[Project Complete] Innovative financial company logo $200

[fadra44]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 5BT94179XB850720X)

Project Summary:
What text should be included in the main part of the logo?
Alera Financial (emphasis on Alera)

What type of product or service do you offer?
We primarily offer residential mortgages but plan to diversify into other types of lending and software development.

How long have you been in business?
7 years (under various other names)

What do you hope to accomplish with your new identity?
We are looking to grow rapidly and want a name and image that can be nationally recognizable and memorable. This is a new name and logo for us.

What are your long term goals?
To grow into a nationally competitive lender with the ability to grow into other markets (technology, insurance, etc.)

Audience Profile:
Please describe your existing audience
Homebuyers of all income levels

Who would you like to add to your audience?
We are looking to expand geographically and want a name and image that will stand out.

Perception/Tone/Guidelines:
What type of logo would you like?
We are looking for a creative logo with text and graphics.

Do you have any colors in mind for your logo? (if so, why?)
Perhaps colors like blue, green, or purple but definitely open to some ideas here. Nothing too flashy as we are a financial company.

Do you have any specific images or icons in mind that you would definitely like to see incorporated into your logo?
We would love an image that is more artlike or abstract. One thought - Alera means 'eagle' in Latin so feel free to play on some sort of abstract eagle design (nothing too literal please). The logo should say Alera Financial with the primary emphasis on "Alera". "Financial" can definitely be smaller and on a separate line.

Communication Strategy:
What attributes would you like your logo to reflect about your business?
Here are some attributes we would like our company to convey: energetic, conscientious, integrity, committed, visionary

What is your tagline or slogan?
None at this time

What is the overall message you are trying to convey to your target audience?
We are a national brand that is here to stay.

Where will your new logo be used?
Everywhere! We will be rebranding the company to include web and print.

Competitive Positioning:
Who are your competitors and what do you think about their logos?
We compete with many national lenders and especially like a lot of banking logos like Wachovia. Other competitors include: Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Countrywide, Washington Mutual

List competitive URLs if possible
www.wachovia.com
www.wellsfargo.com
www.countrywide.com
www.wamu.com
www.eloan.com

What sets you apart from your competitors?
Efficiencies passed on to the customer through high-tech solutions; personalized service through CRM, and guarantees in costs and time

[Taldo]

:)

[Tonya]

http://homepage.mac.com/tonyagoodnow/graphic_files/alera/alera1.gif

[Bojan]

hi

here is my first entry...

[Bojan]

... and the second one...

i choose one color combination for it's solidity and serious look. however if you would like options i'll be glad to work them for you

i will appreciate your feedback on those

kind regards

bojan

[fadra44]

I must not have subscribed to this thread so I didn't realize I had some entries. I will be getting you feedback ASAP!

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

Taldo - I like the fonts you used in this one but everyone felt the symbol looked too angelic. Perhaps try something a bit more abstract or artistic and put the symbol to the left of the name.

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

Tonya - we hadn't considered skipping a design and making the letters themselves the design (like IBM for example). I'm not crazy about the font though. Perhaps you can play around to soften this a bit or make it a little more artistic?

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

Bojan - Design 1 has a nice clean feel but is a little too minimalist for us. Perhaps a softer more artistic design possibly to the left of the name. Also, I would stay away from red.

Design 2 looks a bit too similar to USAA.com and a bit too military. Also, we want the name Alera to stand out more than the Financial.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Bojan]

hi. thanks for feedback... here is a possible way of resolving the problems you have with the first proposal... this one is quite more friendly, has a 3d look ... also more corporate colors...

hope i took it step further

kind regards

bojan

[Bojan]

... and also this idea occured to me...

bojan

[fadra44]

Bojan - I think I think the direction of Version 4 a little better. I see what you were going for but I'm not sure it works. Try adding a little more complexity to your design above the "RA" and moving it to the left of Alera.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Fabian]

Hi Fadra

Here's a abstract look at the side profile of a eagle :)

Thanks
Fabian

[fadra44]

Fabian - thanks for the entry. This is a nice start and headed in the right direction for us. A few suggestions: Change the font - we actually like the look of an all caps font (serif or sans serif would probably work). Try inverting your design - in other words - lose the circle and give the eagle design some color and see how that looks as a stand alone image. Finally, we're not crazy about the brownish-goldish color. Can you play around with some other colors?

Thanks,
Fadra

[Fabian]

:)

[Tonya]

I ended up heading in another direction :)

http://homepage.mac.com/tonyagoodnow/graphic_files/alera/alera2.gif

[fadra44]

Fabian - Looking good. Can you make the ALERA letters a little thinner?

