I love ligation, but you might have a problem with that "no" standing out - negative vibes.

hhp

I am enjoyng the 1st logo design. Perhaps joining most of the ligatures. All except the "O".

Because of the weight caused by the joins, the C, N, O and L would look best closer as suggested by Florian.

The idea of flow through the logo would be of great benefit.

take care

I like the direction of the first one also. Tighten the c-n, n-o, o-l, l-e. This is pretty strong stand alone type

Ligate the topmost (left) serif on the N with a reverse taper to the C. Extend the serifs on the bottom of the N and the top of the L to 'frame' the O. Perhaps tighten up a bit, but not much

Here's a quick comp of what I'd previously posted for clarity. I also included a modified part of the 'nol' as a marque/logo as you had mentioned.

Make the 'e' narrower.
The ligatures give too much emphasis to the width difference between 'e' and 'c'.

You might try making the serif on the n not slab but angled (beginning lower), or have the serif slab but lower than the arch of the n. I don't know if either will work, but you might be able to discover a lighter link for the cn ligature by starting along these lines.

Yves, I like that face thing.

hhp

Of the last three you posted I like the friggin' first iteration. That "c-n" lig seems to maintain the character of the logotype the best. The second iteration creates too long of a horizontal on the top edge of the lig, and the third iteration just doesn't make the cut. IMO.

Aloha!
Scott

I like the standalone, and I agree with Scott that the first one is best. Maybe alter (sharpen, round?) the lower terminal on the C to play nicely with the ligature on top.

hmmmm... but the first one looks like an open "o" to me. The sugestion posted by Chase looks best for my eyes, althought it will need more work.

g

To my eye, only 2 & 4 look like eyes - 1 & 3 look like letter Rs

I think 4 works best

s

I like option 4, and I don't think non-Typophiles will see an apostrophe as readily as we are.

Well the typeface is ChollaSlabBold. ;)

There's something nice about the idea of "melding", "joining" and "fusing" in regards to electricians. And the fact that they "channel" the information is along similar lines. Electrician weld and solder. When we pass or share information we become joined together. I can see this happening in your ligs. Maybe it would be a little too tricky (?) but I would be curious if you could "solder" all the letter together.

Kewl, interesting suggestions. My idea was to go with
the top design too. I'll tighten up the whole thing and
see what it looks like.

> Ligate the topmost (left) serif on the N with a reverse
taper to the C.
Heh, we've got a mindreader in our midst. I felt like
doing that but hesitated because I feared it would harm
the readability of the word. I think I will have a go at it.

> I love ligation, but you might have a problem with
that "no" standing out - negative vibes.
It's a bitch innit? That's why I started out with extending
the tail on the "n", not only to achieve a symmetrical flip
effect but also to counter that problem. Maybe connecting
the "c" with the "n" might de-emphasize that. Also keep in
mind this is for a non-English speaking target audience.

> This is pretty strong stand alone type

I think you've got some major readability issues with that option,
Chase.

Here's the tightened logo, but the "cn" ligature is causing me
major headaches. I find the ligature you're suggesting is too
busy BTW Chase.

Toying with the standalone graphic this is what I've come up with
as a possible add-on to the above.



I guess it speaks for itself.

Well-spotted Eduardo, THX.

Now if somebody can suggest which friggin' "cn" ligature to use,
I'll be completely satisfied...

i also like the first. the "melding" of the letters follows that of the others, looks more authentic.

what if ... for the stand alone ... they melded somehow?

Almost there. I wanna thank everyone for their insights, as this
has helped me get the job done in about half the time (usually
I let each intermediary stage of a logo rest for a while to be able
to evaluate it with a fresh eye).

I slightly narrowed the "e"s and tightened up the "cn" ligature.
Last thing to decide on is which stand-alone sign to present to
the client (I'll save the other three as a back-up in case said
client is not completely satisfied). Nr. 2 is a quite literal lift from
the word mark, nrs. 1 and 3 are "melded" as per Tiff's suggestion
and nr. 4 is the most instantly recognizable. Whaddayathink?

Option 1 & 3 remind me of the logotype. Option 2 doesn't seem finessed or finished enough to be paired with the logotype. Option 4 is a little too typographic, but I'll admit this could be because all I see is an apostrophe.

:D

Sometimes I wonder why I go through all the trouble. This
is what they selected. Thanks everyone for the input!

Well... the concept is interesting. The idea of "gathering" is suggested by the ligatures - that's nice. Personally I would reduce the distance between the letters, to keep the word more compact and the ligatures not so exaggerated.

I would apply this suggestion to the 1st variant.

Kobe.