Logo for small software company - $50

[hsitz]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 271200T)

I'm looking for a logo for my small soon-to-be software company. The name of the company is 'Walnutworks Software'. The main product will be a database management system for nonprofit organizations, called 'NPdb' or 'NPDB'.

I would like for the logo to walk a fine line between being friendly, unintimidating, and organic versus being techy sophisticate. I don't want it to come off as too cutesy, but I definitely don't want users to feel cold towards Walnutworks. I'd like for it to evoke warm fuzzy feelings as much as possible, while at the same time being compatible with the idea of NPdb as a serious, solid, feature-rich database application.

One slogan of the company may be, "We help you crack the tough nut of nonprofit database management."

The logo and its color scheme will be used on a website, business cards, letterhead, etc.

I envision the color scheme of the logo as being predominantly greenish (as a start, the green might be close to: R: 140, G: 166, B: 51) and light brownish or tan-ish. I imagine somewhere on the logo will be a (friendly looking) walnut, or perhaps two or more walnuts, with some being solid and some being cracked open.

I've been impressed with many of the efforts I've seen on Design Outpost, hopefully you guys can come up with something good for me.

Thanks,

Herb Sitz

[Tyler]

Here's my first "crack" at it. :no: Oh man that line stunk.

[Tyler]

Added some depth

[Julie]

Here's my first attempt--feedback is appreciated!

http://www.bohtieque.com/design/walnuworks.gif

[hsitz]

I realized I forgot to put a deadline on this contest. How about Monday, June 16?

Below is some feedback, which I'm pretty free in giving even though I'm not the one who's an expert in graphic design. But I figure this is one of those customer-is-always-right situations where I'm the customer, so it's my sensibilities that have to be pleased even if I turn out to be an aesthetic cretin. That's kind of a fun position to be in, now that I think about it.

Wow, thanks for getting these efforts out there so quickly.

RadicalSEED: Thanks, that's an interesting approach that's nothing like what I've thought about before. I'm not sure whether I like the main font used for the 'Walnutworks' text, but I am pretty sure I don't like the special treatment of the capital 'W'. Especially combined with the different fonts of both the 'Software' and the slogan part of things, the different typefaces seem too busy, not integrating the separate pieces of text enough.

I don't think I want the walnut serving as part of the text, but that particular walnut (i.e., the 'o') does look pretty good, shows the crinkles and hardness of a walnut pretty well. Will that level of detail look okay on a logo? I was thinking of having one or more nuts like that, but bigger, to the left of the company name.

I don't think the little walnut at the hub of the gear works very well. Too small and I don't understand why a walnut would be at that spot. The gear itself is definitely something I hadn't thought of before. I'm not sure, but that particular gear might be more 3d than I would ever consider. I wonder whether some sort of gear graphic, or multi-gear graphic, might work with walnuts nestled in between the cogs of the gears, possibly with the walnut in one particular spot being squashed/cracked. In general, I would say that I'm not likely to go with a graphic that has gears, but it is an interesting idea.

I'm not sure about your revision to my proposed slogan. Seems like prospective customers might read it and think I'm accusing
them of being tough nuts themselves! :( I don't want to do that; it's definitely their problems that are the tough nuts I want to help them crack.

JulieT: Thanks again for getting all these possibilities out there so fast. I'd say yours are more like what I was originally thinking of than RadicalSEED's, but I think all are a bit more "soft" than what I want.

The two with the leaf branch are nice looking, but not what I'm looking for. Especially if I do use something like that "tough nut" slogan, I'm pretty sure I want a nut in the graphic. The abstract treament of the nuts in the other two is interesting, but I think the nuts are both too soft and green. (Though somewhat accurate, I think, in that walnuts do start out as large, soft, and green, and then they shrivel and turn black and eventually the hard tan walnut shell comes out, which must be cracked to get the meat of the nut inside.)

The placement of the second nut as faded and behind the text is an interesting thought, but aesthetically I don't think it quite works. Seems to lack some proportion or balance, maybe?

I'm not sure what I prefer regarding choice of fonts. If I had to say I think I prefer the non-serifed font of the 2nd and 3rd versions, and that the serifed font of the 4th effort is a little too "thin". Not sure, though.

I should say that although I mentioned that possible slogan, I'm not at all sure that I want to have it in the logo. If I do put it in the logo, I think I would revise the wording very slightly: "Helping you crack the tough nut of nonprofit database management".

Thank you both again for such quick responses. You've got me thinking.