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

Tonya - We have sort of a mixed camp here on whether or not we like the design above the name. This is a nice design but worried that this looks more like a stiff bank than a innovative financial company. Do you have some thoughts on how to soften it some? Also, I'm not crazy about the green. I'm leaning more towards a blue.

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

We have some great entries so far but don't want anyone to get too hung up on the eagle idea. We're not tied to it.

Think a bit softer and more abstract or artlike on the design perhaps.

One of my favorite financial logos out there is for Wachovia (www.wachovia.com). Hopefully in my mind I'm not trying to replicate it but that's a little of what I'm trying go for.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Fabian]

Here you go:)

[Taldo]

:)

[fadra44]

Taldo - Your Version 2 was actually a big hit around here. My only request is a name change. We've had to change the proposed company name to "Alera Lending". Can you try this again with the new name?

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

LOGO UPDATE: The contest is still open if anyone has any additional entries!

ONE MODIFICATION - We've had to change the name to Alera Lending instead of Alera Financial. Please submit any new entries under that name. Sorry for this last minute change. I hope it doesn't radically alter any design ideas.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Taldo]

:)

[Fabian]

:)

[fadra44]

Fabian - thanks for the additional entry. This one in my mind looks a bit too much like a spider though :)

Thanks,
Fadra

[Tonya]

One more :)

http://homepage.mac.com/tonyagoodnow/graphic_files/alera/alera3.gif

[fadra44]

Tonya - this looks really good. Just a thought - can you maybe try some other colors? We were think a darker blue (navy) and perhaps purple. Or if that looks horrible, we're open to some other color ideas. For some reason, the blue and green looks a little pharmaceutical to us.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Tonya]

I think I like the purple, but I've got 2 more color posibilities as well for comparison:

http://homepage.mac.com/tonyagoodnow/graphic_files/alera/alera4.gif

[DesignGeneral]

I'm working on something for you :)

[fadra44]

Taldo - just wondering if you have some other thoughts besides gray for the lettering. A darker gray? Another color? I'm open - just like to see a few other combinations.

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

We will be doing a final review of all designs tomorrow to select a winner. Don't worry - if you are working on something we would still like to see it!

We will post our decision (hopefully) by the end of tomorrow.

Thanks for all your great submissions!
Fadra

[DesignGeneral]

:)

[CriaturaCreativa]

i'm working on your project right now... i'll be posting soon!

Regards

Eduardo

[fadra44]

DesignGeneral - It goes against my preferences but I really like the colors you used in the top design (dark red). But the design on the side seems just a little too simplistic. Maybe a little more dimension would make it more interesting?

Thanks,
Fadra

[DesignGeneral]

Hi Fadra,

Thanks for the quick feedback. Here's another idea :)

eagle ...

Cheers,

Adrian

[CriaturaCreativa]

Hi there!

Here goes my first idea, hope you like it!

Regards

Eduardo

[CriaturaCreativa]

The second one, playing with the building/wing concept

Best Regards

Eduardo

[fadra44]

Adrian - thank for the design. I like this one better.

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

Eduardo - I like your Version 1. The wing idea is nice. I like the font but I'd like to see it with an All Caps version either in the same or a different font.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Fabian]

One more from me :)

[CriaturaCreativa]

Hi!

As you requested, i've tried 3 different font families, in different color schemes...

Hope you like my work

Best Regards

Eduardo

[Just J]

Just in case you don't see where I was going... The bottom inside of the "e" is intended to be the eagle's head.

:)

[Fabian]

:)

[DesignGeneral]

:)

[fadra44]

Wow - great additional entries!!! We'll be reviewing them today and letting you know if we have any additional feedback. If not, we'll announce our winner!

Thanks,
Fadra

[fadra44]

Jason - I really like this design but I'm struggling to see the eagle's head. Can you help me?

Thanks,
Fadra

[Just J]

Jason - I really like this design but I'm struggling to see the eagle's head. Can you help me?
Not really. ;)

It was more abstract then literal, probably another one of those things that only I can see. :rolleyes:
The idea was the the inside (negative space) of the bottom of the "e" was the eagle's head with the wing extended upward (the graphic on the right).

Did that help any?? :confused:

[fadra44]

Hello again - we are still reviewing all of the designs. It's a tough choice and we have a mixed camp here. We will be doing a final review in the morning and I promise we will announce a designer at that time.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Raja]

Pardon me, just trying to squeeze in :sick:

[fadra44]

Thank you so much for all of your hard work and all of your entries. We reviewed and considered ALL entries (including the last minute additions).

We have chosen Taldo - Version 3!!!

Thanks again to all of the designers. We have several more small mortgage company logos we will be pursuing in the near future so please enter again and again!

Taldo - we have a few minor changes and look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Fadra

[Taldo]

files sent

[fadra44]

files received