Taxi24 logo - Prize: $60

[TMM]

Hi designers, (Admin code added by Palmer - P049550C)

I'm starting a forums site targeting the taxi industry in Norway. The site will only be based on forums to begin with, but may be expanded to also function as a portal; including other services related to the industry.

* Site name: Taxi 24 - www.taxi24.no

The logo should focus on Taxi24, but also include the .no in a slightly more discrete fashion; as the services I intend to offer will be all web based.

The design should be fairly "professional"-looking, while also eye-catching and something people would easily remember and recognize. I'd like it to include graphics of some kind; if the graphics could also be used separately as a symbol (such as the McDonalds golden arches, Apple's apple etc.) that would be a plus.

I'd also like to have the possibility to incorporate a subtext into the logo, i.e. a field for the different service types that might become available; such as Mail, Forums, Shop etc. - for instance under the logo itself. However, the main focus should be on the standalone design.

The logo needs to look good on screen as well as print (need all formats required for this).

I'm not sure about the colors (haven't decided on a vBulletin style yet); but I'm sure your artistic intuition and taste far outclasses mine... I'm working on getting a vBulletin forum style, and I'll post it as soon as I decide on one so that you can check out the color scheme - meanwhile I wouldn't want to limit your creativity.

Some keywords/hints and/or suggestions as to what I'd like it to express:


Taxi, taxicab, taxi business, taxi driver etc.
Communications, traffic, conversation
24/7; always available, ongoing discussion, round the clock, non-stop
Speed, movement, flow, dynamics
Information, bulletin board, screen



And some particular issues:

- If a car is involved, it should preferably look like a sedan (example: Mercedes E-Class)
- If a roof lamp is involved, I could send you a picture of what they look like here (a bit rounded compared to NYC Yellow Cabs for instance)
- Please avoid the "cliché"-type clipart graphics, used in a zillion logo templates (such as the saturn-type planet thing) - although browsing previous projects makes me confident that you create unique, greatlooking logos :)


Contest end date: March 27th

Thanks in advance for your efforts, I'm really looking forward to working with you - good luck all!


Best regards,

Trond M. Markussen
Taxi24.no

[Juvanescence]

Something to start off with. Simple and straight to the point.

[Raja]

:D <img src='http://www.webfellaz.com/4fun/taxi.gif[/img]

[chelle]

Here's my entry.

[Raja]

:D <img src='http://www.webfellaz.com/4fun/taxi2.gif[/img]

[ElKootcho]

Here's my first entry. B)

[Huhhso]

Hello, here's my entry.
Thanks! :D

[Juvanescence]

Another variation.

[Juvanescence]

Putting more emphasis on the type.

[TMM]

Thanks everyone for your entries so far!

j-design: Perhaps a little too simple; since the logo will mainly be used on the web, I'm thinking it should probably include some color to help make it stand out. Your second variation could be a step in the right direction; I wonder if you might be able to incorporate something that says "24, around the clock" into one of these designs while still making them look clean & sleek?

ondarox: The concept is nice and certainly points to "taxi" - could you perhaps try some other color/font arrangements? Also, if you could give it a "cleaner" look that would be nice, number 2 in particular seems a little bit messy; maybe too much stuff...

chelle: Not quite what I'm looking for; something that to a larger extent says "professional, dynamic" would be nice; I'm afraid that driver looks a bit "over the hill"... :)

ElKootcho: You're certainly on to something here, I like the sleek look of it! Could you perhaps try some different variations in color and fonts? Also - it might be asking too much - but I'm wondering if it would be possible to give it a bit of a 3D, maybe even a tad "metallic" look?

Huhhso: The idea of somehow using a rear view mirror is definitely something to build on, but again I need it to look a bit more sleek and professional (while I understand where the hanging tree is coming from, I fear just thinking about the smell might scare people away... :blink: )

Generally, I'd also like to see some more concepts before narrowing it down; keep the good work coming!

A couple of designs that in some way incoroprate the "time, clock, 24 hours" approach would be interesting, ideally while the design also associate with "taxi".

One more thing... I'm a bit worried as to the placement of the .no extension; it seems to have a tendency to mess with the symmetry of "Taxi24" - hints or radical ideas would be appreciated...


Thanks all!

[Raja]

:unsure: <img src='http://www.webfellaz.com/4fun/taxi3.gif[/img]

[chelle]

B)

[ElKootcho]

Here's another, more dynamic version of my previous post.

[john]

A couple of ideas

[ElKootcho]

Here's a full-blown version that could be used on your website.

