i love the masthead. i think “australia” needs to be in a more contemporary face, more rounded. gill is too 30s.

I love how the R makes a fin over australia. clever.

In its current state, I don’t think this is very successful. Chopping off the leg of the R and the bottom of the F to make room for “Australia” feels arbitrary, rather than clever. (Sorry, Kat, I don’t see a fin.) The area where the leg of the R leaves the bowl is too thick.

The curves of the S are lumpy, and don’t match the R and F very well. The U is too wide — its big, open shape dominates the logo.

Consider slanting “Australia” (in a more contemporary face, as Vanina suggests) to match the angle of SURF. And you might add a bit more weight overall; the whole thing feels a little spindly.

I just get an error code when I try to look at it. Is it in CMYK?

I just get an error code when I try to look at it.

Me too.

Darren, images must be rgb for web viewing. Here it is.

I’m not sure what typeface “SURF” is, but it isn’t very well drawn. The “U” is too wide, and the characters are a bit wonky. Take a look at Neo Tech or Neo Sans . I would encourage you to look at some unique type for the sans as well instead of Gill.

Ditto on AUSTRALIA. Needs more personality and to work better with SURF.

After thinking about those recommendations, which were meant to serve as alternatives to the direction you’ve gone in, I wonder if this “tech” look suits a surfing magazine? Here are a couple other ideas with a different “feel” that could make a unique masthead...

FF Bau

Julia Script

Magnifico Nightime

Ultra Bold font recommendations from FontShop a lot of great ideas here.

Good luck.

Chris K, you’re very helpful!

I lack the imagination to see the fonts just above as working for that masthead, though... But I’m sure you could make them work.

I really like that in the original masthead, SURF is slanted... It goes really well with the angle of a surfer’s body. DIN bold italic may be another good option.