[Project Complete] $225 - Home furnishings Wholesalers logo & biz card

earwood · #1 06-14-2005, 06:18 AM

(Admin code added by Michael - GD5545355)

My last project is going so well that I am starting another. This contest is my 2nd in 30 days and is for a logo and a business card design with a $225 payout.

Company Name: Better Living Wholesalers
Deadline: June 30, 2005
Prize = $225.00

Project Summary:
What text should be included in the main part of the logo? Better Living Wholesalers

What type of product or service do you offer? We sell many home furnishing products, but our primary products are mattresses, bedroom sets, dining room sets, couches, chairs, pool tables and hot tubs. We buy directly from manufacturers and pass the discounts along to the public. We are not a buying club and we don't charge membership fees, hidden or extra fees to our clients for any reason. We do not incur the high costs of traditional mass-media advertising, expensive high-profile retail space, and commissioned sales staff. This allows us to beat virtually any competitor’s price.

How long have you been in business? New company, but have experience in furniture industry

What do you hope to accomplish with your new identity? Establish ourselves as reputable alternative to traditional furniture stores to get brand name, quality products

What are your long term goals? Create model that can have multi-location stores

Audience Profile:
Please describe your existing audience – New business, but our target is middle-income households. We feel that upper income won’t go to wholesale company to buy, as they are stuck with using traditional furn. stores.

Perception/Tone/Guidelines :
What type of logo would you like? Scalable to use in print and web

Do you have any colors in mind for your logo? (if so, why?) We are 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? We like the idea of an icon, but unsure of what it would be. Initially, we thought of a house, but we don’t want to look like a mortgage or realty company.

Communication Strategy:
What attributes would you like your logo to reflect about your business? – professional, trustworthy, great value, alternative to traditional furniture store

What is your tagline or slogan? Better Buys for Better Living.

What is the overall message you are trying to convey to your target audience? Brand name home furnishings at wholesale prices. Alternative to traditional furn. store.

Where will your new logo be used? Print, Web, biz card

Competitive Positioning:
Who are your competitors and what do you think about their logos? Most traditional furn stores have text only logos. We would like an icon.

List competitive URLs if possible
Similar company, not local- http://www.gowfb.com
Local competition - http://www.ashleyhomestores.com, http://www.rhodesfurniture.com, http://www.furnitureliquidators.com/

What sets you apart from your competitors? Regionally, we can beat almost any price as we don’t have the overhead of a typical furn. store.

Targeted Message:
State a single-minded word or phrase that will appropriately describe your company: Brand name products at wholesale prices

We request the following: Original files in .PSD or .EPS

We must have ALL rights to the design when this contest is complete but the designer may use the logo in his portfolio!

bogglins · #2 06-14-2005, 07:32 PM

earwood · #3 06-14-2005, 07:35 PM

Bogglins - I like the cursive font and probably like the 2nd logo on the 2nd row the best. Can we try living still in cursive, but horizontal rather than slanted?

Thanks!

bogglins · #4 06-14-2005, 08:13 PM

earwood · #5 06-14-2005, 08:50 PM

I do think that looks better, but not sure about the "wave". It makes me think of a pool, but I am not totally against it. The fonts are clean. I think you're off to a good start.

bogglins · #6 06-14-2005, 09:19 PM

Hi.. if you have a specific color prefrence.. just let us know.. we'll try to use that colors combination..
perhaps the blue makes you think of a pool..

how if black with greenish-brown?..

earwood · #7 06-14-2005, 09:24 PM

I love the color blue, but it's a good idea with this concept to change to something else. Blk/green could be good. Tks for showing the brochure, that helps bring it to life for us.

bogglins · #8 06-14-2005, 09:47 PM

Tonya · #9 06-14-2005, 11:52 PM

earwood · #10 06-15-2005, 10:59 AM

Tonya- Pretty neat design. It took me a while to figure out that was a couch, but I like the idea of incorporating furniture and a house.

earwood · #11 06-15-2005, 06:07 PM

Bogglins- We don't like the brownish-green. We like the solid colors more than the gradient. Again, we like the cursive.

Bill · #12 06-15-2005, 08:05 PM

Here's my idea...

earwood · #13 06-15-2005, 08:38 PM

Bill- The fonts look good. I like the variation between the two. We don't want a chair however as a focal point of our logo as we sell many furnishing products.

**Just J** · #14 06-15-2005, 09:16 PM

I understand you didn't like the idea of the chair and mine resembles a chair, but my idea was to somehow morph a keyhole and a piece of furniture keeping the emphasis on the keyhole.
(sorry I had worked on it before your comments to Bill)

earwood · #15 06-15-2005, 09:27 PM

Jason- thanks for your submission. I like your fonts and sorry you didn't see my post to Bill. We would be more apt to use an abstract chair than a tradition 4-legged seat. I think the cursive is almost too formal. Thinking ahead, I think a cursive font is nice, but we don't want to be perceived as high-priced. I realize that by wanting to represent quality and not represent high-prices could be tough, but I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

Thanks,

Todd

earwood · #16 06-18-2005, 08:04 AM

Hopefully there will be more designs coming for this project. I know my last project had a ton of great designs.

