Multimedia Designer
www.ArchMedia.us
WHY ??....Because on GODS green earth .. he gave me the initials to be called sad ! ... I pretty much agree with you to a extent, but as a artist im never afraid to take a new approach to designing.. never afraid to take a risk down the "road" here and there, Maybe its just you who wouldnt go for this logo everyones entitled to there own opinion i must add.
Shiwon is unique .. but i think sad is pretty much unique itself so im sticking with it. depressed, grim.. i think your taking it a little bit to far.. who's to say a client wont think to say "wow even tho this logo reads sad the colors incorporate a new lighter mood,beginning, calm, or perhaps less "depressing" feel.. lets really look at his work before judging on the artist by calling him/her depressed or grim !...
the idea that counts.
-sad
designer, myself included, often under estimate the creativity that clients can come up with. Yes, S.A.D. is unique, i think the nail in the coffin however is the face in the D.
with that said, the a/d gets a little bit lost the way it is now, i think it's cause you're not giving each initial the same amount of weight/significance.
____________________________________________
Architectural Technician - Multimedia Designer
www.ArchMedia.us
however, I have to agree with archmedia on this one. BUT—if you're really dead set on using the acronym s.a.d. (because they're clearly your initials), then my suggestion would be to just take out the sad smiley face all together. You can leave the s.a.d. acronym, and then the client will see below that they're just the initials to your name. Which is a very unique name, I might add.
Or, you could go a different route and just use your first name and that's it (i.e. Shiwon Designs, Shiwon Creative, Shiwon Graphix, etc.). You can really go to town with your first name being used only. And I'm sure there isn't anybody else out there with the same business name, as well as website.
Just my suggestion. Good luck!
P.S. I was given grief about my business name, One Girl Creative, so I feel your pain. But like you, I stuck with it because I like it.
P.S.S. Next time, try not to be so defensive. When someone puts their design(s) up here to be critiqued, expect just that—even on both ends. Don't take it personally, just accept it for what it is—a critique. =P
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
This is a critique, so putting your work up means you need to expect people's opinions - bad or good. With that being said, I'll give you my opinion.
I don't like any of them, sorry. I think that even if you are set in your ways on keeping "SAD", that you try different ways of presenting it. You are insistent that the initials merge together. Try breaking them apart and using them as individual letters, instead of the "A" being the "D", etc. I don't read this as Sad, I read it as "SA" because of the black lettering. I also recommend a different font choice - the thickness of the lines is not consistent, making it look thrown together.
The frowny face, in my opinion, is a bad idea. The first thing I think of is "This is how you will look after you buy my design." . . .Red Flag.
Now, I don't want you to hate this site or us because we don't agree with your ideas. The whole idea is to get different ideas and try new things in order to become better. My very first suggestion for you is to come up with one single word to describe your desired identity. If it is not "frown", then this design isn't cutting it.
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Perfectly Lost Designs
The most important aspect of any critique is an open mind to hear what people are pointing out. Everyone sees the world a little differently but the secret is to find a given aspect or pattern that is repeated in their review.
In this case it doesn't get any more blantantly obvious. You've had people left and right telling you the S.A.D. concept is a bad idea for promoting your work and you have shown no intention of listening to people with 20+ years of industry experience. (See my earlier critique http://creativebits.org/logo_4)
I highly doubt others, including myself, will continue to waste our time critiquing anything you post. Those that don't listen are doomed in this industry.
BTW: My god given initials are J.A.R. and there isn't a way in hell anyone could convince me to ever use them to promote myself or my design work. Lose the ridicious idea that you have to use your initials. It shows a total lack of creativity and thought. Couple that with bad execution and you have a mess beyond words.
I totally agree. This is a critique not a coddle. I don't get why you would want to be known as S.A.D. if my name was "I suck at design" i definitely wouldn't use it.
My initals are N.A.S - yeah, like the rapper. And actually i could break it down to N.A.S.A as well. I'm definitely not about to use space-shuttles...
You see, everyone can come up with some kind of word somehow relating to their name...it's not unique
Just looking at your name i can see at least 10 other words that you could choose...
______________
On a lighter note, i had this guy come in wanting business cards and name is company SEWKEWL because it had the first two letters of each of his business partners names. No really, i told him to go away.
life is great; without it, you'd be dead.
I agree completely with the other designers whose comments you've read. The first word that popped into my head when I saw these logos was "psychotic." Honestly. The second one was "creepy."
