Software Consultancy Logo Needed - $150

[casper]

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Hi all,

I'm looking for a logo for my new(ish) business - Criterion Software Ltd. This will be the base for a webpage and stationery (future contests) so it's really important that I get this done right :) I'm really impressed with all the designs on this site; I found it through a link on JoelOnSoftware.com a few months ago and have been looking forward to hosting a contest here.

Company Information:

We are a small software consultancy business in Ireland that do customised desktop applications (windows and mac), as well as website programming.

Logo Information:

1. It shouldn't have 'ltd' or 'limited' in it, just Criterion Software.

2. There's going to be a tag line, for now let's use "Setting the standard." (including the period)

3. I'm not firmly set on colours, but I do like blue (preferably light-to-medium blue) and perhaps grey as well (on a white background). It's really just a guide; I'm open to suggestions :) As I mentioned, this will end up being used in print so CMYK (Pantone?) colours would probably be necessary.

4. Logos I like: (nothing to copy, just to get a feel..)

Taldo, markbeaudry, and pennyln
http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showt...topic=2670&st=0 (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showtopic=2670&st=0)

Diane Foley
http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showt...137&hl=software (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showtopic=2137&hl=software)
http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showt...=software&st=15 (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showtopic=2137&hl=software&st=15)

FuseDesignStudios
http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showt...opic=2620&st=15 (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/?showtopic=2620&st=15)

Raja
From his website: Leapman Honey Products, Bachman, Primacy Mortgage

I'm looking for clean, modern, and professional - nothing cartoony. The fonts should also be chosen along those lines.

5. If you can incorporate the definition/concept of 'criterion' into the logo somehow, that would also be cool. I'm not sure if it's possible .. just a thought :)

Deliverables:

Original vector-based file (is Illustrator the program of choice?) and matching PNG file.

Deadline:

I'd like to settle on something by Friday evening (EST), and if necessary, can use the weekend to tweak any final details.

[JaysonC]

Hey Casper,

Thanks for your interest in some of my work. This sounds like a fun project. I'll be working on something.

:tup:

[casper]

Great :) I know all the people on this site are already busy, so it's good to get a first reply back the same day :)

Just to elaborate on my last point, some of the definitions for criterion are:

- "A standard, rule, or test on which a judgment or decision can be based."
- "A basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated"

.. just to give some sort of idea where the current idea for the tagline comes from.

[VisualSense]

Here's an idea... two heads coming up with a decision or idea.
Could be great for branding. Done in Pantone 646 and gray.
-Diane

[Bill]

Here's an idea...

[Radu]

Here's an idea...

[customb]

Hello, our idea:

[customb]

and another one...

[Mowling]

Hello Casper...here is a concept...with an altered text. Let me know of any revisions.

thanks
M@

[Raja]

shake it, shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picturreeee

[Michael]

Absolutely beautiful Raja ;)

[JaysonC]

Casper,

"... a reference point against which other things can be evaluated"

[casper]

First off, let me say thanks again to everyone who submitted designs so quickly; I do realise how busy everyone's schedule is with this site really taking off. I had a response ready for the first two designs this morning before leaving for the Longhorn conference and then lost it :(

[Palmer - I used the 'fast reply' feature, typed in my response, and then hit the 'add reply' button and lost everything!! It's my fault..I was in a rush, but it would be nice if when you hit 'back', the 'fast reply' came back somehow?]

Anyway, let me try to put into words my feelings on the logos .. please don't take offense if I can't offer any constructive comments on a particular logo -- I know a lot of work has gone into all of these, but I do have a general idea of what I'm looking for.

VisualSense - I really like the idea behind the logo (the first one), and the font is one of the ones I had in mind :tup: . Also, I liked the sample stationery with the faint logo in the bottom right-hand corner. Is it possible to try playing with the first (reverse colour) logo a bit? It's slightly (and only slightly) too cartoony for me.

pennyln - When I saw your logo, the first thing that came to mind was both the curren logo for Fog Creek (www.fogcreek.com) and their old one (which I realise there's no way you could know about). I know there are differences, but I talked to a few colleagues and they had similar thoughts on it being too alike (btw, Fog Creek is very well known in developer circles). Also, I think the tagline text is a bit too large proprtionally to the 'software' text.

wwwzone - I like the second design more than the first, but it doesn't quite fit what I'm looking for; it seems to give the idea of motion (because of the italics) and the triple-C's remind me of another logo I can't quite place.

customb - I like the bottom-left hand design from your first post more than the others, but it seems somewhat generic -- for example look at www.hrm.ie.

Mowling - The font with pieces cut out of it really wasn't what I was looking for.

Raja - Very striking and unique - having both the 'c' and 's' in the logo is really good :tup: I would like to see a couple alternatives, though. The first would be seeing the design on a white business card, and secondly with less colours (perhaps a single blue) --- the reason for both of these is thinking ahead to printing costs for business cards; I think the current design could get rather expensive.

FuseDesignStudios - I really like the design as it's clean and simple, and ties into the tagline :tup:. I'd like to see a version of the logo with the tagline included as well, please.

Thanks again to everyone for their submissions :)

[Palmer]

<!--QuoteBegin-casper+Feb 10 2004, 01:32 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (casper @ Feb 10 2004, 01:32 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> [Palmer - I used the 'fast reply' feature, typed in my response, and then hit the 'add reply' button and lost everything!! It's my fault..I was in a rush, but it would be nice if when you hit 'back', the 'fast reply' came back somehow?] [/b][/quote]
Sorry about that :( I wish I had control over that but I'm afraid it's an idiosyncrasy with some browsers.

