Happiness is GoldenLogo Design Contest

Good morning Doug!
I have sent you a private message, please check it.
Thank you :)
Mima

Thank you Mima. Tomorrow is more than fine. I appreciate your patience as I basically disappeared over the weekend. Looking forward to wrapping things up. We are very happy with the mark. Cheers! Doug

Thank you for selecting my work!
I’ll add the trademark symbol as you want to the final files.
I am not in my studio at the moment because it’s nighttime but tomorrow morning I’ll upload the final files and all the additional versions.
Best Regards,
Mima

One last comment, and it a versioning comment like those above. Happiness is Golden is a registered trademark, so I will need to have a ® added to a version of the logo. Thank you! We can cover that in the file delivery. I'll be selecting you as the winner now.

Thank you Doug, we’ll talk tomorrow.
Good luck for today:)

Thank you Mima. I appreciate it. We used Burford in our original farm logo, and thought it looked the same/similar. We use it in ads too. Glad to confirm there is consistency.

I’ll be on tomorrow and wrap things up so we can get everything finalized and completed. I do not anticipate any other requests or changes. Talk soon!

Doug

Hello Doug!
I see you had a busy weekend, I am sure that tomorrow everything will be perfect for your guests :)

The font that I used is "Burford Rustic Book Bold" but keep in mind that I've modified it a bit.
When the contest will be completed I will send you all the extra files that you need, the dog illustration and the logo without the dog's illustration, in various formats.

Personally I think that the logo is perfect the way it is, inviting, happy and modern.

Thank you :)
Mima

Hi Mima!

They do both look very happy.

It is a holiday weekend here in the states - and we have 40 people coming to visit our farm tomorrow, so I have been spending the last two days just focused on getting ready. Apologies for not responding sooner.

As for the new illustrations, I prefer these ears. :-) So will move this to first ranked.

I have a couple of requests.

1. Can you tell me the font you are using for the logo?
2. When you provide the final logo, can you please provide all of the elements as separate elements?
• I definitely want the dog illustration separate - so we can use it on its own sometimes.
• The logo without the illustration. I'd like that because I can imagine us using the logo in social media where we are dropping in photos/head shots of some of the dogs that follow us in place of the illustration.

I think that's it. Let me know if you have any questions. Also, let me know if you have add any ideas on your part to strengthen this approach. Just want to make sure its absolutely perfect in your mind too - before we finalize it.

Thank you!

Doug

Dear Dough,
Here are two new versions, #358, #359.

As you see I've modified the face of the dog according to your comments. The difference between them is in the ears.
I think that both of them look very happy :)

I am looking forward for your feedback.

Thank you!
Mima

Good morning Doug,
Thanks for the detailed feedback and your kind words about my work:)
I’ll rework the illustration of the dog in order to make it perfect!
Best Regards,
Mima

P.s. I'm going back outside with the dogs now to work a bit more. You don't have to respond until morning. Thank you!

No worries Mima - we have plenty of time to work on this one. Thank you so much for being so responsive throughout this process. In the end, that is one of the things that led us to choose you as the selected designer. There were so many of your approaches that could have applications going forward - and who knows where we might need help in the future.

At any rate, here are my main comments on the things I'd like to start out with addressing. They all have to do with the Golden Retriever illustration.

1. We want to amp up the happiness of the dog. The current illustration is great, but it is a little like the dog is sitting for a photograph. Said differently, a bit passive, a bit posed.

2. We'd like to explore the dog looking like he is laughing. When a dog laughs, their eyes look more squinted than just open, their mouths might open a bit more, their tongue lolls out a bit.

3. I know I gave the feedback that an earlier illustration felt a bit feminine. And we addressed that by eliminating the heart. I think the dog illustration also feels a bit like a female dog. The female goldens have thinner faces, a bit more pointier, so if you could look at it in that light and see if there is a way to address.

That's it for now. I like the font choice and treatment. I like the est. 1868 reversed out, etc.

Let me know if you have any questions. I'm not in a rush to wrap this up, want to take our time together and make this perfect.

Thank you!

Doug

Great news, thank you so much!
Since we’re in a different time zone I might see your comments tomorrow morning.
In any case I’ll respond as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
Mima

Hi. Okay, we are down to the final. We moved you to first. I love the approach. And I love how clean your style is... will give you more feedback shortly. Doug

No worries:)
Thank you!

Accidentally grabbed and moved this one. About to make a decision, sorry if worried you there for a second.

Awesome. Thank you.

Here you go, #336.

That's very interesting, I mean the date!
Yes of course I'll make the changes.
Thank you :)

Could you adjust this - do the same font, but not distressed. And could you change the est. date to 1868 - which is when the first golden retrievers were bred. Thank you!

That sounds encouraging, thank you!

Prefer your other versions more. Just getting organized. :-)

Your two new versions are the strongest contenders, so moving this one to prefers others.

I like the two new versions. This one and the one where the est. 2022 is reversed out. I've moved that in to the top five. And moved the previous version of the green heart. I'm going to share with some other stakeholders and will give you more specific feedback as it arises. This is a strong contender, so don't worry about it not being number 1 or 2. We're not actually actively ranking the top 5 - just identifying the top 5 designers we want to be working with in this phase.

Okay Doug, thank you for letting me know.

Thanks for your feedback and additional entries. Going to be offline until about 6-7pm eastern us time tonight. At a farm visit and won't have access. Just wanted to let you know when to expect to see more feedback.

