Sides Portfolio

More illustration than logo. This has gone from a simplistic logo you originally posted to complex concept that doesn't seem to properly reflect what you're trying to do (from what I seem to remember, that is).

I forget your reason exactly for not using your name, if I recall it was because you didn't want your boss to find out right? If so, your boss may end up finding out about your "side" business anyways. Why not just be honest about the freelancing up front? Somehow I have this notion that if he found out about it by another route than you being forthcoming any fury invoked will be worse. If your full time job takes priority, assure him that. A vast quantity of designers free lance on the side, your boss will be able to accept that.

That aside, as I've frequently asked, what are you trying to accomplish with your logo? Right now the closest thing I can think of is freelance illustrative artist portfolio.

YoungZM, you have me confused with someone else. My boss / manager is a designer too.... A great designer at that... And he knows I do freelance. He does too... I pick up jobs on my own time to make extra income for me and my family (and I make more money per hour doing it... 3x in fact). I do not take jobs that are a conflict of interest for the company I work for (a print company that you know).

As for what I was going for this logo... A critique...

This is beautifully rendered, Adam, but it leaves me with many questions about what it's meant to convey. Is any of these on target? Surfer. A woman (the letter i) squeezed between opposing forces and sweating. A hair styling salon with a funky name that has a story attached to it. A restaurant that specializes in salads, French fries, cole slaw and other "sides." A company that's bringing back vinyl music recordings of the 60s and 70s.

If not, your company name, rendered this way, might not be the way to go.

i dont think there is anyone else here who ever posted a logo for "sides". but i dont recall you ever claiming the name choice was designed to hide your activities... as i remember, i thought it was to illuminate them

with that said. i dont care for this at all. like many other things posted here, its visually appealing enough and reasonably well rendered. but i dont think it says design at all.

the first thing i see is the "i" as a woman in a sun dress. and i immediately think its either the name of a novel about two sides of a story, or a weight loss program. then with all the grooves i wonder if you're some kind of wood carver or something

People... we have a search feature. :)

Dating backwards in order (newest to oldest):
http://creativebits.org/double_steak
http://creativebits.org/sides_freelance_logo
http://creativebits.org/personal_logo_post_3
http://creativebits.org/personal_logo_31

I'll be honest - this doesn't appeal to me very much, however I can see how it might appeal to others. The "tattoo as art" crowd might see this as something viable. Personally? Those aren't the people I want to attract to my business - but you might. If someone is looking for an illustrator - this latest version kind of/sort of says that imho.

Now - that said, I still see problems with it. The i is crammed in there giving the first half of the word more heft than the right side. It also has a bottom and top flourish that doesn't appear on any of the other letters - making it seem out of place in that respect. The s on the end is also much weaker than the other letters - the weight is thinner and it's hanging out all by itself whereas the other letters are interacting in a different (more intimate) way.

For what it's worth...

Then I do have you confused with someone else so I apologize but what I was wanting to ask you still remains the same. Why not use your name? The "Sides" aspect you're concentrating on seems to be taking you to some really... odd places. If you're using it as solely the name sides because its something you do on the side, you may want to reconsider. If you explain that to a client they may or may not be impressed. Every client wants to feel important, knowing that they're just part of your "side" project may send them to someone else.
@Others, just didn't want to have to dig :p

I asked what you were trying to accomplish because even after trying to learn about you through critiques I still know very little. A logo should help us along in knowing something. One logo has been very geometric, one typographic, one about meat...? See where I'm going with this? There's absolutely no connection I don't think we can make. What do you want to say about yourself? Right now you've got another typographic illustrative logo. I'm not saying it's "bad" so much as confusing. The illustration is well done but I still think it lacks any aspect of 'you' a logo really should resonate. It also has a lot of detail that starts to get lost as reduced, as does the tagline due to how thin and vertical the typeface is.

I keep coming back to "What's wrong with 'Houston Design' or, if you want to emphasize illustration, "Adam's Nib" or something else like that? You have a cool name. Use it.

very interesting type treatment I like it

"portfolio" type need a better research, it ruins the "street" concept.