Regards,

Herb

[FTIGraphix]

Here's some options

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/walnuts.gif

[FTIGraphix]

And another

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/walnuts2.gif

[Tyler]

*Tweak tweak*
Feedback?

[cre8or]

Here's my first submission for your logo design.
Please advise.
Thanks,
-Kimber

[Julie]

http://www.bohtieque.com/design/walnuworks2.gif

[Julie]

http://www.bohtieque.com/design/walnuworks2.gif

[Raja]

http://24.192.15.159/4fun/walnutworks.gif

[imageconstrux]

ODR - that's a sweet design!

[axdenied]

Hello,
Here is my first submission for this contest.
Tell me what you think.
-Sam

[Tyler]

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

[Raja]

Originally posted by imageconstrux@Jun 1 2003, 05:37 PM
ODR - that's a sweet design!
thanks for the comment :) To please such a discerning eye as yours, it's quite flattering :)

[hsitz]

Wow, you guys are amazing. Thanks for all your efforts.

Here's some feedback on entries starting with FTIGraphix and in order of responses:

FTIGraphix: I like the fonts and text layout, but the colors are off from what I want. I think I'm looking for colors that are more natural or earthy. Don't know how to say it exactly, but overall impression I get from colors you're using is "plasticky". I much prefer the walnut layout of your second entry, except again that the walnuts in it appear shiny and plasticky, and the shadows giving depth make the walnuts float high in the air.

RadicalSEED: The "gear" entries are interesting. I appreciate your taking my feedback into consideration. I like the second gear entry better than your others. I don't see any "reason" for the gear-propeller motif of #3 and #4, the plain gears work well and I think they're a common motif in software logos, implying the company's software works smoothly like a machine (i.e., no bugs!). I may be a purist, but when I see a graphic of gears I like to see the gears in a "working" orientation, where the tooth of one gear is within the depression of another as they roll across each other, with the next tooth about to descend into the next depression. Not sure how easy that would be to do, or whether nut could be preserved within the 'next' depression as appearing like it's next to be squashed. In general, I would say I like fat non-serif font of your gear entry #2 also. I'd prefer to remove the complication of the 3d bar beneath the text, though, and the resulting 2 color treatment of the text. Simpler would be better.

cre8or: An interesting concept but not quite what I'm looking for. Gears are arguably appropriate (though I'm still not sure) because as I said they are a fairly common theme in logos for software companies. I wonder whether people viewing the logo might be confused at what significance the nutcracker serves in the logo of a software company. I don't want them to have to know the slogan to figure it out.(I'm worried that my use of walnuts may already be confusing enough to some. The gear crushing a walnut seems okay to me because it's related both (1) to nutcracking, and (2) arguably, to the operation of the software.) Also, I prefer a text font simpler-looking than the one you use, I think.

JulieT: I like both these new entries, but they seem to have lost a little of the pizzazz of your original four. Is it because of the heavier use of green? Because of the particular green you've chosen? I'm not sure. I don't think I'd want to see the slogan featured so prominently, since I'm still not sure whether I'll use it, or whether I will want it included as part of the logo. Perhaps you could forget what I said about green in my original message and just go with whatever looks good to you.

ondarox: I think imageconstrux is right; that is a sweet design and I like it the best so far. It has pizzazz; it's playful; it brings a smile to my face. I wonder whether the walnut graphic might be too large in comparison to the size of the text. I'm also not sure I want to exclude the 'Software' part of the name in the logo, but you've got me thinking about that. Are there any other orientations (e.g., walnuts to left of text) that might look good, too? The green you've chosen is a little bolder than I was thinking of, but it seems to work. Will that green color look good (i.e., harmonious) when combined with the two earth tones of the walnuts if I use all three as coloring for things like heading or highlight text on a webpage?

axdenied-Sam: Your first entry shows the most promise. It's too green, though, and not punchy enough. I know what I said about the green in my original post; feel free to disregard that. The texture of the walnuts looks great, but overall they look a little too much like heads of lettuce. I think that's mostly because you were following my original green suggestion, but maybe also because they're a little too spherical? I think the fonts are a little more conservative than I'd like. I'm not looking for something that's too far out there, but something with a bit more pizzazz than the two fonts your using. Wonder what the first entry would like like in other orientations, e.g., with walnuts to left of text.


RadicalSEED: I think I like #2 in your most recent set of entries the best. The walnut you're using for all three looks good. Three things I might change about your #2: (1) font is wide than I want, (2) the ruling through the 'walnutworks' text is interesting, but I think I'm looking for something simpler, and (3) I'd prefer to have the walnut arranged in a natural looking group of 3 (or 2?, or 4?), without the fadeaway and without the straight line arrangement.

