[Project Complete] OARBS Software Corporation Logo

cldellow · #1 07-11-2005, 05:49 PM

(Admin code added by Palmer - 30622500)

Hi,

We are OARBS Software Corporation, a young company looking for a corporate identity. After the logo, we will be looking for business cards and website designs here.

OARBS is the Online Audiovisual Resource Booking System -- we offer an online booking service for schools to allow them to share things like computer labs, TV/VCRs and projectors. This lets them save money by purchasing more effectively. You can visit http://www.oarbs.com/ for more detail.

We want a logo which is professional and makes visitors instantly at ease with our organization. One thing we have been told is that OARBS (pronounced "orbs") is hard to spell; people frequently misspell it orbs. A logo which resolves this would definitely be on the shortlist.

The audience of the logo is educators in the K-12 market - especially administrators such as principals.

We have a purple colour scheme at the moment - but are open to new choices.

The logo should emphasize: ease of use, professional, reliable, cost-saving. Obviously, that's a lot - do your best!

The logo will be used on our web site, business cards, letterheads, and other business correspondence.

Our main competitor is netsimplicity: http://www.netsimplicity.com/
Their logo is ... nice. Doesn't stand out either as exceptional or as a sore thumb. We think the talent in this forum could do better!

Our differentiator is that we are simple and practical from the perspective of an educator - easy to set up, easy to use, easy to manage your assets.

The phrase we want to describe our business (if not also our product) is "friendly and inviting."

Our commitment to you: We will be responsive to your postings here and will be as decisive as necessary to keep things moving forward.

The deadline for this competition is Friday, July 15th at 11:59PM EST.

We're very excited at the possibility of doing business with the talented designers here, not only for our logo but also for our other needs, and we look forward to what the future holds for us all!

Best of luck to all designers,

Colin and Dan

cldellow · #2 07-12-2005, 02:39 PM

Is there any interest from the designers?

In reviewing the forum, I notice there are a lot of deadlines near July 15 -- is that causing difficulty? I'd be happy to move it to accomodate if it is!

Colin

Senter · #3 07-12-2005, 02:50 PM

Cloin... we just had to wait for the admin code first before we can post to the thread. I am sure that designers will enter.

Ichi · #4 07-12-2005, 04:02 PM

Hello Colin and Dan,

Here is my entry to your contest, thank you.

cldellow · #5 07-12-2005, 04:09 PM

Hi Ichi,

Thank you for your submission! - immediate thoughts:
The logo is clean and fits the name well (orbs in the design elements for OARBS, the company). In the words of my business partner, it feels "space arcade"-ish.

The feeling I got from looking at it -- one central body, orbiting satellites -- is actually very appropriate to our business, since we offer a centralized web service which users can access from anywhere.

Could you keep going in this direction, but tone down the "spacey" feel of it?

Thanks for your quick response!

cldellow · #6 07-12-2005, 04:28 PM

Disclaimer: Dan and I are in no way at the level of artistic flair that the designers in these forums are. Take the following thought with a large grain of salt.

One thought we had recently to alleviate the problem of people mispelling OARBS is to emphasize the A in the logo. Since we are marketing to K-12 educators, to whom an A is a good thing, we feel there might be room for some creative designs around this theme.

Just a thought - we look forward to what you all come up with!

Colin

Ichi · #7 07-12-2005, 05:02 PM

Hello Colin,

Thanks for the quick feedback.
I have soften the color and emphasized on the "A" abit in the following revision. I also have dropped the swoosh to make it less spacey. Hope you like it better.

cldellow · #8 07-12-2005, 05:15 PM

Ichi -

While we like how you have emphasized the A, it still feels too futuristic. I think it's most likely that the font and the shape above the R are causing this effect.

Could you explain the shape above the R? That may help me understand where you're approaching this from.

Remember that we're also trying to present an image of professionalism which, in the educational market, translates to a more conservative image.

Thank you for your work so far!

Colin

cldellow · #9 07-12-2005, 05:18 PM

Oops - one thing I forgot to say, I like the colours in your second logo much more than in the first.

The cool blue/slate-ish colour scheme feels much more appropriate to the professional tone that we are trying to set.

Colin

cldellow · #10 07-13-2005, 09:45 AM

In light of the fact that there are a lot of competitions coming due on the 14th or 15th, I'm extending this one to Wednesday, July 20th.

cldellow · #11 07-15-2005, 08:24 AM

Hello!

Could any designers who are thinking of submitting a logo for this contest post to let me know?

