[Project Complete] Logo for IT consultancy firm - $175

luker · #1 11-25-2005, 03:59 AM

(Admin code added by Palmer - 7HR466981C443920B)

Project Summary:

What text should be included in the main part of the logo?

"Black Orpington" - note the space.

An explanation of the name:

The company takes its name from a traditional English breed of hen, dating back to 1886. The black orpington is a fairly large hen and quite broad. The all-black feathers have a characteristic attractive irridescent green sheen. It is now a rare breed.

For more information on the hens (and pictures!), see:

What type of product or service do you offer?

Web, network and general IT consultancy and programming

How long have you been in business?

We're a new startup

What do you hope to accomplish with your new identity?

With our identity we want to ensure people associate us with being professional, and our being a "real" company they can be sure will continue to be there to meet their requirements.

When is the deadline for final entries before choosing a designer?

Flexible, but as an initial starting point let's say 14 December. If anyone needs more time let me know.

Audience Profile:

Please describe your existing audience

We're a business-to-business company. Our existing customers are consulting and outsourcing companies working with departments of the UK government and similiar.

Who would you like to add to your audience?

We'd like to continue working with large organisations, but we'd also like to work with smaller companies who want to expand and automate their web presence and IT systems.

Perception/Tone/Guidelines:

What type of logo would you like?

As it's targetted at other businesses, it should convey professionalism, integrity, and should appear "clean". It should suggest that we are a company with excellent professional communication skills.

Do you have any colors in mind for your logo? (if so, why?)

The colours are flexible, but the colour of the black orpington are black and iridescent green, so these may be most appropriate. The design will usually be presented in colour, but needs to be clear when printed in black and white.

Ignore the design and colours on blackorpington.com - this will be redesigned around the new logo.

Do you have any specific images or icons in mind that you would definitely like to see incorporated into your logo?

Again, we're flexible about any images. The design could be as simple as distinctive text, but the images that spring to mind are a feather, egg or hen. If you want a photo as a starting point, iStockPhoto.com have a royalty-free image of a black orpington (which is used on blackorpington.com as a placeholder).

Communication Strategy

What is your tagline or slogan?

We don't have one; we don't feel slogans are quite correct in our field.

What is the overall message you are trying to convey to your target audience?

We're a real, professional company, who can be relied on to understand our customers' businesses, communicate at a professional level, and yet still offer excellent technical skills. In brief, we have the technical skills of a group of geeks, but with much better social skills!

Where will your new logo be used?

Business cards, letterheads and web site. As such, we'll need a vector version, and if appropriate a tuned bitmap version for the website.

Final thought

We'd also like colour references (eg. PANTONE) and font names. If the iridescent green were to make it into the design, we'd consider having the business cards printed with it as a metallic colour, so we'd also appreciate a PANTONE Metallic reference for it.

Very finally, I've talked a bit about images and colours. They really are just thoughts and are definitely not firm requirements. Please go with what you consider will work best!

Ratbaggy · #2 11-25-2005, 07:49 PM

Hi Luker,

Here's one to kick it off. I was thinking it would be AWESOME to get a decent (Oprington style) metallic ink for use with this. I haven't got my metallics booklet infront of me, but when I do I'll see if there is one that comes close (or is special) enough.

Cheers,

Paul

luker · #3 11-26-2005, 03:35 AM

Hi Paul,

Thanks for starting things off. This logo is very much on the right sort of track - it has the clean look and professional finish we're after. However the hen logo is a little bit dark and dense and seems to draw the eye from the text. Perhaps it should be a bit smaller, or a different colour, or perhaps a stylised outline instead?

I agree about the metallic ink - with the right colour and finish it would really add something special. The metallic ink would initially be limited to the business cards, with plain ol' CMYK on letters and similiar

Thanks,

Luke

luker · #4 11-29-2005, 02:14 AM

Is anyone else working on this one? Any questions? Are the requirements too vague or too limiting (or simply too business-dull

)?

