NuteakLogo Design Contest

Hi, this is my take on your contest. Concept only (color scheme in 2nd stage). Customized Sansation font family with a teak features within the letter A. Also A can represent a part of a boat.

Let me know if you have any comments on this. Thank you.

Tomas

Thanks for your submission. We really were debating on this one as conceptually the "A" as the bow of a boat is a really cool concept. The only issue is that we're not in love with the font selection and find there's not enough separation between NU & TEAK.

Here's the feedback that we have from your concept.
Teak on a boat is not be installed that way especially at the bow. It would be more like an inversed V inside another inversed v (so lines on both sides). What would likely be cool is making the A a bit larger than the rest to help define it as being the bow of a boat (so it's just a bit more obvious) and putting the lettering a little bit closer.

Now just so that you're aware, the main decision maker does love your concept but he also loves the other concept where there's also an icon on the side of a boat wheel (as he feels that has a very nautical feeling to it and does not want to have "synthetic teak marine decking" below the logo, instead he wants "synthetic teak"... so he feels the boat wheel will help people understand it's nautical).

One thing that was liked from other entries was having NU and TEAK somehow separated (one inside a box, the other not or vice versa).

Thanks again for your creativity Thomas. Let me know if you find anything in these comments unclear.

So basically the fonts for TEAK are closer together and the A is like the bow of a boat coming out of it (hope this makes sense).

Hi, and thanx for the feed. I will explore more option based on your comments and will come back with new designs.

Tomas

Hi Tomas. Thank you very much. I speak on behalf of everyone here when I say we are excited to see what you are able to come up with for us.

Sorry for the delay, still working on your logo. Hope i ll get a chance to submit

Hi I just extended the top 5 phase for 1 more day. Hope this helps. Now as a note if you look at all the logos ranked right now I think you can get an idea for the approach were looking for. Something that has a nautical type icon on the left and a nice font face treatment (as you have done).

Big boss likes the wheel that was submitted but only because it is obvious that its nautical. I'm certain something more towards NU or Teak or just creative that fits with nautical will work. I hope this helps.

Yes thanks. Helps a lot.

i tried some concepts with much less bold font options for #168 and it seems to work out much better than in heavy bold

Hi the big boss likes the textual concept from your logo option entry #168 but not the colors.

He really is stuck on the boat wheel concept that is currently ranked as #1 but I don't particularly like it as it's too distracting. He wants to have an icon with text, so if you're open to try to make some icon that has a boat wheel that's not too distracting then he would likely choose you. If not then thank you for your time.

Here's more in depth explanation that might help you...

He likes #90 because it's an icon and that it's a boat wheel (because it's a passion thing - nautical guys love it and using just a sailboat limits because this stuff is installed on powerboats, cruise ships, etc... it's even used on fishing fleets because when they gut the fish the oils do not soak into the product and are easily washed off with water and some soap [unlike fiberglass & real wood]). He also likes that there's some arrows pointing towards a direction on option #90 as it appears to represent movement but there's changes that still need to be made to finalize the logo because he also likes elements from what's currently ranked as number 2. The product is a luxury item and he wants to show something that gives a very rich image while still being simplistic.

So this is what I would have to say to you or anyone else that is working on this.

1. #90 is the icon that he likes most but he does not like the bevel that is in it. He prefers the clean style in the icon from #196 but he does not like the font on #196.

2. He really likes the textual treatment from option #168 but not the colors that are used. He finds that the A as the boat bow is a really cool concept, but he wants an icon associated with the logo cause that alone isn't enough.

3. He likes the NU from option #164. His idea is that if you can somehow integrate the NU from that option into the boat wheel icon from #196 that it would nice.

4. As for the icon if you can place it inside a crest, similar to on option #199 (to better understand this, if you look at the icon and look at the surrounding edges of the circle you can see it has some small little effect that makes it look luxury vs. just a solid line around it).

5. Another idea that he wanted to explore but never had a chance to because we were too long with getting feedback is to expand on the concept from #133. The idea he had was to take the NU from #164 and place it inside the middle instead of the N that's there now and add a boat wheel / crest like on #133. Then to have the planks go around it like it currently does on option #133 (but making it look cleaner). The feeling is that is #133 can be cleaned up and the N can be replaced with the NU from #164 that it would give an effect similar to the PN on the image at http://www.seadek.com/blog/?attachment_id=3524. Then around the outside you can have the little jagged edges like on #199.

But with all that said, he's really in love with the boat wheel concept (even though we all find it is too distracting in it's current state).

Just wanted to share this little piece of information. I will contact LT support about extending the contest so we can try to expand on these options a bit more.

#210 something this direction maybe? more dynamic, modern, hip, cool

no no no... logo has to still come across as classic / professional. remember we're a luxury product installed on high-end boats.

this is why the big boss wants to have something that is representative towards nautical. He wants to have a nice font face with some treatment (he liked your concept for the reason of the A like the boat bow)... but he wanted to have something iconic inside a crest to go along side the logo. He liked the boat wheel because it is nautical but he's not in love with what that designer came up with (it's ok... but so much better can be done).

Let me know if this makes sense or if you have some questions. I'm here to answer so you can take the right direction.

sure im just throwing some more options i ll keep posting

colors from 211 are PERFECT... but wrong direction.

remember serious company... most of our target clients are big businessmen and people that like quality luxury items. this needs to be conveyed through the logo.

working on it sir.

#222 i think this concept says more about what it represents = that it is a product. still have bow as an A with depiction of teak lines and its easier to understand that its A is a boat!

ok what about an icon beside it? Do you think you could come up with something like what was requested and show the original concept that we liked with the thinner font and also with this latest font? this would allow us to make a final decision as this logo really needs to have a nautical icon beside it (big boss requires it)

ok. i will try to incorporate a boat wheel icon with the two wordmarks.

