Though these particular styles aren't for me. I want to stay away from the classical horror movie poster style (running blood). Also I definitely want to take advantage of a more traditional logo character/symbol, given the strong potential imagery in the genre.
I need something that shows zombies, as opoosed to just says zombies.
That being said, I definitely like #2 over #1. It's definitely closer to the aocalyptic script feel - blocky, distress, decayed.
Hey Rory - thx for the comments. here is another idea and an illustration of my interpretation of "hope"...
[just so you know, most illustrations fetch $500 or more, but I like zombies ! and that's why I jumped at your contest. if you think i'm on the right track for your deal, i'm happy to do the work for the posted amount. ]
I hear you, B. Good to know about the economics of the logo world and thanks for the feedback. It's hard for non-designers to know what kind of logo requires way more work than another.
I definitely like the direction you've headed by using a character. He's definitely a cute zombie. Unfortunately, cute's pretty far from what we'd want to relay for HFZ. We tackle some pretty wild/raw stuff on our site/podcast and I'd hope the logo would lend itself to our style. Though, this will definitely be something I can use when I come out with our "Zombie Survival Manual for Kids!" book. :D
I understand now that character design can be time consuming, but I know I need something more than a text-only logo. Did you have any other ideas floating around?