Hej Richard,

for being a logo for that kind of institution, I think it's perfect.
It's seldom Gill feels original these days, but here it does.

"Kultur & forskningscentrum" should maybe be a in little smaller point size. And not so close to the logo symbol.

Skitfin!

/peter

Tack ;)
I'll try a smaller point size.

Hej, you crazy svenskas.

I like it too, Richard. Very comforting.
Maybe try all the text aligned left or
almost aligned left with "Nordkalottens"
a bit to the right so the symbol fits in
nice and snug.

Stephen

Yeah, I had it aligned left before, but it looked sort of weird when there was a huge gap between the symbol and the lower text. I'll try to move it a bit though. (resizing it might do the trick as well though).

Thanks for the comment.

I think it's pretty nice - the type seems to work well, especially if it's a "sober" operation. BTW, swooshes aren't so bad for non-internet stuff!

But I see two potentially serious problems:
1. It's really wide - so it's less versatile.
2. With the green, those look like leaves, and not at all atmospheric effects. So it immediately makes me think of an environmantal conservation organization or something. I know blue is cold, but...

There's also this: Because your logo relies on tight spaces (in this case the gap between the "leaves"), you should make a different version for smaller sizes.

BTW, if they're serious about the aurora stuff, you might consider making a wide, shimmering, irregular curtain spanning the width of the lettering. Technically much more work for sure (you'd have to do some magic with negative spaces), and you'd have to make sure it's not too "literal", but it might turn out really nice.

hhp

Hmmm...
Yeah, I was going for sober. As for leafs... yeah, I've heard more than one say it. This wasn't a commissioned design in the usual manner though, and the aurora theme wasn't in the brief.

The spacing between them gets wider for smaller logos, as I've been down that road before. It's quite a simple shape though, and it stands up well in a fax.

thanx anyway, looks like I've got an ok for the type, feels nice.

Not only do the swooshes look like leaves, they somehow remind me of Svenskt näringsliv's logotype as well. Might be the gradient. So I'd skip the gradient, change green for purple and follow Hrant's advice on making it look more like norhtern lights.

Adobe Caslon works real nice though! Great setting of it!

Hmmm... I don't see the the likeness.

On the other hand, the green has worried more than one person... Leafs stands for growth though, and this institution (I guess, the brief was fuzzy) stands for cultural growth and research...

Btw, I've never recall seeing purple northern lights... seriously, I might be wrong, but most of the time it's green.

As for the Caslon, I'm quite satisfied, I shrunk it a bit and now it looks great.

Oh well, doesn't really matter anymore.
They have choosen another logo...
This on the other hand looks alot like svenskt näringliv's logo... not to mention it will break apart in a xerox machine or a fax (strange, as a good representation in B&W was in the brief)



I think I did better, what do you think?

Dang, Richard. Isn't that often the way?

Looks like someone convinced them they had
to be "ultra-modern". As my swedish granny
would say, shaking her head at the sight of
something horrid: "Oy-yoy-yoy-yoy, yoy."

Stephen

hehe. Yeah, happens way to often.
Swedish granny... where you from?

Richard, your design must have been too "classic" for their tastes - which makes me think they didn't know what they really wanted at first, or maybe simply didn't communicate it.

That swirly logo thing is pretty lousy. And I think Trebuchet looks horrible at large sizes (even though it has a surprising readability in text, for a sans).

hhp

ohh, it was trebuchet! I was actually wondering what typeface it was
I think it is quite a friendly font... although I haven't used it for anything but webpages (it looks surprisingly good as shorter body copy).

Anyway, their brief was very fuzzy and I tried to make the best of it.. Basically what the above logo is (if you look closely), almost the same swoosh I've used, but rotated with a gradient.

I'm ok though, as I find my piece better, it's still going in my portfolio. (as a suggested design or something...)