Personal Logo

*Sooo...what's funky about the logo?

*The slogan might be a little confusing for some clients...simplify.

*This might not appear well on a business card, especially the word design...

*What's the message you're trying to convey and how can you convey it with the type?

* And finally, what does th eman with the thumbs up represent? Do you want such a weak symbol to represent the quality of your work?

Hm. My first thought is "that font choice is strange." The "G" specifically, on the word design is distracting. It's huge, and touching the n, which is out of place compared to the rest of the word. Why did you choose the handwritten school-like font for the word design?

Also, the font for the word "Funk" and your tagline reminds me of the the old McFrugal's logo. Just because the word "funk" brings back the 70's, doesn't mean the logo has to. I like retro things, but as a logo for a design company, it doesn't really make sense.

I'm liking the vector illustration, but I don't think it's going to work very well for a logo. Where do you plan on having this logo? If it gets very small, you might lose some of the effect of the illustration.

In my opinion, "Creative use of purpose" is confusing unless you know it came from the dictionary. I don't think it's necessary in the logo. Taglines aren't always needed, especially in logos - you can use taglines on business cards and websites. Also, is it brown? Or does it have an orange drop-shadow? You might want to simplify, using either the orange or the black.

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Perfectly Lost Designs

I greatly appreciate your comments and critics. Now that you have made some comments on the logo, I have stepped back from it to look again. It is a personal idea from which my friends and family know me. "The Cool Guy" as they call me. Not too flattering, but what can you do. That is why the guy with the thumbs up as the 'icon.' The slogan is not attached to the logo other than on my cards. When I was in school, my Prof was saying that design needs to have purpose, and be creative, so hence the slogan. Plus it is kin of a play on words from the definition of design. The "Funk" comes from my personal life and relationships to music. I chose the handwritin font for a personal feel, and the other for a strong foundation-type feel. I think one of the problems is that it has a "Once you get to know/meet me" you get it. Most of my freelance work is word of mouth, so I dont advertise or push getting any new clients at the moment. So I wanted it to be fun, creative, personal, etc.

Thanks again!! Now I have to re-think it again...this is a great help!

Definitely simplify. The guy is too much. Try to come up with different ways to interpret "funk". Nothing wrong with using two different typefaces. I think it's ok to use a handwritten typeface for "design", just not that one. No offence if it is your handwriting. It's just not aesthetically pleasing. Either find someone with really cool handwriting or a typeface with that feel.
Gook luck

did you create the illustration or simply download it from a stock site... because it looks like clipart and I don't think that's a good image to project about your design talent. In fact the fonts look like the typical free font variety ( I may be wrong). As a designer this is the very first impression your work had, neither cool or funky ... but then, maybe that impression will be different to the non-designer public ... but since we're all designers here ;D

the name Funk can be really strong, sadly i don't think this logo is doing it. The guy could be salvaged if you simplify him a bit. As for the fonts, i'm not digging any of them. Good hand written fonts are few and far between, and then even harder to find the right one to use. I think the biggest problem with this one is that it looks a little bit too much like chicken scratch. It definitely doesn't work right with the font used for the "funk"

you're slogan isn't working right for you, just always remember the old rule of K.I.S.S. keep it simple stupid... just remember, at the end of the day, our society is slowly getting dumber and dumber, keep it simple, not confusing. think of Nike... "Just do it" they don't even make reference to sports which they specialize in, they don't make reference to anything in specific, yet it works..

all in all, you've got alot of good information/feedback on here to go running nuts with tweaks and concept approaches. best of luck, keep us posted.

...but unfortunatly you shouldn't have to go through all that trouble to explain the concept of the logo...pick three words to describe your company, what you do, what image you want to project. When you get into a story and something as elaborate as what you've explained earlier, expect people to be lost. No ones gonna guess you're the cool guy or you like funky music from your logo. What they can see is that you're artistic, professional, clean, tech saavy or creative if your logo is done right.

I myself am not a fan of the box, and the guy looks like someone you would see in a real estate ad or a "bargain bin" type store. And if it is clip art, get rid of it immediately!

Get rid of the hand written type, its not doign you any favors. If you want to show a more personalized service, put a warm smile on the guy, not a faceless silouhette. If you absolutely need handwritten type, never use fins, do it yourself or get someone with nice handwriting as suggested above.

I myself do my artwork under the name Leaky Penny, its an inside joke I have with one of my friends about me wanting to be a british hip hop artist back in the day, unfortunatly I never got the accent down pat :P Although that could make a quirky story to tell during an interview or briefing, whilst chewing the fat, when they see my logo they see artistic, urban and creative. Well, I hope so anyways! I'll post it up when I get home!
Cheers

The guy kind of reminds me of openPeople or NOSO's branding. I'm not saying it's not good, perhaps just a bit tired.

