[Project Complete] Sept 5th - Calendar Website Logo - $150

[rgremill]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 6GW14275RU4197106)

Project Summary:
We need a logo for our social calendar website, CalFeed.com. The price is $150. The due date is 9/5/05. The final logo should be in a vector format.


What text should be included in the main part of the logo?
CalFeed


What type of product or service do you offer?
CalFeed is a social calendar website, like del.icio.us for events.


What do you hope to accomplish with your new identity?
Would like people to think of CalFeed first when it comes to online calendars.


Audience Profile:
Please describe your existing audience
The audience includes anyone that wants to search, manage and syndicate online calendars.


Perception/Tone/Guidelines:
What type of logo would you like?
A logo with an icon.


Do you have any colors in mind for your logo? (if so, why?)
I'm open to color suggestions.


Do you have any specific images or icons in mind that you would definitely like to see incorporated into your logo?
My first idea is to have an icon of a cow (head only) eating grass. (There's a famous marketing book called Purple Cow (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/159184021X/qid=1124763880/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8631795-8007233?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) which makes me wonder if it should be purple. Sound Crazy?) I am open to completely different ideas that may be techy and/or calendar related.


Communication Strategy:
What attributes would you like your logo to reflect about your business?
Fun. Sharing. Tech. Simplicity.


What is the overall message you are trying to convey to your target audience?
CalFeed is a fun place to manage and share your calendar events.


Where will your new logo be used?
website header, micro-buttons, t-shirts, business cards, letterhead, everywhere.


Competitive Positioning:
Who are your competitors and what do you think about their logos?
Upcoming.org, EVDB.com. (and every other calendar site and software) I think their logos are boring.


List competitive URLs if possible
http://www.upcoming.org
http://www.evdb.com
http://www.rsscalendar.com

[Kassi]

Here's a start. Feel free to request changes of any kind.

Many thanks,

Kassi :)

[rgremill]

Kassi and Jon thanks for posting so fast! I will prepare some thoughtful feedback and post it late tonight.

Thanks again!!

[rgremill]

Kassi, I like the cow image, especially the simplicity of it. I wonder if the grass would stand out better (when printed) without the diamond background. Can you try a version without it? Also, I'm not sure about the CalFeed font. Any other font options?

Jon, the grass makes the cow look more like a goat (see Google (http://images.google.com/images?q=goat&hl=en)) I like the fact you were going for simplicity, but it may be too simple. The font choice is good, but the colors make it look weak when printed.

Thanks to both of you for kicking this off.

I am also interested in seeing Calendar related themes/ideas. After polling a few people, I feel like I'm the only one that likes the Cow theme. :(

[Kassi]

Thanks for the feedback! The idea behind the "diamond shape" and squares enclosing the company name were inspired by the thought of memos, sticky notes, or dates on a calendar. And you're not alone on liking the cow idea, I like it because as you said, you're going for something people are going to remember, and I think it would be effective in this case. I think it works with the name too. I envision a "Cally the Cow" mascot theme (maybe I'm getting carried away :lol: ). Anyways, I will post revisions shortly and brainstorm on some other "non-cow" ideas too.

Kassi

[rgremill]

Kassi,

I'm glad someone else sides with me. There are so many other symbolic reasons I like the cow idea. The cow is an animal that takes in a lot, so I see the site as something that takes in a lot of data. The cow also gives a lot (not that) I'm talking about milk.

Any other ideas are welcome.

Thanks,

[Kassi]

Here are a couple of different font options and a view of the logo without the diamond behind the cow. If you'd like some more font options, or any other changes, feel free to let me know. I'm still thinking about some other ideas too.

Kassi

[rgremill]

Thanks Kassi. Just for the fun of it, can you make the patch around the eye purple?

Thanks!

[Kassi]

Sure thing! :)

[rgremill]

Really I was just talking about around the eye only, but that's fine too.

[Kassi]

Sorry, I thought narrowing the colours down was a good idea since you were planning on using this logo for printing purposes as well. Here's the cow with around the eye purple only.

