eMusicTheoryLogo Design Contest

By the way, if any of the top 6 designers in the ranking at the end of the contest are interested in a copy of our standalone software, just let me know; I'll give you a free license as a thank you for your hard work. I will also try to give useful feedback as the contest proceeds. Thank you to all who participate!

It seems like the image in #1 is partly corrupted.
The font is clean and easily readable, that's a plus.
The high level of detail that comes with the background sheet music may post a problem, though. It won't shrink well, and it also ties the logo to a particular piece of music.

All kinds of music can use notes, isn't it? But I just wanted to use a small part of your old logo. I will try something new. :)

Thanks Dequal! By "particular piece of music", I just meant that many of my visitors are musicians at some level, so they might recognize the piece from the image (I can see that's a piano piece in B minor; not sure if it's one I know or not, but I haven't tried playing it out).

A note I should mention in general -- I mentioned in the description that the logo should cover "Online interactive technology", but that doesn't mean you need to include anything "tech-y" looking as an actual element of the logo. I think a strong modern-looking logo will likely cover the base.

To help clarify the style I'd like:
The winning logo in this contest does a neat job: https://logotournament.com/contests/Cordalia%20Consulting
There's a clean 3-D effect on the "O" without using shadows or gradients; it's very clean and simple but still has depth. (Minor gradients/shadow that could be left out of a low-res version are possible, but I'm usually most impressed by graphics that give the sense of depth without them).
A few others: https://logotournament.com/contests/ShoppersOnline.com
https://logotournament.com/contests/DemandFlex
https://logotournament.com/contests/10%20Past%20Ten
Or go here: https://logotournament.com/portfolio and pick "Miscellaneous", "Winning Entries". Delta Outdoor, Lives Transforming, and CityLiveNC are all pretty cool.

I marked #4 "not interested" because the name is short enough that I don't feel like we need to use the "eMT" acronym (plus, EMT is already a well-known acronym).
#3 needs more integration -- any symbols should be fluidly merged into the text of the name text.
#2 and #5 are closer to the feel that I'm looking for, out of what we have so far, though they both feel a bit flat.

So far I'm also seeing fonts that are quite standard and not very interesting -- that's part of it.
Thanks to all of the entries so far!

Sorry AngryPuppy I have just noticed that we both used the note for the "I" letter. I didn't see yours on time. I can change that if this is going to go any further with my concept.

It's important that "Music" and "Theory" have the same weight -- we don't want to be mixed up with eMusic (they sell mp3s). #13 is better than #14 for that reason, though #14 is a more developed logo (with more interesting font & color). I should also say that one downside of the graphic in #14 is that those notes are "playable", and don't really make sense musically.

#11 is a bit too far towards the "playful" side with the jumbled letters.
#9: I like that it's starting experimenting with less common fonts, but I don't think that choice works, and the graphic on the left is sort of confusing.
#10 has a nice clean look, but I'd prefer the symbol integrated into the name (if it's going to be based on the letters).

Here's an idea that someone may be able to use -- linking a hand-drawn G-clef symbol to the "e" (perhaps the spiraling part would wrap around a cut-out "e" instead of being part of it like in the old logo... since the spiral goes the wrong direction). There might also be a way to use abstract staff lines to link into the text.

Here's the summary of my ideas, put into one horrible graphic:
http://www.emusictheory.com/logo_idea.gif
Feel free to use any of these ideas if they can be made to look nice!

I pulled #1 out of the "Not Interested" category because it still has the most interesting font so far.
Between #7 and #8: 7 has better colors; but i'm not sure the drop shadow is needed (it's makes it seem like the logo is balanced on the tip of the "y". The graphic is a neat idea and adds depth (hooray) but it would be tricky to chop any piece into a favicon plus it would need some polishing to look right.

Thanks everyone!

#30 and #31: nice look! "Music" and "Theory" need to be evenly balanced, though, to make sure the concept of "Music Theory" comes across clearly.

The non-white background is possible, though we definitely won't use a black background (so dropping #23 and #24); the overall website look will not be dark.

About a slogan: "music everywhere." (on #30 and #31) wouldn't work, but "music theory, everywhere." would be okay.
I'll try to think about it; we've never had a slogan before.

Thanks for the ongoing ideas, everyone! I'm enjoying this process.

#41 through #45 -- I like the colors and overall feel -- out of those, #44 and #45 are the best, I think). Unfortunately, the tuning fork isn't enough of a symbol related to music theory (think more about what you'd see on a page of music). Also (see other comments above) no space between "Music" and "Theory", and be sure to avoid "eMusic" by itself. Thank you!

Hey brad2,

Great entry! heads up! ;D

Thanks Baiskee!

Thanks Baiskee!

Go brad!, winning everything right now aren't you