"New Guy" needs a new logo *Project Over*

[earwood]

(Admin code added by Palmer - W0616734)

Designers...please help....

I've been at this new job for about 5 months now...and I continue to lament the fact that our youth ministry has no real identity of its own. Another youthworker turned me on to your site...and I'm very impressed by the work I've looked at so far...I'm hoping you can help me. The "tag line" that has been used in the past is "Unmasking the Son." That doesn't need to be a part of the logo...but hey, I'm game.

The name of our youth ministry is: Eclipse Student Ministries. We could debate the theological implications of an "eclipse," which typically blocks the sun (or, in our case, the SON) from view, but I've come to embrace the name.

We are the youth fellowship of the First United Methodist Church in Holland, Michigan. The "home church" information doesn't need to appear in the logo, but I'm willing to entertain any and all design options you want to toss my way. We'll weed them out as we go along.

I'm not looking for anything too "loud." Edgy is fine, but I'm looking for a general-purpose design that's equally at home on posters, letterhead, business cards and t-shirts. Graphic and edgy...yet understated. Something with "punch" that catches people's eyes and attracts their attention without blowing them away from a distance. Does that make sense?

Originally, I had a mental picture of a total eclipse from which the rays of the corona were gathered into the four points of a cross. Perhaps the words "Eclipse Student Ministry" or the letters ESM would appear somewhere. Maybe not. Maybe something about "a ministry of First UMC, Holland, Michigan" would make it's way in. I don't want to get too specific here...because I don't want to put limits on your creativity. Go crazy. Send me your ideas...I'll provide feedback and we'll go from there.

If you'd like, I can forward an image of the mural that adornes one wall in our youth room. But I'm not married to that image, either. Let me know when and if you need more info.

Thanks!

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Welcome to DO!! If you could, pass along the mural. I will be working on some designs for you.


Jayson

[earwood]

Thanks, Jayson... Here's a digital pic of the mural in the Youth Room...which, incidentally, is also called "The Eclipse."

Like I said, I'm not necessarily married to this image...although it is cool, it doesn't say much about the fact that we're a student ministry. But, like I also said before, I'm open to pretty much anything. If you could "cool-ify" this thing...maybe spice it up or put a slightly different spin on it, I'd love to see what you can come up with.

peace,
t

[Mowling]

Here is a Go at it Bro. Todd

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Here is my first pass at it. Let me know what you think.

Jayson

[earwood]

whoa...that was quick.

Jayson... I'm intrigued by your design, but it looks to me like the cross is in "orbit." Do you think you could rework it? Also, I think I like the horizontal layout better than the vertical, but I like the predominantly black color scheme.

Mowling... This is good stuff, too...although I'm not crazy about either the font or the color schemes. Could you switch stuff around and send me some other ideas?

Also...and this might sound really picky, but the plural "ministries" is important, since our approach consists of more than one ministry. So, if you could make sure to incorporate that, I'd appreciate it.

I had a chance to chat with my Youth Ministry Team tonight about logo development. They thought that it would be nice to add something about the home-church affiliation. I'll leave the verbiage up to you, but something along the lines of "a ministry of First UMC, Holland, Michigan" might work.

Here's another idea...
While I was checking out other designs, I saw what y'all did for the folks at St. Mary's Aglipayan Congregation...that post-mod line-drawing rendition of the saint...sound familiar? Anyway, giving the Eclipse mural the same kind of treatment might be cool...then again, who knows....

Go crazy! I look forward to seeing what comes next

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Here is some quick changes I made. The "cross" had a couple of meanings. One - a cross , and two - its supposed to resemble that last burst of light that shines out from the eclipse. I attached a picture to show what I was going after. Let me know what you think. I will also post some more ideas this afternoon.


Jayson

[earwood]

Jayson...

I'm with you on the Cross design. I get it...but the way it is now, it looks to me more like the cross is a "star" that orbits around the white ring. I think it might help to try two things:

1. Rotate the ring 90degrees counterclockwise so that the Cross appears to be coming out of the fatter part of the ring--y'know?

2. Orient the cross so that the longer points of the cross are at 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00; that way, it'll look more cross-like (rather than star-like).

As for the cross itself, I think I liked the brighter color scheme better (from your earlier version). I hope you don't think I'm being too critical...because even affter saying all that, I still like the overall design...and I REALLY like the gothic-look of the double-cross design. It's very cool. Nice work.

Thanks so much. I look forward to seeing your other design(s) later today!
peace,
t

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Not being too critical at all! It definitely helps when you can let me know what you like - don't like, want to see - don't want to see - it's all good! Here are the quick changes you wanted. I'll be working on the others.