Luke

nhr · #5 11-30-2005, 06:12 PM

Kassi · #6 12-01-2005, 10:56 AM

Kassi · #7 12-01-2005, 08:01 PM

Here is a green and black version.

Thanks,

Kassi

luker · #8 12-02-2005, 12:57 AM

Hi, and thanks for your entries. A few thoughts for you:

NHR - I like the colour you've chosen, and the clean lines of the logo, but I think the chicken is a bit too cartoon-y for what I need. I also have mixed feelings about the grey outline, as it looks a bit too much like a haze.

Kassi - I really like your chicken logo, particularly with the green swish at the top of version 2 - it's eye catching and distinctive. The text isn't quite doing it for me, and I can't quite put my finger on why. I think the gradient fill doesn't quite work for me, and also I'd be interested to see how it works with mixed case rather than small capitals. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Luke

Kassi · #9 12-02-2005, 09:12 AM

Hi Luke,

Thanks for the feedback. Here are a few font variations for you to consider. Perhaps this will give you a better idea of what you're looking for. I also removed the gradient from the text, and used title case instead of upper case.

Thanks again,

Kassi

[version: 3a, 3b]

Kassi · #10 12-02-2005, 09:13 AM

[version: 3c, 3d]

luker · #11 12-03-2005, 10:36 AM

Hi Kassi,

Thanks for making those changes - we really like 3A here. No further suggestions at this time. We'll let this competition run for another few days and see what happens.

Thanks!

Luke

**Titania** · #12 12-06-2005, 03:47 PM

nhr · #13 12-07-2005, 01:55 AM

Revision:

nhr · #14 12-07-2005, 01:57 AM

New concept:

nhr · #15 12-07-2005, 01:58 AM

Thank you.

gig · #16 12-07-2005, 08:21 AM

it's mine

luker · #17 12-08-2005, 04:02 AM

Hi all.

Thanks for all the designs so far. My thoughts for you:

Titania: An interesting idea, and nice use of colours, but not really for us. The design is a bit too contrived somehow, and the chicken too fixed. The image isn't as 'clean' as we'd like, and the white lines look too much like a butcher's guide.

NHR: Version 2.1 has promise - I like the hen design with the tail markings - very stylish. The red works nicely and makes it stand out. The font looks clean. I'm a little unsure about the decoration on the 'O'. I assume it's to make it look like an egg, is it possible to work on that? Also, I'd like to see a bit more space between the two words, so make it clear they're seperate words.

gig: I like the idea of focusing on the head, but the outline round the head isn't working for me - it's a too random-looking for me. The 'O' for Orpington is also looking too lost somehow. Both fonts work well, but I prefer font 1.

If anyone wants to try a different tack and finds the chickens difficult to work with, I'd be interested in seeing ideas using just a black/green feather or possibly even just an egg - whatever you think works best.

Hope that gives everyone a few pointers. Several of the ideas have potential, so the contest is still very much open.

Thanks!

Luke

**Titania** · #18 12-08-2005, 06:23 PM

gig · #19 12-09-2005, 06:57 AM

thanks Luke, here is the revision

nhr · #20 12-09-2005, 07:45 AM

Thank you very much for feedback.

Revision:

nhr · #21 12-09-2005, 07:46 AM

...and with egg in design:

luker · #22 12-12-2005, 06:55 AM

Hi all, and thanks for the updates. A few more thoughts:

Titania: I much prefer this one, but it's still not quite right somehow. There's too much red going on, and I think the egg needs a bit of tweaking to make it a bit more egg-like.

gig: Doing more for me than the previous version, but I still think the chicken head isn't quite right. It still feels a but 'fussy' somehow.

nhr: I like version 2.10, with the plain text - it makes the chicken logo stand out. It's a strong contender - no further suggestions at this time.

Kassi: I've shown your design to a few of my colleagues, and they like the design a lot but are worried about the chicken being white instead of dark. Is it possible to try out having a darker hen and a lighter egg?

Thanks!

Luke