1) What kind of cars?
2) What kind of [potential] buyers?
3) How do Bulgarians feel about Arabs, or Turks? I ask because of the certain Middle Eastern flavor of that font. Especially since it sounds like "sheikh"! :-/ If it were Russia I'd say stay away from that style for sure (I still remember the way the people on the plane from Moscow to Novosibirsk were looking at me), but it might of course be very different in Bulgaria.

hhp

hmmm...spooky car.

It's looking quite eastern to me. some kind of asian or indian thing going on definately. perhaps it's the red and white and black that with you brush that has me thinking japan. The corp id alone alone though has me thinking Arab.

- my knee jerk reaction

The car sillhouette looks like it's winking, which might suggest "cute" rather than chic.

The red bar bleeding off the bottom of the page with a car sillhouette to the right seems to work OK, but I'm not sure about repeating it on both sides of the bizcard

To Hrant :
>> What kind of cars?
<< All kind of cars.

>> What kind of [potential] buyers?
<< Ranging from a penniless guy looking for a jalopy to a tycoon looking for a Porshe.

>> How do Bulgarians feel about Arabs, or Turks?
<< Not so great, because of the turkish slavery on Bulgaria. It lasted for 5 centuries. Nevertheless, nowadays people are more broad-minded than they were for example 1-2 centuries before. It seems that the contemporary spirit of the bulgarians is trying to mingle with every single culture it come across. This creates an amalgam(mixture) of cultures, which in my humble opinion is not a good thing. Everybody is trying to copy the East or the West and not care about "us" and "here".
If I have to answer the question directly - No, there is no prejudice about the arabs and sometimes they are even thought as a good thing. (if we don't stem from historical point of view of course ;)

>> Especially since it sounds like "sheikh"! :-/
<< You are right about that. However, in Bulgarian the word "sheikh" is pronounced somewhat differently than the word "shik". In fact, the word "shik" in phonetical point of view is composited of only 3 phonemes ("sh" - diphthong, "i" and "k").

>> If it were Russia I'd say stay away from that style for sure (I still remember the way the people on the plane from Moscow to Novosibirsk were looking at me.
<< Don't mind them. They always gawk at strangers. (Beware stranger ;))

To Tanya :

>> hmmm...spooky car.
<< Is it the color(black) that creates the spooky sensation? I didn't want to entangle in complex illustration.

>> It's looking quite eastern to me. some kind of asian or indian thing going on definately.
<< I feel the same thing. It was not intentional, but after I am here maybe we can comment on the eastern look.

>> ...has me thinking japan
<< I have to admit that the circular elements on the business card are quite japanese ;)

>>...has me thinking Arab
<< It seems are though I have created a Corp.ID for an Arabic company. ;)

To Scott :

>> ..."cute" rather than chic.
<< The word "chic" in my language have a multiple meaning and is often perceived as the word "cute" with a slight tint of extravagant.

>> I'm not sure about repeating it on both sides of the bizcard.
<< I'm not sure, either.

>> Is there a reason you didn't layout out the letterhead in that same fashion?
<< It was a requirement for the envelope design - (to center the logotype)

p.s Some propositions on fonts that look chic are welcomed ;)

Q : Could this logotype (more accentuated on the type) extract the company from being mostly unknown to being well-known (speaking in local terms)?

All kinds of cars, all kinds of customers? You'll be very hard-pressed to find a non-generic solution that treats all those extremes equally.

> Could this logotype (more accentuated on the
> type) extract the company from being mostly
> unknown to being well-known (speaking in
> local terms)?

If you mean very quickly, then I think only by being highly controversial - and that's assuming you believe that "there is no bad publicity".

For a chic font, preferably with an automotive theme, see if you can find a narrow, classical design that's a bit oblique. Maybe Eras?

hhp

Galin, wake up and smell the coffee. Racism in europe is growing rampantly (See Holland and France), Hrant has good points

To Daniel : As I have said it is not a big company and the only target are bulgarians. Here the situation is not so uptight.
Of course, you are right about the racisim in Europe. As a matter of fact, two weeks ago I spoke about racism at the UNICA international student's conference, which was held in Amsterdam. My point is that racism may not be the issue I want you to comment on.

P.S Please comment on the font choice. I think that this would be helpful and surely I appreciate your critique.

To Hrant : Thanks for the advice. I will try Eras and possible think of something more controversial as a logo symbol (the only problem is that the client doesn't want abstract symbols).

Salute

= double post =

Glad to see another Bulgarian in here, so I'm not alone anymore.

