I love the mark. Very sexy. However, the only logo that really integrates the type and the mark well is #2. The others seem as though the type is a completely separate element.

In the logos you've created, I'm reading "Black" as one idea and "Blue Ball" as a second idea, and I keep wondering why the circle (ball) isn't blue. I believe "Black & Blue" should be read as one single phrase (unless "blue ball" is some sort of pun re fetishism).

The ampersand in logo 1 is my favourite. It reflects the whip from the mark well. As for typeface suggestions: I'll have to mull it over a bit more.

Great job so far.

- Lex

Thanks for your input.
I have the mark separated in most of the comps because the mark will probably be used on it's own a fair bit, and I don't think the type has the same impact when that small or curved like that. But I'm certainly open to it going in that direction if the type works with it.
It definitely should read as Black and Blue Ball, no puns though it certainly does present like that. And the colours are not really final, I haven't found a blue I really like to use as the primary colour that isn't overpowering while still being strong.

I'm not really sure what I'm going for as far as typefaces for this logo. I like the bold strong letters, but I think a strong bold cursive might be good too.

I think you should attempt to create the type out of the whip coming from the shoe. It might look cheesy but I feel it could be pulled off in an elegant way.

I thought about that, but considering how often the mark would be used without the type I thought it would look kind of off in those situations.

Well done on the mark. This is lovely and to the point...

About the type treatments, i am currently not feeling any of the above. As a matter of fact, I believe that you don't have to be very adventurous in the type at all. A bold, clean sans serif set over 2-3 lines on the right should be sufficient. Maybe try using the blue colour for "BLUE". Anyway, good luck with the project. I am looking forward to seeing how this will turn out.

Seb

For the text I would recommend if you are going to use a white keyline on text, in Illustrator (or similar), that you create the black text in one layer and duplicate the layer place it behind the previous one and then put a stroke on that, otherwise the stroke cuts off parts of the type.
Tim

If I didn't know the subject of this forum I wouldn't see what the illustration or the title meant. I hate to say it but the concept need more refining. Make the graphic more explicit and make the title more engaging its too bland.

Ideas: turn the shoe sideways, so it says shoe and then the whip will add to the illustration. Add the "Fetish" as a eyebrow to your headline "Black and Blue Ball"

I'm not a big fan of hitting people over the head with literalism. The mark itself is not likely to change. Thanks for the thought though.

A stiletto-heeled boot with the trailing end of a whip is pretty much as literal as you can get while still being able to show the logo in public places :)

- Lex

For type suggestions you might try the frankly saucy Sassy, or the blatant Frankfurter, or the lightly beaten Kada, but I think that each of these will require you to beef up the illustration, in fact you might need to beef it up anyway it uses light strokes to sit on a strong background.
Tim

Edit or you could try the voluptuous Cooper Black

Whats wrong with be obvious. You seem to feel all people are artists, they're not. Its about communications, not art.

I'm not assuming anything of the sort.

Anyways, here are some of the suggestions. I'm not sure, the heavier ones seem a little soft for the subject and paired with the logo's sharp lines.

This is going to drive me crazy. Number 4 in the previous comps looked okay, so I thought about something a little curvey but sharper like number 3 in this one.

I think your iterations are suffering from a lack of balance, the black ball is heavy and is bound to dominate the lettering (apologies, no puns intended). The success or failure of the mark relies on scale and proportion of the type to the image, in your last version I wonder of the intended viewer would swiftly recognise the illustration at that size. Have you tried a black boot on a blue or white background? Possibly viewed from the side (which would make the subject more obvious), something like this perhaps
http://www.thevincerayexperience.com/mugs.html

The Kada version achieves some balance, it could be even larger in proportion to the mark.
Tim

I still say that "Blue Ball" should not appear on a separate line from "Black &" if you want "Black & Blue" to read as such.

I like the elegance of the script font in #2 of your latest post, but it is much too light to work with the mark. I would suggest making the type much larger to complement the mark.

- Lex

I'd suggest playing up the "black and blue" in the logo a bit more, extending the whip or boot a bit to divide the shape of the circle and make half of it entirely blue. Get kind of a yin-yang thing going on. Or else, maybe a blue crescent drop shadow. As unpopular as such things are, in this case it would create a suggestive visual pun of "balls", at least one of which is blue.

I think the script font is heading in the right direction (re: #2 from your sample of 19 January, 2007 - 6:12pm), but it is a bit too light and formal. I found something I think would be perfect on dafont.com, but it is listed as "free for non-commercial use" so you'll have to ask the author for licensing terms.

What about some blackletter?

What's with the terrible type selection? Didn't you do any sketches that involved a complete compositional arrangement that included text placement?

I have to ask because none of it appeals to the target audience. It's not hot/sexy but at the same time inviting/sophisticated, and it doesn't scream "taboo fun" at all; it looks like you designed the bland, vague symbol and then needed to figure out where you'd put the text (and then chose some truly ill-fitting fonts).

Perhaps I'm biased because I see the ads for the Power Exchange and Exotic/Erotic balls, but...I'm just not feeling the 'heat' with this logo.

As suggested before, I think a careful choice of Blackletter could match the strong logo perfectly.

How about a big ampersand that /is/ the whip?

--Michael.

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// love what you do or do something else. //
Michael Ebert -- graphic designer, jazz saxophonist, horror movie devotee
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type treatment suggestion:

http://www.thunderguy.com/bennett/wp/wp-content/res/stamp-nz.jpg

I will suggest for sure a gothic fonts

Perhaps I’m biased because I see the ads for the Power Exchange and Exotic/Erotic balls, but…I’m just not feeling the ‘heat’ with this logo.
I don't particularly love either of their logos. This group isn't about "heat" or "Taboo fun". This is a lifestyle choice for a lot of them, treating this like a circus isn't going to go over well for the people that take this lifestyle seriously.

I tried two different types, I'm pretty much tired of this project already. But the first one here is an unknown font I found a few letter forms of somewhere. The B is crap, and I'd like to find the actual font. The second is a little more in the other direction, it needs a little more weight too it, but it's a start.

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/underware/sauna/

Might be an alternative for the top version, but as I’ve said before you will need to put some weight on the strokes in the illustration, possibly making it clearer that it is a boot and whip.

Tim

i think actually think the illustration is a bit too detailed, bit too fiddley.In my opinion it needs to be simpler and bolder. I mean, as you have it in the above versions, the type next to it is pretty big, if this was condensed for maybe a business card the logo/illustration would be completely lost.

On another point, the underware typeface 'bello' might fit this theme.

I think the problem lies in the circle, not the illustration. The logo is lovely (in my opinion) and it's sexy without being tacky or cheap. I suggest dropping the circle and letting a black background stretch into a rectangle for white text?

There is no way they are going to get rid of the blue circle.

I’m pretty much tired of this project already

Strikes me that you are resisting every bit of advice that could revive your interest.

Tim