I don’t seem to get what exactly you are trying to achieve. To recreate this existing logo? To create another logo thats similar? (Why would you want to do that? ;) Looking to ID the used typefaces?

Dav(id)

I guess i’m searching for ideas. I want to rebuild this logo with a cleaner typeface, something that looks attention grabbing. It’s supposed to appeal to people young and old. The little yellow “wings” can go, i’m just looking for suggestions for a cleaner, more attractive typeface and if you have a logo idea, i’d love to hear it. A logo that can be used with the “Steinbach Online” text as well as by itself.

Um... I might try playing on “Steinbach” as a name and looking for an engraved-style, stone-look thing. Maybe put a rippling stony brook in the logo? I really don’t know, though. But when you’re done, please update all the ugly webdesigns along the GW empire...

In Winkler,
Alex

Hey, nice to see a fellow Manitoban. I was just hired on to GW as their Creative Designer and we’ll be redesigning the GW websites, don’t worry. As for the logo, they want to keep it pretty close to what they currently have, so I don’t know how they would feel about a rippling brook, but I can always see what they say. Thanks Alex!

Focus on taking stuff out. The logo should just read “Steinbach“ or “Steinbach Online“ and not “Steinbach Online.com.“ Get that tagline out of the logo, too. All of the extra crap in the current logo makes it look like the company behind the logo is run by people who were too stupid to let the people paid to design the logo actually design the logo.

As for typefaces, first you need to figure out what kind of feel you want this logo to have. Sit down with a thesaurus and start creating long lists of words and synonyms until you just can’t do it anymore, then put the whole project away for a day and then refine the list. Once you know what you want to evoke, sit down and start looking at fonts to find some that echo your sentiments. Test the word or words that will go into the logo in every font that fits. Pick the ones that work and look over them again. Keep refining. Then it’s time to start tweaking letters and such.

James: the only problem is that if the branding is similar in Steinbach to here, the prominent part of their advertising is precisely the “.com” part of it!

James, thanks for the idea of taking a thesaurus and creating a list of how the logo should feel. I’m definitely going to sit down and give that a try. I like the idea of cleaning it up and taking stuff out but like Alex mentioned, the “.com” is something that is prominent in their advertising. Not to say that I would lay it out and give it a try, see what they think, though.

Why don’t you post some of the ideas you have come up with, Christopher? That might help everyone see what your approach is.

Sharon

Well I’ve come up with some logos that look a lot more like the logo that they have but I think this is my favorite. I think it’s a lot cleaner. To me, the two curved lines could have some relevence to the “stony brook”. I “updated” the two lines and used an Avant Garde typeface and made a few small changed. The “it’s about community” on the bottom is in myriad. I think that it could still use a little bit of work, but let me know what you think of it and changes that I could make... Just trying to come up with ideas

Well, make sure the apostrophe pops back into “It’s”. Nothing annoys me more than It’s and Its confusion. That’s a little nicer than the original logo. I notice you dropped the “.com”. Gutsy! :-)

(I love GW but sometimes I wish they had competitors in rural Manitoba, simply to push their advertising and marketing guys to work a little harder...)

I had my computer completely shut down on my this morning and I hadn’t backed up my system since I worked on this logo... So now i’m going to have to remake it, luckily I have the image here to see what I had before. I have some of the other files on my thumb drive so i’m saved there too.

I’m reinstalling the Tiger OS onto my laptop and after that I’m re installing the Leopard OS so I can run time machine and get my old information and programs back, so hopefully by later today I will have this logo ready to make changes to.

I think that it is a cleaner look to the logo, but hopefully they don’t go ape over the missing “.com”. I think it really makes the logo without it. What are your opinions on the 2 lines in the box? Or the type below the “steinbachonline”?

Hi Christopher. I like that the logo-font is set in a much lighter weight. The colours are nice as well in my opinion..

Maybe you should press the type below a bit, so you won’t get confused whether it’s breaking the “grid” or the natural barrier of the logotype..

The graphic logo still reminds me a bit too much of an airline (though much less than the older one).

–M

Looking at it again, it does remind me of an airline company, though I still think of a river or stream when I look at it. Thanks for your thoughts, excuse my “newness” but what do you mean by “pressing the type below”?

I’ve asked people around the coffee shop I usually hang out at and many people feel that it is very “warm and welcoming”, which I think is a good thing for a community website. Any other opinions. I’m ready for any harsh comments and critiques as well, just peoples honest opinions of it.

