Hi Peter,

It�s tough to tell from the gif, but it looks like the crossbars on the E�s and the spine of the s are all a tad below center, or possibly exactly center. Raise them up a bit.

In addition to what Stephen said, try rounding the corners as well. (maybe)

Could you post a bigger version?

�randy

I'm not sure it's the kerning that makes it awkward still. The U seems like such a departure from the character of the other letters. It's making he space inside the U sort of swell the area it is taking up. It's such an oddball I want to read it as an icon rather than a letterform, but no visual references come to mind.

Is the U saying something different than the other letters? If not, i'd go ahead and straighten the sides...or bring some of the characteristics of the U you have into the D maybe (might set up some nice rhythm).

What's the connection you're working at between the logo you have and the nightclub? Just wondering

-JT

Stephen,
I was aiming to keep the horizontals as flat as possible. The only curves are on the vertical part of the letterforms.

Randy,
It is center. What do you think, should the top whitespace of the s be like 60% and the bottom whitespace of the s be like %40? Or is more of a 55/45 ratio?

JT,
I styled the S after the U and thought I had the D close enough to make it relavent to the other letters, but perhaps the D should not flatten out like it is....I will look into what you are suggesting.

The U is styled after a glass, a thick bottem tumblers glass that the club will incoorporate into it's glassware. The U will also be used as part of an icon set. But the U will have an olive or a straw or some icecubes in it.

I had the same feeling about the counterform of the U as well, but I think if I straighten up those curves this logotype will loose much of it's character.

Thanks for your thoughts, fellas. Would like to hear back from you now that you have some more info.

Here's a bigger version:

Peter:

I am sorry I dont' have much time right now to illustrate more appropriately what I will reference, but hopefully this will do.



I like where you are headed overall, and I like the hard corners on the "U". Rather than morphing the "U" into the other letters I would go the opposite direction. The "U" has the most character of all the letters, so why not let it set the trend. Do as JT suggested and as I have so poorly illustrated�mold the "D" to follow suit.

I am seeng the same spacing in the crossbars as Randy, so I flipped the "E"s and rotated the "S" 180 degrees. I'm not sure how you're measuring them, but there seems to be a pretty clear distinction between the flipped/rotated letter forms and the originals. Also, I wonder if the crossbar on the "E"s is long enough. Like I said, I have limited time, so I couldn't try that one.

I started to mess with the kerning also, but it still needs a little more caressing. I hope this helps with some further exploration.

Aloha!
Scott

Scott,

That's exactly what I am going to do to the D! Thanks for the illustration, this is going to look much better.

I'll make adjustments and post this afternoon.

Aloha!

Scott's "D" is right on. But the terminals of the "E" have to follow suit.

hhp

very roughly, altered e's

scott's version is great. the U and D are closely related, but i think that's enough. the e's may be overboard. looks good! how about maybe adding a liquid to the U?

Alrighty.

Here's the update. Thanks for all your help, I am quite pleased with this.

I think you might try rounding the tops of the "U", where it seems frail to boot.

hhp

Peter:

I also considered recommending rounding out the ends of the "U", but if I am not mistaken you did mention that the "U" was to stand out and even stand alone in some applications. For this purpose, I don't know that it is necessary to duplicate that element of the other letter forms.

Have you tried applying Loren's suggestions and adding some sort of liquid to the "U". I believe you also mentioned previously that you would be adding "�an olive or straw or some ice cubes�" If you've illustrated any of these treatments, it may be helpful for this critique to see some of it.

It's looking great! The only thing I am still noticing is letterspacing. The "S" needs to be pulled in just a little more�I think.

Aloha!
Scott

Stephen,
I totally hear you, and I know exactly what you are talking about. But let's have a look at the U with terminals. I think that top horizontal loses something. But I will say, now that I have done that the terminals on the U before do look somewhat anemic.

So I think I will now try this:
Keeping the outside of the terminal round, and having flat on the inside. Make sense? What do you guys think?

re:liquid in the glass. I tried that, but it looked cheesy to me. This space will evolve into a restaurant at some point as well, so it needs to be a 'scalable' logo--don't want it to be strictly a drink spot.

