Critic - Please?

[Zen2k]

- Recently I Have Been Creating A Lot Of Logo's Which Feature An Orb Design; I Believe That My Logo's Are Fairly Good But Still I Have Never Had One Purchased - Any Idea Whats Wrong With Them?
------- RESOURCES:
Heres A Tutorial I Made Which Teaches You About Orb Logo's
Orb 1
Orb 2
Orb 3
Orb 4

[MrGamma]

I know this might sound silly... but those logos would be a nightmare to translate to anything other than the computer or video screen...

Have you chosen a Pantone palette? The most discriminating client demand Pantone... and a color scheme which can be translated to surrounding promotional materials...

Other than simplifying them I would say there is nothing wrong with them...

Make sure you have a vector version on hand... resolution dependent graphics are another nightmare in the design world...

James
Ambitious Name Dropper and Javascript / CSS / PHP / Mysql Coder

[jezZzca]

I agree with MrGamma.. if these are supposed to be used as Corporate Identities, then they definitely need to be vector files. The files you have linked above are clearly raster images that cannot be separated or translated into one or two colors very easily for use in print collateral. Always start vector, then add effects for web/video applications later if the client requests.

[2footlong]

I have been doing logos for a number of years and would also agree that making logos scaleable (vector art) is usually a pretty good idea. Most of the time one never knows where a logo may be applied. (Some times as small as a business card or Web site and other times as large as a billboard).

Many times logos need to be able to be read easliy at any size (and most resolutions) at a fairly good distance, but this is definitely not a hard and fast rule.

I have found it quite helpful to remember that there are many different types of companies looking for many different types of logos. Some companies are small, but want logos that scream to tell others about them while other companies may be large and less in need of using different design "tricks" or extras in order to get them noticed. Usually, the less well known a company is, the more they are in need of a logo that screams "Look at me, I have the coolest logo ever!". On the other hand companies like Pepsi and Seven up can get away with colored dots. (And I won't even discuss Ebay...).

When I design logos (for anyone), I usually start out in either Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand or Corel Draw and create somethiing using scaleable vectors. I have come to the point where the possibilities in Adobe Illustrator are a rival even to some of the possibilities in Photoshop so I find myself leaning more and more toward the Illustrator format (because it is completely scaleable). After I complete my initial design ideas and present them to the client, I then take the clients final choice and create a completely black and white vector version of the same logo. This way the client has the ability to use the black and white version in newspapers or other one-color applications as needed.

Since we are just getting our own Web site up and running (after 10 years - don't ask...), I don't have many examples of what I'm talking about, but if you would like, you may see our company logo at http://www.lucky13multimedia.com/ it was constructed completely within Abobe Illustrator and is scaleable to any size.

Good luck with your logo work. Practice makes perfect (or at least more money!).

[cdn]

Zen2k: What the above designers have said may in fact be too much information at your level. I've spoken with a lot of young logo makers who never used or heard of Adobe Illustrator before. Stop using Photoshop man. Leave that program to photo touchups, until you understand dpi, raster, and vector a little better.

Download a trial version of Illustrator, and play around in that program. Get the feel of all the tools. STAY AWAY from the effects in that program, until you've gotten the hang of the basics (pen tool, shapes tool, pathfinder, etc).

Illustrator is used mostly for print production. Photoshop is used for both, but you need to understand the difference between 72 ppi and 300 ppi+.

ppi (Photoshop) = pixels per inch | dpi (Illustrator or any Print Production Program) = dots per inch (larger canvas means more dpi or ppi. depending on which program you use)

The larger your canvas is, the more ppi you will need. It's pretty simple when you do a bunch of experiments.

If you have anymore questions, Just ask any of us and we'll do our best to SIMPLIFY our meaning.

[tscreative]

Talking applications for creating a logo is like asking which hand to use to reproduce the Mona Lisa. A logo is a distillation of an idea, not a method for creating an "orb". The reason no one is buying your logos is because they don't mean anything. They are thoughtless exercises in technique that have little or nothing to do with the company, product, service, etc., that they are trying to represent.

If you want to talk technique, get a piece of paper and a pencil and start by making an image that has meaning and purpose for the thing it is supposed to represent. If you don't have an IDEA, it doesn't matter of you use Photoshop 12, Illustrator 113B.24, or a burnt stick. If all there was to making a logo was colorizing a circle in Photoshop and slapping some type on it, everyone with a computer could do it!

Wait… that's exactly what's happening here! Gee, I guess my 4 years in design school and 20+ years in the business were for naught.

[devils.master]

Nice job man, i wish i could that,i m trying also to create logos but not get my best till now.

[manishjain]

The second one looks good to me ...

[admin]

The main problem is ... I'll quote Simon on American Idol...

"They're too ordinary"

means... we've seen them many, many times. There are probably tens of thousands of very similar "orbs" online today.

Remember that a LOGO must convey meaning.

That's why it's virtually impossible to buy a "stock" logo for an individual or company.

Take a serious lesson from Maggie Macnab... check out her digs and see truly enlightened logo design.

It would be highly unlikely that a pre-designed logo would focus on a specific entity's true message. People who buy stock logos, miss the point -- and simply buy a "pretty" symbol. The other danger in stock logos is you never know when another client in a similar business will purchase the SAME stock logo... then you've got problems!

[Lizabell]

These are looking good but needs to be improve them if you want to use them in a corporate field.