My Father's WorldLogo Design Contest

Thanks for the submissions thus far. We'd like to see more uses of the globe idea, but think more National Geographic, or the planetEarth mini-series logo. Sophisticated but straightforward, clean and precise with an educated feel. We're looking to be the "Harvard of Homeschooling", just not so stodgy and expensive.

Looking for more crisp and professional. 
Want to show obtainable "academic excellence". Thanks for the thoughtful variety.

A few thought to help:
The logo needs to pop on black and look good Large -- we use it in conventions where are background is black (tho help the colorful books pop) and we are currently one of the most visible booths and attractive booths in the hall.

The logo (or part of it) needs to work small and on any other color. It is used on the spine of books as we are publisher.

The tag line "See the World Though God's Eyes" needs to be easily removed from the logo if it is present as it gets too small when the logo is reduced.

Globe concept could be stylized.

We've got some good entries here. Thanks all and keep working. One thing to consider is that the logo mark needs to be flexible. As we mentioned above, we want it to work as a combined logomark, logotype, and tagline, but also as 3 separate pieces we can break apart. The logomark will eventually extend to other product lines besides books.
You can look at one of our competitors, bjupress.com, to get an idea of the stylization and simplicity. But this logo also shows education by using the lamp as a symbol. The world/globe is our symbol, how can you stylize it and make it feel encompassing and holistic. The bjupress logo does a good job with simplicity, but it lacks stature, it feels more contemporary than classic.
Hope this helps.

REMOVED.

Okay, here's where we are. We like a lot of what we see, but it feels like we're getting several variations on a theme. So, we've shaken up the rankings a little, trying to spark some new ideas. So two things two consider/reiterate.
1. This really needs to be something we can use as separate pieces. The logomark will eventually live across a variety of brands. The logotype will always lock up with it in the master brand display, but the mark has to stand alone and be paired with other sub-brands. Think the Pepsi globe across all the Pepsi variations. Stick it on anything and it says Pepsi.
2. The logo (and especially the logomark) need to speak to the brand. We like the globe, but it needs to convey that this is God's world. Most of the marks that got moved up express that idea. They may not be the perfect execution for us yet, but the really speak to this being "My Father's World."
Thanks for all the entries, and your hard work. This brand is very dear to us and our big family of homeschoolers, so we apologize for being picky, but it's like we're naming our baby. It has to be just right.

MFW is more than Homeschool for kids. We are preschool through high school and working on a post high school training program for individuals and families. We have a print shop. We are give money away to Bible translation. We are developing more companies in new areas to give money away. All these businesses will be in the MFW family.

We need a logo that is flexible across brands and subbrands. MFW acronym may also have some artistic merit though we will always call the family ship My Father's World. Simple, flexible, powerful, unique, clear and recognizable. If there complexity to a logo it must be simple to disassemble and use in distinguishable part with minor adjustments to create a new brand in the family.

We need some out-of-the-box creativity introduced to the contest. Think broad and dynamic. There is no clear winner yet. Not even in style. Please broaden our choices.

We have decided to extend the open phase. Although we are happy with all the great work everyone is doing, we want to try a slightly different direction. So we're going to throw two new word and some inspiration out there for you, The words are:
Powerful - having great effectiveness
Elegant - graceful in form or movement
Think of this logo as Bruce Lee's one-inch punch. Very powerful without a lot of complication.
For visual direction think of Target, Apple, Xbox 360, World Wildlife Fund's Panda, or the Live Earth logo. They all tell a strong brand story with simplicity and grace.
Thanks for hanging in there with us, we appreciate all the passion and effort everyone is bringing to this project.

Also, to hopefully cut down on work, you only need to submit one version of an idea. If we like the concept, we will contact you directly to ask for changes/variations. We are able to see quickly if the idea is there and can visualize variations. Just don't want you guys killing yourselves doing multiple versions, just focus on the central idea. Thanks!

One more day of extensions. We feel that having a weekend day might give everyone a chance to have some more time to work. Thanks!

Thank you for the extra time! :)