I think this is just an unbalanced start. Try to simplify things and don’t try to overdo things. Type doesn’t complement graphics... Bit with some work it may become a simple and working logo.
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Robert Koritnik

I’m seeing a western inspired ’branding’ mark (think yeehaw ranch etc)
and then that’s confused with the Swiss style type.

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Paul Ducco
Graphic Designer
Short Film Festival

i think it has some way to go to be all minimalist and tasty
however i really like the opening bears photo.

a word of warning about an a in a circle is that it can end up reminicent of the anarchist symbol.

will

I think Rat and Will have brought up very good points here. I would consider revising the “A” in your graphic

G’day cobber!

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Paul Ducco
Graphic Designer
Short Film Festival

Why do the negative tracking thing with Helvetica? Personally I think it’s quasi-hip and pretty badly readable. I never understood that trend.

I mean, a little negative tracking is fine, but some of the letters are basically touching each other. Especially at smaller sizes.

OMG TOUCHING EACH OTHER ... HOMOTYPE!!

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Paul Ducco
Graphic Designer - Melbourne

yup. that A is the opposite of modern. and elegance. The “ausste design” font is modern—i.e. sans serif, minimalist, rigid. but elegant usually implies soft curves, something ornate.

Hmm ... when I look at your website, I see even more flaws with your design. The problem is your application of Britanica: just because it’s not Helvetica doesn’t mean it doesn’t carry the same issues of blandness and lack of originality that the poor use of Helvetica carries.

And yes, the touching letters isn’t working for you. Again, it lends a derivative sense to the whole design.

The ’A’ is much more interesting, if not in need of tweaking. If you’ve designed the ’A’ from scratch, why not match it by creating a complementary font for the name?

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Nick Hladek

thats an interesting thought Nick.. but for now I am going to stick with this one but in the future (probably a month from now) I will create my own font and use it.

Thanks everyone for their crit!

Those bears are great. There is some fantastic negative space between them, almost a reversed S shape.
I like your custom A too, but that is because it looks like old signage lettering to me, not something modern and elegant. It has a ’50s gas station feel to it.