Hosting Company Logo

Here's the version with a blue background. To get the gradient on the two color version, I masked off two areas with a white gradient, but when put over a background, my dodgy technique is exposed ;).

Does anyone have an idea of how i'd 'flatten' the gradient etc so that the masking boxes aren't there?

P.s this is the final / full color scheme.

Second version is gradient-riffic.

Hmm, really for web hosting it isn't the worst thing in the world. I keep wanting to jump on this for print purposes and refer to the typical conventions but web is really moving away from some aspects relating to print design (for good reason).

My personal opinion though is if you made the lines leading away bold and solid, maybe rounded over and the entire thing knocked out in a larger circle it would be more my own taste. It's more trendy and bold while still following the typical design credo of being applicable to any situation if they wanted nice looking business cards printed from anywhere.

For a favicon, see if your client is open to just having the "HC" letters in the middle surrounded by the shape you currently have. It will be much easier to see.

PS: I love the fonts (something I definitely wouldn't change here). If I may, what are they called?

Yeah thanks Zack, maybe the gradients are amplified by the problem white blocks on the example image. I'll have a play with your suggestion though, as I am slightly uncomfortable with the gradients.

The logo is pretty much never going to be used with print applications - maybe just for a business card at most, but I don't think it's an excuse to go wild with breaking conventions.

I didn't think of having the initials within the circle for the favicon. I took it for granted and presumed that i'd need basically a scaled down version of the mark - as is, or having just the H and Y and circular device too with nothing else, but i'll give your suggestion a go. I'll post some options ;)

The font is Geogrotesque by the way. One of my better purchases...

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/emtype/geogrotesque/

Another version as per Zack's suggestions, plus 2 x favicons at 32x32px...

Yeah, love the knockout version. I love to do a single color knockout anyway as it reiterates the basic versatility of the logo. I've attached a reduced 32x32, and increased the stroke around the circular lines, as felt they were being lost. Still not sure though about the favicon in general. the actual logo itself just looks like a blob of mess...

p.s I posted the logo on Brands of the world critique and got a lukewarm response. I post feedback on there a lot, but the atmosphere is a bit stale, and not sure how to take some of the critiques...

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/critique/hostcosy-hosting-company

well, you'll predict my usual standpoint on gradients in logos ; )

aside from that, its attractive enough, but i find a huge disconnect between the name and the image. though im not sure about the clients original idea of a mouse in front of a fire - but this thing looks like some kind of razorblade, boomerang, throwing star. the complete psychological opposite of "cosy"...

and i wonder if there shouldnt be a space (even implied space) between host and cosy. as i read it as hostcosy and it sounds like some kind of sickness.

The work is professional quality - but not really digging it. The name is uncomfortable, the gradients will be problematic (as already noted) and it's not memorable or anything imho. However - that said, I had the same problems when creating a hosting logo for my brother. It's a tough one - agreed.

So far as the gradient, you can either blend it into the blue (which will work okay with the grey H, but probably not so well with the red Y) - or you might try solid steps getting smaller and smaller to the end. That would be my choice because it might imply electronic signals as well - computers communicating to the host or something. Know what I'm saying?

I don't feel a trusted brand. Something say it has a weak backdoor. This kind of business need a solid or seamless service feeling. It's like the rotation speed or logo temperature changes, it doesn't tells me reliable. Server instability is not a good message for clients.

Jon, what's the meaning of Cosy in this logo/company name? Because I keep wanting it to read "cozy," as in a good dog and brandy in front of the fireplace on a snowy night in the mountains, which is a weird thing to be thinking about in the same microburst of brain cell activity as Internet hosting services.