I think you've got a great start and the leaf and green certainly communicates 'nature' and 'growth'. The ultimate challenge will be in the quick viewer thinking this is an environmental or agriculture company. Blue is popular in banking because of the psychology of color and it being tied with 'trust' and 'integrity'.

Super Technical: In the top logo the stem is on the left which makes the leaf appear to go down and to the right. Not sure you want to visually imply that for a financial company. ;)

Also the reversed logotype and tagline in that option is way too small.

One tip if you haven't done this... turn off the computer and grab a pencil and paper. Sketch out a bunch of different directions this can go and then eliminate the weakest concepts until you're left with 2-3 solid solutions.

Beautiful work so far!

If you are going to use a leaf (which i like, it breaks the mold of finance i think) direction is definitely important. Like the person before me says, the line of the leaf stem seems to be going downward.

Id flip the leaf horizontally, so the stem is gradually going upwards. This could represent even more growth, or moving forward.

Also, I agree that using a green leaf may initially cause viewers to expect an environmental company. But again, I like the idea of a leaf. There could be a few possible fixes for this, such as changing the color of the leaf. Making it a non traditional color could possibly disconnect it from the environmental image while still maintaining the strong leaf symbol. If that makes any sense. I hope it does.

As for the wordmark, I love the way it ties into everything. I think the text works well. Not completely organic, but it does seem somewhat friendly and free-flowing, while still maintaining the structure you might want as a financial group.

Thanks to both of you for giving me food for thought, I didn't mention it in my previous post but the environmental slant also worried me. With regards to the leaf vein you couldn't have been more spot on I should have seen that myself :) Making the changes you mentioned alone makes a huge difference as you can see in the attached image. I'm gonna thrash on with this to see how far I can take it.

Thanks again and if anyone else feels like leaving anymore inspiration feel free.

I like the dark blue one best.

I think "prosperity." needs to match that same blue color, somehow it worked when it was green or the light blue but the medium and dark blue need that word darker.

Good edit. I had blue in my mind as well. I think this update blows the original out of the water. It now seems to have a way more professional feel.

Simple, clean, and professional. Big improvement and by flipping the leaf you get people to read from left to right as it moves their eye up, which helps communicate the "growth" aspect you're looking for. You also have a subtle leaf shape repeated in the descender of the "y". You also see it rotated 180 degrees in the "e". Nice.

Can you explain the meaning of the period at the end of the wordmark? Not sure what to think about it... part of me feels it distracts and grabs attention but it's just a touch different.

Psychology of Color: Blue
"Blue calls to mind feelings of calmness or serenity. It is often described as peaceful, tranquil, secure, and orderly.

Ask people their favorite color and a clear majority will say blue. Much of the world is blue (skies, seas). Seeing the color blue actually causes the body to produce chemicals that are calming; but that isn't true of all shades of blue. Some shades (or too much blue) can send a cold and uncaring message. Many bedrooms are blue because it's calm, restful color. Over the ages blue has become associated with steadfastness, dependability, wisdom and loyalty (note how many uniforms are blue). People tend to be more productive in a blue room because they are calm and focused on the task at hand. Some studies are showing that weight lifters can lift more weight in a blue gym - in fact, nearly all sports are enhanced in blue surroundings."

Tell the client that is why you selected blue and you'll sound like a genius. ;)

The blue makes it look like a Gas flame.
Looks particularly like the one colour version of the British Gas logo.
Blue also conveys a cold feeling in my book. I also don't know anyone who has a blue bedroom. Unless they're six years old, and want it blue to support there team, or because they're a boy, and have a sister who's room is pink.

It also misses the fact that your graphic is a leaf, which grows.
Prosperity is about the light at the end of the tunnel. The golden sunrise, a promising future. Sorry but the blue is way too cold to convey that, maybe try making it a hint more green. As we perceive money to be green.
I'm also unsure of the full stop.

For some reason the image didn't show.

In the end I'd give your clients a few options. There may be a rival company that uses a particular colour they want to avoid.

Just a few quick samples that didn't show in my previous comment.

The term 'prosperous' has the following definition.

• Successful in material terms; flourishing financially
• bringing wealth and success

-----------------

Also, color comes in many different hues and values and means different things to different people. I didn't mean 'baby blue' when I provided the general psychology of blue. Personally, my bedroom is a dark shade of blue in the range of the following.

tree.

Note: In the samples above the 'brown' could be perceived as 'dying' since leaves turn orange and brown in the fall before dropping to the ground.

Good to see you putting the Apple Mac dictionary to use.
I was thinking more Golden... and that's a very dark blue - very Gothic.

I still think proving the client with a variety is best, they're the ones who have to live with it, our comments are so minuscule in comparison.

hi there,

thanks for all comments and advice its given me plenty to think about, full stop is removed it was kind of an accident initially but i left it in as it looked different and i couldn't decide whether i liked it or not. when i present this to the client i will definately give some varied examples for colour. i kind of want to stay in the blue green realm but colour at this point it is still very much undecided. These are the two final versions I will be presenting for this concept.

I think the two final concepts look good, but personally I think the gray worked pretty well for the text. Id keep a gray example in with your color options you present. Good Work!

may I throw a spanner in the works?

I am a brand designer and what jumped out at me first of all was that there is already a leaf in the "y". I would explore making that element the icon instead.

The current icon is a bit hysterical in size compared to the type, maybe reduce it a little?

Also it might be worth exploring a condensed typeface for the technical descriptor, maybe trade gothic condensed, or block gothic condensed, something neutral and sans serif anyway.