hand painted gothic for logo

matomatic18 December 2005 · 22:26

I’ve been struggling with a logo for a long, long time. It’s for a natural foods grocery store. I presented a much earlier version and received helpful advice, though this version does not neccessarily include that.
In order to maintain a certain handmade feel, and to create a sense of history, I’d love to utilize type that relates to the hand painted windows and signs of day gone by. I’m interested primarily in type that either stem from long enough ago that they smack of history, or that comes from the mid-seventies, when the store was founded. Currently, I have three logo consepts in progress. One that feels way back, using Brothers by John Downer, another that should feel a little groovy, but still contemporary (hopefully I’ll find something just right—maybe a rounded serif Didone?) and the attached. I’d like this to feel very contemporary, but I don’t want to give up the history. It’s Century Gothic, but I’d love to hear if anyone knows of a more interesting geometric gothic with some roots in brush lettering.
Thanks!

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Jonathon19 December 2005 · 00:02

You might try Eagle from Font Bureau. It is nice and geometric but has more of a hand painted feel than Century.

beejay19 December 2005 · 01:27

You should definitely check out Letterhead Fonts

Mark Simonson19 December 2005 · 07:06

Makes me think of Econofoods:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Econofoods

It’s not a big chain, and maybe not in your region.

matomatic19 December 2005 · 08:22

Son of a rat!
I knew that was going to be too easy of a solution. I’m goping to look over eagle anyway, but there are two econofoods within 100 miles of us. In my defense, I’ve not been to either, but I certainly can’t say for certain that I’ve never seen one before.
I’ve been trying to draw out stuff from Letterhead fonts for about a week. We can’t buy anything until we’re committed, so I’m working with a brush and pen for now. As far as that goes, you’ll notice I haven’t posted any of that concept yet. Heart’s in the right place, the hand with the pen in it, however, is not.

dave bailey19 December 2005 · 10:21

Your letter replacement reminded me of Whole Foods: http://wholefoods.com/

matomatic19 December 2005 · 10:39

ug.
Shamed twice.

dave bailey19 December 2005 · 10:54

ug.
Shamed twice.

Not what I intended but maybe it gives you a better idea of where to go. I feel like your example is too rigid and geometric for what a ’natural’ oriented crowd this store would bring in.

matomatic19 December 2005 · 11:55

That’s how I took it.
I was hoping that a different typeface would loosen it up some, but the whole thing is just too near to the econofoods logo that Mark Simonson posted.
I’ve done a lot of work, and I have a lot more to do.

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