Vacant LotLogo Design Contest

#1 The contrast between city (commitments) and ocean (freedom) needs to be more obvious. Was thinking of this: imagine standing in the middle of s city street facing a block of row homes...wall to wall to wall. Now imagine taking out one of the homes so to exist a vacant lot. Through this "hole" you view an image of a a wave(s) and maybe a sunset. There you have the juxtaposition of urban v. nature. Thanks.

There are several attributes we like from a few different designs. #1 has the gritty/grunge culture that would appeal to the target base, which would be younger generation urban/city surfers, nonconformist types. The colors and building structure of #3 is very cool. We'd like to see how that would play out if the text were below a larger image...perhaps more like #4 with a building on the left and right. We like the layout of designs #4 and #8, but at the moment they have more of a "real estate company" feel to them, and less of a surf company. Imagine in your neighborhood there is a vacant lot, between two homes, and the lot is essentially a window looking at a beach with a surfer's perfect surf break. A total escape from suburbia/city living. On the buildings, however, we would like the architecture to be more 70s in style...think suburban housing....not brownstone. Lastly, and as mentioned before, this is a surf company, the main focus should be on the wave or wave element in the logo. We would like it to be simple and clean. Thanks.

I tried to rank the entries last night, which was harder than I originally thought. Anyways it should probably be pointed out that there are two of us, Josiah and Brooke. Just don't want to confuse anyone if our comments may seem to conflict or duplicate one another now and then. Hopefully that won't happen, but I am sure you guys understand. -brooke

#12, I really like the power and simplicity this design has. I also really liked the stacked "vacant lot". Three requests. First, could you possibly provide a couple options with different fonts. Second, we know that the abstract image is supposed to depict a vacant lot, and we like it, but could you somehow add some element to the sides to provide more of a building image without losing the simplicity? Would like to see what that looked like in comparison. And lastly, it would be cool to compare the current design to one with an abstract wave image (or mountain like you mentioned in your comments) in the lot. I would just like to see some different (yet simple) variations of the original design. If you don't mind. Thanks -brooke

#1 Really like the overall feel of this design. The for sale sign template was a killer idea. I also really like the weathered/rough kind of feel. In the background there is some kind of grayish watermark, or maybe it is just part of the overall image background, I can't make it out. We wanted to know if you could make the watermark an more actual surfer, either standing on the beach with board in hand, or in action slashing a wave? Does that make sense? Thanks -brooke

Just wanted to add that all of you guys have some really creative designs. I am impressed.

Another idea to explore that was thrown around by a friend after viewing the entries so far was to use two somewhat abstract surfboards forming a V, without the boards touching at the bottom, leaving a space to represent a vacant lot. A different approach, but just wanted to see how that could look.

some more details about the brand and your product would really help this design, such as:

- what kind of apparel? board shorts? bikinis? sandals? t shirts? hoodies? rash guards?
- where is the logo being featured? on tags? as a shirt graphic? embroidered? screened?
- who are your competitors? oakley? dakine? billabong? quicksilver?
- what's the significance of the vacant lot? is it across from the office? old home?
- you mention that you want something looks more serious, classic and elegant - but your target market are males 12-24 in the board sport enthusiasts, in an urban coastal environment - are there current logotypes you like that could help us understand how these two different "vibes" connect?
- is there any particular colour that you gravitate to?

Good questions.

- what kind of apparel? board shorts? bikinis? sandals? t shirts? hoodies? rash guards?
At the moment the apparel consists of t-shirts, hoodies, and hats. Basic items and we are looking to upgrade into boardshorts and items such as jackets, backpacks, and other wear.

- where is the logo being featured? on tags? as a shirt graphic? embroidered? screened?
Like most companies in this industry the main logo would be the main feature, especially as we build the brand and image. Both screened and embroidered. A single type image/mark works best for this, but could become more elaborate in print advertising, and other media.

- who are your competitors? oakley? dakine? billabong? quicksilver?
The typical surf companies such as the ones listed and also Volcom, Hurley, Lost, 3zekiel, Rip Curl, etc. At the present time we are on the smaller scale of things, but those companies would still be competition for us.

- what's the significance of the vacant lot? is it across from the office? old home?
The vacant lot is an actual spot in San Francisco on the hills that opens up to a great mesmerizing view of Ocean Beach. It provided the inspiration for the original name, because you would meet at the vacant lot, take in the view, and then skate down the hill.

- you mention that you want something looks more serious, classic and elegant - but your target market are males 12-24 in the board sport enthusiasts, in an urban coastal environment - are there current logotypes you like that could help us understand how these two different "vibes" connect?
Good question, and a tougher one. Let me think on this one a bit.

- is there any particular colour that you gravitate to?
I personally like black, white, and blues, but we are open in this area.

Could you please give some more specific feedback to individual designs. Some of us have put your concepts to work, and have been unranked and no comments for a few days. I'm sure everyone would be glad to make any revisions you see fit. Thank You!

Just got done re-ranking and adding some. Not my favorite thing to do, and not as easy as one would think. I should probably point out that while the ranking helps, it is not our final decision, just a guide of where we like some concepts going. There are some really cool ideas, and it is hard to choose. Great work so far. Much more than we expected.

Josiah you have more entries on last pages

Had to extend by 2 days. We'd like to allow for additional time for last minute revisions. We will most likely end the contest before 2 days is up. THANKS!!!!!!

Wondering.. what are your preferences for fonts/typefaces?

Corporate, Law Office, Serif?

Boxy, Grungy, Stencil?

Futuristic, Techy?

Modern, Clean, Simple, Sans-Serif, Round?

Handwritten? Cursive?

Thin? Thick?

Uppercase? Lowercase?

etc...

We spent the morning sorting through the designs and eliminating duplicates and such to clean up the top 50 or so. The rankings are not even close to being set and we were more concerned about pulling the designs with elements we like so we could look at them in various groups. We will be ranking the designs throughout the day as various others weigh in with their thoughts.

Thanks.

We appreciate everyone's time and efforts. Some really great designs. We are trying to decide the winner between a handful of entries and we also would like to give them all an honest ranking to be fair to everyone that participated.

We should have a final decision by tomorrow, and also a final ranking (we assume it lets you still rank them after the contest is over). It is Saturday night, and the weekend, so I hope everyone understands the small delay as we catch up and coordinate thoughts and opinions with everyone involved in the final decision.

Thanks.

volcom