By the way, the original image doesn't seem to use a Gaussian blur on the "only" text:

But nonetheless it looks like it's much better antialiased than my version without the blur:

Photoshop?

Photoshop what?

I suggest you hire a designer.

Does it really look that bad?

Being a student my budget is quite limited. :-/
I had hoped to be able to launch the website with very little bunny, making improvements later once the business yields a profit...

Then I'd also invest in a decent CI, something I don't think would make much sense at this time since I haven't really specialized yet.

The jagged type might be caused by Photoshop’s rendering settings, if that’s what you use.

I used Paint.NET, but I'll try to find the redering settings there, thanks for the hint.

Hmm, looks like Paint.NET only supports setting anti-aliasing to on/off, and it was already switched on.
So I guess then maybe I should try Photoshop.

Anyway, what do you think of the font?
Would you use a different one? Other colors? Any other suggestions?

you mentioned that you want a 'wellness / luxury' feel, maybe this is just me, but this particular type choice doesn't say luxury to me, wellness maybe but not luxury.

also, setting a word in a nice typeface is not really identity design.

also, setting a word in a nice typeface is not really identity design.

Especially when you're simply taking the exact idea AND font AND image and just changing the letters. I mean, you even use the same single letter color difference as the already made banner. This isn't design, it's just copying EXACTLY something you like the look of.

Perhaps luxury isn't the right word, perhaps "quality", being professional is more what I mean.
I mean, look at the iStockPhoto banner, it looks like it's taken from a glossy magazine, I like that a lot.

I'm aware that it's not identity design - and it's not meant to be.
At this point I'm just starting off with this, from a marketing perspective I'm probably not specialized enough.
I want to get some more experience and then decide what I want to focus on (e. g., helping people quit smoking or lose weight). Depending on that, I'd invest money in a good CI.

So right now, I just want to get a somewhat good design for my extremely low budget.
And any help and suggestions are highly appreciated. :-)

Yes, of course it's copying - so what?
I don't think there should be copyright issues (they use different styles for their banners every time), and I'd purchase the image.
And as I said, I'll have a real CI designed once I know exactly what I want to specialize on and have a larger budget.

Come on, not a single suggestion concerning the logo itself?
For the use of a different font or anything?

:-/

Come on, not a single suggestion concerning the logo itself?

It's the idea behind the logo that needs work first. No sense suggesting changes to the paint scheme of a boat you know is going to sink.

I wasn't suggesting copying it was illegal . . . merely poor taste.

Why do you want to brand yourself before you know what you want to specialize in (or why brand yourself at all if you're a student)?

Trying to exactly reproduce something already existing (unless it's a spoof) is starting with the wrongest feet.
That, and you should always start in black and white.

A sinking boat metaphor, you're really cheering me up. ;-P

I'm not trying to brand myself actually, I'm merely looking for a nice-looking header to start with.
I'm a science of computer science and I want to finish my grade.

But in addition to that, I've taken private classes in hypnosis - which is what I want to do for a living and to finance my studies.
Given everything I've read on marketing, one should always specialize so that you have a clear target group.

Since I currently don't know what I'd like to specialize in (that comes with more experience), I think it's not really useful to think about branding at this point.
My CI would probably look different if I were targeting people who want to quit smoking than if I wanted to help people with improving their self-confidence.

I'm not necessarily trying to reproduce something existing - you see, I'm just not a designer, and I lack the budget to pay someone serveral hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a logo that is likely to change in a couple of months.
See my dilemma?
What would you do, given that situation?

I also understand your criticism: If this were a programming board, I'd also recommend someone to either learn how to program properly or find a professional to do the work for him because that would be the only way to get decent results.
But, given the small budget and the fact that this is just an interim solution, I'd really appreciate it if you could put the higher standards aside for a moment. :-)

You like the font. You have something to write with it.
Start with a white page and try to compose the words in black until they looks good for you.
Then you can put them up for critique.

^ I agree.

Graphics that you like, or in your case "fall in love with" should inspire you NOT to copy. Instead, you should be inspired to ask yourself - why. Why does that particular graphic inspire?

Make a list, check it twice. Find out what's wrong and what's nice :)

Then invest $10.00 of your budget and purchase some Sharpies and a pack of 500 white sheets of paper. Start to sketch out the nice things on that list. Don't try to be right, just free flow from the list.

Post that and I'll help out too.

> not a single suggestion concerning the logo itself?

I realize you're just looking for a quickie solution, but you're going about this the wrong way.

You don't design a logo with a big promotional photo behind it. You first design a logo by itself; one that will work well on your letterhead, business card, etc, and that will work in black-and-white as well as color, and one that will work well in tiny sizes, and most importantly which does a good job of representing your business.

Once you've designed the logo, then you can start thinking about applying it to web banners.

So put the photo aside and give your logo some careful thought and post some logo ideas by themselves, and I'm sure you'll get some advice.

This is just meant to be an interim solutation to have *something* on my website to get me started, it won't be used anywhere other than the website header.
I don't really want to invest too much energy into this, so I guess I'll just go for one of the above versions, even if it's bad taste to copy their design.
But the alternative, spending even more time and money on a simple website header that'll change soon anyway, is even less tempting.

However, I'll want to have a real logo sometime soon, and then I'll come back for help. :-)

I think people are genuinely trying to help you with good branding. Here are some perhaps provocative questions for you. No need to answer them here, but you will probably have to answer them as you develop your business:

"I don't really want to invest too much energy into this"
Why not invest some time and money into something as essential to the success of your business as branding?

"it won't be used anywhere other than the website header"
Why even have a website when it doesn't relate to any other part of your business brand?

"I'd really appreciate it if you could put the higher standards aside for a moment"
Why would you approach your business this way, do you want to communicate that sentiment to your customers?

Waiting until you make enough to invest in a good identity and branding solution is like a computer programmer waiting to get a computer until they are a successful programmer. In other words, you will likely never get there until you invest in consistent and effective communication with your potential customers. That could be a logo, or it could be word of mouth, but you need to focus on the plan for communicating the value and benefits of your business to your customers. Copying graphics is a waste of time that you could be spending working out the foundation of the business you are trying to create. I do hope your business is a big success, and wish you all the best as you move forward with this challenging task.

my suggestion is to boldface it so it pops more. Make the A a different color and put the M back to white, to help distinguish it, i actually like the idea of making the rounded letters stick out by changing colors. it shows a sign of uniqueness to me. experiment with different backgrounds. maybe a background aimed at what you want your website to be about?