Thanks for your designs. We don't like #39. Neither of us like the idea of using the letters of our name (A or C) - we'd prefer a symbol that represents what we do.
Now #40 is going in a good direction. We both like the look. Here are the things we don't like:
- I don't think it'll look really great on a hat - we want it to stand out in a room full of hats
- The slogan is way too small for a hat.
- That A symbol with the helm doesn't do anything for us.
- It doesn't look very nautical.
You've got a good start on the guidebook part - is there a ways to make it more interesting and add the "interactive" part? Maybe that pulse idea like the RSS symbol?
The book isn't making me think boating. I couldn't see myself wearing the hat in any boating function with #42, etc. It seems like it too much, well, a book...it doesn't make me think about boating. I do like that book symbol though.
#44 is really nice. We both like it. It's much simpler than anything we thought we'd like. I like the pulse turning into a wave - there's some boating symbolism there. Not too much "guidebook" but perhaps that's asking for too much.
I like the typeface and bold treatment. I'd want to ask an embroiderer if the thin text would work with stitching. It seems like it would. We'd have to explore colors with it.
See if you can think of anything else with it. Anything else with guidebook, navigation, direction? You hit the concept of something "abstract" with this one. I like it.
We're still liking #44 this morning. It's your logo that made us realize that the whole "book" thing is making logos that don't really give the image that we want for the company. What we're looking for is "active". Every design we've liked so far has involved waves and the ocean - like yours.
We're a little concerned that #44 is dominated by the name - which isn't bad - but will that really stand out in the room full of boaters wearing hats? We looked around for some other logos that we really liked that seemed to say "active" to us with boating. Here are some examples: http://www.oceanleadership.org/ http://www.nycia.com/graphic_design/logo_portfolio.asp?id=1
I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad one to give other examples like that. I'm only doing it to try and show the things we like. It seems that all I write about are part that I don't like.
Let me know if I there's other feedback I can give.
We keep coming back to #44. I'm about to rate it as #1. I think you should explore other colors and other fonts with it. Think about what a boater would want to be wearing for the font - it says that they're the captain of their boat. What should that look like? We want them to WANT to wear the hat!
I like the wave in #44 and how it's broken up into two parts. We could use either of those other wave parts in other icons for different parts of the site, keeping it tied together with the main logo.
We've got some time and I'd like to see other designs to see what else comes up. Right now, #44 is the one we like.
The logo on a hat is limited to a rectangle. The rectangle has more width than height so your design allows the text to look bigger and readable at a distance because it isn't very tall. That's a good thing.
Any other ideas to make #44 pop out more? Colors are easy to change - what do you like? Obviously, the color on the hat has a lot to do with the hat color - we'll have a light colored hat (like the image I made up) and a darker one (probably in the blue family).
I need to live with the new colors a little. The green and purple (#90-#92) will take some time to love. ;-)
Have you seen the hat image? The emphasis on the right makes it look tilted to me. When the image is like #75 it becomes more visible - see the buoy hat picture. I don't like the two word break-up with #75 though. Is there a way to make the image bigger like that and put the text together? I'd also experiment with keeping the "dot" in the upward pulse. Perhaps that would work under the first "i"? Or maybe it needs to just have an extra dot somewhere above. The dot makes that more like an RSS pulse. I like the idea of the RSS/connected icon tied to the blue one making an ocean wave.
It's OK to bring in a third color if you think it'll help or accentuate something.
I'm a fan of the plastic/shiny look that you've experimented with (every software developer loves that). It won't work with a hat, obviously, but it's OK to use it if the image can still be flattened for the hat.
I'm glad we're on the right track if you are split between two of my designs for your fave. I've just submitted #109 for you to see, making the text stand out a little more. Let me know what you think.
The reason they are using the same colours is because they see the one at number one and conclude that these are the colours that you are looking for. With a long deadline, expect to see a lot more!
Let me know what colours you would like me to try and I'll try my best to adapt.