Thanks for all your help. I knew this would get better by showing it here, and it is.

That "U" does work quite nicely. Have you tried rounding the interior terminals and keeping the hard corner on the exterior?

Tried scotts idea (soften interior of terminal --1.21c). And my idea (exterior of terminal 1.21b)

1.21v_v2 is a more a more drastic curve.

To me, I think it is between, the full rounded terminal, or 1.21b (which might need to be exentuated a bit).

What are your thoughts?

Excuse another poor rendering job, but I wanted to represent what I was trying to convey regarding the "U" terminals. I meant something a little more like this, but refined, of course�



Of the set you last provided, I like v1.21.

Aloha!
Scott

Scott...thanks for all your examples. You've really gone all out here.

So. The rounded terminals it is. Stephen you are right from the beginning on that.

One last issue. I agree that the new D is more in line with U, and in turn unifies the logotype, but it is less inviting/makes the logotype more technoish.

Which direction should I go on the D now that you can see them side by side:

You could take a look at Maxpo from CloseFonts (thanks Yves), I think it has a similar feel.

The round terminals on the U have made it visually shrink just a bit but I'm nitpicking. Peter, keep closer to your original concept or the next letter you will have to modify is the S and when you are done you will have created Vag Round (Gag)

daniel,
original concept as in 1.23, or as in the logotype without the rounded terminals (beginning of thread)?

You know Peter your logo isn't a typeface and the recommendations you are getting are for a typeface. Instead of thinking of your logo as a word, try thinking of it as a mark. With that in mind which has more impact, what you have now or what you began with. Its somewhere in between in my opinion. Go through the threads and then make your decission.

Peter, how would it looked tracked tighter?

Just curious.

bj

hmm...tiffany you made me think of this version...the very first one I did.

no rounded terminals at all.

that's interesting tiffany...I like it.

I do want to allude to the shape of a glass with the U. not sure if you read this, but they plan on have tumbler glasses made to match the U.

but I may just have to show them an iteration along these lines.

thanks

p.s. that plays off the D quite nicely

Oooh, Tiffany's is it.

hhp

Peter --

This doesnt happen to be a club in Arizona does it? Just curious.

no...it's in SF

P.S.
I know you dont have much play in this area, but maybe the arms on the 'e' and the 's' could move up just a touch? So the have a little more 'bottom weight', this would offset a little of the over-symetrical shape you have going.
Also I love Tiffany's 'U', I think this is really the direction you should take. If you were concerned about a tumbler beeing made after this shape, I think that might even be cool. and asymetrical glass, with a flat side? But maybe I'm crazy. I still say tighten it up a touch, the widely tracked, horizontally skewed logo types are quite cliche for clubs and such. (not to insinuate that yours is )

Good work overall. Nice to see some custom lettering done.

Hildebrant.

thanks.

I'm presenting these to the owner here in a bit, with my picks being these:



p.s. thanks to everybody, this place is very helpful for solo freelancers of the world

Peter your final choices are the strongest, good luck.

Peter,

my vote's for Tiffany's 1.25 (with a narrower SU kerning as in your 1.24) and - if the glass shape does matter - for your 1.24. (I don't really like the earlier inconsistency between the round S, E and the sharp U, D.)

Regards
jpg

PS: A straw in the U is just an idea ... not in the logo itself (uncool?), but somewhere else, maybe ...

I think a liquid or a straw might be too cheesy, but what about giving the "U" a stem & base?

hhp

Hrant, I guess you're right ("cheesy" probably is the word I was searching for - my English vocabulary sometimes limits my ability to express myself).

I was thinking of something stylized ...

The straw adds some weight to the U (that the other letters have due to the fact that they all have an, well, "upper bar"). But I don't know whether I like it ... it was just an ad hoc thought.

The U plus stem and base isn't a bad idea, but it might resemble a Y if not done the right way.

jpg

Hi JP.

I've been out of the loop. The crossbars are still too low. They should optically look even. Might be 45/55, might be 40/60 you've got to trust your eyes.

Randy