[casper]

<!--QuoteBegin-Palmer+Feb 10 2004, 01:23 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Palmer @ Feb 10 2004, 01:23 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Sorry about that :( I wish I had control over that but I'm afraid it's an idiosyncrasy with some browsers. [/b][/quote]
Ahh..that explains it. I happened to be in Mozilla (1.6)

[VisualSense]

Here a few redesigns of the same concept.... each showing a reference point with the two heads evaluating, viewing... etc.
-Diane

[casper]

Diane: Thanks for the quick response :) I think the straight line in the middle is a bit nicer than the exclamation point. Could you try merging the left-most graphic in the second row with your original first design? (I think it boils down to basically adding eyes to the faces)

[JaysonC]

Hey Casper,

I included the tagline

[Raja]

howdy doody

[casper]

FuseDesignStudios: I actually can't suggest any improvements -- I'm really torn between these three designs, but I think your idea is fleshed out (of course if you have any variations, I'd be more than happy to see them)

Raja: I guess you had the right idea the first time :) the solid colour doesn't seem quite as nice. how many colours would actually be in your original design with the gradient? Or, would it be possible to have a two-toned blue S/C logo perhaps?

(edit) I just thought of something else -- on your original design, the S/C logo blends in with the gradient on the business card .. any chance those are close enough to web-safe colours I could reproduce that, say, on the top banner on a webpage? Is that even something you have to worry about these days?

[Raja]

I can get 5500 cards printed, full colour, both sides for $200. I would post the site that offers this price but it conflicts with the intrests of DO, I am sure if you do a little research online you may be able to find some cheap rates for full colour business card printing sample rate (http://www.business-card-templates.com/glossy.htm)

In any case, if you were to choose my design, I would supply you with full colour, 2 colour and one colour files.



:off: Your not missing much buddy, we are covered in snow. However, it is quite mild today :D

PS: Lived in Ottawa's west end for a year myself

[casper]

(Off-topic) Raja: I notice you're in toronto ... how's the weather back home these days? :) (I lived in Ottawa for the last five years)

[VisualSense]

Raja, I also have a site that does full color business card both sides coated or uncoated, nice thick stock for like $39.95 for a 1000, $79.96 for 2000, $159 for 5000, etc. (plus shipping and tax), but they do a great job and the prices are low.

Just in case anyone was interesed in low cost full color cards... :)

-Diane

[casper]

Raja: My brother-in-law just pointed something out that I completely forgot :) Do you think it'd be possible to incorporate the tagline into your design?

[Raja]

here's the tag, I'm sure you can visualize it on a business card by now :D

[Eagle]

*
Hi Casper <img src='http://www.eagleimagery.co.uk/smil3y/eaglesmile.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

<!--QuoteBegin-casper+Feb 9 2004, 02:10 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (casper @ Feb 9 2004, 02:10 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->- "A standard, rule, or test on which a judgment or decision can be based."
- "A basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated"[/b][/quote]

Ruler and King... <img src='http://www.eagleimagery.co.uk/smil3y/eaglewink.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[casper]

Eagle: Thanks for your submission; I like the simplicty and the play on rule/ruler :) However, our field's still pretty crowded, and while I'm certainly competent, I don't think I'd want to go for the 'king' position just yet ;)

[casper]

Ok..after _much_ deliberation, I'm going to end the contest early and pick a winner. I want to thank everyone for their hard work and wish them good luck in all the future contests (of which I'm sure there will be many)

Jayson Conway- I really liked it, the torch (which I felt symbolised the Olympics and played well with the word 'standard') and the design were great. However, my wife who is an avid New York fan maintains that it constantly reminds her of the Statue of Liberty torch and I was trying to pick a logo I could get a few people with diverse views to agree on.

Diane Foley - I really loved the idea with the two heads meeting on an idea; the choice of colours and fonts were exactly what I had originally in my mind. I wish I could buy it and keep it for myself so no one else could get it :) In the end though, I felt your logo was better for a more 'mature' company look and I think (and I stress the word think) that what would better suit me right now is a more modern/edgy look.

which brings us to the winner ..

Raja :) - I'd like to go over the colours with you once or twice, and I'm hoping you have a PSD file (since I don't have illustrator) but we'll figure something out. Cutting the 'c' shapes and leaving the 's' was brilliant, and I'm hoping it will make a nice, memorable icon for the company.

Thanks again to everyone who participated.

[casper]

Raja: actually, if you do have it in illustrator already, it might be nice to get a copy of the logo as an emf or some other vector forma file as well as psd. Could be easier if I needed to put it in a word document.

[Raja]

Hey, thanks, Casper. Tough competition as usual from the team :tup:

What colour changes are you looking for?

I'll get you an EPS and PSD of the file by the way.

[casper]

<!--QuoteBegin-Raja+Feb 11 2004, 11:03 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Raja @ Feb 11 2004, 11:03 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Hey, thanks, Casper. Tough competition as usual from the team :tup:

What colour changes are you looking for?

I'll get you an EPS and PSD of the file by the way. [/b][/quote]
I guess right now, nothing :) Could I get a copy of both your original design (the one you had put on a blue-gradient business card), and the second one with the logo? Also, colour-wise between the blue and grey, do you have any suggestions as to how you might incorporate the logo on the first design? I noticed you switched from using grey as the main text colour to grey as tagline text colour.

[casper]

Also, once we get EPS/PSD I can post the next contest(s) - stationery and website :)

[casper]

Oh one more thing! I noticed that the faint shadow you had in the original design wasn't in the second. I really like it - could you update the second design with that please?

[Raja]

I have emailed you the logo source files :)