Great thank you for this last submission could you also do one with your original A concept. The one we ranked number 2?

What's important is that the boat wheel concept does no overpower the name. It should support it.

ok. i will try to incorporate a boat wheel icon with the two wordmarks.

^ sorry for the clone post. i will play with the wheel and adapt it to both wordmarks #168 #224

No problem. If its not a boat wheel and you think of something else nautical that can be used you can show that as well. Looking forward to seeing what can be done with #168

ok. i might be pushing the use of a boat wheel because "it was already used" and i did not make any arrangements with the designer who 1st made it so i might end up in this called logo court where other designer will vote in favor of one or the other. i honestly dont see why anybody alse couldnt use it and i ll try my best to defend myself. one way or the other if i ll be forced to withdraw the wheel, which im preparing for already, i will opt out for a different nautical symbol.

Understand. Seems some designers took it upon themselves to split the prize. I don't really understand cause I asked for the boat wheel and some more nautical elements to the icon, such as rope around it, etc...

yes they did. thats because they submitted the idea first its theirs copyright in the contest. (you asked after seeing the designs) there is a whole science about this cases, exceptions... i will try my best

Can you show #267 with some type of nautical icon? We like the option with the font face but we need something abstract beside it that we can use in conjunction with that logo.

i will have some time in the morning so i will do what i can

btw the fonts are not fonts. they are all custom drawn lettering so there is no need for a font license.

Thanks for the clarification. I am anxiously waiting to see your options so we may make a selection.

idea behind the nautilus shell is the similarity of hard surface or cover (protection) and the characteristics features of synt. teak. also implies the marine feeling and luxury/high quality.

hi, my boss really likes your concept #244 the best and wants to select it as the winner but wants to give the other designer a chance to upload the revisions that have been requested to him.

Now with that being said, here's the feedback on your concepts:

1. He likes how you have the wheel cutting into the text (how they are merged together). Good job with that. He's just wondering if there's some way to simulate movement. In another designers concept this was done using arrows (which is too busy in my opinion). This doesn't need to be done if you feel it's too much, but he did ask that I request it from you.
2. On #244 he would like the see the A full like on your concept #267 (use the same font as in #244 but adapt the A to fit the style like on #267 - hopefully this makes sense).
3. Can you show us an example of the icon from #244 with the same font and A from #267 (this way we can choose between both).

Lastly, if you look at the font used to write the word teak from option #293 you see how teak is touching each other? Is it possible to adapt your concept from #267 to have the font letters touch each other while making the A still stick out (this might not be possible).

Please let me know if you're able to do this or not.

hi and thanx for the comments. the feedback is very clear and i would be more than glad to make all those changes. just message me whenever you will be ready to advance me to 1st place so i can submit.

i ve been notified that #224 has to be withdrawn because of the (r). apologize didnt know about this.

Great thanks. Just so you know the concept from #308 with the way that the arrows form the wheel is a brilliant way to incorporate the arrows and the wheel without being too distracting.

Put you back in the first place position so you can now submit the final ideas and we can make a selection.

Also one last thing I forgot to ask... what will this logo look like on dark background vs. light background? (we need to make sure that our logo works well on light & dark colors).

hi and sorry for the late reply. had a big snow storm here in mid Missouri. lots of trouble with it. i will work on it tonight and tomorrow morning. thanx

Thanks for uploading the latest designs. I have placed them all together on the 2nd line so I can show both designers concepts tomorrow morning to my boss. It has no representation of the actual rankings. Just wanted you to be aware of that.

Just curious on the dark version how come you didn't decide to put the dark blue into a white color or to lighten up the brownish color to a grey? It's not an important thing. Just found it to be curious.

So by tomorrow well have an update for you.

Hi I wanted you to know that I just spoke with my boss and your concept #324 is the winner. He does have a few small revisions he wants applied to it but overall he reviewed what was sent tonight and you're was the one that he feels best represents the brand values.

I wanted to say thank you for sticking along with us during this process and for continuing to work with us despite all the requests we made & continue to make.

awesome. let me know of any changes you would like to make and i will be more than glad to do so.

:) The changes relate towards the word "teak" from your concept.

1. We really like how the "A" represents the bow of the boat.
2. When we look close, it looks like at the top where the "T" & the "E" meet that there's an overlap which is making 1-2px look a bit thicker than the rest.
3. If you look at #323 we really like how the A is popping out from the E & cutting back into the K. If you look their E is wider and it's cut by the shape of the A, then the A is cutting back into the bottom of the K. This is what I was asking for in my comments I submitted to you.
4. On the black background option what do you think about having NU in white vs. in blue.

ok thank you. i will work on the revisions today and have designs ready by tonight. about that black background i didnt want to change the colors of the original one so you can see how the original colors work on black. but i will send options with white and other possibilities like light gray.

did few revisions mostly with the lettering treatment. threw in some more side concepts that poped up while drawing.
i will try to implement the motion in the wheel but so far havent found the right solution. imo adding the arrows feels busy and in small scale eventually fades. if you find the subtle motion feel in #324 and #349 insufficient please let me know. i will do my best to make it happen.
the word lettering got better flow i think #347 where the top of the A is same distance from the E or K. Or alternative in #348. Stretching the E all the way to the A makes both letters harder to read easily, uneven flow, and A as a bow feels cramped so thats y the solutions are as they are.
please feel free to suggest any more ideas or if you need to see more options.

Hi #324 is the one we will select as winner. We are interested in having the A cut more to be like what we have ranked as 2nd ranking.

thank you. i will send over the files cut the A a bit more and let me know if you need to make any more changes.