Here is an updated version in two colors.
I've modified the dog's face and removed the heart, I think that now it doesn't look feminine.
Since you like this particular distressed font I retained it and made it bigger in order to be legible even in small scale.
As always feel free to contact me if you want any changes.

Thank you!
Mima

Thanks Doug, I am working on the new version.

Appreciate the type exploration. Cheers!

This is also interesting, but let's keep it on the back burner and not fine tune at this time.

Thank you Mima. Left comments a bit ago on the top 5 version. The color changes address some of that. Looking forward to seeing if you have additional thoughts. Of the two approaches, I think I prefer maintaining the rounder approach to the mark, versus a more horizontal treatment.

Thank you!

Doug

Hello!
I have already uploaded some revisions with gold color for the heart and the letters so please take a look.
I believe that those new versions can work well on t-shirts, hats, mugs etc.
If you want I can make a black version to see how they work.
Also I can modify the icon in order to look more neutral.

Thank you!

Hi Pink!

We've been using happiness is golden as the tagline for our Golden Dog Farm endeavor. But we found people wanted to buy stuff that just had the Happiness is Golden line on it by itself. So we decided we would create a separate identity for the brand. This is going to go on t-shirts, hats, mugs etc. - often paired with other illustrations, sayings, etc. where this won't be primary (but to start, where it is the primary communication). Please give this a look in that light and let me know if you have any thoughts or areas to explore that would move the idea forward.

As it relates to this specific logo. Feedback is that this feels a little softer, more feminine than some of the other options that we have. Could you look at what we might do to make this a bit more appealing to both men and women? Might be as simple as an alternate shape/color background behind the illustration (know you explored this somewhat before, but relook at it in light of the feedback and give your recommendations).

Thanks!

D

Thank you for including me to the finalists phase!
Here are some variations of my concepts: #284, #285, #286.
I am at your disposal if you want any changes.
Best Regards,
Mima

Okay thank you!
I'll stay with my current concepts and I won't make any new versions until the end of the blind phase.

Prefer the distressed type. So moving this over.

Definitely looks familiar! Like your head on version better.

Hello,
Here is a new version #230.
The dog's illustration has been based on one of your Instagram photos.
Thank you!

No problem, thank you:)

Thank you. Love that you are continuing to explore. And these are super cute, but really like your other illustration more.

New concepts #188 & #189 with different illustration.
Thank you!

Moving to prefers others as I need to narrow down the ranked logos more - just so I can better evaluate the ideas presented. Thank you!

Like this type size versus the type treatment in 160. Not sure if I prefer green or gold though.

really do like this new approach.

Type is a bit too far out here. But appreciate the exploration.

Sounds good. Thank you!

Variations #160 & #159 with new fonts.

Variation of my concept with a new font.

A thought is to use a similar distressed font in my circular concept.
Maybe it’ll improve it.

Moving to prefers others, as I prefer some of your approaches more. Don't want to lose the idea of the distressed type though. So keep that in mind please.

No problem, I understand.
Thanks for your feedback.

Like this approach. Moved one of the versions to ranked. Going to move this to prefer others - just to keep the numbers in ranked reasonable. Thanks for all of the effort!

Great, thank you :)
If you want any changes please let me know.

Prefer your approaches - but do like the energy of the type treatment. Thank you for all of the options!

I like this approach. Like the addition of the est. 2022 too.

I made some new concepts, #141, #138, #137, #136.
Please take a look.
Thank you!

Hi Pink. Just drilling a bit deeper on these latest options. And while I understand why my feedback led you to the talk bubbles, I'm not as big a fan of this approach as some of your other approaches. Will think through what other feedback I can provide to help guide additional exploration. I do appreciate you participating in our contest!

I prefer some of the other versions more.

Love the font exploration, but this one is too childish. Thank you for pushing the boundaries. It's exactly what I wanted to see.

In my new entries #99, #100, #101 I've used some new, child like typefaces and speech bubbles in order to make them look more playful.
Let me know if you like them.
Thank you!

No problem I’ll explore some new typefaces.
Thank you!

Thank you for your comments!
If you want any changes please let me know.

Like the exploration of type choices. And definitely have some heart for the distressed version. Thank you. If you have time to do further exploration, could you look at your approach with some more playful/child like type? This will sound weird, but something that a golden retriever might choose. A lot of the social media community around golden retrievers personify their goldens and have "them have a voice." Might be interesting to see something that goes in that direction.

Like all of these new color variations. Not sure which is my favorite actually. But putting this in ranked as a place holder for now. Moving others to not interested just to keep minimal number in ranked, but please do withdraw as I want to be able to relook at the additional treatments. Thank you!

New designs #81, #82, #83.
These designs can work perfectly well in B/W.
Thank you,
Mima

I've adjusted my design according to your comments.
Here are my new versions #68, #67.
Feel free to share your thoughts.
Thank you,
Mima

Thank you Mima! Your work on your portfolio page is really great. I'm glad you're participating in our contest.

Thank you for the feedback, I’ll try to adjust my design.
Best Regards,
Mima

Like this version too. Probably like the approach of not having the entire logo outlined as you've done here a bit better.

Thank you for participating in our contest. We appreciate it. I like your approach. There is something about the Golden illustration that I think would strengthen it a bit - it feels a little narrow at the base - perhaps give a sense of the start of the chest/shoulder as that might strengthen read as a golden? Definitely a small comment, so could also address that in final round if this logo were to be included. I would love to see some additional color exploration if you have time. Thank you.

Hello,
I'll be glad to know your comments about my concepts #49, #50.
Thank you :)
Mima