Small Business Warehousing *Project Over*

[raijen]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 81L0312541)

Hi, guys! I'm so impressed with this site and all of your work.

Prize: $100

Deadline: not in a huge hurry, but mid August would be nice, if possible

Small Business Warehousing (SBW) is a warehousing and fulfillment company. We receive and store products for our customers, they fax or email us the orders they receive from their customers, and then we pack and ship those orders for them. This is our main business focus, although we also ship company literature and do some light assembly. We concentrate more on smaller companies that our competitors won't deal with, but I don't want to rule out larger accounts, either. :)

This is a new company, so there's no set image that we have to stick with.

I've done my own logos for my other businesses, but I'm really stuck on this one. I tend to go for whimsical, but this logo needs to be more professional than my usual since our service has such a huge impact on our customers' business. With that said, I hate those boring "professional" logos. Can we be fun and elegant at the same time?

The site colors I'm designing with right now are a taupe/tannish color and black, with sage green for hyperlinks. I like they way they look together, but I'm open to other ideas.

The tag line I've been using is "You're big business to us". I like it, but I'm worried it might sound like "we make lots of cash at your expense". If you have any thoughts in that vein, I'd be thrilled to hear them.

Please let me know if you need any more information and I'd be happy to provide it.

Raijen

[mbleigh]

Let's get things rolling...

[raijen]

Hi, Michael! Thanks so much for starting this off.

My thoughts...

I like what you're going for with the graphic (the box and the warehouse), but I don't like the "clipart" type style. Maybe something a little more artistic or abstract? Elegant, fun.

I hate to say that I also don't like the font. Too cash register. Here are the names of some fonts I like to give an example of the style I was originally looking at. I found copies of these at fontgarden.com.

--HotCoffee
--Sham

These are just examples, not requests. You might wind up having a font that goes much better w/the logo.

Thanks again, and please let me know if I can give any other input.

Raijen

[raijen]

Oh, wanted to add that I really like the style of your avatar. It's fun to look at, but still very professional. That's the picture I have in my mind anyway. :wacko:

Raijen

[raijen]

Edit: please ignore the original colors I've listed if you'd like to. I've decided to have a DO contest for the site's header after the logo is complete, so we're wide open on logo colors.

Thanks,

Raijen

[Just J]

Here is an idea... :D

[Just J]

:D

[Just J]

Or...
(Sorry for all of the posts. For some reason my lines were not saving right)

[raijen]

Thanks for joining in, Jason.

I like #1 the best of these. Could you make "Small Business Warehousing" the same width as SBW?

If you have time, could I also see any other color combo that you like? I haven't decided on website colors yet, so I'm open to any color ideas.

One last question. Where the color lightens at the top of the "W", is that just a lighter version of the green used on the rest of the letters? I like the way it looks, just wondering if it would add an extra color to printing. I think I read on here that lighter or darker shades of the same color aren't considered as extra colors to printers?

Thanks so much for your submission, I appreciate it.

I'd like to see a submission with a stylized graphic of a box, or a warehouse, or??? if Jason, Michael, or anyone else would like to join in. I'll post links some other logos I've liked to give some ideas.

Thanks again for all your help,

Raijen

[raijen]

Designed by Fabian. I love this one, and the way the puzzle pieces form a graphic. Opens up a lot of fantastic taglines, too.

[raijen]

Designed by Julie. The towers look like different busineses sizes. Professional, but not boring.

[raijen]

Designed by Aaron. I like the way the company name is partially in a box, and the stylized flower.

[raijen]

Designed by Lonelyrabbit at DC. I believe it's supposed to be a hexagon, but it looks more like an artistic 3D box to me.

[raijen]

Hope these might help explain some of the logos I've enjoyed seeing, and the different styles I like. Please let me know if I can provide any other information.

[Just J]

This was my original idea. I scraped it because something made me think that you wanted the "SBW" in the design.

[Just J]

And here is the original in the same blue.
As for the gradient...
Depending on your printer, it may or may not print right. I use a digital printer that is able to print very nice gradients. The percentages of color that you are talking about is more using percentages of one color, called screens.
Someone else may be able to explain this process a little better than me though.

[raijen]

Hi, Jason! Nope, you have the other designed nailed. I spent hours trying to figure out a way to combine the letters (they all looked really stupid ;) , so I'm happy with that one the way it is, except for the slight revisions I mentioned earlier. From looking at other logos you've submitted, you do a fantastic job of combining letters in really cool ways.

