Oi Helder. Nice symbol. (And nice presentation.) And I think
you

Futura is a nice idea but Helder should also look at Neutraface by House Industries. Lots of different weights and alternate characters. I love the symbol but in color I'm not in love with gradients. I think you should look into having your symbol be a tint of black rather than solid black so its not so heavy.

The mark is nice and really shines with the
gradient (rarely would I say that about a
gradient ;o)

I can't read the descriptive type in your
presentation, so it's a bit hard to tell what
each is in context with the mark.

With the type, I think the simpler the better.
Of your current options, I think univers is the
strongest.

>

I agree that the use of the gradient here is better than most,
but it does get tiresome over time. And it

It looks very European.

hhp

Perhaps you should try more condensed fonts. I'm hazarding a guess that the best ratio might be condensed/normal=diamond/square.

> (And I don

Oh, but this is a state university, not a federal one... ; )

But seriously, I

i am a former student of UFMG and i have to say that i don't think the logo will work for the institution unless it's all uppercase. by capitalizing the U you're implying a hierarchy which makes the word "Universidade" more important than "Federal de Minas Gerais" and as Rodolfo has said, it's not the correct way to treat an acronym.

i would also recommend making the mark stronger. the symbol is very small and quiet now, it doesn't say "fire" to me at all nor it represents the University as a strong academic institution. it's a very nice abstraction but i think it's lacking some strength.

as for the type solution i would agree with a condensed grotesque.

some study of the university's architecture might inform the drawing of the mark as well. i don't know if you've done that or not.

*double post.

Hi everyone, thanks for all posts and I'll comment them later when I've finished other studies with more doubts. Meanwhile what do you all think about a serif with a geometric symbol. See what I mean in HSBC logo.



Thanks again.
Helder

capitalizing the U you're implying a hierarchy which makes the word
"Universidade" more important than "Federal de Minas Gerais" and as
Rodolfo has said, it's not the correct way to treat an acronym.

Well, not necessarily, in fact. You have UFMG (Universidade Federal de
Minas Gerais), but Uerj (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro).
It depends on the acronym being

Rodolfo: Shouldn't be ESDI written all-lc?

At least ideologically it's written like that, isn't it?

May I suggest:

Not only are the flag origins more evident, but I find it more evocative of flame.

>>>>>

Rodolfo: Shouldn't be ESDI written all-lc?
At least ideologically it's written like that, isn't it?

Yes, indeed. : )
And I feel comfortable with that.

Ok. Once again Thank you all for your sugestions.

This week we had a meeting and we decided to go back to the all UC option. That Upper-lowercase option was a try to avoid a plain vanilla word mark but then we figure it could bores after awhile.

We need a simple and timeless word mark but not ordinary.

BOLD OR LIGHT: Well. The branding project includes several attachments to UFMG logo. Those will be faculties names, course, departments and events. The UFMG has to stand out from this second name.

COLORS: Navy Blue is the old logo's color. The council love it but they agreed with us that it's difficult to keep the same pantone in all prints. So our proposal is to use cyan as an option to yellow or red (our first proposals, both reproved). Cyan provides an easy reproduction in all medias and still could stand as the "blue fire".

SLABS-SERIFS-MODERNS-HUMANIST-SANS?: As you see our option is going toward the sans, some overused sure, but neutral and nice. If we find a way to customize it a bit.
the sans also represents a historical link to UFMG since they start to be developed at late 19th and early 20th century.

[Some modern faces are really beautiful and work corporative branding but didn't fit (in our opinion) the UFMG glyphs]

SO: THESE are the fonts we are working on, the black ones are ours handpicks. With akzidenz and avant garde we have try something different putting together U and F. What do you all think of that and also of the other fonts?

Really thanks.

I tried out your letters in Bliss Bold caps and they were nicely balanced; you can check it out at http://typography.net

Your best way also might be to draw it yourself.

Akzidenz and Chalet NY are my favourites here.

But forget the 'UF' ligature. It's not working for me, it reads 'U'+something+'MG'. I guess that, by eliminating the vertical stroke of F, the white space between F and M becomes too big, which makes it harder to read. And I think that your diamond-ish symbol is strong enough for the logo, you don't need 'extra attention'.

Helder, I

One thing to be careful about in Syntax is its very slight slant (1/2 degree), which can cause some artifacts in lo-fi situations (like the screen, or even small text on a laser printer). In which case Foundry Sans* might work better - it's essentially a Syntax sans any slant.

* http://www.on-idle.com/foundry/foundry_sans/sans.html

hhp

Yeah, that

Beautiful.
I Agree with you Rodolfo, the ligature can look silly.

Foundry and Syntax are nice i like the "M"s, as futura it helps the gap between FM. but its base in syntax needs ajustments. Foundry looks ready. Thanks hrant. I'll try both.

We still have some time and if anyone else know a timeless type which fits the letters please drop us a line.

thanks

I was just looking at Optima Nova. It has the splayed M. Also they have done a new display version which is very dignified and elegant. I don't know how this will work with your stylized flame, but it is worth a look. The University of Illinois uses Optima for signage.

Whoops, it's actually called Optima Nova Titling. They say it is intended for logos, among other uses.

Maybe it's just me, but I think this titling font looks so great (and the left leg of the M is more splayed so it will fit under the F) that if you like it you might consider 'Optimizing' your flame by tapering the sides...