Logo contest – first drafts of logo submissions

As you will recall, thanks to an offer from LogoInn, I was able to offer one lucky reader/company a free logo.  After accepting entries for about a week, we eventually selected Colfax Main Street as our winner.

We're going to go through the entire process here on the blog, so everyone can learn along.  Here's what's happened so far.

So today, we're going to take a look at LogoInn's first round of logo options.  I'm going to reserve my comments for a day or so, to see what you think. 

A reminder — critiquing and asking questions is perfectly fine.  Being rude and getting personal…not so much.  Please be honest, objective and share your opinion.  But be respectful.

Okay….remembering that the entire town was built around their history of supplying mineral water to many bottling companies and visitors — let's see what LogoInn has done.

Picture 3

Picture 5

You can click on the images to see them a little larger.

What do you think?  Remember, these need to reduce down to business cards, lapel pins and who knows what else.  They also need to blow up to outdoor signage, vehicle designs and work in all media from the web to traditional print.

Once we get the final logo design done/selected — we'll delve into color.

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13 comments on “Logo contest – first drafts of logo submissions

  1. Jen says:

    LOVE #4:) The little water droplet/splash could even stand alone in other areas or be used as a watermark (no pun intended) on cards/letterhead. The other ones are nice, but it seems like there is a lot going on.

  2. Barb says:

    NIce work. My initial reaction was that #4 stood out as most legible and easiest to see. #1, #3 and #5 look familiar, like every small town with a gazebo. #1 looks a bit too much like a lighthouse. I think the water in #2 looks more like balloons, if you had not mentioned the town was built on water, I might think they were promoting a balloon festival like Indianola. So I prefer #4, but I am not 100% sold on the type treatment. Maybe redraw the “O” and take the line out from behind the “L” so it doesn’t read as an “F” when quickly viewed. Thank you very much for sharing. This is interesting.

  3. Mary says:

    What does Colfax Main Street do? I admit – I haven’t read the creative brief. But neither have most potential clients. The company name evokes “main street”, but main street what? If I were the owner, I’d want mylogo clarify what Colfax Main Street is.

    Here’s how I see them
    * Logos 1, 3 & 5: Makes me think that Colfax Main Street must design and build custom gazebos.
    * Logo 6 makes me think that Colfax Main Street is a non-profit group dedicated to building strong happy families.
    * Logos 2 &4 – are just confusing. It kind of reminds me of balloons and water. It also remind me of a logo that a Chicago-area natural gas utility used.

    What I do like about the logos is that gray scale well, and the text is very clean & readable.

  4. If I absolutely had to choose one, I’d go with #4 for all the reasons Jen noted. However, I think they’re all a bit of a miss.

    If Colfax Main Street’s logo and ads were next to other Main Street logos and ads, then the gazebo or water would help differentiate it. But I imagine most potential visitors, prospective businesses, etc. would see this in comparison to other local attractions or business districts.

    I think the designers did a great job of following the creative brief from a creative perspective. However, I think it should be revisited from a marketing perspective.

    And one final note: after re-reading Colfax Main Street’s answers to the creative brief, they identified their target market as anyone. However, they described their business as one “focused on economic development” – shouldn’t that be conveyed in their logo?

    Thanks to Drew, Colfax Main Street, and LogoInn for allowing us to be involved in this process!

  5. Kelly says:

    Drew,

    I’m having trouble with all of them. 1,3,5 are too tired, 6 feels like a human services agency. Having been to Colfax many times (my ex had family there), I applaud the direction the Main Street people want to go. They don’t want to bore or go too safe, they want something progressive but not alienating… to me, that just isn’t here.

    If I had to, then #4, as has been said. But if I could at least tweak, I’d take the graphic out of it. The logotype is better than the other choices, but the 1970s water-splash just doesn’t work.

    Fascinating study, Drew!

    Regards,

    Kelly

  6. Derek Bough says:

    My personal preference is #6. I think if a group is focused on economic development, the logo should be inviting. #6 is inviting because it indicates a group of happy people and thus a great community. Also, I can see it on a business card and a billboard.

  7. Elisa L says:

    I wish that #1 could work. Its very charming but its too detailed and hard to read at this size, let alone smaller. I have to choose #4. The type treatment is wonderful.

    But as a visitor who didn’t know Colfax’s history, I would assume they had a strong tie to water recreation, i.e. waterpark, a large lake, boating, etc. Its a bit of a confusing read.

    Fun post,

    Elisa Leichty

  8. I like #6 – it’s clean and has a happy, hopeful feel to it. It appears very scalable and is attractive, readable in grayscale.

  9. C. Rost says:

    To be honest, I believe that all the logos need some major tweaking before final. 1,3, and 5 use a generic gazebo. Colfax has a very distinctive gazebo (as shown in their brief). A designer could easily take the architectural elements from that gazebo and turn it into a logo that clearly says Colfax.

    The water droplets used in 2 and 4 do not say mineral water to me. Since I’m not familiar with Colfax (I assume, most of Colfax’s clients won’t be familiar with their past), the water droplets are confusing. I feel they say waterpark or water sports.

    Number 6 is probably the best out of the bunch as it has the best type treatment and it is easy to read and identify. The problem with number 6 is I’ve seen similar logos before and agree with Jessica that it feels like a human services logo.

    In the brief under text styling, Colfax said: “We are looking for a font that is graceful, classic, possibly scripted, easy to read from a distance, and appears to have a “casual elegance.” I feel the designer/s completely ignored this request. I would ask to see some other type options.

    I wish Colfax the best of luck in finding a logo that clearly defines them.

  10. Thanks everyone for your comments. I am waiting for the Colfax folks to compile their thoughts…before sharing my own.

    Should be early next week. Stay tuned.

    Drew

  11. Matt Beckman says:

    I like 4, 2 and 6 in that order. The other ones seem to old school and I already feel as though I may be in an old town. The others make it feel vibrant and lively.

    Best of luck!

    Matt

  12. Teri Dean says:

    4 and 2 would have to be my choices at this juncture but they both need major tweaking to come out with the feel the committee is trying to get to. I am curious as to why they didn’t take the architectural elements from the gazebo and expand on that. I lived 13 years in Colfax as a child and none of these logos feel “Colfax specific” nor tells its story…..so a complete stranger would just be left with “so what” after looking at any of these in my humble (and it is very humble) opinion.

  13. john says:

    4 along with only two might need to always be my personal choices only at that point nonetheless they both equally will need main tweaking in to the future away while using have the committee will be hoping to get to help. I will be inquiring as to the reasons these people didn’t acquire this new components in the gazebo along with broaden on which. We were located 13 several years inside Colfax as a youngster along with nothing these art logos think “Colfax specific” neither informs their story….. thus a total unfamiliar person might just be left having “so what” following investigating all of these within my respectful (and it is very humble) opinion.

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