If you want to play with the unique initials you've been given, then by all means, do it! But give your potential clients a little credit: they can figure out S.A.D. = "sad" without the frowny faces. You could either leave the acronym out there in a wonderful deisgn, and let each individual potential client think they're the first/only person to pick up on the meaning, or you could make it clear you want to play by adding a tagline that emphasizes "sad," but in a cheerful way.
I wonder why you think that having your first name's initial in upper case with the others lower somehow means something significant about your first name. That may be a cultural difference I'm not aware of, and if so, I beg your pardon for my ignorance. To me, it only means that you've name the word "sad" out of your initials and have capitalized the S in Sad for some reason that seems counter-productive. Try to imagine how your logo or business card will represent you to others.
If I had as cool a first name as yours, I would be inclined to do something like this with it:
Mara
Sorry to critique a critique, Mara. I have nothing against your example. :)
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Perfectly Lost Designs
The mistake was intentional. It's a suggestion, not a gift ;-)
Mara
I would change the sad face to a smiling one.
Would be a nice surprising contradiction :)
It's just cheesy and it just doesn't work (no offense, cubus). =P
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
--------
"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
Doing a quick Google search on "Shiwon" or even "Shiwon Design", nothing design related comes up. Have you ever thought of when you make a portfolio online how important that is? You have no competitors for anything design related. You could snatch the domain easily if you haven't already, too. When you search "Sad Design" You get all sorts of sites with people posting things like "I have sad design skills, so I need help."
Also, it appears several other companies are using the acronym "SAD." http://www.seasonalaffectivedesign.com for example.
Just a thought.
------------
Perfectly Lost Designs
Okay, clearly you're hooked on the name. I'm not even about to mention that. I do think the frowny face is very poorly illustrated. The typography is horrible and I don't like the colors on the first one.
I may be the only one here that thinks the "Sad" name could have some promise. However, you are not pushing this logo anywhere beyond the logo just being initials. Initials for a logo is not very creative.
I would say, that if you are focused on this name, then go for it, but don't have it stand for anything. Simply let the name be "Sad" or "Sad Design." Your initials mean nothing to your clients, so why would you want to waste your time telling them why your initials are important?
Also, consider the strength of a mark that is a happy face, or something that was overtly and simply happy. Now, the happy face isn't a very good idea, but that kind of play with the word "sad" automatically makes it more inviting and exciting. There is a whole world of possibilities out there, and you are just focused on the initials. Well, initials aren't interesting, so go discover something that is.
CalvinRossCarl.com
Hey guys .... back again . Im working on a 3rd attempt at it .. thanks for all the ideas,help, and/or suggestions. This site really pushes your skills so far. With that said , im back in the lab whipping up a 3rd attempt. Thank again everyone I really APPRECIATE the help you given me !
that's the beauty of a crit section.
sorry if we seem harsh at times, i'll admit that being online takes away ANY sort of tone of voice, which can mean a world of a difference.
With that said though, just be happy you're not in architecture school, crits there are the HARDEST thing i've ever gone through. Guest architects walking in and saying things like "my blind grandmother can design something nicer" or "maybe you should quit now" or just the flat out "this is SHIT" (which i thankfully never personally got those myself, but i did hear them for other students). What i'm saying is, you're right, crits will push you. Just look around and there's no lack of shit designs that have no thought behind them. this just pushes you to try and have some meaning in the designs and some thought behind it all. And yes, there's a few reasons for that, the biggest one in my opinion is being able to walk into a meeting and to say "this logo means yadda yadda yadda" instead of "i just did it cause i think it's nice but doesn't really convey much"
Keep up the work, the right logo will come with time. the hardest client to design for is actually usually yourself. Maybe get someone to do some designs for you, and in return design something for them. I've seen it done many times and it works out nicely, either right off the bat, or as inspiration. Count yourself a little lucky that some people have already taken the time to shoot up some design ideas in here, or written out some concepts. At the same time, being willing to put yourself out on the limb in a crit section obviously pays off!.
best of luck,
keep us posted.
[b]EDIT:[/b]
here's a super quick sketch up based on your name and not initials... simple, yet maybe a start for you.
____________________________________________
Architectural Technician - Multimedia Designer
www.ArchMedia.us
A comment I'd like to make on this whole thread is that a crit should help a designer discover what's good in their work. In this case. A 'designer' should create their own concept, their own style, their own work for a crit, especially if they are designing their own logo!
as in an earlier post, I find this just sad (!). When someone posts their work for critique, I find it helpful (and entertaining) at times to alter or enhance that work in order to visually express an idea on how the work could progress. Sometimes it's tweaking the proportions, changing the typeface or combining elements from several other pieces of work in their presentation and discovering the good design that is there.
