SKULL!

Sir_Wang

This is a logo for a friends company, im in the proccess of cleaning up the phones, any other crits? first peice on tablet.
Heres the link:
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/1273/avdone.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/512...ticedited1.jpg
updated of upper pic
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210

DeeLock

Shrink that shit!

mensch-o-matic

Is it supposed to be a human skull? And the background is kind of a pointless waste of space

Mustang

Have the cheek bones melted for a reason?

Sir_Wang

yes, i should have specified that earlier, its a producing company, he described it as Face melting.

Grenn

For me, it doesn't work as a logo.

Some pointers for good logo design:

• The idea should be refined/edited to remove needless clutter
• Distinctive, bold and with a strong, memorable silhouette
• Works in b&w as well as colour
• Imagery should work appropriately with other branding/colourschemes

Also, ideally, a logo should be designed as a vector so it's scalable.

nanthil

these guys sell head phones. To me it looks like a bit of fan art instead of an original. Just my opinion. I love their headphones. "Skullcrushers" have SUPER heavy bass.

MagicToaster

That's way too complicated to be a logo.

Sir_Wang

This is the one im doing instead.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/5916/realisticedited4.jpg
also unfinished.

Kendeathwalker

The skull is lopsided.

MagicToaster

I think you need to scrath the whole style. You didn't really make a diferent logo, you just took the same one you had before and changed it slightly. Gren had some really good advice:

Grenn wrote: »

• The idea should be refined/edited to remove needless clutter
• Distinctive, bold and with a strong, memorable silhouette
• Works in b&w as well as colour
• Imagery should work appropriately with other branding/colourschemes

What's the name of your friend's company/product?

Sir_Wang

Auditory visuals. the skull is gonna be wearing Bob Dylan shades. Im not gonna scrap this one. I am definatley working on all the other critiques and appreciate them.

MagicToaster

I'd suggest making several options. You'll get really good ideas flowing.

Tubesteak Samurai

Shrink that bad boy down to business card size and it's instantly ruined.

nanthil

.


logos = simple, easy to read, few colors or shades, and recognizable from a distance, like the skullcandy logo i posted earlier. I like it as a stand alone piece, but this is a little to dense for the purpose of a logo, like Tubesteak said. (not in so many words)

Maybe try 2 or 3 tone black/white instead of grayscale?

Sir_Wang

i am new to adobe photoshop. is there no line tool, is there also a pressure sensitive setting for my wacom, not thickness but shading.
Nanthil, not only do i appreciate your advice but i want crepes thank you.

Mustang

I'd suggest you refrain from doing logos for people until you get a reasonable grasp on photoshop.
In particular the pen tool.

As to your question.

How to set Pen Pressure It's the same in CS4 as CS3.

Sir_Wang

Before i keep working on this one. Is this a good idea. Our company is a compilation of devout pot smokers hence the color scheme. None the less, before i spend hours fixing this, is it appropriate for a basic logo. its hard for me to do these things, drawing is my area not logo design.

Mustang

Get a handle on the pen tool and you'll find this kind of work a whole lot easier.
And also learn how to crop.

Sir_Wang

Cropping in logo design, im not saying no, im just wondering why it would help. Like i said earlier new wacom new programs. Im a virgin and need to know what is appropriate, if i dont i can get along without.

Mustang

Cropping merely means cutting off all that excess white area.
It makes it easier for everyone to see your work.

Et Voilà!



You might want to hit up some Photoshop tutorials on youtube. They are many and vast, and will accelerate your understanding much quicker than fumbling through alone.

MagicToaster

I just read this very short bit about logos. It's very interesting

http://www.mcwade.com/DesignTalk/

Grenn

Good lil article MT, thanks for sharing. The 'tick' on that logo is horrible!

I'm a big advocate of refining as a process of taking things away. People often approach things thinking, 'What can I add to this?' when sometimes the best approach is 'What can I take away?'

Remove superlative clutter; leave the essence of the design behind.


Back on topic -- Sir_Wang, I get the impression that the companies you are talking about are not actually real companies (if they were, why wouldn't they be hiring a real designer?) - there are merely endeavours. Not that this takes away from what you are trying to design, but it does make it dificult to give you advice.

If you are genuinely interested in branding & logo design there is an awful lot for you to learn -- thankfully, there is also an absolute wealth of design blogs, books and other inspiration out there.

I actually came across this this morning, which I thought had some nice work in it: http://www.abduzeedo.com/logo-design-serif-part-2

Enjoy.

Sir_Wang

Grenn wrote: »

Good lil article MT, thanks for sharing. The 'tick' on that logo is horrible!

Back on topic -- Sir_Wang, I get the impression that the companies you are talking about are not actually real companies (if they were, why wouldn't they be hiring a real designer?) - there are merely endeavours. Not that this takes away from what you are trying to design, but it does make it dificult to give you advice.

.

Its not companies, its company, it is real, they are hiring me for the logo because its free and im a friend, so it is not "merely an endeavor." so you can suck these balls. thanks for that article though, it helped a bunch.

nontheless, attempt 3 or 4 or somthing.