[sparkie]

I'll throw my entry into the mix :)

[TMM]

Greetings all,

I'm glad to see the progress so far, this looks very promising! :)

ondarox: Very nice, some color/font variations would be interesting. Any ideas to further emphasize the "24" part (towards the round-the-clock concept) would also be appreciated.

chelle: Could be a good concept, however I'd like to see a couple of different fonts, and the "taxi" part should probably be in all caps. If you are able to put some more emphasis on the "24" aspect that could also be very interesting.

ElKootcho: Looks really good, and more "dynamic". I'd appreciate it if you could try shaping the "taxi" box in a similar fashion to the rooflamp that I attatched a picture of (the contour/outline of it); this would make the logo state clearly that it is about taxis. Also, if the "24" could be changed a bit that would be nice; putting it on its own "ball" makes the general design a bit untidy, like there's too many components.

j-design: Hope you're still with this, I like your concepts...

John: Thanks for joining in, your ideas are appreciated! However, I think the graphic can't quite say "i", so that letter shouldn't be left out. Also, the graphic looks a bit more like a compass than a clock; could you try a different one af a similar type perhaps? A couple of different color/font variations would be nice, too...

Sparkie: Thanks for entering, the concept with the checkered pattern on top & bottom looks good, but I'd like you to change the fonts and straighten the letters - If you find a sleek-looking font and perhaps rearrange the .no (stretch "taxi24" to the full width and put the .no in a different color below, for instance) this could start looking very good.

If anyone else would like to utilize the roof lamp-shape as illustrated below, please go ahead :) I'll get back to you in a couple of days, as the semi-finals are getting closer...

Thanks everyone, great work!

Trond M.

[Juvanescence]

Added the text as requested. Also I added a stylised speedometer rather than the clock as I felt is would be more appropriate for your site.

[ElKootcho]

I've reshaped the lightbox as requested and put the entire "Taxi24.no" into a single line.

[QSDA]

Hello! Here's my entry. Let me know what you think.
Thanks.

[chelle]

Here are a few diffrent fonts and a few diffrent stylers. B)

[QSDA]

Changed some minor things...

[TMM]

Hi again designers,

Another quick update, as I have some general info on the forum style (as I mentioned in my original post) in addition to comments to your good looking updates :)

vBulletin style: I've decided on purchasing the M3 vBulletin style found at Macfora.com (http://www.macfora.com/forums/index.php?s=&styleid=13). This is, in my opinion, a great looking style - and hopefully the final logo design will be able to fit in nicely.

I'd appreciate it if you would take this style into consideration when designing and modifying your designs. I will consider changing the color scheme and/or header if necessary, although it would obviously be an advantage if I could hang on to the current colors and still end up with a greatlooking general design... Any comments/advice will be more than welcome.

I've also attached a picture of a tachometer to illustrate a possible "look" for a clock graphic, or indeed for a speedometer graphic like j-design is working on (it even seems the color is similar to the forums style...). I know this is neither a speedometer or a clock, but I just wanted to show the general look, which could probably be transfered to the relevant instrument.

j-design: The speedometer idea is nice - are you able to make it stand out a bit more; perhaps making it look something like the picture below? Also, please accept my apologies for my poorly formulated request in the last update; what I meant was that I'd like you to make the design associate more with the "24-hours" brand name part, for instance by incorporating graphics such as a clock etc. (I did not want the text added). I realize now that my last update sounded like that, I'm sorry... The speedometer look is a great idea though, I wonder if you could even make a speedometer like graphic (in a style as mentioned above) in the place you put it, and complement with a clock graphic to match on the other half...?

ElKootcho: I like the looks of this; yet I wonder the following: Could you focus on the lamp design, while working towards a design that could be used both as standalone (the lamp shape) or with a checkered stripe background?

I think this could fit in very well with the forum style; that way I could possibly modify the header to include a checkeded stripe/band of some kind with the lamp shape based main logo, and use the complete logo set (with checkered stripe) for print purposes etc. Also, the yellow might be changed to fit the style's orange color, or vice versa. Obviously the header design falls outside the scope of this competition. Please tell me what you think about this idea...

A couple more comments; the ".no" doesn't look very good there, I suppose it'll be better to either place it separately similar to your first concept, or maybe even focus on the "Taxi24" and put the web adress below in a more subtle manner. The colors needs some changing too, it would be great if you could somehow use colors that fits the style scheme while they also make the logo stand out a tad bit... Another thought, I realize the lamp shape is a bit difficult to work with, but maybe you're able to fill the top space of it with a partial clock? If you manage to put together something like that in a tidy design, I think it could look very very nice...