My point being that something seems wrong here. Replying in a crit with ideas and designs that are unrelated to the work in discussion just seems out of place. If the message of the critique is to say "you need to shift direction" or "find some inspiration", well, I understand that. But how constructive is it to present your own design and give that for "inspiration"?
On many occasions I have read a thread here, thought I could easily come up with a better solution and worked up a quick design. If it's related to the original posted art, then maybe I'll post it. If it's something totally new I'll keep it to myself.
I know how difficult it is designing a logo for yourself. It's difficult after 20 years in the business. And as I see here, it's also difficult as a design student. All the more reason to let him work it out on his own ... then we can critique that.
Just my opinion that maybe I should have kept to myself ;)
and yes, I'm guilty of doing just what you say. though i think i tie it back in to my idea of swapping work with someone else. to better explain, firm A would design firm B's logo and vice versa. I'm by no means offering to do this, or have someone do mine, but I've definitely seen and heard of it being done. my sketch was also by no means a way of saying "this is the direction i suggest you go in" but maybe just a slight idea. I have no problem sharing quick sketches, and you're right, i maybe should keep it to myself unless asked for it.
with that said, i'll admit that i'm curious to see where things lead up on the next design idea.
Noble, don't be discouraged by the comments. You already seem to be taking them in stride which is a good thing. also don't be discouraged if you find yourself doing the logo 20 times over. like previously said, your own logo is often the hardest one to accomplish.
____________________________________________
Architectural Technician - Multimedia Designer
www.ArchMedia.us
Point well taken, garyW. Sometimes it's easier for designers to communicate with a design than in words, but I can see how that could be perceived as insulting. I'll keep that in mind as our critique community evolves.
Mara
Back again!
Great post Gary and response as well archmedia. As a graphic design major student (Keene state university) Normally a critique goes in the following .. point out what's wrong .. then find a solution to the problem ( with donuts and tea/cofee) .. I got frustrated in the previous post and first draft because i was just told what was wrong with my work and never was told how to solve the problem.
But back to the logo .. i guess ill take you guys advice with "shiwon" thanks for the quick sketch "ARC", just adds a little inspiration !
-sad
"As a graphic design major student..."
"I got frustrated in the previous post and first draft because i was just told what was wrong with my work and never was told how to solve the problem."
Please realize, the "real world" is not like school. I loved having teachers and other students working together to make a better piece in school during critiques. Now I have a boss who has good ideas, but is not a designer and will often say, "I don't like it, please change it." And that is why she makes sure I get paid: I have to find the solution myself.
We are all fortunate to have a place like this to get critiques and help, but in the end, we are not here to do your work for you and we are not obliged to offer suggestions. The biggest help we can offer is to help you do it yourself.
What are you talking about ????? ....
Jlanthrop as i recall this was the critique section am i wrong ? Who said the real world is like school ? .. Does college prepare you for the real world ? Who asked for help on doing my logo ? ,, taking advice or suggestion from a person is wrong ?
Comments like this doesnt really help me as a graphic design artist, this is why a post like this frustrates me ! your commments has nothing to do with my logo that i posted. I came back to visit to see if i can more help or ideas from other artist as well and giving a brief history on my education background and i get hammered ? sry for the tantrum guys, but im fairly new to this site .. its been only 3 weeks !!!!
-sad
I wish I had a site like this when I was a student. This is a website with mostly professionals in the field, you can't expect to be treated like a student, if you want to be, then have your teacher or classmates critique you.
Most of the members contributing to these crits usually comment on both concept and competence of the design. If the concept is off target, or missing all together, it's then most likely the design won't succeed. Your concept didn't find much acceptance here and was thought by many (including myself) to be a liability for you to develop a professional identity as a designer.
I admit that there are many times when a logo design really is just a beautiful thing to look at, and that's because the illustration, typography and digital finesse is exceptional. Whether it becomes a successful brand can't be predicted. But for you as a design student I'd recommend that CONCEPT becomes paramount. If you believe "sad" is the right concept then go forward with that and produce an exception graphic design to prove us all wrong.
Better yet, find a concept that becomes an asset to your professional identity and produce an exception graphic design for that : )
You're right, garyW. It seems, in fact, that the main thing lacking in the logos presented here for critique recently (including one of mine) is a clearly understandable concept driving the design itself. Concerns about the execution are often secondary. This might be a good Forum topic, don't you think?
Mara
Sa!
?
that's how it reads to me.