I went to a dinner party last night and we all talked about LogoTournament. No one knew about it and it was all we talked about all evening! Anyway, everyone likes #44. I still like it the best too. The symbol in #111 seems to dominate the design too much. I need to keep #44 rated further from the top or else I'm only going to get those colors. I'd really, really like to see more colors especially for the #44 design. If you look at the hat images, it's just hard to read "ActiveCaptain" because it's so light colored. Someone else put the Active word in slight italics to show it being "active". I kind of like that idea although I don't know if it would work with your design.
Don't be afraid to bring in other colors - even more than the 2 being used. I'm not against the two colors although they need to be easier to read - and I'm not against having only two colors - I just wonder if a color accent would add something. I trust your design judgement on that.
Thanks for the color changes. I need to look at them some more. Here's what I'd like all based on #44 if possible:
1. Change only the "Captain" letters to that slightly italic version you started using in the new ones (#141, etc).
2. Change only the "Active" letters to that slightly italic version (make "Captain" straight again).
3. Show each of the 4 versions from items 1 & 2 above with "THE INTERACTIVE CRUISING GUIDEBOOK" like you did in #101. Can it be made a little darker? It is so hard to read right now.
I don't think the different colored dot adds anything - I don't really like it.
What color combination do you like the best? What appeals to your eye?
I still like the Cyan and Grey combo. This time I've darkened both tones for you to see.
I was thinking, I know the display on the hat is paramount but this logo must serve you through many other media. I have always kept it in the back of my mind designing it so it will work effectively in the future on documents and websites. I hope you agree :)
Yes, I agree. I think that it just might take some color change for the hat - but that's really easy to do. The colors are also limited to the thread available. I want to just make sure that the actual image looks good on the hat. I'm not as much worried about color right now.
I have to admit that I like the cyan and gray one the best too.
#145 is it. "Active" being italic makes sense. "Captain" being italic made the upward straight pulse look tense to me because it was bent - it might just be my crazy way of looking at it.
Thanks, Chris. Yeah, some of those color combinations are nice. I'll need to show them around. One of the nice things about your design is that it works for black & white and reversed easily. It's one of the things I originally liked about it. It also works well in vinyl - we're going to put it on the side of our boat this Fall as we head out down the coast.
You're in. Something way different and outstanding has to come in to displace you.
If it's not a problem, could you re-do #160 without the gradients? That color combination makes the slogan a little easier to read but the gradients wouldn't work on the hat. I sort of like the flatter color for the web site too - we'll see.
I'll make up some hat samples tonight to see what works with the different colors.
Nah - don't change anything! I "put" a copy of it on a picture of my boat. It even works there. We're heading out on it for a 5,000 mile trip between Maine and the Bahamas and back again and think it would be a good idea to have the logo there as well.
Wow, I've just checked the location of Maine (forgive my naivity!) that's a long trip. Sounds like fun. It's not half as exotic here on the South Coast of England!
Any chance you can send me a link to your boat picture with the logo on it?
Nah - don't touch that design. If you want to come up with anything else, you're welcome. With almost 5 days left, I'm still interested in seeing other ideas. I'm quite happy with what you've done - don't take it the wrong way that I'm still interested in getting more designs. I guess it's one bad thing about having a longer contest...
There is one small thing to think about if possible. When putting the design onto a hat, there's an issue - do you center the design on the hat or do you center the ActiveCaptain word on the hat and hang the symbol over to the right. The logo sort of "weighs" too much on the right side.
Any ideas about what could be done about that?
One thing I thought of (that I don't really like) is to put ".com" there. That would keep everything centered then. Or is there something else?
Or left alone, how do you think it should be placed on a hat?
I have had a play and I would have the whole logo centrally aligned and on the back use just the waves quite small on their own. I made an image but I don't think it'll be allowed to be uploaded to logo tournament.
Is your image something that can be posted somewhere? I've had quite a few images sent to me outside LT in the last week. Our perhaps email it to me: jeff (at) activecaptain.com ?