Comments on: Logo design for StressWell

By: David Airey :: Graphic Designer

David Airey :: Graphic Designer — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 13:13:17 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts, Robert.

I didn’t try a colour option either side of the seahorse, but it could’ve made an interesting impression. I hope all’s well.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:29:11 +0000

Hi David,

Really liked the logo. My favourite was the serif logo, which is strange as I prefer sans-serif fonts. Its nice to see someone designing a logo for a client wanting to portray elegance and using a font other than helvetica light or Avant Garde.

I am interested to know if you tried the seahorse splitting the circle with two shades of blue either side of it (like with the copy) and how that would look. Probably a little over-designed I imagine but I would like to have seen how that would look also. Great job anyways

By: David Airey :: Graphic Designer

David Airey :: Graphic Designer — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:55:34 +0000

It would indeed be interesting to conduct a survey, Mig.

I hope you do start that debate too. I’d love to know what some other brand gurus can add to your thoughts.

By: Mihaela Lica

Mihaela Lica — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 07:46:20 +0000

Well, in many cases it just happens that the logo makes the brand. If it is well designed and memorable, people will spell the company name as they see it spelled in the logo. With personal names, like yours, it is different. People know who you are. They know the David Airey brand and I am sure they don’t really remember your logo first (it would be interesting to conduct a survey and see the results).

Denis makes a point: the company name should be written the way it is legally registered. But for start-ups, when there’s no legal registration in place, some branding guidelines need to be set.

To have two words united in the logo and then write them the same in the corporate documentation is already an industry standard. We could start an interesting debate and engage in the conversation some branding experts. :)
I think I’ll do it one of these days. Let’s see what conclusions we can draw at the end.

By: David Airey :: Graphic Designer

David Airey :: Graphic Designer — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:59:14 +0000

Thanks for visiting, Chris. All graphic designers should begin the process with a sketch pad.

By: Chris Stark

Chris Stark — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 06:42:59 +0000

Those logos are really nice. I always like seeing graphic designers that start with a good ole pencil and paper.

By: David Airey :: Graphic Designer

David Airey :: Graphic Designer — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 17:31:11 +0000

Hi Mig,

Regarding your question, I think it’s less important to have the printed name resemble the logo, as it is to be consistent. Take my logo for instance - it reads davidairey, but every time I mention my business in quotes, invoices etc. I show David Airey.

There are other well-known cases where two words are together, such as FeedBurner and FeedBlitz so one way or the other isn’t important, but consistency is.

What’s your take on it?

By: Dennis Plucinik

Dennis Plucinik — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:32:30 +0000

Wouldn’t they spell it how their company’s name is registered legally?

If they’re Stresswell Inc. then that’s what they ought to write.

By: Mihaela Lica

Mihaela Lica — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:48:25 +0000

Well, I had many reasons to believe that the second would be their choice… and not so much time to list them here right now…
I have a branding question you might be able to answer.
Let’s say you design a logo. The logo, as the one above, is formed of two words, differentiated by two colors. The words, however, are united in your design (there is no space between them). The question: how should the company spell its brand name in corporate documents?
As I see, stressWELL spells these two words together. What about WhiteBeam - (fictive name). And no, the company gives you no identity guidelines. They know nothing about branding. .. They just want this name…

By: David Airey :: Graphic Designer

David Airey :: Graphic Designer — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 08:19:46 +0000

Daravuth,

I always sketch and think it’s extremely important when churning out as many ideas as possible. The computer is too restricting and slow and should only be used for tidying things up.

When I have an idea I want to transfer I make use of a scanner and the live trace tool in Illustrator. It’s very useful.

Dajo,

You’re very kind! Thanks for the comment.

Chiho,

Logos with a gradient fill? It’s fine to accommodate a gradient, but they must work without it. Gradients seem to be more popular today amongst the web 2.0 trend, but remember that they don’t always reproduce well in print work. A logo should never rely on a gradient (or other effect) to work well.

Dennis,

The visit to your site was my pleasure. No need to mention it. Thanks again for the link to my business card design.

Hi Mig,

Glad you like the new design! I’ve concentrated it on readability, with a larger type size than before and slightly more white space.

The client chose the second variation from above, so it’s interesting that you’re the first to prefer it.