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Logo Non Profit Organisation
Posted by olvradam in
11 Jun 2004 — 2:32pm
11 Jun 2004 — 2:32pm
Hi!
A German Non-Profit-Organisation would like to have a critique of its logo and maybe a revision.
This organisation is a lobby association of companies which are ecologically or socially orientated.
These were my first thoughts:
1) I like the combination of the
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11 Jun 2004 — 2:55pm
The chopped lc "g" is clever. however the mix of organic and mechanical/hard shapes don't work, also too much negative space for my taste- it somehow needs to be more unified in weight/balance/concept.
11 Jun 2004 — 3:03pm
I am not understanding the reason for the combination of the u and the g. To me it seems like you just combined the two letters because you were able to do so. However it is a very interesting Graphic element. What does the non profit company do? Is it like a Green Peace type of organization? I do agree with Ole with the fact that it feels unbalanced. Like it's hat is about to fall off.
11 Jun 2004 — 3:16pm
Sorry, David, I did not design this logo. But maybe I have to redesign it :-)
The organisation is an association of
11 Jun 2004 — 3:47pm
Green lobbiests, eh?
Have you tried any variations to the "u-g" yet? I'd be interested to see what the form would look like if the "g" continued a bit further up the left side (curling around a little before it was cut off) and then adding a tail to the bottom right of the "u". Adding a tail would require pulling the right side of the "u" in a little. Doing something like that might create more of an organic transition, rather than a bold "u" attached to bottom half of a "g".
By using the green color, I don't think there is any need for a sun representation. For several years now green has been a strong indicator for earth sensitivity. My guess is that politicians rarely look forward to correspondence/communication with green peace activists, so I think a more subtle approach might help their acceptability.
Aloha!
Scott
11 Jun 2004 — 3:52pm
I agree with Ole about the unhappy style mix, the the "u+g" is basically a clever ligature - a sound trick in logo design, no? But you're right that the "u" is too dark - or actually maybe the "g" is too light. Plus the "g" is cramped (which is natural in a [texty] font, but not a logo).
I was trying to think how best to incorporate a sun/rays into it, and I was thinking you could make the left stem of the "u" curl around in a circle, and put the rays on the top-left of it (and maybe give the "u" a full stem on the right to reinforce its identity*). But then I thought maybe you should incorporate a leaf instead?
* Which you might do even if you leave the "u+g" structure as-is.
> .... a more subtle approach might help their acceptability.
Good point.
hhp
11 Jun 2004 — 4:25pm
> Have you tried any variations to the "u-g" yet?
No, not yet. I want to start at weekend. First I would like to collect impressions / ideas / thoughts / suggestions from the pros of this board here :-)) ...
> I don't think there is any need for a sun representation ...
Good idea. But does this
11 Jun 2004 — 5:21pm
I'm not sure that a cartoon induced friendly fresh look appeals to most politicians, but I might just be stereotyping the target by what I've been around
12 Jun 2004 — 1:05am
Hi,
here are my first attempts. Don
12 Jun 2004 — 4:41am
I like the ug combo but loose the sun. It doesn't read anyway. Seriously consider going upper and lower case with the name. Its long and small caps make it even longer.
12 Jun 2004 — 9:55am
> By adding a tail, the type logo does not ....
I have to agree. But I like the original connector better.
hhp
12 Jun 2004 — 2:31pm
Ok, hier is my smooth modification:
1) Before 2) After 3) Difference: Red = After
12 Jun 2004 — 2:32pm
H
13 Jun 2004 — 8:46am
That
13 Jun 2004 — 10:41am
much better
14 Jun 2004 — 4:02am
And this is my suggestion for the logo with the sun. Now it could be a sun or a flower. I have to tried to match the sun-flower-curve with the
14 Jun 2004 — 6:06am
Hi Fredrik
Great Idea! Something like that
14 Jun 2004 — 8:08am
> not to loose the
14 Jun 2004 — 9:37am
I really like that leaf, but do think the "u" is indeed getting a bit lost. Maybe try the bottom-right tail again? Dunno.
hhp
14 Jun 2004 — 9:55am
Hi Hrant,
I have tried it but the tail destroys the organic form. But I have optimized the leaf: the inner form of the
14 Jun 2004 — 10:50am
Oliver:
When I spoke of adding a tail to the "u" a few posts ago, I wasn't expecting to see such a geometric letter form. This poorly and quickly executed "u-g" form is in the organic direction I thought you'd pursue. I know this looks horrible, but do you see the concept?
As for the leaf
14 Jun 2004 — 2:16pm
I also think the leaf needs to complete the u.
I prefer two colors to the one. Enjoy my crappy sketch.
Andrew
15 Jun 2004 — 12:51pm
Seems like you are struggling with the leaf here.
In my personal opinion, I'd loose the attached leaf. Maybe you could surround the logo with many leafs in a circular fashion. Like the Suns rays. I feel like the letterform you have created is very natural and organic in shape, the attached leaf seems a little distracting. I vote for an earlier post of yours, # 7
PS. Check out the BP logo.
17 Jun 2004 — 1:09am
@Andrew: Thanky you, but sorry: I do not like this concept because it destroys the ug-form; and the leaf does not look like a leaf. I looks more like a sock. And if it looked like a leaf, it were a leaf fallen to ground. Not a sympathic symbol ...
I think David is right: the ug-ligature should not amputated, and the single leaf is perhaps a dead end. In my opinion the ug-ligature is already organic, finished and should not be changed.
