Logo Design for Software firm $100 prize

[Cubist]

(admin code added by Palmer - 7286708)

Where do I start. First off the Logo will be for the following site www.CubistGroup.com (http://www.CubistGroup.com) . I own the site, but have been quite busy working on client projects that I've basically neglected my company site thus far. As you can see we don't have a logo. I've tried working with some ideas but the reality is that I'm a programmer not a graphic artist and I should leave that job to artist like yourselves.

The company is more geared towards programming - especially Microsoft.NET technologies like ASP.NET. We focus on small and mid-sized businesses.

I've tried to play with ideas of actual Cubism incorporated into the logo as well as something having to do with abstract cubes, but neither worked. I think it had more to do with my lack of skill than the idea though, so that might be a place to start.

The definition of Cubism: Characterized by the reduction and fragmentation of natural forms into abstract, often geometric structures usually rendered as a set of discrete planes.

I like to think of our company (the reason why we chose the name) as taking a complicated myriad of technologies and simplifying it for our customers. Basically you just need to look at the whole problem from the right perspective to understand it.



Here are the only requirements I can think of:
1. The Logo should have the words "Cubist Group" or "Cubist Group, Inc."
2. The company name should be legible - not too abstract that somebody would have trouble reading it.
3. Preferably should be on a white background - unless you can justify it otherwise.

The site will probably get re-done if the Logo dictates that a new look and feel is necessary so don't rely on the site for colors etc... Use your best judgement on colors you think would work.

I perused the internet a moment ago, and the following sites have logos that give me that right feeling. Hopefully this will give some of ya'll an idea of what I like. It's not an exclusive list by any means, just a quick list in about 20 minutes of looking.


www.e-axis.com (http://www.e-axis.com) (roll over logo to see colors)
www.Liquid2D.com (http://www.Liquid2D.com)
www.meltmedia.com (http://www.meltmedia.com/exit.html)
www.murrayandjames.com (http://www.murrayandjames.com)


Any questions... post them here - I'll try to stay actively involved on the thread. Thanks, and good luck!

[Cubist]

B.T.W - Prize is $100
Deadline is 7/11/2003 - I'd like to make it shorter, but that seems to be the norm from what I've seen so we'll go with that.

[The_Dude]

*admin edit* Sorry The Dude, you must be a member of the Design Team to enter contests. Please read the Rules (http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=4&t=35&s=) Thank you. *admin edit*

[Taldo]

Guess I'll go first!

[ElKootcho]

modern, yet not overdone, typeface.

[TwistedNewMedia]

:ph34r:

[Juvanescence]

Abstract...

[Raja]

hi!

[Julie]

Here's one...

[ElKootcho]

Don't you mean "Here's four"? :rolleyes:

[Julie]

Umm...well...you're SO picky :P

[Taldo]

another direction....

[Taldo]

I'm going crazy with these!

[Cubist]

I'm surprised and excited about all the entries made so far. I've consulted with a Graphic Artists (Nano) from my company and asked him to throw some comments of the designs.. so here goes.


Taldo:
John's comments:
Design 1 - I like the colors and the font also looks good. I'm not sure if I like the symbol. It kind of reminds of plastic table cloth with the holes in it. Perhaps - those two squares could be transformed into a cube?
Design 2 - Impressive!! That Cubist Face is real nice! However, I think it may confuse us for actually being a company more involved with Cubism art then with web and software development. I'd hate for that design to go to waste - perhaps you can pitch it to a Cubist website out there because It's some awfully nice work.

Nano's comments:
Design 1 - At first seems very simple but when put against the rest of them, might be
the best one. I would say try to incorporate the letters with the symbol of
the squares.

Design 2 - I dont like the use of cubism in the piece. we dont want to let people think
that we are somehow attaching our selves to the cubist movement. we just
want to take the idea and look at it from a different angle.



ElKootcho
John's comments
I do like the idea of the second design. I definitely think the symbol should be more than a simple 3-dimensional cube because many companies already have that incorporated into their logo - that's why the second design is more appealing. I think the font needs to be changed though. I'm not sure what it is, but that font doesn't convey the right feeling to me.

Nano's comments:
I like the second part of this. although the colors need to be worked out
more and the font needs to be changed, its a good first attempt. I would say
leave the symbol one color or at least shade each of the planes coming off
the cube the same way the cube itself is shaded. right now there seems to
be no difference in where those planes are with respect to each other.



ubergerlgeek
John's Comments
Ahhh... got oh so close to hitting that good feeling I was talking about earlier. Your definitely on the right track with this one. I'm liking the font on this one alot. The one thing I didn't quite like was the color. I mean it looks good, but not quite the colors that I like. The orange is okay. Try a darker blue maybe. Also, I think a symbol somewhere in this would make it even better.

