I like the last two the best, it has the right amount of each color.....the ones with yellow in the middle are too much yellow

I respond well to the first and third versions (not to much yellow/gold). They are mostly white (clean), but I have one problem, the TC comes out of the blue, what does it mean?

The TC is for Twin Cities. It was an element we discussed using as their market is primarily based around the metro area surrounding Minneapolis.

I prefer version 3b but two points are bothering me –
The TC looks lonely in that space compared to the illustration and the scroll, the emphasis seems to be that section of the shield, try reversing the positions of the illustration and TC, make the letters work as a monogram, or combine the TC and illustration and move the scroll either to the top or bottom.
The second is the shape of the scroll, the topmost corners and sides are too sharp, try curving them, maybe introduce a shadow on the shield.

I prefer the rightmost one in the first row. The white background makes the whole logo look much "cleaner" than a gold one does. The gold stroke looks good on both the shield and the banner. The logo on the whole is approaching excessive business (although it isn't there yet), so I would avoid adding any more elements or embelleshments.

The TC does look a little forlorn. It could be enlarged a bit, and maybe even redesigned. For example, putting the letters on the same baseline might allow you to enlarge them both while avoiding having to crowd the margins too much.

Or you could redraw the T and C glyphs so that they fit the form of the shield somewhat. I'm thinking something vaguely reminiscent of the Superman logo (but not obviously so).

Just a couple of ideas to explore.

I'd replace TC with "Cleaning". You know where you live. Is your skyline drawing of buildings one of the Twin Cities? It seems rather generic. I would loose the shield and make the buildings work with just the banner and add Cleaning below the banner. The shield has become almost more important than the name and what they do.

#4 -- 1st column, 2nd row. The name of the company pops first for me and relegates the secondard information as well as shutting down the TC a little bit.

#3 -- 3rd column, 2nd row. I don't think this one works because the TC is the first thing I read. Having the company name smaller and in black pushes it even further to the background.

I like the way you have yellow peaking from the back side of the banner in #7. And, I like the banner in #6 without the decoration.

Maybe it's just me, but I instantly thought of this having something to do with a guitar company-- it looks just like a guitar pick. I don't know if that really matters, but a logo should represent the business the best it can and be memorable at that; so if it makes people think of something totally different, you might want to try a new shape.

Dan, wing - I added a jpeg in my first post that has the "pick" or shield removed. What do you think?

I didn't come across the shield in exploration of the ideas. My client was somewhat adamant about including something of the sort and is kind of backwards when working on this project.

Chalk it up to inexperience on both our behalf, but i'm working on helping them see the larger picture. Remember they don't see pretty flowers in a field, they see dollar signs. Frustrating, but hopefully more smooth in the future.

I think the new logo works better but It could still be a construction company. You need to add either the word Cleaning or a tag line. Look at your logo as if a visitor from Manhattan just came to your city and ask the question would they know this was a cleaning company.

Of the options presented so far, I think 2a is the strongest candidate. Making the banner white allows it to rise to the foreground. The yellow shield then sets nicely into the background, giving the parts of the complex logo some hierarchy.

Another reason to vote for 2a is that it has fewer contours. I prefer that simplicity, and it will also be better if the client ever needs cut vinyl for banners or vehicle decals.

Mostly, I like shield logos, but the one problem with placing the company's name in the banner is that it is relatively small and difficult to read. It's a challenging problem to solve. I understand from your original post that you didn't have complete freedom. It's probably too late to make any big changes, but here's a link to a shield logo that avoids the type size problem. (The UPS shield is a good example too.)

• Cricket Australia Logo

I like the one with out the shield much better. It reminded me of a police badge. Have you tried variations with out the "wings" on the name plate? That might make it simpiler. I also don't think of yellow as a "clean" color. I don't know if there's any negotiating room on that though.