Thanks again to all of you.

Regards,

Herb

[Michael]

Hello,

The 2nd one I don't know what I was thinking when doing the walnut..

http://www.2square.co.uk/contests/walnut.jpg


Michael

[Palmer]

Actually I think the two colored walnut looks cool :D

[Michael]

Originally posted by Palmer@Jun 2 2003, 12:29 PM
Actually I think the two colored walnut looks cool :D
Thanks, I think I was trying to get one side of the walnut to represent software..duno if it worked.


Michael

[coxy]

Originally posted by imageconstrux@Jun 1 2003, 04:37 PM
ODR - that's a sweet design!
Well, now he has his graphics tablet, there's no stopping his creativity. :D

[novapages]

Hi there,

I hope this isn't too cutesy -- but at the very least it is laid back, approachable, and unique.. ;) I'm new here so please let me know what you think.

-Velda

<img src='http://www.novapages.com/media/1/walnutworks.png[/img]

[novapages]

Originally posted by ondarox@Jun 1 2003, 02:32 PM
[
OnDaRox-- not only is the logo lovely, I dig the tagline! :)

[FTIGraphix]

?

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/walnuts3.gif

[FTIGraphix]

ww

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/walnuts4.gif

[FTIGraphix]

:rolleyes:

<img src='http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/walnuts5.gif[/img]

[FTIGraphix]

:no:

<img src='http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/walnuts6.gif[/img]

[FTIGraphix]

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/walnuts6shirt.gif

[Tyler]

:blink: ...... :blink:

[Julie]

Whew--with ending classes this week and several other projects, it's been a bear. Here's something...I intend to work out the kinks with it later, if you like the idea.

[hsitz]

Thanks to everybody who's revised or made new entries. Here are my comments on entries since my last post. In general, I think many of the logos don't have quite enough of a "high-tech feel". Yes, I do want to balance the natural, organic side against the tech-oriented side, but I think the balance on many is too much on the natural/organic side.

2square: I like the second of your entries better. I particularly like the walnut, but (perhaps surprisingly) not so much the two-tone treatment. The detail and sharpness of the walnut seems like it contrasts a bit with the softness and muted colors of the text. Maybe snappier colors would liven it up.

Velda: That's a very nice logo, but not quite what I'm looking for. Definitely not enough high-tech feel for me.

FTIGraphix: I like the text part of your first two entries, but there's still something plasticky about the walnuts that I don't like, and I'm not sure I like symmetry in arrangements of walnuts. Just 1, 2 (one whole, one cracked), or 3 (2 whole, one cracked) would be what I'm looking for I think.

Hmmm. B) I'd worry that some of my customers might think the walnut in your latest entries looks a little too much like Southpark's Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo: :o

<img src='http://www.seattlesteve.com/walnut/mrwalnut.jpg[/img]

http://www.seattlesteve.com/walnut/mrhank.jpg


RadicalSEED: I really appreciate your work in coming up with all these different variations. I'd say the first variation looks pretty good. I'd really prefer to have the text be simpler, no two-tone, no shadowing, just plain text, and even perhaps with a font that's a little bit cleaner and simpler (although the fonts are already pretty good). I think some variation of your latest #1 is in second place behind Ondarox.

JulieT: Thanks for making another entry. I'm not sure about this one. It looks pretty and calm. I think I want something with a little more zing.

I would say that the entry from Ondarox is closest to what I'm looking for, followed by the gear/walnut entry #1 from RadicalSEED and some variation of the non-Mr.Hankey entries by FTIGraphix.

Thanks again to everybody. Let me know if any of you want to make revisions and would like more guidance regarding what I want.

Cheers,

Herb

[Tyler]

Howdy Ho!! couldn't resist.

[novapages]

Originally posted by hsitz@Jun 5 2003, 12:05 PM
In general, I think many of the logos don't have quite enough of a "high-tech feel".

Velda: That's a very nice logo, but not quite what I'm looking for. Definitely not enough high-tech feel for me.

Not a problem. I didn't like "hobo" that much anyway and have been looking for a more suitable font, but it needs to be one where the W at least somewhat resembles the meat of a walnut. Now that I have a little feedback I will try to find something better.

But, if I do submit another entry, it isn't going to be totally techy looking. I personally try to avoid the "high tech" look. Technology changes so rapidly that anything techy looking today will probably not look so hot tomorrow -- and in company branding its important to be able to stick with your logo for a while.