Prospicience

Sir_Wang wrote: »

Grenn wrote: »

Good lil article MT, thanks for sharing. The 'tick' on that logo is horrible!

Back on topic -- Sir_Wang, I get the impression that the companies you are talking about are not actually real companies (if they were, why wouldn't they be hiring a real designer?) - there are merely endeavours. Not that this takes away from what you are trying to design, but it does make it dificult to give you advice.

.

Its not companies, its company, it is real, they are hiring me for the logo because its free and im a friend, so it is not "merely an endeavor." so you can suck these balls. thanks for that article though, it helped a bunch.

nontheless, attempt 3 or 4 or somthing.

That's not a very nice response. Also, spec work is a no no. You don't want everyone coming to you for free work. I understand that it's for a friend, but unless you're doing some sort of trade I wouldn't suggest it in future instances.

MagicToaster

Unless you're planning on never printing that logo, I would suggest staying away from that green, or any color that is near flousforecent, for that matter.

You've created that logo in an RGB color space, which is reserved for things which will be displayed using light, such as a web page on a computer monitor or a projector. When you're printing, you jump to a totally diferent color space known as CMYK.

Because CMYK's pallet is based on pigments, and not light the brightness of its hues is limited when compared to RGB. If you're interested on the subject you can read about the Color Gamut and how it diferent color spaces behave in it.




In addition to the natural color shift that you have when you convert such a bright RGB Green to CMYK, you face an additional challenge because in RGB Green is a primary (that is, you don't need to mix any colors to make green), in CMYK Green is a secondary color (that is, you need to mix cyan and yellow to make green). If you use this color, upon conversion to CMYk the new green will be made up of all 4 CMYK colors, this translates as a greater color shift when you print with diferent printers because not all printers mix and manage colors the same way.

Black, also suffers when you convert it from RGB to CMYK. It will be dull and muddy instead of rich and vibrant.

Here are my suggestions:

• Work in CMYK
• Work in Illustrator for logos
• Use Spot Colors (PMS, Toyo or Truematch, depending on what part of the world you're in) when dealing with colors for a logo

A note on green:
Green is a pain in the ass to print. If the cyan or yellow are off on the printer, it can come out looking more bluish or yellowish.


A note on printers:
Depending on the printer and the paper you're using, the lines that can be clearly reproduced per square inch may be less than what your monitor is showing you. It is dangerous to leave such fine details on something that will be shrunken down to a business card or faxed to a customer. Probably, the letters in your logo that read Audio Visual will turn into a blob.


A note on design:
Design is hard. I hope you're not a cry baby.

Grenn

Sir_Wang wrote: »

Its not companies, its company, it is real, they are hiring me for the logo because its free and im a friend, so it is not "merely an endeavor." so you can suck these balls.

Much like your ability, your attitude, professionalism and business acumen speak volumes.

My apologies, sir! You clealy have a bright future ahead of you in the glorious world of graphic design.

Good luck with that! :^:

Sir_Wang

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Im hoping im done with this one. about to start on a cd cover.

Grenn, we are on a forum. I dont have to be professional. And if this were the case, isnt callin someone a liar extremely unprofessional?

Mustang

I actually quite like that.

Fletcher

this one is way better!

HOWEVER before i saw it at full size I thought it was a boob wearing headphones

although i suppose it could just be me jumping to that conclusion

erisian pope

nope - totally a boob when small and pretty much when big, too

Sir_Wang

Bigger pupil, or would that just look like a bigger nipple?
now that i think about it, maybe it looking like a boob is a good thing.

Fletcher

yeah, i think a bigger iris/pupil would probably work!

google image search for "cartoon eyeball" seems to indicate that an iris/pupil area just under half the width of the eyeball itself provides optimum not-boobness

erisian pope

That actually looks kinda anatomically correct, too. But what do I know - I can't art.

Sir_Wang

Less BOOBY! sad day.


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webguy20

Used to work at a commercial print operation. Big commercial printing presses. To continue with the CMYK any of the transitional colors are a pain in the ass. Purple, orange, green. All can shift hue depending on setup.

Sir_Wang

What colors reproduce well? A basic red, primes?

MagicToaster

Color accuracy will depend on several factors; from your color profiles to your printer to the material you'll be using.

Where do you plan on printing this? At home or a professional press?

If you're worried about color accuracy, look into Illustrators spot color swatches (Pantones, Toyo, TrueMatch). keep in mind that only offset printers can make a spot color, a digital printer can't.

So where will you print?

Mustang

God I hate printing, it confuses the shit out of me. I'm just going to clone a MT/Grenn frankenstein slave and get it to handle all my printing needs so i don't have to think about it. Guys I'm going to need some throat scrapings.

Sir_Wang

They wont be personally making anything printed on. This is all for internet and business cards. Business cards are going to be printed by someone unknown to me.
Done logo.


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I think the pupil might be too moonshaped.

Cd cover progress. people trees being cut down by tree people.


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MaraShylaStewart

nice skull pic