eMusicTheory.com provides interactive online tools for teachers and students of basic music theory, everywhere.
Industry
Education
Top Three Things to Communicate
#1 - Music theory and notation / education
#2 - A blend of knowledge/professionalism and playfulness
#3 - Online interactive technology
Our Target Audience:
Mostly high school & university level students and their professors/teachers, though also private music teachers/students, and individuals interested in advancing their music theory & music reading skills.
Color Preferences
Some version(s) of blue should be included, but I'm open to suggestions. The current color scheme on the site is a bit too boring (a purplish-blue, grey, and white) but the whole site is being updated once the logo is chosen so you don't have to stick to that.
Our Ideas and Additional Information:
The current logo (see http://emusictheory.com/) is homemade; the concept is a bit forced and it's very flat. It's also now 6 years old. I'd like something fresher (but don't overdo the "Web 2.0" thing.. no reflections please), simple, with subtle depth. I suppose it might be nice if a new logo incorporated some element of the old one (like the treble clef?), but that's not a requirement.
The current logo includes the ".com" -- I think we can leave that out nowadays, right?
Themes
Modern
Style
Wordmark
Stylized type that may include small abstract or pictorial elements.
Pictorial Mark
Literal or representative imagery is used to symbolize the brand.
Letterform Mark
A monogram usually consisting of 1-3 letters.
Famous Logos displayed under fair use to enrich the general publics' knowledge of graphic design.
Applications
Web
Diamond Contest
We're sorry, but this contest is presently open to a limited pool of designers.
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.
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.
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.
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.
#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!