Thanks

You could try making the “It’s about community” tag line a little tighter in letterspacing and aligning it to the right of the image, just to see how that feels. I like the logo.

I had to recreate the logo from scratch like I said, I shortened the “t, b, h, and l” to the height of the dot’s on the “i”’s and made the 2 curved lines a little more curved. let me know what you think of these three new logos...

It’s a general rule to not mix sans serif typefaces in copy- the same goes for logos with taglines. I suggest making the tagline a serifed typeface for contrast’s sake. Your kerning is off throughout the logo itself- the S is pulling away, and the space between the N and the B is off. The shape of the B is weird, as well. The mark you’ve thrown in there is too low-contrast (and looks like a low-rent version of the Fila logo).
If I were you, I’d kill the mark, then vary the weight between “Steinbach” and “Online”. Make Steinbach heavier, as that’s what’s important.

Thanks for the critique! Like I said, I’m a newbie and I need people to push me in the right direction and be meticulous about my work. I tightened up the “s” as well as the spacing between the “n and b”. I realized that I was using a file with the “b” that I started editing. If you notice in the first logo, there were no stems on the “n, a, and b”. I added the stem back to the bottom of the “b” which I feel makes it fit in with the rest of the letters again.

I’m having trouble picking out a clean looking serif font, so I was just wondering if anybody has some suggestions what might look clean and modern. The logo does remind me of the “fila” logo now that you mention it. If you have suggestions for the font of the text below, i’ll play with some different weights and upload a new file.

Thanks again!
Chris

I stuck with the avant garde typeface instead of switching to a serif and I think it looks quite a bit nicer, I did one with the logo just because I feel it’s necessary to have a logo in this situation, and I also did one that is just the text with “steinbach” in bold.

Again, love to hear some more critiques on ways to improve the design. Thanks

> It’s a general rule to not mix sans serif typefaces in copy- the same goes for logos with taglines.

I can’t say I agree. To use a serif on a line that will often appear small should be avoided. Realize that this use will be even smaller on a business card, for example. Serifs will be lost at that size.

I personally think the caption should work separately from the logo. I don’t think it is a one size fits all situation. To lock the caption underneath the logo in this way forces your hand in many situations.

I do think the caption, as it is and if you must you it as such, it too close to the logo. The line spacing should either match the word spacing or be greater than.

It worked better when you were mixing Avant Garde and Myriad. Not mixing sans faces is usually a good policy because the similarities between sans faces can create a sort of dissonance in which the viewer can’t figure out why the words don’t seem to work together. But in a case like this, where there is strong contrast in size, form, and the contrast of case, there is no dissonance. In Myriad, the tagline, also feels much more subservient to the rest of the logo, whereas in Avant Garde the all caps seem to be screaming for attention.

I think that you did a very good job with the logo mark—it can stand on its own in places where the wordmark is inappropriate. I would keep it on the right to really anchor things.

Well it sounds like I let myself get carried away and completely redid the logo instead of just tweaking it, back to the drawing board.

Needs contrast (even your bold is medium at best) and something other that avant garde. The ste combo is just bad IMO. In otherwords, set this one aside and start again. You can always come back to it.

Suggestions:
I’d move to something bolder (a black), headline version of the contrasty sans used in the original, with more contemporary flavor. Such as a Quadraat Sans Black (if such an animal existed). Or a punchy headline sans like Knockout Ultimate Welterweight. Whitney Condensed Black. And then possibly try Online in a light, maybe monoline script. Like a more flowing version of Handsome Pro Light.

Maybe the script idea won’t work. But shoot for contrast that says “bang”

Whatever you do, it should have some personality. This feels like you opened up a font, typed the letters and picked your colors.

Is it just me or does the logo look like signage depicting an escalator?

>Is it just me or does the logo look like signage depicting an escalator?

That’s the first thing I thought of.

My first thought was escalator, also.

Alright, well this logo isn’t happening, I do agree on the escalator idea. The logo is going in a different direction now that I have a little more info on it so i’m going to start tweaking instead of redesigning. Look for an updated logo up soon for critiques

Chris

I got to the logo again tonight. I was just playing around and trying to redefine it instead of redesigning it. I’m having a little bit of trouble coming up with ideas but here’s a link of what I have so far down on paper. Let me know what you think, It has to be a tweak of the first logo, so keep that in mind.

http://freshnewthing.com/steiner_online_logos.jpg

Thanks again,
Chris