I don’t mean to sound . . . mean, but I find honesty is the best way to go about design. I don’t get your mark. And “Conferware” sounds so “Compuglobalhypermeganet”. It doesn’t convey any sort of meaning to me other than a very abstract corporate environment. It reminds me of companies like the ones in the movie Office Space; Initech, Initrode, etc. In short, it’s very web 2.0.

The mark itself is also very contrived and generic. Nothing about it would make me want to do business with your company. The two little dot square pilly things in the middle of the mark will get lost at scaled down sizes, and I don’t really get what they’re doing there.

I think you need to be thinking about more than just the font right now. It won’t save your logo (and your company) from getting lost in the sea of the corporate world.

penn

...

Hi Penn,
thank you for your opinion, you go to the whole substance of our business. And you don’t like it. But you have expressed your feelings which is good. What is good for us is that many other things determine why people do business with us.

This is a visual rebranding for us and I am happy to hear every kind of opinion. For now, we want to take the most from our existing name (which has it’s history) and use a graphical element that represents our core. The typeface is a natural part of the visual concept, so I am seeking for advice how to connect these two in the best way.

pennANDink, the words you’re looking for can be found here, it’s so much fun.

Good, guys. This is a bit off-topic but personally, somehow I share your thoughts about the phrases (i.e. bs) used in IT world. It’s full of these and I even don’t like the consulting fabrications in general. If you would like, you can help us developing new branding (name, visuals), for this or another company. We would pay you for this, seriously. You can contact me through typophile message. I will be happy.

Given the choice of those two fonts I prefer the Daxline. Penn&Ink is correct though, your mark itself needs some more work. The two dots between the swooshy things will be tiny specs when reduced to business card size. The swooshes are rather generic, in this design they actually remind me of a curly telephone cord. If you can go into greater detail about what your company does and who is your targeted audience we may be able to give better suggestions.

Thanks, Kirsten for being specific. Our company is a reseller and integrator of various hardware and software systems used for electronic communication and collaboration (with customers, partners, among work teams). All these products aim to make work more egronomic and efficient. The products are audio/video conferencing systems, office and contact center headsets, presentation tools, sofware for building knowledge bases (intranet and public enterprise forums, wikis, blogs for teams and communities). We don’t develop these, we integrate and implement them in firms. We carefully select and carry products that are innovative and have real potential to make work more effective.

Considering the work that your company does, I think that your mark falls far short of expressing the human side of the equation.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but perhaps the most challenging part of your business is convincing people who don’t understand technology how the implementation of ergonomic technological solutions will make their life easier. Perhaps you also face the challenge of convincing tech gurus that ergonomics will have an positive impact on workflow and efficiency (i.e. they might think that your product is merely aesthetic and not of any inherent technological value).

So, putting these assumptions out there, how do you think your logo succeeds in convincing these groups of people that they should buy your product? I think for the technophobes, the logo will play as too arcane, and for the technophiles, it will play as generic. Not a small challenge you have in your branding attempts, if I say so myself. Let me know how on or off the mark I am with my thoughts.

—
Nick Hladek

Totally agree with Kirsten

Nick, great insight. What you say is true; yes, the challenges you described are those from our daily business life. This reminds me, the philosophy of our company is to provide tools to make processes more efficient and life easier. These values are not instantly obvious.

I’ll tell you guys, we, the executive folks from business don’t go too much into every aspect of corporate communication. We want the firm to function well. Sometimes we feel something is wrong and it deserves more attention. Like the logotype, typography etc. Then we try to find an expert to help us.

There are so many experts and everyone tells you a general story why a good logo is important, is saying she/he is the one that can understand your business... Some of them are lying obviously (one a little perceptive can see from their references). But some of them may be not lying. Maybe. Then it’s really a tough job to choose the right one between those who have no idea about trends driving your industry or, for example in principle hate everything that just came around things like web 2.0 (but may be good in making logos and typography for traditional industries) and those who just tell you your logo must be flashy, glassy (and swooshy).

We want a modern logo. We want a logo that represents what we do. We want a logo that is not a parody of someone else. Every designer will tell us “I can do it”. I had an idea in mind how the logo could be like, but I can not draw it. So I just explain to a designer and wait how she/he understands. The logo above is a result how one good designer, with good references understands. And I told to myself, not bad, a huge step forward from our previous one. Then another bunch of typography people tell me we are totally out. I’m sad.

