View this page "Logo Sketch Summary"

[kristo...@gmail.com]

Hi again,
I put up a page summarizing what I liked best. I'm going to keep
looking at them for the next few days and then start sketching some
things out on the computer.

In the meantime, If you have any refinements, or additional ideas
don't hesitate to add them to the mix.

--kris

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/fireworks-project/web/logo-sketch-summary
- or copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't
work.

[Mike]

Something I would like to add.

When showing this to my dad he mentioned something like "Hey, I just
joined your wizards club."

I believe he was referring to the first logo. While my dad is prone
to make goofball comments like that, it is somewhat telling that
"wizard" was the first thing that popped into his head.

I don't know if that is good or bad. It's probably not great.

That said, I do like the first one. But I am with both of you. I
would like to see the "f" capitalized. I'm not really an art person,
so drawings and logo's really don't have much of an impression on
me.

[Rebecca]

I don't like the rocket much at all....but I do like the font that's
with it. Compared to the burst or pop or whatever we call it, I much
prefer the colors in the rocket logo...

The primary colors used in the burst logo make it seem almost child-
like in some way? Though it IS quite streamlined and simple....

I think I don't like the rocket because it doesn't really look like a
rocket to me...shouldn't the top of the body be a little narrower and
the wings a little bigger? And why the stick? I guess I think rocket,
and I think NASA space shuttle - which are pretty straight, they don't
bulge out at the top like this one does....though if you changed the
shape of the rocket, I might not like that one either...!

[Martin Hipp]

I've taken the feedback from Kris & Rebecca and come up with concept 2a

[Kris]

The rocket, although it still needs more work, has more potential than
the splash/pop thingy.

With some fine tuning it can be more recognisable in a wider range of
sizes.

I also think the less saturated colours are working better in concept
2 and concept 2a.

I'll send out an email so that we can do a small sample, informal poll
to see what other people think.

[Martin Hipp]

I have defined the shape of the rocket by separating the shapes
(rocket & fins) in Concept 2ai

[Kris Walker]

The rocket looks good on both the dark and light backgrounds, which is
good.

The fins look much better, but I would still like to see them larger.

Overall, it's pretty sweet, and has a lot of potential.

[Martin Hipp]

I have made the fins bigger and increased the small space in between
the shapes, as you can see I have included a light on dark version of
the logo

[Michael O'Hara]

Sorry guys, where can i see them?

[Martin Hipp]

http://groups.google.com/group/fireworks-project/web/logo-sketch-summary

On May 6, 11:17 am, "Michael O'Hara" <mroharam...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sorry guys, where can i see them?
>

[Kris Walker]

I've gotten two opinions from non-designers so far and both of them
like the 'spark' better than the rocket.


"I like the first one with the spark better than the rocket. It seems
more connected and has more ‘life’ to it."

This may be because of the colours as well... so maybe we should have
a look at the rocket with the same colour scheme as the 'spark"?

--Kris

[Martin Hipp]

I've received opinions from non-designers as well, and they liked the
rocket more, the reason, logo concept 1 without its text, they said
(like Mike mentioned) looked like a logo for a wizard club, only after
I put the text back did they get it.

[Kris]

I did some cutting and pasting with the logo concepts we have so far
so we can begin to choose one that we would like to continue to work
with.

I removed the text from all three so we could get a better idea of the
iconic symbol potential for each of them. I also put each on a dark
and light background at several different sizes.

We'll gather feedback on these concepts for the next 3 days and then
make a decision about which one to keep on Monday according to the
feedback we get. If you gather any offline critique, please post it
here so we can use it to make our decision.

We need three principle questions answered:

1. Which concept has the best potential to be an iconic shape
(recognised in any colour scheme, in any context, at any size, without
text, and without any thought)?

2. Which concept allows the Fireworks Project to create meaning
according to our values? We are a different, quirky kind of
organisation that anyone can feel comfortable with. The logo must
take on that meaning when people think of it.

3. Which logo is the most usable? We need to create computer icons,
favicons, web banners, and print material with this logo. Which one
will be able to survive all of this?

If you can think of any other questions we should be asking, please
post them here.

[Kris Walker]

My vote is to keep the "rocket" and discard the "splash" and the
"spark".

First I think the rocket has the best potential to be an iconic shape
because it is easily recognised, and requires little thought...
Slightly better than the splash.

Second, I think the rocket fits well with our quirky nature and un-
stuffy attitude... Slightly better than the spark.

Third, I think the rocket is the most usable across media, but only
slightly edging out the splash.

Although I would like to keep the rocket, it is only because it has
the most potential, not because I think it is in the most finished
state. In other words, I think there is a lot that could still be
done with it before it is really ready.

[Kris Walker]

Passing along some feedback from the outside:

Most people like concept 1 (the spark with "Fireworks" text). I think
this is because it is in the most finished state, and has an appealing
colour scheme.

Not many people have seen the splash yet, so I don't have much
feedback for it.

However, I like I said in the previous post, I think the rocket has
more potential, and would become the favourite after reaching a
similar stage of completion.

[Michael O'Hara]

I think the u button on your computer is broken.

[Martin Hipp]

I may be a little bias, but I also prefer the rocket. In black, you
can still see that it is a rocket, unlike the spark.

[Michael O'Hara]

Pro's for the rocket

It is by far the best one, that we have, for monochrome.
I think it gives us the most wiggle room to morph  Like Windows has
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Windows

It is easier to recognize and connect to our company ( a missile looks like a firework).  No thinking involved.

Con's:

It is a bit cartoony.  I'm curious to see what an outside observer's first impression of it is. While we want to project an image of fun and quirky, we don't want our logo to scream naive and out-of-touch.