If anyone has questions about our project or suggestions please post here or PM me. I know this group of designers will create us a great logo and business card.

Thanks,

Todd

**Paula23** · #17 06-18-2005, 12:12 PM

earwood · #18 06-19-2005, 10:21 AM

Paula - Thanks for submitting something different. Unfortunately, the logo looks like another competitor Norwalk with the sofa in a square.

Also, we do like the cursive font used on Better Living rather than wholesalers.

We would like our business card to be somewhat flashy and something that stands out. We don't want to seem stuffy. I think we would like to see brighter colors.

I know we seem negative, but we really appreciate your design being different, so we can decide better on what we like. Please try again, as we have liked several of your other designs.

Thanks,

Todd

earwood · #19 06-19-2005, 10:46 AM

I think we would like to build off of Paula's idea. Could we see our name in a font like Jason's or Bogglins and then incorporate five "boxes" like Paula's with each of our primary product lines? Those 5 products are beds, sofas, hot tubs, dining room sets and pool tables.

I hope this makes sense. Obviously the "boxes" don't have to be square and couldn't be too large, but it sounds appealing to us. Maybe circles or some other way could highlight what we sell. Below is an example of what we want (i.e.- only part of the product is shown, not the whole thing). Please post any questions or suggestions you might have.

Fabian · #20 06-19-2005, 09:03 PM

Hello Todd

Something based on the idea you just put forward

Your feedback would be most welcomed

Cheers
Fabian

**Paula23** · #21 06-19-2005, 11:14 PM

Hi,
Thanks forthe feedback.
Here are a few designs based on your feedback.
They can be simplified if you'd like.

**Paula23** · #22 06-19-2005, 11:16 PM

And another idea.

Thanks,Paula

DesignGeneral · #23 06-20-2005, 03:54 AM

Hi Todd,

I'll have something for you

Cheers,

Adrian

earwood · #24 06-20-2005, 04:15 AM

Fabian- Thanks for submitting your design. I like the idea of quadrants, but not sure about the fonts. I think we really like the use of cursive and straight text. Also, if we can only show 4 products instead of 5, I would not put a dining room set and would include a hot tub. I really liked your icon for the bed.

Paula- Both fonts you used were very nice and clean. I like the line separating BL from Wholesalers on B and your logo is very good, but we like the multiple products being shown and therefore prefer your A-1. Also, I really like your "icons" for the products, except for the bed. The billiards and sofa are just great. We do prefer Fabian's bed icon. If a bed is hard to do... maybe a side angle of a mattress.

DG- looking forward to your logo.

Everyone - We really like the designs with the product icons. If you have an idea that doesn't include them, that's ok. We'll be glad to see it. Another idea we had that could show multiple products was a shield like this one. This idea may not work, but just a thought.

Thanks again for the designs and keep them coming!

Todd

earwood · #25 06-20-2005, 04:30 PM

One more thing... we would like to see the logo on the side of a cargo/delivery van. This will be one of the main visible places to see our logo. Thanks.

**Paula23** · #26 06-21-2005, 11:15 AM

Here is the previous design with new bed layouts...

**Paula23** · #27 06-21-2005, 11:17 AM

..and simplified with fewer colorsin a business card layout.
As far as a truck goes,do you have a specific truck style,color
in mind?

Thanks,Paula

earwood · #28 06-21-2005, 11:38 AM

Paula- I like C the best. I don't like the "zig zag" of the icons on A and B is a little busy with everything enclosed. Do you think 2 of the icons could go on the left of the logo and 2 on the right? That may not look good, but a thought to space them out.

As for the cards, I like the first B card with the stripes the best and then the one for C with the couch is ok.

Any chance we can do a hot tub instead of chair and table? Not sure how hard that is, but we really need a hot tub icon. Thanks again for the designs.

This is the van we want.

**Paula23** · #29 06-21-2005, 01:11 PM

I changed the shapes to rectangles.
They seem to accomodate the spa better.
Thanks,Paula

earwood · #30 06-21-2005, 02:28 PM

Paula- I like the rectangles better, but would prefer the C logo without the "box" around the logo. Thank you for putting it on the van... seeing a logo on a van or on a brochure like Bogglins did before is much easier to see the versatility of a logo.

The hot tub icon is ok, but I don't like the new pool table. Could you zoom in on the top view of the table and show the rack of balls? Something like this...

Finally, could we try different colors like navy & silver or 1C5EE9 & 15F05D (Sorry changed these again- UNC blue and light green) as the colors.

Thanks again for working on our project.

Todd