Hello!

I'm a programmer, and I need a logo for the stuff I'm working on. My first attempt at getting it done by a designer was not working out, so I decided to try it out myself. This is the result so far. I linked an image because you need a special font to see the text in the SVG. The cube was done using 3 bitmaps for the sides, rendered in 3D with Blender, and than converted to SVG. Since the cube is also going to be the application icon, I have another version that is "orthographic", because it "uses more pixels" at 48x48 resolution. So the cube cannot be too detailed, and has to be recognizable at low resolution. What I'm actually working on is a game engine similar to Minecraft, so the concept of "block" is critical to the whole design.



LINK: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7161/6448751807_f649eff4fe_o.png (It seems the preview is cutting off the right side of the picture ...)

I'm posting this here because I'm hoping for constructive comments on how I could improve it. In particular about the colors, and/or a potential "background" for the whole thing (currently transparent). I know it's not much, but it took me for ever to get this far; I'm just not "artistic". While I found that creating 3D shapes (in Blender) is relatively easy (except for "people"), getting the colors right on a bitmap is extremely time-consuming (and I haven't even got around to trying gradients in Inkscape). One problem with the colors, is that the "real globe" hasn't enough contrast, and at low resolution you can't tell the difference between the dark green of the land, the dark blue of the see and the gray of the "grid/block corners". So I started with "real looking" colors, but had to massively increase the brightness and contrast to make it useable as an icon.

I don't have any kind of training about making logos and stuff, so I couldn't give any technical advice. But I do like how it looks. The only problem for me is that the green and brown lines that run horizontal on the lefthand image, make it hard to read the letters. I think if any of the green, brown, or dark gray letters could be different -- lighter for green and brown, or darker for the dark gray -- might make it easier to read.

Also, I wonder if you could make the water of the cube earth lighter blue, to have better contrast?

I really like the cube earth, with the E, and the isometric angle. And I also like the stacked cubes of the other one. Really effective!

Whole thing with cubes and cubed Earth looks nice, but it would not be a go for a logo (almost rhymes,)

While making logo you always have to think about down scaling and pretty much about logo`s appearance in two colors. I.e. take a look at this image on screen and then take a look on icons on your mobile phone. Or, what would happen if you send a fax (most probably received in b&w) and will the recipient have a proper representation of your logo in his hands? ...etc.

Choosing colors is also very important part of the designing process. Mostly, colors bring some meaning with themselves and combining of colors might be compared with combining different flavors. There are some rules about it, but some purposes also.

Your logo looks more like illustration to me, but there is a difference among these. Illustration is not meant and does not necessarily have to look good through all of those manipulations and variations, but logo does.

@Brynn Thanks for the positive comments! In case it isn't clear, the green, brown, gray layers to the right represent grass, earth, and than stone. In the cube, I tried to convey the concept of "block" and "world", but "engine" didn't fit, so I settled for the "E" of engine.

Now for the colors. I'm not set on those colors specifically. The hard part is that they have to contrast with each other at small resolution, while at the same time being relatively similar to the real colors (blue and green) of the earth, so that the viewer can recognize the logo easily. I chose a shade of green on the earth-cube to color the "grass", but brightness doesn't have to match, so I'll give it a try.

For the water, I could make it lighter, but I'm not sure if it would improve the contrast. What I mean is that when I increased the contrast of the rendered cube (the bitmap) in my photo-editing program, it always seem to make the cube as a whole darker. So wouldn't it actually reduce the contrast if I make the water lighter?

@Maestral Thank you for the insightful comment! Since you seem to know about logo design, and think that my picture isn't appropriate for a logo, I'm hoping you will have time to point me in the right direction.

I have actually read a few articles on making logos. While I acknowledge that the choice of colors is critical, the problem with most such articles is that they have been written with typical businesses in mind. The goal that my logo needs to fulfill is to evoke at a glance what the game(s) is about. It will be seen by potential players on websites, like Facebook, or Google Ads, or whatever other channel I decide to use to advertise it, as well as on my website itself. When the players wants to pay for something, they will use PayPal, or Facebook Credits, or similar, and get a receipt in the form of a PDF document. While I will need a letterhead and I will probably be sending faxes too, I will be sending them to people or companies that will work for me, not to my clients. So I don't think that I should optimize for the B&W look, as this won't bring me more money in the end.

What concerns mobile phones, I must admit I have no clue, since *I don't own one*. I hate phones in general, and mobiles in particular. What I can say is that the game couldn't technically run on a mobile because of the memory and CPU requirements. What I might do is send "events/messages" coming form the game to the players on their phones like "Your friend Joe just logged in". So it would help if the cube looked alright on a mobile.

Now, knowing all of this, could you give me more specific guidelines on how to improve my picture into a real logo?

One thing I'm not clear on -- are these both together the logo? Or just one or the other?

There are no magical shortcuts, magic wands or similar tools for making a good logo design. With this said, if your logo does not look nice when you draw it with pencil on plain paper... then something needs to be improved. I would prefer not to sound like some design guru or anything similar, but things are basically very simple in anything you do. Finding that way is harder part and, as you may presume, quite individual.