Jayson

[Mowling]

Alright Bro. Todd...here is another one

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Couple other ideas.

Jayson

[earwood]

I just love seeing new ideas! This is great. Here's some feedback.

Mowling:
I'm liking these more than your previous post...here's why: I dig the eclipse graphic. I think I like it more in the first one, the "stacked" version, because I think it could even stand alone on a t-shirt or something like that...but I can envision uses for either version. However, I'd like to see a couple things.

1. There's nothing (other than the word "ministries") that sets us off as a Christian organization. I know I said "understated" in my original post, but this might be too far in that direction. One of the things I like the best is the series of rays that comes from the graphic. Could you orient those so that they start at the "straight-up" 12:00 position and end at the 3:00 position...then add a similar spray from 9:00 to 6:00, making each progressively longer? I'd like to see the way that looks. I'm also willing to entertain other ideas in that vein.

2. I liked what you did in the St. Mary's Aglipayan Congregation logo contest. Can you fiddle with a similar idea from the pic of the mural I posted a couple days ago?

Jayson:
Again, I like the black version better than the white background...but again, I like the horizontal layout better than the vertical. I guess I groove on the off-set "student ministries" thing. I'm not sure how I feel about having the cross work into the lettering as you have now...perhaps it would look better as the "I" instead of the "L," especially if you put the little white diamond back in the center of the cross (like in your earlier submissions).

Also, you said that you were working on some "other" designs...do you have anything completely new or are you still tweaking this idea?

I wonder--the mural uses the somewhat out-dated tag-line "unmasking the Son" (as in, Jesus...), does that spark any new directions or creative processes for you guys? Maybe somebody else would like to toss a hat into the ring? Don't get me wrong, I love what I'm seeing...but nothing has reached out and grabbed me as "the one." At least, not yet...

Oh, and don't think that "understated" means "conservative." Don't hold back...just let me have it! I'll try to let you know if--and how--it's too much.

peace,
t

[swiftymc]

[admin edit- Only members of the Design Team are permitted to enter contests, please follow the site guidelines. Thanks ]

This whole system of the contests is too complicated and ridiculous.....

[earwood]

my apoligies, swiftymc. I didn't (and still don't) know how many people are members of the design team. This was just an attempt to get any other members to join in.

peace,
t

[Palmer]

I didn't (and still don't) know how many people are members of the design team.

These Those and and Them

[Goodhaus]

Here are my entries…

[earwood]

These Those and and Them

whoa...that's a lot of folks. Thanks for the info, Palmer.


t

[JaysonC]

Todd,

A little different twist.

Jayson

[Mowling]

Ok just let me know of any changes

[Mowling]

well...sorry for that debris

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Another 1

Jayson

[RedLizard]

Here's a start for me. It's not completely developed yet.

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Do you have any feedback on my last revisions?

Jayson

[earwood]

Sorry, Jayson...and everyone else.

You all have been great at sending changes and new ideas...I just haven't had the time to give them the attention they need. Without throwing myself too much of a pity party, I've been down with the flu for almost a week ...and with Christmas worship services just around the corner, what little "work time" I've been putting in has dealt largely with that stuff. Ah, the life of a youth pastor.

Anyway, I'll see what I can do about getting everyone some more feedback in the coming days. I can tell you one thing, Jayson... I like the "twist" from earlier on the 11th more than "Another 1" posted later that afternoon. I'll get you some more detailed info later. Glad you're still on the job.

Hope everyone is well--or at least better than I am. Happy Holidays.
peace,
t

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Hope you feel better! Have a great holiday!

Jayson

[Fabian]

Hello Brother Todd

Hope your over your ness

This was inspired by the image you first supplied.



<img src='http://creativemeasures.250free.com/eclipse.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[JaysonC]

Todd,

Hope your holidays were good. Was wondering if you had any input for my changes.

Thanks,
Jayson

[earwood]

When last we joined our caped crusaders...it was just before the holidays...things were busy beyond belief and our hero B) was battling a case of the nasties. Time has passed and much has happened...new feedback has been gathered on this end...and a new foray into the design field on the other.

I'll try keep it brief...but be as specific as possible. Sometimes that's an oxymoron.

GoodHaus: I don't want to sound like I don't like your entries...because I think they're worth looking at...but I think they're a little too...umm..."colorful" for our current use. Maybe "bright" is the word I'm looking for. Of the designs you provided, I'm leaning toward the second one...could you develop or refine it a little and let me see what you come up with?