I posted examples of other styles I like since I'm happy with the way your acronym logo looks.

Raijen

[raijen]

Oops, I must've been typing while you posted. The blue looks very nice, but it's used so often in websites that I think I prefer the green for now.

[raijen]

I'm sorry, I forgot to thank you for changing the width of Small Business Warehousing. I like that much better. Could you also bold the whole name?

[Just J]

Your welcome...
Here you are :)

[raijen]

Thank you, Jason, this one is good to go.

[Taldo]

:) here is a rough idea..i will work on it more if you like it!

[raijen]

Sorry for the delay in commenting on your logo, Taldo. Took me a while to think about it, because I do like it. I'm not sure that the building looks enough like a warehouse, though. Almost looks like a doll house my daughter used to have where you could see into the rooms. I was thinking, "maybe a box in one room, a dolly in another, ...", but although that would more depict that the building is a warehouse, it'd probably make it look too messy. Am I making any sense? :) If you have a chance, maybe you could tell what you had in mind for this idea?

Thanks so much for taking the time to enter.

Raijen

[raijen]

Thought of another image that I think might work well, and wanted to post it before I forgot. ;)

An hourglass, with a tag line of something like "just in time to grow your business".

[raijen]

Just over a week left in this contest. Wanted to check and see if anyone else plans to submit work as the deadline gets closer?

Raijen

[Tyler]

:D

http://24.87.106.228/hostedlogos/sbw1.png

[bogglins]

hi. my entry..

[raijen]

RadicalSEED, I like the way you have the company name, and I like the fonts. I appreciate you working the hourglass into it, but I don't think that someone else looking at it would realize what it was. If you want to keep working on the hourglass, I'd like to see something with bold, thick strokes. Curvy, not a lot of tiny details.

Bogglins, this one isn't grabbing me. It does look like a warehouse sort of logo, but I'm looking for something different than the normal industrial look that most of these companies have. On your website, my two favorites were e-Compass and Softport, both because of the way you worked some symbol of their business into the logo.

Hope this feedback helps. Please let me know if I can provide any other details.

Raijen

[Taldo]

:)

[Tyler]

:D

http://24.87.106.228/hostedlogos/sbw2.png

[raijen]

Taldo, I like it. Looks like different sized businesses, and like a graph of their profits going up. :)

I'm not thrilled with the font for "small business", though. It reminds me of a magazine, but I can't think of which one. Could you show me a few others? Also, I'd like to keep the writing the same width as the graphic, if that's possible. Not sure if we could do that and have the business name legible.

RadicalSEED, I like this one much better than the last; thank you! Couple of things I'd like to see if you have the time...

Could we make the bottom of "s" in "small" level with the bottom of the other letters? And could we loose the drop shadow under the box?

For both Taldo and RadicalSEED, I know I won't be using any red, blue, or construction hat yellow on the website. Could I see the graphics in a different color that you like? If you don't have anything in mind, seeing it in the original sage/jade green I mentioned would be great.

Thanks so much,

Raijen

[Taldo]

here ya go!

[Tyler]

I'll get on that as soon as I get home today.:D

[raijen]

Thank you, Taldo! I like the green best, I think, with the font you used on the purple-ish color. Being able to use the logo in both the horizontal and vertical styles is a nice plus. I don't have any other changes for you on this.

Raijen

[raijen]

RS, I'll make sure to check back this evening.

[Just J]

Don't know why, but this reminded me of a warehouse, rows of boxes, static (well, thats in my warehouse :lol: )

[raijen]

Hi, Jason! Actually, I kinda like it. :) Any chance you could get one of those looking a bit more like an hourglass? They're fairly close already.

Raijen

[Just J]

Do you mean like this or with multiple hourglass shapes within the square?

[raijen]

That's a good start. This is more of what I had in mind. Please excuse the wavy lines. ;)

[Just J]

:rolleyes:

:D

[Tyler]

Here we go

http://24.87.106.228/hostedlogos/sbw3.png

[nvoke]

one from me.. let me know what you think,
thanks and njoy,
amanda :)

[raijen]

Jason, thanks for cleaning up my sorry work! :D Looks really good. Could you possibly make the hourglass a little less perfect? I'm thinking of your Elimser, jbFashions, and Michael's Flowers logos. I like the rougher lines, and that it looks like someone really talented just took a marker and sketched them out. Looks less intimidating. Make sense at all? Also, is there a way to make "small business warehousing" the same width as the graphic?