Is there any need for the leaf decoration? I think so:
1) Without it the logo looks too mathamatically, technically
17 Jun 2004 — 6:18am
I like these two alot. They feel complete, but if you want to get nitpicky than here we go. In my personal opinion the 4 leafs should be 5, for the simple reason that an odd number is more appealing than an even one. It might look funny, but give it a shot. Think of the leaf arrangement in terms of a half circle tilted at a 45 degree angle. Right now my eye sees the leaves arranged in an un-even fashion, but that's just an opinion.
It is important to have the invisible diagonals going through the mark at key places(sorry if that, makes no since).
Due to the asymetrical logo form you have created you might find it necessary to try some asymetrical lockups with the tagline, which Might work might not. Right now my eye reads the logo and then reads GRUN, and then reads UnternehmensGrun. It feels like the balace of information is a little skewed.
Finally What does the variations of tones in the leaves symbolize. For me it feels a little to decorative and less direct. I would stick with one solid green, it seems more powerful that way, Unless there are conceptual reasons for tonality changes.
However, with that said. This is a really beautiful mark, congradulations.
17 Jun 2004 — 6:52am
Thank you David for your detailled comment which is very helpful and useful! This evening I will answer and show it in detail!
Oliver
17 Jun 2004 — 7:34am
no problemo!
18 Jun 2004 — 2:14am
Hi,
David, let
18 Jun 2004 — 2:28am
Hi Fredrik,
Yes, you are right with your comments about color, thanks!
I have problems with your suggestion of the logo. The organic structure of the ligature is destroyed. There are two separate parts. The lower part looks like cream or
18 Jun 2004 — 2:29am
Hi,
why not?
18 Jun 2004 — 2:46am
18 Jun 2004 — 6:06am
I'm into the exploration you are doing with the various leaves in post #14, I am not digging #17. But anyway. The one thing I feel is really missing from those above marks is a solid grid structure. I have done a diagram of what I mean. I can put it on this site if you would like, Or I can write about a 1000 words about it, Your Choice. I think my diagram might shed some light on your leaf issues.
18 Jun 2004 — 6:19am
Hi David
> I have done a diagram ...
Put it on this site :-)))
18 Jun 2004 — 6:30am
Hopefully this might help a little. This is what I sort of envisioned in terms of five leaves.
18 Jun 2004 — 6:38am
Warning: You could go crazy when using grid systems in design.
18 Jun 2004 — 6:58am
Amazing, David! This is really a great advancement - also for my further process of designing marks. I have used grid systems before
18 Jun 2004 — 7:06am
no problemo.
18 Jun 2004 — 7:11am
1 more thing. After you develop the grid for the mark you will probably be able to expand the logo grid to dictate the placement of the tag line. Anyway, Gook luck
18 Jun 2004 — 8:17am
I will revise the one-leaf- and five-leave-version according to your and Fredriks
21 Jun 2004 — 2:05am
Ok., here are my three version with the green ug-ligature:
21 Jun 2004 — 2:09am
And with the grey ligature:
Oliver
21 Jun 2004 — 10:20am
Yo, I like the all green version 3rd from the top(5 leaves). However with the logo all green you will need to find another placement for the tagline(it seems unbalanced with the mark). I tried a rough sketch of a possible idea.
I definatly like the adjustments you made. The mark seems alot more fluid.
21 Jun 2004 — 10:28am
You also might want to consider making UnternehmensGrun all green, because the ligature incorperates the "ug" not just the "g"(grun).
21 Jun 2004 — 11:07am
Or all grey.
24 Jun 2004 — 7:14am
Hi,
Yes, David and Brian, you are right: The tagline should stay in grey.
The position of the ligature you suggested is problematic because of the length of the word
24 Jun 2004 — 7:50am
Looks great!
The only thing I'd suggest is perhaps rounding the right stem of the U. The sharp corner inside the 'flower' doesn't quite mesh.
24 Jun 2004 — 9:22am
Yes looks really great. Is the line of text under the hairline rule always going to exist. If you look really close you might sense that the logo should move a tiny bit to the left. I say this because it feels optically uncentered above the tagline. Consider the relationship of the logo to the lowercase letter "h" in UnternehmensGrun. It feels like the logo is hanging to much to the right of the vertical stem of the lowercase h.
As for darrels suggestion of rounding corners. Seems uneccessary. I like the tension between the sharp edges of the u and the points of the leaves. Who knows? try it
25 Jun 2004 — 12:00am
Thanks!
The text under the hairline appears only when the space is sufficient. Otherwise it is without the
25 Jun 2004 — 5:49am
Looks really elegant and strong!
A few more really insane things to think about. Consider the signifigence of the rule and it's realationship to UnternehemensGrun and the small tagline below it. To me it feels like the rule needs to move slightly downward. But don't just eyeball it, use a grid to help you eyball it.
IMPORTANT: How have you determined the vertical relationship of the logo, to UnternehmensGrun, to the hairline, and then to the small tagline?
If you haven't already, it might be nice to use the grid for the logo and expand it downward to accomodate the additional taglines,and hairline rule.
magic eyes, I'm a pool hustler not a designer.
25 Jun 2004 — 6:37am
Hi David,
this is the underlying grid structure(here without helplines) *before* scaling down the ug-ligature a little bit. I thought the ballance between ligature and tagline would be better by scaling down the ligature. But
25 Jun 2004 — 7:15am
And here is another possible, more advanced grid structure:
Oliver