I really like the text style in the second examples of both files, however I think if you got with the “B” logo you should shrink it down a bit, and likewise with the text second in the baltid_5.gif file example. I’m not too sure which logo I prefer to be honest... good job either way though!

Alexey,

Have you seen the Unilever logo?

Your logo looks nice, but you might want to change it up some, so that it has a more unique feel to it.

thanks for the input so far. yeah, Unilever is really close, and though the businesses are pretty different, an id should stay unique enough. The problem is one of the clients doesn’t like it. He wants something very simple, even if it is generic and abstract. :/

So, Gill Sans you say...

Yeah, I’m all for the B logo, with Gill Sans

Although that is sort of BBC…

it’s just because it’s gill.

Personally I prefer option 4. The B’s in the first two options look distorted due to how they are made up, this gives a slight unfinished impression (maybe a very (very) light blue plain background B behind the ahem wiggly bits may help?). Fontwise Gill Sans looks far better.. it’s also pretty timeless, the other font option would date quite fast I would think.

Monotype’s new Gill Sans OpenType Pro has small caps and oldstyle figures. Maybe you could work some of that into the logo. Good Gill Sans (like the new release) looks so sweet!

Well, Gill Sans works alright almost always, but I cannot leave just a wording there without a sign or something. I will have to do more research there.

But, hey, thanks a lot for so many opinions in such a short time.

Later,
Alexey

p.s. Dan, I knew someone will come up with a BBC comment. :))

Well, if they don’t get the BBC in the Baltics, it wouldn’t be so terrible. But here (Germany, for those who don’t know where Alexey and I live), everybody who has a cable connection gets it.

There are really two issues at hand:

The symbol and then setting the typeface.

Since the whole point of having a visual mark, is
to eventually have the mark stand alone and have it
resonate with the audience, I’ll address this:

While the ideas seem interesting, can you come up
with some additional concepts involving solid forms?

Geometric and abstract may seem “boring” but it
really isn’t — the results of simplicity, uniqueness,
and memorability derive well from such formalities.

The lessons from Modernism would be very appropriate
for a company such as this.

Hello again,

after reading the last comment I’ve felt myself confused, as I hadn’t really understood which part of the modernism you, caboume, were referring to. I did try to see some examples, but the only reference I have at the moment is “The Shock of The New” which is quite a good reading, but has nothing to do with graphic design. Paul Rand’s “Designer’s Art” inspired me a bit.

And here is what I’ve done so far. I’ve started with form 1. And am actually tweeking it for the last three days without any success I could be proud of. I need some more insights and your comments, if you please.

Gone catching on with the sleep.

http://www.xtati.com/_misc/baltid/baltv_id_6.jpg

I still like the Gill...

I was wondering about making a Gill like B ( or a BAtv or whatever) made not with squiggles but with rounded sea stones. I saw a logo made with leaves that I thought was pretty strong in eye magazine once.

About the abstract stuff - clearly you have the main idea about this formal style - but I don’t see what idea is being driven at. What are these marks saying? The best of these marks have a message that they are attempting to distill I think. Adopting the style is not enough.

It doesn’t sound like this client has told you much about what they want other than they want something simple. If you can’t get more out of them then I think you have to suggest what you think they should have - you have to invent a meaning for the logo. Am I right about this client or reading into the thread too far?

If you are totally stuck you could just suggest a ’word mark’. What could be wrong with that?

The latest drafts are all based on the same liason (ligature if you like) of “Ba” or “ba”. Which is so much abstract that it doesn’t read it, but probably hints on the idea of some kind of [distant] alliance. Which it apparently does not either, as I see from your comment.

A wordmark could also be a variant, though I do tend to have some kind of icon to be able to use separately as well.

No, the client haven’t left a lot of comments to base my research on. :/

Now that you explain it I see it. But I think it’s too hard to see.

Also, Why ’Ba’ as opposed to bal or balt or just b?

Just ’b’ seems the simplest and the most in keeping with reductionist modernism. You could have a tall ascender rectangle & a circle. Done.

You could also play with it ... & have a ball maybe with a silly highlight & shadow & then ’tic’. Get it?

I would like to know why they chose that name. It seems odd. On the other hand isn’t there a food store in England called Iceland? Actually that almost makes more sense. Iceland could refer to frozen food.

If you knew why they chose baltic that might be a route to a good fit in the design.

I just checked out your site

http://www.xtati.com/

Nice stuff!

As far as I know, the guys operate from Britain, from London particularly, but the partners come from Latvia (or Lithuania? I am not sure, forgive me), and their primary target are baltic states and Russia. So here come baltic alliance.

“Ba” or “ba” comes from baltic alliance and not baltic. They told me, that sometimes they call it BalTV, which is way nicer to set... It should be still clear, though, that it is Baltic Alliance Television, and not Baltic TV or whatever else “Bal” could mean.

I’ll give “b” a try.

Oh, and thanks. :)

What about a “B” with its bowls crossing into each other? As in alliance.

hhp

going amok.

http://www.xtati.com/_misc/baltid/baltv_id_7.jpg

I have strong impression, that these are not *that* unique. Except for Bluetooth association (by looking at which I tried to go as far as I could), I cannot tell the others.

Or maybe they *are* unique?

What about this?

7b - Cut the ends off the circles 1/4 of the way in from the left ( or so ) , make the circles so they look transparent - you know like in photoshop or illustrator. Loose the outline & I think you might have something there!

Most (there are exceptions) TV graphics avoid a white background (as I understand it this is because many screens do not represent white very well or are not correctly white-balanced and/or that a white screen is uncomfortable/jarring to look at, take your pick or add another), so if this is to be used as a screen id it is worth examining it reversed out of a colour(s) and to employ an animated form of the abstract shapes (or maybe play with outlines of the Baltic states) that you used in version 2 to form a B or a circle, which, despite the associations to Unilever, I prefer. You can then develop this for a print logo.
Tim