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Please critique for refinement
Posted by laasr in
5 Sep 2012 — 6:11pm
5 Sep 2012 — 6:11pm
This is this logo I've come up with for a design firm called Cream 5. I'm looking for critique on the typograhpy only, I want to keep the original design intact. If there are any ideas or suggestions for improving the kerning, width, etc. etc. please chime in.
Thanks!
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6 Sep 2012 — 9:50am
Really like the concept and the way you've introduced the '5'!
I might tighten up the spacing between the C and the r/5 - possibly by re-curving the C so that it doesn't stick out so much to the left and maybe goes OVER the r/5 a bit.
Also, my first impression was that it said Creamz. The flourish looks very much like an alphabetic extension of the word. Eliminating the loop could avoid such an issue.
- Herb
6 Sep 2012 — 6:39am
I was reading an /a at the end of the word. Maybe even a /z as the 2nd letter. Do you need this to be legible and readable? I might suggest that those aspects can be essential for branding.
The two different terminals on the top and bottom don't seem resolved to me.
p.s. I did something surprisingly similar a while ago that you might have seen: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Cream-List/1360679
6 Sep 2012 — 6:53am
thanks herb and Luma,
As for the flourish I'll shorten that out.
Herb: Yeah I thought about recurving that C. the original concept had a C-5 r-5 ligature. The I split the C at the end which I think was a bad idea.
Luma: No I hadn't seen that one of yours and it's a nice approach but yours is more of a calligraphy style and mine's a bit more rounded.
Thanks for the insight. Let me try what you guys suggested.
6 Sep 2012 — 8:47am
The most obvious problem (which I'm surprised nobody has pointed out yet) is that there's no way this will be read as "Cream5". In fact there seems no logical/predictable way to read that "5".
I know it's tempting to "show off" by splicing a numeral into a word (even if some people would accuse you of reviving a 90s motif) but if you want it to actually work one direct way would be to make the end flourish form the "5".
hhp
6 Sep 2012 — 8:56am
I agree with hrant.
The 'Cream' is quite nice on its own. The '5' seems like a nifty idea that just isn't working and is interfering with the niceness of the 'Cream'.
6 Sep 2012 — 9:02am
Hi hrant, thanks for the critique. I see what you mean by it wont be read literally as "cream5". The thing is it was a play on C5 and Cream5. As for the accusations of it being a 90s motif, I'm not sure what you mean though.
I didn't understand the bit about making the end flourish from the 5. Do you mean connect the bottom flourish to the bottom half of 5? That's an interesting idea if that's what you mean though :D
aluminum, well I really want to incorporate the 5 into it.
6 Sep 2012 — 9:17am
Well, I guess it can't say "C5" and "Cream5" - you'll have to settle on one.
What I meant about the flourish bit is that the swirls coming out of the "m" could make a "5". Like as it stands it's almost saying "3" already.
Between a decade and two ago splicing numbers into text (like "5ive") was a hip thing to do. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leet
BTW, once in a blue moon gradation actually makes sense* so you might consider it for delimiting "Cream" and "5" somehow.
* http://www.flickr.com/photos/48413419@N00/4231414343
hhp
6 Sep 2012 — 9:16am
L337 speak is more of an internet thing than anything else. It originated from IRC for the most part. Having been an IRCer for yrs until couple yrs ago i stopped, i kinda know what l33t speak is. In l337 speak 5 would be constituted as an S and not an r or an F.
Frankly I'm not trying to force anything into the design though. Your idea of using the flourish from the M making up a 5 is almost like less interesting, I'm sorry. Why even bother? Might as well just type out a 5 at the end and be over with :)
I don't mean to be extremely rude here or anything but in my original post, I sort of did mention that I was only looking for critique on the typography elements such as kerning, etc, and not the original design. Although herb and Luma suggested a few things that doesn't change the original design and therefore I've considered that.
6 Sep 2012 — 10:18am
I'm just trying to help you avoid a disaster much bigger than bad spacing, but certainly feel free to ignore anything I say.
In terms of the letterforms (not "typography", BTW) to me the "5ream" seems decent* but the "C" and top flourish seem particularly malformed.
* Although the eye of the "e" is too small.
hhp
6 Sep 2012 — 9:28am
The thicks of the flourishes being thicker than the thicks of the letters feels backwards to me.
6 Sep 2012 — 9:29am
Yeah the top flourish has been removed. I should just update of what I have now though.
Thanks hrant.
6 Sep 2012 — 9:30am
eliason: Noted. I can try another one with a diffeerent width. thanks!
6 Sep 2012 — 10:50am
> As for the accusations of it being a 90s motif,
> I'm not sure what you mean though
I'm not sure of the exact time period, but it does look retro to me too.
6 Sep 2012 — 10:58am
Hi James, yeah i was going for the retro look though :) The inspiration I got from was the cream magazine, the band and Cheers.
6 Sep 2012 — 12:58pm
Thanks for everyone for the critique. So based on the critique I've recieved, I changed it to this. Not entirely sure of the colors yet and the other final touchups such as possibly adding a gradient and highlights to it like hrant mentioned. I might throw in a second concept using the 5 at the end as hrant mentioned only that i'll try to incorporate into the m and see how that goes and compare the two and finalise on it. THanks again!
6 Sep 2012 — 1:25pm
It looks like it goes from heavy to light as the word progresses.
6 Sep 2012 — 2:13pm
I like this one - but agree with how the earlier version differentiated the '5' by highlighting it with a different color (or texture or darkness, etc.) Others here disagree, of course :)
6 Sep 2012 — 2:21pm
thanks luma and HVB. Luma: Yeah, not sure it was intentional but i think thats how it looks like as of now. :D
HVB: thanks! I'll make the 5 more prominent here when i play with the coloring and highlighting.
6 Sep 2012 — 2:26pm
"... it goes from heavy to light..."
That's because the less-dense heavy cream rises to the top.
6 Sep 2012 — 3:08pm
HVB haha you know thats a good way to put it. I liked the heavy tone to it like how cream is.