Forum

As a CH I know very little about the design and logo world. The few times I have received feedback it has been very casual but very valuable. It would be great to have a system of receiving information about things like fonts, layouts and colors from actual designers who could comment on each others work. There has been talk about a designer award or something. The more guidance/feedback from this community the better because to follow the advice of an ignorant buyer in designing something artistic doesn't ultimately serve us.

a good rule to evaluate a design on a contest site like this is whether or not the type looks like an afterthought.

Poor typography can really defeat a good project.

In a competitive environment of commerce, it would probably cause a lot of unnecessary spite asking designers to freely comment on eachothers' work. I mean, we're already seeing this as it is now.

I think it would be nice for Logo Tournament to provide the Logo Buyers with some more Tips on getting the best designs, and ways to make it easier.

For example:
1. Remove comments from the designers on the main page of your logo site. Only comments from logo buyers on there saying what they like and don't like.

2. When the logo buyer updates their Brief, or makes a comment on their home page, it sends designers who have submitted designs an email message/alert to go check out what the logo buyer is saying.

3. A better system for the logo buyer to rank the designs by each designer. Ideally you don't want to have just 1 or 2 designers ranked in your Top 20 filling all the spots. When other designers see that (a top 20 ranked with all similar designs from only a few designers) it discourages other people from entering the contest and maybe keeps you from getting new designs.

4. Maybe a page of basic graphic design tips, and thinks to look for, like kerning, cheesy overused fonts and effects, things that won't print or shrink well in a design, etc. Maybe a page with some examples of what to look for.

5. Finally, I think it would be great if on the logo buyer's main page they were always (had to) submit samples of logos that they LIKE, and logos that they DON'T LIKE. A form that lets them upload a few JPEGs of logos that they like, and logos that they don't. Hopefully they would pick stuff that is within the context of their own company. For example, maybe you like the NIKE logo, but the NIKE logo has nothing to do with your Bed & Breakfast. But some samples of B&B logos that you like, and ones you don't, would be very helpful.

6. Maybe a page of some font "types" samples so that the logo buyer can somehow show "I like handwritten-style fonts, but I don't like thick fonts" so we know what to use.

7. I personally find the part of the Brief that shows "Styles that we are interested in: " pretty useless. Almost all contests that I enter have the exact same things noted. It seems every single logo buyer wants a WORDMARK and an EMBLEM and an ICON, but we know that is not true.


8. Maybe a color picker color wheel for the logo buyer to select some colors that they like. We already know there are "color harmony" sites out there that automatically match colors for you that work together. What if the logo buyer had access to tools like this. "Pick 2 or 3 color schemes that you like".


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Those are my thoughts anyways.

Thats why firms, businesses hire marketing companies and consultants to evaluate a propduct or service. Some that pick it on their own...simply like the look, thus making them feel proud of what they got and confident in their business venture. Its just like picking a mate...some peoples floor is another person's ceiling...or something like that. I guess my point is...go with what YOU like...or hire a professional and have him/her choose whats best out of say a handful you do like...so then, you are still choosing one you like, and at the same time, you have confidence that someone who "knows the bizz" likes it too.

My 2 cents...
Merlin

well... I don´t think brief needs to be so detailed for this Site. Chs receive tons of entries and will end up picking the logo they like best. I mean if they know the font they like, color picker, style, and so, why would they need a designer? haha. Most CHs don´t even understand about design and they know what they want ONLY when they see it. CHs don´t need to know about Design. That is our job as designers to make the right font, colors and style choices. And then cross fingers and see if Chs like it or not. It´s a matter of likes and dislikes for most CHs. They usually LIKE it or NOT. Most of them don´t think about if you can read it well in small sizes, if those drop shadows will print well, that´s something we should explain to them.

I think the current brief and Stylistic Sliders on the right are great. I´d only add more accurate feedback from CHs when they receive the entries, when they see if what they like or not.

But I think what Philip means is he wants more feedback on the entries he gets. Maybe there should be a Forum where Chs post the top 10 entries they have and designers (WHO DIDN´T enter the contest) give their opinions and comment on the entries.

Nat

Type should be in the style of the company, this is sometimes the hardest to fit the right typestyle with the client.

Colors should enhance the feeling you wish to convey, but the logo should work without any color. Many people design these outlandish designs that simply do not translate to real world use... any many CH's have no clue until its too late. Keep things simple and you will always end up with clean, printable, vastly usable designs.

Sometimes I see CH's select they want a logo in every style imaginable... well usually CH's get overwhelmed by too many designs. in a normal design firm you would most likely get less than a dozen designs, and hone one of those to the final... so the more a design is thought out, with the style you want, the image you want to present, and colors you want to use the better the end result...

An active CH will always help us out... I think design suggestions from CH's should be done in private mail though otherwise you get lots of copycats...

Well said to both Tahia and 405