 Are they software people or are they spacemen?  You'd hate that to be someone's first impression

I guess what I'm saying is, I like the idea of the rocket.......but I'm not sure I like it as it is now. 

[Michael O'Hara]

ohh, and why are there 2 separate threads for this discussion?

[Kris Walker]

Interesting reading material for logo design (if you are interested)

http://www.logocritiques.com/resources/p1

http://www.noobpreneur.com/2009/04/30/progression-of-logo-%E2%80%93-mercedes-benz/

http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/open-design-four-lessons/

http://fireworksfactory.blogspot.com/2009/05/challenge-of-open-design.html

[Kris Walker]

I killed the other thread discussing logo design... everything should
be posted here from now on.

If you are interested in reading the other thread it is here:

http://groups.google.com/group/fireworks-project/browse_thread/thread/9435995d0f2e071f/1c9fb22bb24afbb9#1c9fb22bb24afbb9

but do not post to it.

[Kris Walker]

OK, we're going with the rocket.

Mike summed up my thoughts with this quote:

> I think it gives us the most wiggle room to morph Like Windows has
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Microsoft_Windows
>
> It is easier to recognize and connect to our company ( a missile looks like
> a firework). No thinking involved.

Mike also brought up another good point:

> It is a bit cartoony. I'm curious to see what an outside observer's first
> impression of it is. While we want to project an image of fun and quirky, we
> don't want our logo to scream naive and out-of-touch.

I counter that by arguing that the company defines the logo, rather
than the logo defining the company. Pardon the cliche example, but
Google has a logo that looks like a toy factory, but they have defined
it to mean something very different. Even though the logo is childish
and they have a button on the main page that says "I'm feeling lucky",
people still take them seriously. But at the same time, people also
understand they are not IBM or Microsoft. The Google logo makes them
more "friendly" looking than those stodgy software firms. By the way,
the "I'm feeling lucky" button serves no real useful purpose for the
user, but Google keeps it there because it sends the message that they
are a little different and quirky.

------------------------------------------------------------

The road map to a finished logo should look like this.
1. Collect concepts for the shape of the rocket.
2. Select 1 or 2 concepts to keep alive and kill the rest.
3. Collect concepts for the colour of the rocket.
4. Select 1 or 2 colour schemes to keep alive, and choose one shape
concept from step one if we have not already done so.
5. Collect concepts for the font style and colour.
6. Select the final combination of shape, colour, and font.

If you are a designer, we need more concepts for the rocket shape.
(best in monochrome)

If you are not a designer, we need concise feedback. Keep in mind, if
you are artistically challenged, your opinion still holds water if you
can answer specific questions like:

Are the fins the right size?
Should we tilt to the left or to the right?
Are the flames from the tail of the rocket too complicated?

We'll begin evaluating concepts for the shape of the rocket on Wed,
May 13th.

[Kris Walker]

OK, we have all the rocket shape concepts we're going to get.

Here are my thoughts.

I like the rocket body shape of Concepts 6-9.
It seems a more like an artists impression of a rocket, instead of an
attempt at drawing a real rocket.

I also like the detached fins of Concepts 6-9.
This idea seems to give a little creative flair and definition to the
shape. Although, we'll have to experiment to get the spacing right at
different sizes.

I also like the flames of Concept 8 & 9.
I'm not sure the flames will hold up in smaller sizes... so I'm
interested to see if anyone else likes them.

However, I think the larger fins on Concepts 1-5 define the rocket
better than the smaller, thinner fins of Concepts 6-9.

I think we need to have a shape picked out on Friday, May 15th.

[Martin Hipp]

I prefer Concept 8. I think it has more potential when used in
different media and the shape of the rocket is still recognizable at
small sizes.

[Kris Walker]

OK, lets roll with the rocket shape from concept 8. However, I'd like
to also keep concept 6 alive (the same one, but without the flame).
I'm curious to see how the flame fares in later iterations.

Let's have some colour schemes submitted by next Wed May 20th.

[Kris]

Uploaded some colour scheme ideas.

Click on http://groups.google.com/group/fireworks-project/web/logo-sketch-summary
- or copy & paste it into your browser's address bar if that doesn't
work.

[Kris]

I think I like the colours of concept 2a the best. Concepts 1, 2, and
3 are too saturated to work well on a dark background. But, I also
thing 2b and 2c are too drab looking.

Lets get working on the typeface while getting feedback on the colour
palette. We should have all typeface submissions on the page by Wed
the 27th of May.

[Kris]

Our final two logo concepts are available at the top of the page
linked below. Please comment on these so we can move on to creating
the actual, final logo. We will be open for comments until Friday,
June 12th.

[Rebecca]

I vote for Final #1. There's something about the box and the black
background that I like, but can't articulate exactly what more it is.

[Kris Walker]

Rebecca,

Thanks for the input. I'm taking note that you like the black
background, but I have a couple of questions for you.

Which font style do you think fits our company better?
Which colours on the rocket do you like better?

The reason I ask is that we will likely mix and match ideas from both
concepts, so we need to know what is resonating and what is not.

Thanks,

And btw everyone, my wife likes the orange and blue colors, the font
style of concept 2, but she also likes the dark background of concept
1.

[Rebecca]

Note first of all that the first image we see is called "final 2" and
the second image is called "final 1" which can make things a bit
confusing!

So on Final 2, I don't like the curves used in the font - I prefer the
font with more right angles (see, for example, the letter "r")

I don't know how the blue and orange colors will work on a black
background. I'm not good at visualizing things, but show me and I'll
happily give my two cents.

I also like that in Final 1 the letters are closer together.

As far as colors, I like the little dab of color in Final 1 - the
orange of the flame. Not sure that you need anymore....though you
could play with that.

On Jun 9, 5:15 pm, Kris Walker <kixxa...@gmail.com> wrote