[Julie]

Here's one that's a little looser...

http://www.bohtieque.com/design/walnuworks3.gif

[hsitz]

Originally posted by novapages@Jun 5 2003, 04:00 PM
Originally posted by hsitz@Jun 5 2003, 12:05 PM
In general, I think many of the logos don't have quite enough of a "high-tech feel".

Velda: That's a very nice logo, but not quite what I'm looking for. &nbsp;Definitely not enough high-tech feel for me.

Not a problem. I didn't like "hobo" that much anyway and have been looking for a more suitable font, but it needs to be one where the W at least somewhat resembles the meat of a walnut. Now that I have a little feedback I will try to find something better.

But, if I do submit another entry, it isn't going to be totally techy looking. I personally try to avoid the "high tech" look. Technology changes so rapidly that anything techy looking today will probably not look so hot tomorrow -- and in company branding its important to be able to stick with your logo for a while.
Velda -- I think I'm in close agreement with you. I definitely don't want a "tech" looking logo. But I also don't want one that looks like it could be for an environmental group, either. What I'm looking for is some balance. Instead of saying I wanted something more "tech" looking, I probably should have said I wanted something more "vibrant", with more "zing" or more "pizzazz".

Ondarox's entry is a good example. Not overly techy (if that word applies to it at all), but sharp and eye-catching. Another that looks sharp is the third logo in JulieT's first entry. Something about the walnut in that one seems off to me, but it has some of the sharp look I'm looking for.

Cheers,

Herb

[Michael]

#2

http://www.2square.co.uk/contests/walnut2.jpg


Michael

[Julie]

Duh--I was thinking you didn't like the walnut at all--I've tweaked it a little...here's my next try.

http://www.bohtieque.com/design/walnuworks4.gif

[FTIGraphix]

But everyone remembers Mr. Hanky! :lol: I bet South Park's ratings soar when he is on! :sick:

Just something to think about... ;)

[Tyler]

*sigh*

[FTIGraphix]

Originally posted by RadicalSEED@Jun 6 2003, 02:13 PM
I love how graphic design sooths the discomfort of newly pierced nipples :wacko:
Sometimes, you say it best when you say nothing at all.... :lol:

[novapages]

Agh, well, I wanted to get a chance to try a techier looking font, but my desktop finally died. I'm trying to salvage what I can, but it'll be a few days before I can work on projects. I hope to be back up and running in time to give this one another try..

-Velda

[hsitz]

Well, my contest was supposed to end today but I'm not quite sure I want to end it yet. I appreciate all the great entries, as well as the many variations that several of you (RadicalGeek, JulieT) have provided.

I'm definitely still partial to the single entry offered by Ondarox, but I'd like to see a variation or two of it. In particular, I wonder how well it would work as a horizontal logo, like this:

http://www.seattlesteve.com/walnut/walnutworks2.jpg

Or how it would look with the walnut graphic at smaller sizes.

Also, I wonder whether it would be possible to get a good looking walnut using different colors than the ones in the current version. Those colors look good in the logo, but I think they look too pale and peachy to form part of a color scheme for a website or business card, especially in comparison to the green. Maybe not, but I'd like to investigate options before I commit to those colors.

JulieT, thanks again for all your efforts. I like the simplicity and punch of some of your designs. Here's one variation that gets a little bit closer to the punch that I like (by using black for text and adding black edge definitions to the walnut) within one of your simple designs. Still looks to me like maybe the 'software' text should be centered or something other than flush left. Maybe not, though.

http://www.seattlesteve.com/walnut/wnut5.jpg

RadicalSeed, with all your efforts you were edging ever closer to something that would work for me, but I think in general your designs lack the simplicity I'm looking for. You've got the gear thing down pretty well, but as far as the text I'm definitely partial to things on the simple side of the spectrum. Thanks for all your efforts.

-- Herb

[Julie]

Herb,

I know I'm not in the top spot, but I've done some reworking and given these more zap. If you want me to go further, just let me know.

Julie

[hsitz]

Well, I've corresponded with Ondarox and decided that I'll be going with some variation on his design, which we'll work out privately. So my contest is over and Ondarox is the winner! Thanks to everyone who provided entries. I'm sorry I could pick only one.

Regards,

Herb

[Palmer]

Thanks Herb and congratulations Raja. :tup:

[Raja]

thanks all :)

It's great to see the new talented designers

[imageconstrux]

ODR, that was one of the most eye-popping logos I've seen here. Looked like it should go straight onto a box, and have a place on the shelves amongst any other software.

I was actually kinda wishing the logo wouldn't win, so I could start a software company built around that logo. :tup:

Congrats to you!