...a question (not intended to offend)

[mags]

am totally new to all this (as some of you will have already gathered!). i have been approached by someone to design a logo for their company, nearly choked as i did not intend to do this for quite some time as i am such a beginner and have only just started on the learning curve however i had to give it a go and see if i can come up with something good enough.

before anyone starts going crazy - i am not asking for anyone to design a logo for me, what i am wondering or rather asking is, (and now im asking i dont know how to put it into words!) - the company supplies shellfish and is called shellfish direct ltd, oh heck, in for a penny in for a pound as they say, i'll be extremely brave (please dont all slate me at once) and attach what i have done to far - the question is - the 'flat christmas bauble' which is actually a scallop shell is as you can see a blue colour, obviously a real shell is not that colour - is this a big no, no ie. should the shell be the correct colour? i just feel it looks better visually in the colour i have done it rather than the wishy wash shell colour.

a very nervous mags!

[mags]

am totally new to all this (as some of you will have already gathered!). i have been approached by someone to design a logo for their company, nearly choked as i did not intend to do this for quite some time as i am such a beginner and have only just started on the learning curve however i had to give it a go and see if i can come up with something good enough.

before anyone starts going crazy - i am not asking for anyone to design a logo for me, what i am wondering or rather asking is, (and now im asking i dont know how to put it into words!) - the company supplies shellfish and is called shellfish direct ltd, oh heck, in for a penny in for a pound as they say, i'll be extremely brave (please dont all slate me at once) and attach what i have done to far - the question is - the 'flat christmas bauble' which is actually a scallop shell is as you can see a blue colour, obviously a real shell is not that colour - is this a big no, no ie. should the shell be the correct colour? i just feel it looks better visually in the colour i have done it rather than the wishy wash shell colour.

a very nervous mags!

[Eric]

Dinne worry
the logo is fine...the only thing I can say IMOHO is the shell does'nt 'say' shellfish, I'm not a great believer in gimmicks overload so i like it. If you can change the shape into a more obvious shell then it's as good as ANYBODY here can do.

cheers
eric

[Ross Macintosh]

No need for nervousness Mag! I doubt anyone will have any problem at all with your request for help.

I just had a look at the .xar file. Because I don't have thefont you used I had a font substitution happen - the results look improper but I can see what you are trying to do.

I have no problem with the blue shell colour but then I don't think a more realistic 'peachy' colour would look bad either.

With a bit of deconstruction I see how your arrow was made by 'joining' two shapes. Note how that operation eliminated the part that was overlapping - which in turn messes up the bevel application. There is an easy way around that problemo: Don't 'join'! Instead you could have used the following with both shapes selected: arrange>combine shapes>add shapes.

Lets see if I understand your concept correctly. Since this company distributes shellfish you have the arrow as indicative of the movement. The shell then is self explanitory - it is moving. The tear-like shapes then are water drops being left behind by all that movement. How close am I?

I have some ideas but I'll wait until I read more about yours.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[mags]

thanks eric and ross - phew, (i was in two minds where to make the posting or not!)

i'll get my bevel problem sorted - my brain doesnt thing logical im afraid!!

jeepers - i cant believe u have hit the nail on the head ross, i am saying to myself that it cant be all that bad.

you are so right, i wanted something to show both the movement and the 'product' and the association with the product out the sea (to give the 'freshness'), i made the arrow blue to try and indicate the movement from the sea (?!), did think about giving that end (the 'out the sea' >water drops more emphasis ie. like the arrow shooting out the sea and some sea surrounding it kinda thing with the arrow wooshing out (incase u wonder at my gibber i am not very good at putting my thought into words), but it was going to get too fussy and busy.

i will post my first 'scribble' - gave up on it totally, before getting very far - i am more used to working with photos - as u can tell with this, its quite laffable actually

[mags]

...with shell

[Ross Macintosh]

Mags - Now that I see your bitmap shell I'm inclined to say you should stick to a drawn shell. That pic doesn't look too appetizing [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Another thought relates to the use of a flat bevel on the arrow. It makes it very angular whereas a rounded bevel could look more fluid. Another thing to try could be to apply your bitmap water as a fill to the arrow and the drops before the bevels are applied - for a wet look.

Just for fun, I've recycled the box I drew for the 'downunder' logo thread a while back. The shell used is from a wingding-type font called 'DF Diversities LET' and the lettering uses a font called 'Stencil'. I thought the box represents shipping as do the stencil-looking graphics. One big difference from your (Mags) logo is notice how the company name in mine is relatively clear given its relatively large size. Text on your shell is currently hard to read. You might want to look at also creating a letterhead sized version of your logo - you might have to take the lettering off the shell for that.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[This message was edited by Ross Macintosh on September 09, 2001 at 04:58.]

[Ross Macintosh]

Here's another way of looking at Mags' shell and the idea of it coming fresh from the water...

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[mags]

if you are interested, attached is the first "logo" (!) and also the finished logo which the client chose and was pleased with. thanks for your advice and thoughts

[mags]

..the first "logo" (!)