You know what’s interesting? If I’ll show a logo from one designer praised by one (may be a large) group to another designer praised by another group, the second one often tell me “that’s a trash”. Well, perhaps not so expressive way. So, be a CEO for a while and choose the right designer for me, please.

How did you find the designer? What kind of portfolio did they have? What sort of process did you go through with them to come up with this logo?

I would check if your country has a guild or association for professional graphic designers. They will usually have a contact list of their members.

- Lex

Lex, I have done a research to find a designer among freelancers (oDesk, 99designs etc.) and have chosen one with a portfolio that appealed to me. Provided a detailed description on what we do and what are the keywords. Personally I don’t think a membership in any association is a guarantee of anyting when it comes to design kind of job. For me it’s more like a lottery. I seek for references and just folow my guts (which may not always be what the company needs, though).

And, for a small company, a freelancer is often a good solution. Also, the job is not limited to country. We don’t have a budget to hire a total-solution agency like Wolff Olins.

How recent did you have this design work done? Is everything finalized with the freelance artist already? (Have you paid him?)

If not . . . would it be possible to go back and talk about making some revisions to the mark?

I think all of us here just don’t want to see you get short-changed with a logo that won’t do what it should for your company. Like you acknowledged above, a logo (and therein the company’s identity) plays a very important role in how well a company does. Without identity or branding a company can hold little hope for consumer trust and recognition. If you’re interested, I’ve found this slide show to be a very helpful resource on the importance of branding: The Brand Gap

I’m interested to see your old logo. Do you have any images you could post? I’m interested to see if this really was as large a jump as you say from where you stood before.

I also don’t know how serious you are about perhaps revising or changing what you have now, but I’d be happy to talk with you more about it. You can contact me through my profile should you want to discuss things further.

penn

For anyone interested, I have attached our current (to be abolished) logo. What do you think, is the new mockup a leap forward, or no? The current one had worked until we had a single product line - headsets. I think the idea behind it might be good, but it lacks versatility when it comes to usage in different sizes and media.

Graphic Design is an art and art is subjective. People will react to a logo differently do to their background, education, culture and etc. Your last couple of postings seem as if you are getting quite frustrated by the process. Frustrations are frequently part of the process. If you believe that your new mark identifies your company in the way you want to be identified, so be it. I may be wrong but I get the impression that you are not 100% sold on the design either but being CEO you have other projects and you just want this one wrapped up. In searching for a designer I believe it is important to see the prospective artist’s work in the actual medium that you want your pieces to be in. For example if your logo will be used on printed brochures and printed advertisements and business cards you should see samples in print, not just on an internet based portfolio web site. Art may be subjective, however there are certain universal truths when it come to production. If there is a small dot on a presentation-size design it will become a miniscule spec when reduced to business card size. Gradations my look cool on screen, but could cause some print complications. An experienced designer can steer you through all of this. Look at the logo, are you happy? were there any critiques that you think deserve addressing? Go back to your designer and talk. It’s in their best interest to have a satisfied client.

I think the old logo is a bit too busy and full of motifs that don’t give me any clues what the company is about. I am thinking of Tupperware when I look at it. But then what’s that scary creature on the left?

I actually quite like the aesthetic of your new logo. The red and yellow specks do nothing but the blue and silver look like aluminium shavings and are quite smart. I’m not sure how the logo shows a human side though. Isn’t that what you were after?

@pennANDink, that brand gap pdf is amazing! thanks for pointing us to it

Thank you guys for your comments.

Yes, I’m a bit frustrated because I’m trying to learn about design as much as possible. I want to understand what it takes to make a good logo and think I already consider a lot of aspects, I mean for an entrepreneur who does virtually everything in a company. But there are still a lot of things, when not taken into account, that may ruin the whole concept.

Because I understand we need a printable variant, I wanted a flat/spot version, too. What I didn’t realize was how the logo would look like, when downscaled (for business card).

I’m not sold on the design posted, but I liked it because it is not too shiny like the ones from today’s web, yet the gradients look modern for me. The swooshes should represent a communication, interaction between (two) sides/participants and the two small things between them the actually exchanged information. All of our products are for (electronic) communication. Maybe they could remain but in bigger versions...? Would this work?

Even though I have read many atricles on logo design trends and noticed that swooshes are overused, I had the feeling that these are not so obviously generic.

But still, my question is, if one designer thinks this is generic and another one it’s not, how do I know where the truth is? Well, maybe throuh posting on forums like this...

Paul: If you really do want an explanation, the creature is a head with a yellow border that are ideas, which are gathered and by a device (i.e. a headset) transferred into sound. Doesn’t it look like this?