Nano's comments
It has been done before but i like the sketchiness involved. It makes
something very simple alot more interesting. I dont like the colors in this
piece. I would say push the sketches even more and see what happens.



j-design
John's comments
Very, very creative. It definitely stands out to me and is headed in the right direction. I definitely like the font too. The first thing I think needs to be taken into consideration is the amount of vertical space this would take up. I mean, it might not be a big dea, but in order to put this into business cards and the web sites header area might be difficult because of the amount of vertical space. Perhaps the cubes could be moved to the right or left or even behind (<- might be difficult without a good color contrast). The symbol is nice, I'm having trouble figuring out it's depth. I'm no artist so I'm not sure how to fix it, but perhaps nanos comments would help with that.

Nano's comments
I like this one the best. i would say try to show space between each block
by using shadows. this separates the pieces and shows more movement.



Ondarox
John's comments
I'm wondering if I should've left out the ASP.NET part of my first posting as it seems you have gone in that direction to try to convey our messege. I think the symbol is cool, but I'm not feeling those .NET colors. I've seen some of the work that you've done before and looked at your portfolio and am completely impressed with your great work. I HOPE you will post again.




JulieT
John's comments
Again, the .NET colors are not working for me. However, I do like some aspects of Cube4. I think the "C" needs to be changed to a different font, perhaps even the same font as the rest of the logo. Also, the four squares should probably be changed to two alternating colors.


Thanks all for the great entries. Looking forward to seeing more and also look forward to future work on this site as I've already got a few more projects in as soon as this is done.

I'll be back with more feedback on any new entries tomorrow night.

Thanks all
John

[ElKootcho]

It's what's inside

[ElKootcho]

A variation

[TwistedNewMedia]

:brow:

[Juvanescence]

A variation of the first, and a new idea also.

[martincrumlish]

Here's my entry....

[Julie]

Here are some revisions.

Julie

[Cubist]

Thanks for the new entries. I'll try to cover all the new ones without missing anything.

Taldo -
#1 looks somewhat like a tile company logo.
Can you try a different font on #2? It looks good, but right now it's taking up too much horizontal space for my liking
#3 is nice, but it's just not giving me that feeling. I'm not sure what can be done to change that. It's a nice approach, but I'm wondering if I'm having a problem with the complexity involving the drop shadows, and opacity. It may be too much for a logo. Let's see if I change my mind later.
Nano suggested that for #4 "Try to play with the perspective a little more and see what happens."
Overall, you've entered some solid designs... let's see if the revisions work for me.

ElKootcho -
#1 - I'm not feeling that font either. I like the font styles on Ubergerlgeeks and j-designs best. Here are Nano's suggestions. Excuse his typos, I'm not completely sure what he's trying to say here. "I like the shading of the different planes but Im not sure if the colors
work. try working with different colors. I would for sure change the image.
try putting a lighter color coming from inside the cube and the planes the
darker color."

#2 - While browsing the internet yesterday, I came across a site that used almost exactly the same technique, so I'd say kill this design for fear of looking too much like another tech companies logo. I wish, I had bookmarked that page, cuz I can't seem to find it anymore.

Ubergerlgeek -
Yes, More steps in the right direction. Nano hasn't had an opportunity to see any post past ElKootcho's #1 post described above, but I like your revisions.
#1 - The color scheme is getting closer, but not quite there yet. I do like that orange on your #3 design. Perhaps you can match the blue from #1 with the orange from #3? I'm not sure if I don't like #2 because of the colors, but I do like it's simplicity. #3. Again, this one is nice - but perhaps try a revision with the blue and orange.


j-Design -
Thanks for the revisions. Both your designs look real good. I love the symbols and the font. Can you play with the colors a bit. I'd like at least one color to be bolder. Perhaps you can use the comments I posted for Ubergerlgeek as a guide. Thanks. Looking real good so far.


Martin Crumlish -
This design is a tad bit too simple for my taste. I'd like something a little more unpredictable. I don't mind playing off the cube idea, but I'd like it to be more then just a cube.

Julie T - After seeing some of the other designs, I think your approach looks a little too retro. I'm not sure if it's the colors or the design. I'd like something that conveys the feeling of "technical", "savvy", "trusting", "bleeding-edge" etc... Something anti-conservative.