Jayson: Of the designs you've supplied, I still like the bottom one that's stamped Dec 11, 1:37pm. It's the one with the red "eclipse" lettering. I'm not really sure what's "missing," but I feel like something's just "not there." Maybe it's a font, or a font-size thing. Maybe it's a color thing. I'm not sure. One of my adult counselors thought the Crusiform looked a little too "Catholic." I like it, but maybe a non-crusifix cross alternative would be a good thing to work on.

Mowling: I like where you're headed...and so did at least one of the adults I showed these to. My thought on the "rays" of the eclipse graphic was to put the longest point at 6:00, then three equal points at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00. Then, fill in the quadrants between 6:00 & 9:00 and between 12:00 & 3:00 with a "spray" that gets progressively shorter toward the middle (rather than longer, as in your current design). So, if you connected the points of the rays with a line, they would form a concave arc, rather than a convex arc (like they do now). Hope that makes sense. The universal interpretation is that the current design looks too much like an eyeball. Feedback was split with regard to the "stacked" (left-side) design or the horizontal (right side) design. So, if it's possible, we'd like to see modifications using the two middle (from top-to-bottom) designs from your post of Dec 11, 2:35pm.

Redlizard: One of my trusted adults said, "That's a little too Black Sabbath-y for our kids." I tend to agree. I kinda like the look of the bottom one--and I'd be interested to see what happens if you ever completely develop your idea. Also, the Crusiform, like in Jayson's design, is a little too "Catholic" for our group. See the feedback I offered him, above.

CreativeMeasures: This is fresh. And I like it! Haven't shown it to anyone else on this end just yet...but I will. My initial feedback is very positive. I'd like you to try a couple things for me. First, change the font(s). While I'm a big fan of the "stencil" look, this stuff looks too heavy--especially when paired with the clean lines of the "Student Ministries" font and the rest of the logo. Second, I wonder how it would look to put the eclipse graphic and the tagline closer in relation to the center, Christ-cross. The last two things are just picky--please capitalize "Ministries" and add "First" before "UMC." Generally, I like the design a lot and look forward to seeing how you polish it up. Another thought is to put the eclipse graphic outside the whole thing...almost as a frame in-and-of itself...making the design more "round" than "rectangular." Tuck the tag-line in somewhere and see what happens. I dunno...that's just a thought.

Well, there you have it. I'm back...and ready to find a winner! I'm sure you all are ready to have me off your backs, too.

Oh, and to "sweeten the pot" a bit, there's a really good chance, provided we get a group logo we really like, that we'll be requesting a summer mission trip logo and maybe a spring retreat logo that works with the theme of the winning group logo. Just thought you might like to know that.

Happy New Year to All!
peace,
bro-t

[JaysonC]

Todd,

I'm trying hard to understand what direction you are looking to go toward - maybe you can help. At last review you wanted to head towards the mural you had on your wall - can you describe how the mural is less "catholic" or crusifix in form than the logo of mine that you like? I'll also try to find a solution to what you think is "missing"

Thanks,
Jayson

[earwood]

Jayson...

I'm trying hard to figure it out myself. I'm still the new guy around here...and the "Catholic" terminology came from one of my counselors (in relation to the church as a whole). I'm still trying to get a handle on where the group is theologically. His interpretation seems to be that the Crusiform is too graphic an image. I know it's on the mural...and I told him that...and he just shrugged. Don't get me wrong...we like what you've got...everyone that I've shown it to has liked it. Really, the Crusiform is the only thing people have hedged at. So, maybe a non-Crusifix would help ease people's minds.

The Crusifix just bugs some protestants more than others. Me, I'm not bothered too much by it...I think it's important to remember that Christ had to suffer (a lot) before he died. But it gives some people the heeby-jeebies. The Empty Cross is supposed to remind us that Jesus rose from the dead and isn't still hanging on the cross...but people can take that too far in one direction too...and forget the suffering part.

I'm afraid I don't have "the" answer. I guess that's why there are so many different churches...people just can't agree on this stuff. But, that's another issue altogether! :blink: Personally, I like the Crusiform...but unfortunately, the logo isn't for "me," it's for my group...and the kids are probably more likely to "wear" an empty cross than a Crusifix. Could you try one with an "Empty Cross"? I'll show it around and get a barometer for how a larger group feels about the two alternatives.

As for what's "missing"...that's another evasive issue. Maybe it's a simple layout deal...or a size-relationship-issue. I'm just not sure. Here's the way my wife puts it: your "earlier designs are more balanced in space and have less "black" space than in the ones that are "missing something" (there's a lot of black space to the right of the graphic)." Does that help?

Anyway, give 'er a go and see what you can come up with. Let your mind go wild.

thanks...
peace,
bro-t