QSDA: Thanks for entering, that is a great looking first design! Again, if the "24-hours" message could be integrated somehow, this would be a strong contender. Also, the color scheme might not be too bad to begin with, but if you could make it fit in to the forum style as described above, that would be really nice. I assume you would be able to modify the rooflamp on the Mercedes to the norwegian style...?

chelle: Definitely moving in the right direction, could you perhaps try a font that looks a bit more "tidy", more "corporate" maybe? Like the clock graphic, any further ideas on placement/integration of it would be welcome. Also, please take a look at the style design, it would be great if it could fit in well...

Thanks everyone, I'll keep a close eye on this contest in the final days, and try to keep up with comments and such :)

Regards,

TMM

[ElKootcho]

I've made some changes to better integrate the logo into your desired color scheme and added a tach to the empty space in the top of the lightbar. I Personally think that the logo works better with the checkers in the back. It gets a little plain without them

[TMM]

ElKootcho,

Thanks, this is starting to look very good. I agree about the checkers, what I meant was really to use the logo with checkers (like in its present form) on print materials and in places other than the forums webpage. On the forums pages, however, I thought it could be an idea to either expand the checkered stripe to make it part of the header, or in some slightly different fashion have a checkered pattern in the header. Again, header modification obviously isn't part of this logo contest, though maybe you'd be able to help me with this for a small (?) fee after the contest, should your design win. What are your thoughts on this...?

The size of your latest submission makes it a bit hard to see the details, but I'd like you to try a version with a clock image of some kind (a partial one would probably still look best) instead of the tach. To make the shape more suitable for this, you could probably cut down the width of the lamp just a bit, as well as "lift" the shoulders a tad. See the attatched image, which could be a little better than the previous one I posted (although I had hoped to find an even better one). Another thought: What about placing a clock type graphic behind the text, covering most of the lamp - kind of like a watermark, or background? If would still have to look fairly "clean" and tidy though...

Also, I think the logo (lamp part, at least) should be larger when placed on the forums style, probably so that the top overlaps the ruler bar (like the Macfora logo does). The sizing is obviously up to me, but just to share my vision on this...

Thanks.

[Juvanescence]

Is this a little closer to what you meant?

[TMM]

j-design,

That certainly comes closer, thanks. Could you maybe change the numbers font to something more "modern"; and perhaps remove or shorten the pins that stand out from the tach part?

Also, I'm not sure about the main text being white, I'd like to see a couple other color schemes; if you manage to make it look good with the vBulletin style I mentioned yesterday, that would be really great.

Additionally, if the whole design could be made just a little "sleeker" it could be very very nice. By this I mean maybe some 3D-effect, and/or better integrating the clock/tach part by for instance adding a colored background to match... the checkered part might also be colored differently in order to fit in with the forums style...

This is definitely going the right way, please keep up the good work!

Thanks,

Trond M.

[ElKootcho]

Originally posted by TMM@Mar 25 2003, 12:35 PM
The size of your latest submission makes it a bit hard to see the details...
Here's my last submission at a larger size for your convenience. I'll work on the other changes that you suggested and post them soon.

[ElKootcho]

By the way, I'd like to add that I really like the feedback that you've been providing to all the designer working on your project. They've all been complete and easy to understand. I wish all my clients were so clear!

[Juvanescence]

Suggested changes.

[Juvanescence]

vBulletin mock-up.

[QSDA]

Originally posted by TMM@Mar 24 2003, 03:49 PM

QSDA: Thanks for entering, that is a great looking first design! Again, if the "24-hours" message could be integrated somehow, this would be a strong contender. Also, the color scheme might not be too bad to begin with, but if you could make it fit in to the forum style as described above, that would be really nice. I assume you would be able to modify the rooflamp on the Mercedes to the norwegian style...?

Sure. I'll work on it a little more and present it to you tonight.
Thanks.

[TMM]

Yet another update,

As the competition enters its final phase, I thought I'd make a couple of announcements:


I'll present a "top 3" sometime early thursday morning, US time, once a few more revised are presented (hopefully).
The winner will be announced March 28th, around 8 am eastern US time.