Overall - we've gotten a little closer to an ideal design. Hope you guys/gals hang in there with me. Look forward to see more.

Thanks
John

[Juvanescence]

Added an orange to bring the logo to life a bit.

[Tyler]

OKmyKEYBOARDisSTILLmessedUPbutIgetAnewONEtoday>

[Tyler]

AnotherIDEA

[Tyler]

YETanother

[ejlain]

Hi. here are a few of my ideas.

Thanks

- Ed

[Radu]

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

-Ruairi

[Julie]

Here are some other versions, all playing off the cube idea.

[ElKootcho]

Another option. Only 1 color

[Raja]

yea!

[Tyler]

hellooo? :huh:

[ElKootcho]

:tup:

[Raja]

sure!

[FTIGraphix]

you like?

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

[FTIGraphix]

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/cubist2.jpg

[FTIGraphix]

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/cubist3.gif

[Tyler]

and another set

[FTIGraphix]

What is your respected opinion of this depiction?


http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/cubist4.gif

[Cubist]

Everyone,

I really don't have enough time to go over all the entries, but I appreciate the effort from all. I'm just going to narrow it down to the designs that I currently like the most. At the same time I encourage new entries as I have not decided on a winner and am still looking for something to strike me as the perfect logo for us.

Top candidates as of now.

wwwzone - I like the simplicity and professional appeal of this logo.

Ubergerlgeek - I still like this font quite a bit. The only thing lacking on this design is a symbol of some kind. I'm also a little worried about the blueprint style lines for print material. I like the effect, just not sure if it works for a logo.

Taldo - This is Nanos favorite thus far. I'm wondering if maybe it's too perfect of a cube.

RadicalSeed - In terms of symbols, this is probably my favorite. I would remove the 3 though.

J-Design - Still looking for a darker blue on this design.

ElKootcho - This again, has a nice symbol. Can you try a horizontal version of this with the symbol to the left of "Cubist Group"?

ElKootcho_06 - One of the lines of the "C" logo is a little jagged. I like this logo, can you try a different font? The one you have is good, but I'd like to see a little variety.


I look forward to revisions and any final entries.

Thanks,
John

[Michael]

Hello

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



Michael

[Palmer]

Originally posted by Cubist@Jul 9 2003, 03:33 PM
J-Design - Still looking for a darker blue on this design.

See? I told you so :D

[ElKootcho]

Originally posted by Palmer@Jul 9 2003, 12:26 PM
Originally posted by Cubist@Jul 9 2003, 03:33 PM
J-Design - &nbsp;Still looking for a darker blue on this design.

See? I told you so :D
:lol:

[ElKootcho]

Originally posted by Cubist@Jul 9 2003, 11:33 AM
ElKootcho - This again, has a nice symbol. Can you try a horizontal version of this with the symbol to the left of "Cubist Group"?

ElKootcho_06 - One of the lines of the "C" logo is a little jagged. I like this logo, can you try a different font? The one you have is good, but I'd like to see a little variety.
Several font options.

[Juvanescence]

Cer i bleseri hynan. :)

[Radu]

2a - added a small 3d effect.

[FTIGraphix]

...

http://www.ftigraphix.com/images/cubist5.gif

[Taldo]

Here are some variations....

[Tyler]

Some color changes and a few mods on the idea. :ph34r:

[Cubist]

I Will probably announce a winner Monday night. I'm still doing some considerable thinking. In the interim the contest is still open and new entries will be accepted up until I announce a winner on Monday night.

Thanks,
John

[cre8or]

Hello John,
I would like to take advantage of your offer to submit a new entry.
Please accept this submission as my idea for your logo.
Your feedback would be appreciated.
Thank you,
-Kimber.

[Cubist]

Okay, Time to announce the winner. This was extremely hard, thus the delay in making a decision. I asked quite a few people to comment on what they thought and in the end decided to go with RadicalSeeds design.


http://www.designoutpost.com/forums/uploads/post-4-1057268976.gif


We'll probably be making some changes to this design inhouse, but basically you've set us in the right direction. My favorite logo was Cre8tors, but unfortunately that symbol (which I loved by the way) didn't fit our business.

Thanks everybody, and sorry for the delay in announcing the winner.

John

[Michael]

Congrat's Rad, nice design.


Michael

[Palmer]

Thanks a lot John, glad we could help. There were a lot over very nice entries in this one.

Congratulations Rad, nice work :tup: