C’s leftmost element is a bit heavy and distracting.
Bottom decoration could join better with the letters.
It reminds of Chesterfield’s mark, and such an association could be wanted or not wanted.

Yes.

I know i have to work on the left side of the capital C that was in my first comment. the top flourish was well. but what about the actual individual letters?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/etahchen/6850003894/sizes/l/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/etahchen/7010118675/sizes/l/in/photostream/

I like the newest lowercase d/e better. I'm on the fence as to the starting C. I kind of liked the idea of a drop-cap-esque beginning--as if to say, "Check me out, this is important." I don't mean it actually has to be bigger, but more grand.

For the strokes I think the darkest one, top line in the middle.

@ilovedesign
that is a very interesting rule of thumb. but that seems to render my logo useless in a way,
because the motive was to make a logo that does stand out. i do understand what you're saying though.
Are you suggesting I don't try to make it too elaborate? And use that energy in the designing of the brand and identity instead?

also i don't agree with ilovedesign, at least not as much as i agree with your username!

in my view a wordmark, a purely typographic treatment of a logo, by definition needs to be obtrusive and needs to grab attention, otherwise you might as well have nothing on the page.

MADE IN HELL

Haha

The mock-up cases look a bit stripped and bare. That might be the point, but even so, to me it looks like they "lack" visual elements or refinement. Is the "Let'em Burn!" slogan on the mock-up backside supposed to be off center? If so, why?
I personally like the "MADE IN HELL". It is a concept and you can be self-ironic. Pushing it one step further would be to take the essece of that slogan and bring it to a level that actually could be on a real product with a young non-mainstreamish target group. Something like "The stuff from hell, made in San Diego" (just a clumsy example of what I mean).

Overall, I like how you developed the blackletter script from your initial post. Maybe you could pick up the diagonal energy and intensity of the font in some way, or highlight the contrast to the more reserved serif even more clearly? The "Let'em Burn!" slogan stands out from the overall concept as an isolated element.

@etahchen: Out of curiosity, has there been any discourse about design and ethics as this project unfolds?

Christopher, James, this is supposed to be for clove cigarettes.

@JamesM
"He got a very hostile reception from many of the design students"
I feel that many designers and design students feel that they're on some sort of moral high-ground. They're the good guys that have to change the world. "oh we can't promote smoking, its bad, we have to stay healthy and influence others to as well. we're so good." and so on. The students giving the speaker a hostile reaction might have just been a way to make themselves feel righteous. It would have been smarter to just listen and learn something from that individual.

> Christopher, James, this is supposed to be for clove cigarettes.

I've read that clove cigarettes typically contain 60-80% tobacco.

> i'd understand if someone were to get upset about this project.

Etahchen, I wasn't criticizing you personally and your project doesn't upset me. It's an interesting project and I wish you good luck with it. I was just mentioning 2 related incidents in my past since Christopher brought up the general subject.

But of course this is a subject that many designers face occasionally. Do you accept a design job for a company that makes a controversial product, or for a company that has taken actions that you disagree with? And if you do accept the job, are you willing to put up with any criticism you might get for working for them? (For example, one of my clients is a large corporation and I once had a friend criticize me for working for them.) These are real-world situations that designers face sometimes.

@James.
Oh no, i'm sorry if I sound like I was being defensive. I know you're not being negative.
I just wanted to say that little bit, but not referring to you specifically.