This way everyone knows the status and timeline of this contest, just thought some clarity would be in order. I'll try to do my best to keep up in the time remaining; and post replies as quickly as I can.


j-design: That's right on target, the 3D-effect and new tach looks great! To perfect this design, I'd like to see one or more version(s) with the following mods:

- The "24"; could you try a different font/color? I'm picturing something like an "LCD-look", maybe combined with a neon look (neon red, a little orangy maybe) to make it stand out like a neon sign while also in an LCD type font (in order to reinforce the 24-hour concept).

- The checkered part, would you be able to put a hint of a shadow along the edges of the tiles making up the checkered pattern, and/or possibly implement a "carbon look" pattern effect on this part, similar to the pattern on the grey bar on the bottom of the macfora style header?

- The clock digits; any chance of integrating them slightly better with the rest of the design? The tach part looks really slick, maybe shorting in the pins (to pull the digits a bit closer) and/or a bit thicker font with the orange like colors & dark shadow (like the tach part) might work?

Thanks for bearing with me on this... very good work!

ElKootcho & OSDA: I'm truly looking forward to your next submissions; picking a winner in this contest will not be easy...

All others: I hope you're still with this... Furter modified designs, as well as last minute entries from those who haven't posted so far, are more than welcome :)


Thanks everyone,

Trond M

[ElKootcho]

I've added a simple clock to the lightbar and changed the checkers to a metallic style. B)

[QSDA]

Hi. This is just an idea that I've thought of today. I didn't really have any time to really work on the design yet so basically I just layed down what's in mind. This should look a lot sharper when I spent time on.
I think that the "original" logo's colors' doesn't have to be like this but here's an idea:

[Juvanescence]

Closer......?

[TMM]

Hi again folks,

It's really great to see the progress that is being made here! As previously indicated, here's the "top 3" (random order):

ElKootcho
j-design
QSDA

I'd still be happy to hear from the rest of you; last minute sumbissions will be considered as well, and as I've stated earlier I'll try to reply as soon as possible.

ElKootcho: Nice! I love the metallic checkers look; would it be possible to see a version with red/orange combined with metallic? And BTW, what are your thoughts on a slight motion blur on the checkered stripe part...?

If you could, I'd also like to se it with an added stand, like on the attatched image - it consists of 2 round legs; almost like on a stereo rack. These things are magnetic holders, always used to fasten the lamps, it would perhaps make it look more "real" with the addition of a (subtile) stand like this...

The clock - I'm sort of torn between the clock and tach graphics; could you try a different clock image, perhaps making it even more subtle compared to the name part? Maybe a black/dark shadow-type watermark could do it, either of a full or partial (top half etc.) clock...?

And finally; any suggestions as to where/how to ad a subtext; for the various services that might come such as Taxi24 Mail, - Ordering Service, - Forums etc.? This could of course be dealt with independent of the logo, but an optional subtext for the web adress is absoultely necessary, certainly for print media purposes :) I know this is too much to put into one design alltogether, but if it's not to much work, maybe you could post a few with the different features... BTW, thanks for your nice comments, though I feel like I'm getting a bit too detailed now :)

j-design: It looks incredibly slick! Could I see a version without the .no, and instead using a subtext or sidetext to display the whole web adress? Also, like I told ElKootcho, an additional text area for various services would be of interest. I'm thinking that an optional text line under the graphic logo (in a suitable font/color of course) would be nice for the web adress (for printed media etc.), and an optional side text area could be used for services? Though the latter could probably be sorted out later, in the event your design wins.

Also, are you able to lighten the red/orange part of the checkers just a hint...?


QSDA: Like the changes, perhaps the black part makes it a little too dark alltogether. Looking forward to your next submission...



Incredible work, I can't wait to see the final results!


Regards,

Trond M.

[Juvanescence]

Lightened the chequers, removed the ".no" and also added the full link at the bottom of the logo as requested.

[TMM]

j-design,

Thanks, this looks great :) Could you perhaps suggest a few other alternatives regarding the web text; font/color combos? No need to post the image, I'll cut & paste to see what the complete set-up looks like. I see this font seems to correspond with the clock digits, and it does look good, I'd just like some options. Maybe something modern/corporate-looking with colors matching the rest...

Thanks a lot,

Trond M.

[ElKootcho]

I'll post the requested later tonight! (West Coast time. Hurray for Los Angeles :D )

[TMM]

ElKootcho,

Looking forward to it. As I'm almost on west coast time too, practically speaking, I may still be up & online at that time... B)

Trond M.

[Juvanescence]

Just the one or two fonts...... :blink:

[TMM]

j-design,

Thanks, several good options there! Great idea to color the "24" and keep the rest plain black, too...

Should I think of any more changes real soon, I'll let you know. Is is my understanding though that minor modifications can be made after the contest end; such as font adjusments and the likes... As long as that's correct, this should make a very very strong entry :)

Regards,

Trond M.

[QSDA]

I haven't played with the clock/time yet but first I wanted to get the colors right so here they are. What do you think about these 2 variations?

edit: Now I look back at this one, they grey needs to be a little darker doesn't it?

[QSDA]

2.

[chelle]

B)

[TMM]

QSDA,

The yellow color is certainly more fresh, and makes the logo visible compared to the rest. I agree that your first sumbission today was a bit too grey, and I'm looking forward to viewing the finished result!

Regards,

Trond M.

[ElKootcho]

I've added the base and magnets as seen in your latest lightbar post in addition on an area beneath the company name for "forums", "Services", or whatever. I tried the motion blur on the checkers but felt it made the design rather messy. As far as the clock is concerned, I tried several option and I think the original "cutout" look works best. Any design the winds up behind the "Taxi24" makes it difficult to read and the effect will be very bad as the logo is used in smaller applications. Personally, I like the tachometer the best.

[ElKootcho]

And here's the same design with www.taxi24.no

[TMM]

Hi folks,

ElKootcho & chelle; thanks for your latest entries!

QSDA; still working on any modifications?

The jury has started deliberation (thank god it only consists of me, this is going to be a tough desicion), the winner will be announced sometime after 8 am ET.... :P

Thanks,

Trond M.

[TMM]

Hi everyone,

The contest end time is here, and after carefully looking at the great final designs, I've reached a conclusion - which was by no means easy....

The winner is: ElKootcho

This design is easily recognizeable and looks very streamlined and slick; truly fantastic work! The latest modified design submissions aslo convinced me that this design would look great on the style I'm going to use.

However, I must admit I had a very hard time choosing between ElKootcho and j-design; the tach-clock design looks truly awesome too and I was really impressed with the progress made from the early versions of this design. I find it very difficult to let this design go, because it too captures a lot of what I wanted the logo design to "say"...

Therefore, I would like to offer j-design a "consolation" prize of $30 for his design, if this is allright with j-design as well as with the policy of this site... As my budget is very limited, and already exceeded generally speaking, I hope this would be acceptable with you. That way I could archive it and have it ready for potential use; for instance when/if launching a new service within taxi24. Could the affected parties comment on this please...

ElKootcho (and hopefully j-design); I'll figure out which particular set-up I want, as well as possible minor modifications, and contact you within a day or two.


This has been a marvellous contest, I'm a very happy customer. My most sincere thanks to everyone who has participated, your skills and patience really impress me!

Regards to all,

Trond M.

[Juvanescence]

Well I cant speak about anyone else but I would love the money. ;) I quite enjoyed working on this logo and am pleased that you feel the need to offer consolation for a "losing" logo.

Congratulations to ElKootcho, it was a very nice logo. :tup:

[Palmer]

A consolation prize is fine. Trond, you can just pay Jonathon directly instead of going through me. Jonathon, you can contact Trond with your paypal address.

Congratulations ElKootcho! :tup: I thought it was an awesome logo myself but I didn't want to sway the judges :)

Thanks Trond, stop by anytime, feel free to put in a testimonial too. :)

[ElKootcho]

I'm glad that you decided on my design. Just let me know what your final changes are and I'll send you the completed files.

j-design and QSDA: you two had great entries as well and they really helped me push my design. Great competition. :box:

(btw Palmer: the new emoticons are fantastic! I love the bowing guy :notworthy: )

[TMM]

Glad to hear the consolation price idea is OK with you :P

Payment has been made to j-design for his "2nd winner" design, and ElKootcho; I'll contact you in a couple of days after thinking through the final changes.

Palmer, thanks for running a great service - I'll most likely be back with another contest within a few weeks (other projects are in the making). I'll also be sure to stop by the testimonials forum. BTW, don't be surprised if you get another norwegian or two stopping by... :tup:

Regards,

Trond M.
Taxi24.no

[Palmer]

Cool, I've always said, the more Norwegians the better. :D Beautiful country you have there, looking forward to visiting it some day.

Thanks in advance for the testimonial. I love the logo El Kootcho made for you. One of my favorites I've seen here.

[Mike]

Is this contest over?

[Palmer]

Yes, El Kootcho won. :)

[Mike]

er.. yeah, that 2nd page doesn't appear in the ModCP view... yeah... ;)