Just one more thing about logo, in general. Logo is there, when and where you are not. So, it does not really matter where or when it can be seen, but what is far more important is what can be seen.

I would also prefer not to continue elaboration about logo design, since this is Inkscape forum, but I would gladly recommend you a few other websites if you are interested in further analysis or exploration of logo design.

p.s.
In order to avoid sounding like "guru": Logo can`t make company better, it`s vice versa. Some of the logos are not much appreciated among designers, but they make s... load of money to their respective owners ,) If you invest some time and money in marketing campaign, make us used to your logo as it is now - I can bet you, in some time, there would be some people saying: What an excellent logo.

brynn wrote:One thing I'm not clear on -- are these both together the logo? Or just one or the other?

Many company will have a "banner" on the website front page that goes all the way across, includes some picture, normally to the left, and the name, and usually some kind of motto, starting in the center and going to the right. The whole thing the logo. This is what I would have got from the designer firm I contracted, if I hadn't canceled. But most companies also need a smaller picture that still represents them at a lower resolution. It is *part" of the logo, but it's usually not the whole thing. I'm not sure what is the correct technical term, but I would call it the icon.

So the whole thing is the logo, but the cube itself must be identifiable as my "product" on it's own to someone who already knows it. So I'm only ever using the whole thing, or just the cube.

Maestral wrote:I would gladly recommend you a few other websites if you are interested in further analysis or exploration of logo design.

I usually post any question that isn't specific to one application on one of the StackExchange websites (stackoverflow.com ...), but they have nothing appropriate for logo design. They have a "Graphic Design" site, but it has very strict rules and how-tos/w-i-p aren't welcome. So I would like some recommendation on a website appropriate for such questions that is "newbie friendly".

Maestral wrote:if your logo does not look nice when you draw it with pencil on plain paper... then something needs to be improved.

I'll assume that by "you draw", you mean "someone (that is good at drawing) draws" ... I never draw on paper.

I'll think about all that you said while proceeding.

I just wish to clarify one thing: I'm not deluding myself that I'm actually good at this; it's just that I discovered that the kind of "professional design" I can get for less than 1000 USD is hardly better than clip-art, and I can't afford to pay the rates of a bigger design firm at this stage. Also, my "missy" would kill me if she knew I spent a large amount of money on "logo design".

I would also prefer not to continue elaboration about logo design, since this is Inkscape forum,....

Actually there's an older topic somewhere, with tips for making logos. You'd have to search to find it.

^ I think I know about that topic, but forum search was not quite helpful in finding it. Still, there is a lot of tips or tutorials on the web about "serving" the logo, but not so many about actual "cooking" or "choosing needed ingredients" for the logo. Referring to different processes, but of equal importance.

About drawing logo on paper...
Imagine you have to give someone directions and also need to add a fast and simple sketch of some logo to it... that much good drawing I had on mind, and even that drawing should be good enough for one to find that location. And here I`m, still talking about logo design.

When I previously mentioned my preferences, I thought all that has been written in this topic may also be considered as basic and general point of view on logo design, but my further elaboration would most probably lead to more and more subjective POV, which might not be so interesting to the viewers of this topic, due to the nature of the forum.

About links...
Maybe logobogo or dribbble could be interesting for you. Also, if you find it appropriate, please feel free to contact me over the private message and I hope we could reach the agreement satisfactory to both parties.

I have to agree with everything Maestral said, it wouldn't work.

A logo should be flexible, memorable, and the most important thing for a company's brand. ( Unfortunately many still think it isn't important. )
As you can understand it isn't something that everyone can do, you lack the experience and that's why designers are there. They work to give you a quality work, and quality.. costs.

I would help you if i could, i tried before to design a few logos, but since i'm not a designer i'm obviously not the best for this task.
If you still want to do everything by yourself, have a look here.
A nice article: http://www.viget.com/inspire/ask-the-right-questions-logo-design
For inspiration: http://www.logodesignlove.com http://logopond.com

I like your idea, especially the worldcube! I think you should play with it more and see where it goes.
Some suggestions:
The grey lines dividing each face into four quarters - kind of nonfunctional to me. If you need them quartered, then you might use a color not so close in value to the image it is overlaying. And maybe not quite so thick...!

The Top of the cube is best lit and easily read, yet the image on it is not easily identifiable -- geographically correct, but maybe you need to take some liberties with reality! How about a rubik's cube kind of thing where the country or continent in each square is readily identifiable, but not necessarily right next to the part that it would be next to in reality!

The earth looks more earth-y when it is tilted slightly - why not make the cube tilted by that same angle? I think it would be another hint to the viewer on how to read it.

And lastly, have you considered a different font style for the 'E'? Maybe a serif style? As it is the bottom horizontal of the 'E' looks narrower than the top one, making me think, "Why is it upside down...?"

And post lastly, have you considered a black outline around the logo? Might pop it out a little!

Thank you all for the comments. Following some comments of Maestral and RM, I am brainstorming something simpler to replace the cube. Maybe I'll post the results, just for a laugh ...