RS, thanks for the revisions, I like that better. Could you lower the graphic a bit so that it's even with the "s"?

Hi, Amanda! I'm going to have to think on yours a bit. My first thought was "not the look I'm going for", but I have to say that it's growing on me. Makes me think of a whole other way I could go with the site. Could you please make "small business warehousing" as close as possible to the same width as the warehouse graphic? And could we stretch the graphic just a bit to make it look a little more like a warehouse (less house-like)?

Thanks so much to everyone who's submitted and revised. It's going to be hard to choose!

Raijen

[nvoke]

changes...:)

[Just J]

To answer all of your questions...
Sure! :)

[Tyler]

:D

http://24.87.106.228/hostedlogos/sbw4.png

[shnickerdoodle studios]

Here's one from me..

Looking forward to your thoughts...

Thanks,
Deanna

[Aaron]

Hi Raijen,
Here's how I see it (twice) ;)

Shown: two color, two color reduced, single color reduced.

[raijen]

Thank you, Amanda . Actually, I think my revisions were bad. Your original idea looks the best.

Jason , I like the name width much better that way. But, the hourglass still looks the same. I like it the way it is, but I think I'd like it even more if it was a little more "rough draft" looking. If it's not possible, don't sweat it; the logo looks great as it is.

RadicalSEED , I like this much more, thank you! If I go with this design, I'd probably want a different colored box, but it looks good how it is for now.

Hi, Deanna ! I'm not too sure on this one. I don't care for the different block colors behind the business name. Could I maybe see the logo with the business name under the graphic, instead of next to it?

Aaron , thanks for joining! I haven't decided which of the two I like best, yet, but both of them look great just the way they are. I like the way you have the graphic going outside the box.

Hope this feedback helps. I appreciate everyones' hard work.

Raijen

[Taldo]

here is a bolder look to mine...

[raijen]

Looks even better, Taldo; thank you!

[raijen]

I'll be closing the contest to new submissions on Sunday, and will pick the winner by Tuesday at the latest. So, not much time left if you'd like to join.

Thanks so much to all of the designers. You've made this a fun and painless project.

Raijen

[raijen]

I apologize for the delay this week. The winner is Jason, with the hourglass logo. Thank you so much to everyone who submitted a design; there were several that I really liked.

Jason, if you have time to try and "rough draft" the way the hourglass looks, that'd be great. If not, I'm happy with the logo the way it is. If possible, I'd also like the logo in horizontal style, with "Small Business Warehousing" to the right of the graphic.

Raijen

[Michael]

Moved to Revisions :)

[Just J]

Hi Raijen.
Thanks very much for choosing my design. I think I know what you mean and I will see what I can do whith it. I should have something for you tonight. :)

[Just J]

Sort of like this?
Or would you prefer without the gray inside?

[raijen]

Jason, I can't see any gray inside? Maybe just because the graphic is smaller.

Think my last post might have been misleading. If possible, I wanted the logo in both the vertical and horizontal styles. Sorry about that.

Raijen

[Just J]

By gray I meant what you are probably seeing as black. I added it so you could see what I mean as well as the vertical version.
:)

[raijen]

Jason, the hourglass looks great! I like it better with the black/gray. I have no other modifications.

Raijen

[Just J]

Great!!
Let me know which version you want (vertical or horizontal) and I will get all the files for you to download tonight or tomorrow.

[raijen]

I'll take the vertical, Jason. Could you tell me which font you used for the text as well?

Thanks so much for everything.

Raijen

[Just J]

Link to files sent via PM

------------------

Hi raijen.
The font used was Souvenir Greek Bold BT

Thanks again. If you need anything else please let me know.

[raijen]

Jason, sent you a PM about the files. BTW, where could I find a copy of that font? I did a quick Google search, but didn't see anything right off.

Raijen

[Just J]

http://www.linotype.com/802/itcsouvenir-family.html
None have the "Greek Bold" but a few of them look exact.

[raijen]

All files received, and everything was beautiful. Thanks for a logo I love, Jason.

Raijen