Watershed ResortLogo Design Contest

HI designers. I think it may help some of you to know more about my branding strategy and situation. Watershed Cabins is an existing company of over 60 cabins that has a great reputation for being luxury cabins and generally "the best place to stay" in the area. Of those 60 cabins, about 15 of them are located on a 50 acre tract of land that we are now calling the "Watershed Resort" property. While these 15 cabins will remain on the WatershedCabins.com website, I want to create a side brand and separate website that is just this resort property. The Watershed name will be the recognizable crossover feature so I am not particularly concerned about keeping the existing font, look, or color scheme just so customers will make the association of the Resort. People are going to be able to tell that Watershed is involved in these cabins. I do want to help promote that the cabins on the Resort property, in addition to being everything they have come to expect from a Watershed Cabin, also come with resort amenities like a hiking trail, waterfall, trout pond, community fire pit and yard-game area, etc. These are still individual cabins, but they are located on a property that might be more appealing to families and groups who like that sort of thing. The Watershed Resort is adjacent to a very well-traveled road that all tourists in the area will drive, so the visibility of the Resort entry signs will be a big selling feature of these cabins for people that make it to the area without having seen our website before.

HI designers. I think it may help some of you to know more about my branding strategy and situation. Watershed Cabins is an existing company of over 60 cabins that has a great reputation for being luxury cabins and generally "the best place to stay" in the area. Of those 60 cabins, about 15 of them are located on a 50 acre tract of land that we are now calling the "Watershed Resort" property. While these 15 cabins will remain on the WatershedCabins.com site, I want to create a side brand that is just this resort property. The Watershed name will be the recognizable crossover feature so I am not particularly concerned about keeping the existing font, look, or color scheme just so customers will make the association of the Resort. People are going to know that Watershed is involved in these cabins. I do want to help promote that the cabins on the Resort property, in addition to being everything they have come to expect from a Watershed Cabin, also come with resort amenities like a hiking trail, waterfall, trout pond, community fire pit and yard-game area, etc. These are still individual cabins, but they are located on a property that might be more appealing to families and groups who like that sort of thing.

Hi! Here are some hints for getting the most out of your contest as it progresses:

~~ Rank designs daily -- this will encourage participation.
~~ Rank and re-rank a variety of designs to get a variety of new entries.
~~ Ranking gets your contest noticed! Unless your contest is private, 1st place entries are posted to the portfolio page: https://logotournament.com/portfolio
~~ Ranking designs daily will also keep your contest from getting cluttered.
~~ The more feedback you provide, the better results you are going to see.
~~ Designers are not offended by "Not Interested"
~~ Over-use of "Not Interested" discourages participation.
~~ Ranking is a non-monetary means of showing appreciation for designers hard work.
~~ Designers earn points for designs ranked in the top 10. We like to earn points.

~~ NOTE: While in JUDGING mode, the designer ranked in 1st can still submit revisions.

More detailed information on how to get the most out of your contest can be found here:
https://logotournament.com/forum/general_discussion/914
https://logotournament.com/forum/contest_holder_discussion

The color changes in #6 are an improvement, but it made me realize that the foreground in the mountains is really like a grassy field, and that doesn't represent our region. Our trails and our area are more dense forests and rock cliffs, so perhaps rocks instead of grass would be nice. While the color palette is an improvement, I think it is too monochromatic and I'd like to see a bit more contrast in color.

Regarding the silhouette of the hiking couple, it's an improvement over the previous hiker, but I fear it would make us look like a romantic place for couples when this logo is supposed to be inviting to families. Don't go in the Micky Mouse direction, though. "Family" doesn't mean I want to appeal directly to children.

I hope some more concepts come in today. So far, this is the only concept I've spent time on with significant comments, and I hope I get some others in this contest.

Brendan, thanks for being the first, and I hope my feedback is making sense to you.

Thanks, Aragon for submitting #8. I am glad a new concept has been entered and I have ranked you above some of the others because I want multiple designers to be ranked. My first impression of #8 was that it looked like a company that sells log homes. My favorite part of that logo is the sunburst behind the image.

The cabin image you have in the logo is a bit more detailed than I have seen in previous logos in this contest and others, and I appreciate seeing more detail. However, I am beginning to think that even detail is not getting me in a direction that I like because it is hard to capture the essence of my sophisticated, luxury cabins in a simple image. I will upload my current logo as I like to present it with a photo of one of my cabins. The photo is a very simple angle of the cabin as it shows only one roof gable, but the glow of the windows and the peaceful background settings is the essence of my cabins. That is why I use it for my general cabin rental company. Keep in mind, though, that this new logo is for a resort property, and while it includes cabins like this, the purpose of the resort logo is to sell the setting of the cabins (family resort) rather than the cabins themselves.

I just harvested some images from local businesses. It is a small community and these logos are very visible and recognizable to locals and visiting tourists. Therefore, I need to be very aware to avoid looking similar to these. You can probably see the over-use of mountains with a river running through it as the main image (this is why I need a silhouette on top of it if I am going to use that sort of design), but I also noticed that there are a lot of round logos here.

Just FYI to provide more insight where I am coming from.
Tim

oh well

Thanks to all the last minute entries. I know the site suggests providing feedback, but please excuse me if I don't give reasons for not ranking the last minute entries. They just didn't catch my eye and while I have tried to give lots of helpful feedback throughout this contest, I can't justify spending the time to provide the "why didn't you pick this" feedback for all the last-minute entries. So, I'm sorry if you didn't get picked and I didn't get to tell you why, I did my best here, and I am generally pleased that everyone participated and I'll recommend this site to others. There were no entries that were just lazy or unprofessional, so congrats and thank you to all who contributed, even if you didn't get ranked and didn't get feedback.
Tim

....

Hi Tim
I know the LC seems harsh but it its is there for your protection, imagine two years from now when you have spent a fortune on signage and branding your vehicles and embroidering towels for you cabins and printing stationery, and a web site. Then the person who took the photos sees his chair all be it in a sihouhette, and you suddenly find yourself being sued for intellectual property theft. I think you get the point.

Also what I fail to understand is it takes as long to trace the chair as it would to illustrate one from scratch and how did eastbay find the time to do this while he was out of town but not draw the chair, I have been in the contest from the start, for the first three day you only had 12 logos submitted of which eastbay was not one. So something is not right with his timing, if he was out of town but could submit the logo then why could he not submit his own drawing.

Ok buts lets give Eastbay the benefit of the doubt he is new on LT and has probably learnt a valuable lesson. I know I went through similar lessons when I first started so I am in no hurry to cast stones.

Where to from here I suggest you take it up with admin.

I have another suggestion to make, speak to admin and ask if they can allow Eastbay back into the contest, then he comes up with his own interpretation of the chair, but at the same time you ask for an extension on the contest giving other designers the chance to continue entering the contest then you make your final decision on the logo that best suits Watershed resorts.

Thanks for everything Brendan

I have provided some imagery to the designer to see what can be done. Rules are in place to protect all parties involved.

While it is not conducive to a professional view of the process, designers who follow the rules get frustrated that fellow designers refuse / forget to read or follow very simple terms of service.

LT regrets the inconvenience.