[rgremill]

Looks good. We'll hold this one where it is while other ideas come in. (hopefully)

Thanks Again!

[rgremill]

I know there's a week left on this contest, but I was wondering if others are planning on submitting an entry?

Thanks

[rgremill]

Three days left. Anyone?

[Kassi]

Here are a couple of "non cow" ideas I was playing around with. The first set (3a, 3b), is my original idea for the text (the square shapes representing calendar dates, memos or sticky notes). I felt that this idea works well standing alone as well as with an icon.

[Kassi]

The next set (4a, 4b) is another related to the calendar date / sticky note / memo idea, showing an icon as just that, and it has an abstract smiling face.

[rgremill]

Kassi,

Thanks for the new entries. I like them.

I did wonder how the Cow logo would look if it were "detached" either slightly above or to the left of the text.

Your odds of winning look extemely high at this point.

Thanks again!

[Kassi]

I hope this is what you meant. Let me know. I'm glad you like my submissions, but more importantly to me above all is that you are happy with the logo you choose.

:)

[rgremill]

Kassi is the winner. Thanks Jon for participating. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't get entries from more people. Maybe it was the prize amount?

Kassi, can you try combine Version 3a & 3b TEXT with Version 2g COW.

Thanks!

[Kassi]

I will be happy to work through any other changes you would like to see made, and apologize for the lack of participation in your thread. It's been great working with you.

Many thanks,

Kassi

[rgremill]

Kassi,

I think we have all of the elements, it is just a matter of piecing them together right.

Here are my thoughts, I'd like to hear your artistic feedback / suggestions.

I like the "blocked" logo by itself, but I don't think it works works well with the Cow.

I think the Cow head looks better above than on the side, but I would rather the logo be "shorter" so that it does not take up as much room in a website header. So I think the Cow must be to the side.

I like the readability of the 'L' in the 2j font, but I think the 2i font fits the Cow theme better. So, let's go with the 2i font.

So that leads me to maybe, 2h should have the Cow to the left, like 2g.

What do you think?

[Kassi]

I agree with you on the cow "working" better on the side but "looking" better overall on the top ... that makes it harder to decide because it works nicely for different reasons either way. I would be happy to provide you with both versions ... "the cow on the left side" version for web, "the cow above" version for t-shirts, buttons, etc., and either way would work for your business stationary.

When the cow is on the side of the text, I think the logo does flow together better without the boxes, and I am with you on preference of the font we are currently working with over the alternate all caps font.

When the cow is placed above the boxed letters, it paints a funny picture for me of a cow leaning over the eaves-trough to have a drink, which was my original idea, but I also like the logo without the boxes too (especially when the cow is to the left), so it really comes down to a preference thing.

In regards to your liking of the letter "L" being capitalized, version 2L has a capitalized "L" just to give you a visual of that option as well.

:)

Thanks!

Kassi

[rgremill]

Kassi,

OK, I'd like to get the two versions you mentioned, one on top and one on the side (2H and 2K)

Thanks,

Robert

[Kassi]

Great, I will prepare the files and will PM you the link later tonight. Thanks for choosing my design, I hope you're happy with it and again I apologize for the lack of participation, I think there's just a lot of projects going on right now. It's been great working with you!

Kassi :)

[Kassi]

Files sent to your email address. Thanks again Robert!

Kassi :)

[rgremill]

Kassi,

I received the files. I wanted to ask you about the V1 eps file. The bottom of the Cow's mouth is squared off. It doesn't seem like that in V2. Is it possible that the height was a little off?

Thanks,

Robert

[Kassi]

Hi Robert,

I've looked at the files and when opened in any type of bitmap editing software (photoshop) it does appear to be cut off slightly. It still opens fine in vector based software (illustrator, corel draw). I'll fix them right away so that they will open in photoshop, I'm not sure why that happened. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Kassi

[rgremill]

Kassi,

Thanks for fixing the file. Now that the fun part is over, I have to build the site...

Robert