Thanks!

bogglins · #12 07-15-2005, 03:53 PM

hi.. i'm posting something

bogglins · #13 07-15-2005, 04:21 PM

Senter · #14 07-15-2005, 04:23 PM

i will have something in later tonight

bogglins · #15 07-15-2005, 04:36 PM

cldellow · #16 07-15-2005, 04:38 PM

bogglins, thanks for your submission! We love your choice for the A - it not only emphasizes the correct spelling but also has the connotations of upwards motion. Also, the font you selected for Software is gorgeous, but could you please write Software Corporation if you wish to include more than just OARBS? A concern at the office is that the orbits, although visually engaging, are too busy for a company that wants a professional image. Could you take a different tack or tone down the image?

My apologies if I am unclear - this is a whole new world to me. Please don't hesitate to ask for further clarifications.

Designers - feel free [in fact, please do!] to escape the idea of orbits as part of your logo. The image we're trying to convey is professional and simple -- futuristic designs are likely to scare away our conservative, entrenched-in-their-ways clientele.

thinkkre8tiv, looking forward to your work!

bogglins · #17 07-15-2005, 06:01 PM

any specific color preference?
thanks!

-pieter

cldellow · #18 07-15-2005, 06:18 PM

Hi Pieter -

We're still playing with the corporate colours. Given our target audience (educational administrators), could you show us the 1st logo you made in a few different sets of colours that you think would be most effective? One thing we really noticed was that the grey in your 1st logo gave it a very conservative and safe look while still being visually appealing.

What are your thoughts on putting an apple somewhere in the logo? Either as the icon in the concentric circles, or as the cross-bar in the A of OARBS. We're not sure whether it would be cliched or even look good, but it would definitely make the connection to educators that we are in their business.

Colin

cldellow · #19 07-15-2005, 06:20 PM

Pieter -

Your second logo does not feel right to me for our business. While your abstract logo does not imply anything about our busniess, the planet logo seems to say to me that we're in the travel business.

Fabian · #20 07-15-2005, 10:45 PM

cldellow · #21 07-15-2005, 11:16 PM

Fabian -

Thanks for the entry! Your design definitely has the clean look that we're going for. Could you try a version with the rest of OARBS in caps? The lowercase doesn't seem to jibe with the image of conservative professionalism that we're going for.

Also, would it be possible to see the + in the accent colour?

Colin

Senter · #22 07-15-2005, 11:31 PM

im working on mine right now

cldellow · #23 07-15-2005, 11:36 PM

thinkkre8tiv - cool, I'm looking forward to it. Congratulations on your baby girl! As an aside, you have amazing stamina - I know it's late where you are, and that you've already put in a number of hours at DO today. I really appreciate that you are keeping your word from earlier and can't wait to see what you come up with.

Senter · #24 07-15-2005, 11:49 PM

ok i thought about when i was in school learning all of this and tried to remember those grades that i used to get... A+ and A- sothat was my inspiration... and dont go down the road of apples in logos.... that just opens a whole can of worms on that one in my opinion.....
Image removed because of similar qualities to another post... *think*

Fabian · #25 07-15-2005, 11:52 PM

Senter · #26 07-16-2005, 12:02 AM

ok so another one came to me real quick...
deleted to similar......

cldellow · #27 07-16-2005, 12:08 AM

Fabian -
Thanks for the quick revision. I'm pretty happy with where your logo has gotten to - I don't think any further revisions will be necessary at the moment. Feel free to submit new concepts, of course!

thinkkre8tiv -
Probably very wise words about the apple

Version 1: As I mentioned before, lower case oarbs is not the image we're looking for. Also, the +/- felt maybe a bit big and oddly located.

Version 2: This is neat! The way the A+ is superimposed on the text is very natural yet also very obvious. Same comment about the lowercase oarbs though - could we see version 2 with the O/RBS in upper case?

Senter · #28 07-16-2005, 12:17 AM

ok here you go in all caps

cldellow · #29 07-16-2005, 05:15 PM

thinkkre8tiv - the revised logo didn't quite turn out the way I was hoping. On second look, it feels like the A isn't really a part of the name, and I think the handwritten look is not quite as professional as we'd like.

All designers - I want to take this time to thank all of you - I know our company does not lend itself to an easy logo and thus this must be a tough challenge, but I appreciate all of your work so far!

At the moment, we are most satisfied with Fabian's revised logo and bogglins' first logo - these feel like a good fit for our business.

Are any other designers looking to submit concepts?

Senter · #30 07-16-2005, 05:26 PM

i have some more i am coming back with just give me a little bit n this one