We produce a radio show and podcast about the wine industry, targeted at the wine industry.
Industry
Media
Top Three Things to Communicate
#1 - Fun
#2 - Broadcast Quality/Good Production Values
#3 - Technical Know-How
Our Target Audience:
Our audience is wine industry professionals and people interested in learning more about the wine industry.
We're aiming at younger side of the industry, 25-40 years, who prefer wine as a beverage over beer, or at least have it on equal footing.
Our audience is everything from cellar workers in wineries to executives working in the offices. Self-employed to corporate lifers. Hippies in long hair to clean shaven and smelling like a rose.
Color Preferences
Wine colors are a preference. Here's some guidance.
Common wine colors of white wine: straw (light) to canary (dark).
Common wine colors of red wine: garnet (light) to burgundy (mid) to purplish black (dark).
Common wine colors of pink wine: pastel pink (light) to salmon (dark).
Our Ideas and Additional Information:
Currently, I use the following photo of a wine glass with headphones as the iconic image of our show. It has wide recognition with our audience as representing Wine Biz Radio and we'd like to have a stylized version of it (line art) in the new logo:
On our website, we also use Trebuchet as our typeface. I'm not as closely married to the continued use of that, but I favor the modern sans serif look.
If possible, I'd like to integrate the RSS feed icon image as part of the overall logo treatment.
Themes
Modern
Exotic
Style
Pictorial Mark
Literal or representative imagery is used to symbolize the brand.
Emblem
A badge that usually envelopes the logo
Famous Logos displayed under fair use to enrich the general publics' knowledge of graphic design.
Applications
Web
Print
Signs
Clothing
Diamond Contest
We're sorry, but this contest is presently open to a limited pool of designers.
I'm not sure I entirely agree that she has the concept, but it was novel enough (and a direction I hadn't considered) that I decided it could stay in the running.
I gotta say I'm REALLY partial to the "wine glass with headphones" concept, but I liked the 2D nature of Nancy's line art (it's DEFINITELY in the right direction) and the color.
Wine glass w/ headphones is not a requirement! I'm happy to consider alternatives that are as visually engaging; but just be aware that I have a strong affinity for it, and that may affact how things are ranked in the endgame.
That being said, there are still several days for someone to show me why I should go with something other than the icon I've used for the last two years to represent my show.
Another element that has come up in conversation with designers is my preference for sans serif typefaces. I'd like to clarify that.
Trebuchet MS is obviously a very common typeface on the web. I chose it at the time because it was distinctive and (not to put too fine a point on it) my budget was such that seeking out another font was not a priority. I'm open to alternatives (Eurostile, for instance, is another typeface I have a deep connection with) and welcome experimentation on that front.
I do like the use of varying stroke widths (weights) of typeface used to break up the words Wine Biz Radio. Obviously the use of color to do that breakup has appeal as well, and I've seen some nice examples of that.
Second, I would think that there are dozens of concepts unexplored here: grape clusters, grape leaves, vine shoots, trellisses, hillsides covered in vineyard rows, trained vines, barrels, tanks, bottles, corks, corkscrews, and the like. Don't let my narrow-minded preferences hamstring you from experimenting; that's one of the reasons I have changed my ranking approach to include pretty much every concept I've seen so far, rather than just bucketing concepts that don't immediately resonate as "Not Interested".
Finally, what has struck me is the self-limitation I've seen from designers who have submitted designs that contain only two colors (black and a single wine-related hue). I am definitely open to more than what I've seen so far. If the limitation is the contest prize of $250, I can appreciate that; I know that design takes brain power and time and that whoever wins this will have put several hours of their life into this. All I'm asking is that you give me the opportunity to be surprised and hopefully delighted with your efforts. I have been very impressed so far!
* For the winning design, I'm likely to want a two-color version of the logo, and a one-color (black) version as well. Shades of gray in this case would count as a distinct color (I guess this is the embroidery test). * Also for the winning design, I'm likely to want a horizontal and vertical variation of the winning design.
I'm new to this, so I'd like to hear what a few designers think of this. Is this a reasonable request to make? Is this something that is considered part of the contest, or after the contest (i.e. extra charge)? I possess enough Adobe Illustrator skill to butcher the EPS myself once the contest is finished, but I'm also looking to work with the designer to accomplish what I'll need.
THANK YOU to everyone who has submitted one (or many) entries. I am humbled by the display of talent that has vied for my prize money. I know it isn't much, because I'm not a big-money kinda person, but I *definitely* feel I've gotten my moneys worth out of this process. I wish I could have the top four logos in this contest especially, since they represent both the best elements of what *I* wanted plus a couple surprises that I had no idea would look as good as they do.
This won't be the last time I use LT, and I hope the next time I bring a logo project here, I am able to pony up even more money for what I consider to be a very deserving design community. Well done, everyone!