CREATIVE TYPE|ENGAGING PEOPLE

The "thumbs up" guy has no face, no name, and therefore, no identity -- that was my initial impression of the enigmatic faceless car salesman-esque silhouette. Not a very personal vibe imo.

However, your response to critiques so far informed me that you do have personality, and more importantly, a STORY! That's the message you need to get across -- that which makes you different from all the other designers out there, funky or otherwise.

Just from your blurb, I picked up on the following key words I think will pave the way towards a more personal design:

1. Word of Mouth
2. Relationships
3. Music
4. Personable
5. The Cool Guy
6. Fun
7. Creative

There are so many directions to go with these keywords, so you'll really have to narrow it down. See if you can get the list to three of the most important keywords that really hit the mark about your freelance company identity. Feel free to switch any of the three words out for better ones.

Regarding design, if you're going to go with a handwritten font, unless you have atrocious handwritting, then it's infinitely better to just pick up a sharpie or other writing tool and write out whatever you need to say yourself. After all, your own handwriting is more "personal" than a typeface created by someone else.

I think tlarson 2k has summed up your message very nicely by picking those seven marketable strengths out of your pitch. Interestingly, none of them says "funky." And anyway, I see nothing funky about that Legothic/Starsky-and-Hutch-looking font you've used for all but the awkward handwritten word.

I agree about the nasty silhouetted used car saleman image. He's a turnoff on about nine different levels. Get rid of him!

Work with those seven cool things from TJ's post.

I think you should try another concept of "funk"

Well then, I guess it is all agreed to redo the logo. Good thing I haven't put it out there yet. Thanks for all the comments, brings new light! Kinda bummed, but nonetheless, it helps!

So, can I stop getting comments now? lol I will re-work it and see what comes to mind. Thanks again to all!

Now that I have "seen the light", I have decided to make a complete overhaul! I have been in deep soul searching thoughts, and the name is going to change, as well as the concepts. I started out with using my name...Adam J...when I first started to get some design work, so I think I am going to go back to that. AdamJ Designs, or I have a couple more. Maybe I will post the ones I like the most for suggestions/comments. Although all the comments are appreciated, I will have to pick one that suits me. I have worked on a couple concepts, but now ideas are flowing. I will post something soon, and hopefully it will be better received. Thanks again for all the comments.

Feedback like this, even when it seems negative, can really help. Will you share what you come up with? I look forward to seeing it!

They are at the top, I didn't know how to put new files in, and then the original got replaced. Oooops!

Lose the hand, it's still clip art and means absolutely nothing to anyone but you.

Lose the box. It's boring and constricting. And what purpose does it have?

Change the font. They're dated and boring - not inspiring or exciting. You said you had thousands of fonts... yet you settled on those????

Cmon now. You're a designer. Work a little. Stop trying to be clever. Stop trying to make an image fit in a logo when it doesn't belong. You don't need a piece of art in a logo, you could just use typography.

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Visit Creative Guy for graphics and Mac OS tips, tricks, tutorials and commentary

pick up a pencil/pen
get some tracing paper
start sketching out ideas, doesn't have to be fancy, just sketch away.
sketch shapes, letters, words, anything... just sketch away
things you like you can then easily trace into new ideas or to combine multiple ideas you like.

THEN pick up the mouse again (always helps to scan in your ideas/sketches first)

believe me, old school paper and pen will always be the best starting point.

How did you make the jump from 'Fonzie' to 'Michelangelo'? I don't mean to rain on your parade but this is your identity and right now it's not saying very nice things about you.

Here's what it tells me... you can't come up with an original idea of your own so you copied 'the hand of god' from a master.

I don't think that's the image you want people to have of you.

Rather than the one off computer concepts my best suggestion would be to listen to Archmedia. For inspiration spend an hour browsing http://www.logopond.com and take a week to fill 3-5 pages of inspiring sketches. When you're done, start eliminating ideas until you have the 10 best concepts you came up with. Scan and post them for feedback. Then narrow it down to the best 3 to convert to vector on the computer. At that point experiment with 50-100 type options and consider color.

To me the process of designing a strong identity runs parallel to that of completing a complicated 'Sudoku' puzzle. You start with less than a complete picture and have to take into consideration numerous combinations as you carefully begin placing numbers one by one into the correct position until the moment when everything clicks into place to reveal the answer.

you might want to check http://www.identityworks.com/
they are not the greatest (at least to me) but they have great experience

These were just ideas/concepts I threw together...Adam and God type-a-things. Since I have joined this website, I have already learned a ton, and have had some GREAT feedback and concerns/comments. I learned early to take all critisizm, both that I like and dont', and use them. I do have that sketch pad going...my schooling taught me that, and seeing some of the big design houses here in Indy doing the same. I just wanted to throw out some ideas. Thanks for all who have spent some time with this for me! It will pay off in the end!