As for the design, I shall say that I don't think that the font is good with this objective...I'd rather use something more contemporary , even the Eurostile (or Microgramma) you used in the tagline. And teh car IS spooky, yeah

Ivan : Thanks for your post. It seems that we are two now. ;) Anyway, the font in the tagline is "Europe" (because it has available cyrillic versions). Why do you refer to the car as spooky? Is the color(black) that creates this sensation?
<<personal>> Ivan, from which part of Bulgaria are you? I am from Sofia and have graduated the IAEG. I write this because now and then I meet people from the same school and it is a marvellous experience.

Salute

Well, the other thing I would suggest is to use a wordmark only instead of wordmark and a symbol. When (and they will certainly do) change their type of business they can keep their existing logo As for the spooky:



See what I mean?

I don't know what IAEG Abbreviation means, I graduated loooong time ago in 1988 in my hometown Plovdiv, from the College Of Fine Arts.

That car doesn't seem very 'chic' to me.

I don't feel any strong attachment to this particular project. The real thing that is happening is just reaching a level of satisfaction in the eyes of the client. I do not plan to push myself harder. Tomorrow will be the show-up. I have printed small quantities of each component of the Corp.ID and I will let the client to decide the direction.

If you have any comments that can contribute to the overall design, please do not hesitate to post them.

To darrel : Personally, I cannot think of something chic that corresponds to cars. Maybe I have incapacitated myself this days and a fresh look after a few days later give me some insight.

P.S. Ivan : Are you currently working in Sofia or maybe somewhere in the USA?

I agree that a wordmark instead of a wordmark/symbol would be a "safer" and more successful approach.

In regards to what you have posted, I would suggest bleeding the red bar off the bottom of the page on the letterhead for more consistency throughout the pieces.

Also, the circles on the business card do not work, in my opinion. They add clutter, distract, and definitely do not give an overall feeling of being 'chic.'

Good point, Sally. The circles on the BC definitely have to go. As for the wordmark and symbol I will wait for the client to choose. Personally, I like the idea of using only the wordmark.

Tiffany : Thanks for the post. ;)

Salute

i would suggest not using red on that shade of gray--it vibrates.
they are too close in value.

also, the eurostyle font choice (or whatever) doesn't go
with the contemporary style you're looking for. i would find
a different sanserif and try using ALL CAPS in some places.

also, the car is unnecessary.

I think getting rid of an "explicit" car is smart, for the reasons Tiffany mentioned. But it would be nice to have something, not just some letters. So try to think of something that any car has, and will have for the forseeable future. No, I don't mean cupholders. I mean like lights, tires, etc. What about a tire tread pattern that says "CHIC"?

hhp

Galin

What about the Batmobile?



Doesn't get more elegant or timeless than that.

Plus who would you trust to give you a better deal: a car dealer or The Caped Crusader? Batman's rich, he doesn't need to rip anybody off.

Just think BATS

Alright, I guess I won't post a picture of batman and robin.

Can someone explain to me why this won't post?

>What about the Batmobile?
>Doesn't get more elegant or timeless than that.

OOH. De Witt's comin' through with de wit.

The client's opinion was that he wanted fresher colors and maybe different arrangement. He liked the type, so that stays. He also like the flow of the BizCard but he found the grey quite intimidating.
This is a blue version of the previous with some variations.

Please comment on how to make it fresher.

Salute

P.S Sorry about the quality of the jpg, but I had to make its size smaller.

The car works a lot better when showing just a bit of it.

Looks nice...though that envelope may be a pain to produce with the bleed like that. Also, maybe mail is different over there, but shouldn't the center be reserved for the recipient address?

I like the blue tones better than the red. Would recommend better domain name (a .com) and professional email account (not a free hotmail account) . I think the car looks like it sitting there in the corner lurking like a predator. The car, although already small, seems to draw as much attention as the name. The car would maybe look better in same blue as logo type.

just because the client says he likes the type doesn't mean
it's finalized. I think the type needs a lot of work still, and you
shouldn't be so satisfied just yet.

the bottom of the letterhead isn't handled very nicely.
it's blocky and weighed down. it's also forced into a tiny
space. i would move it up a centimeter or 2. also,
the horizontal bars going right across the page are so generic.
there's no unique quality to them. i've seen that done
a thousand times. you could maybe just put the bars bleeding
off the bottom edge, like the business card does. also, the
repetition of the car twice is not very clean.

and why not just center the logo at the top? it looks good
that way on the business card.

...

each element is too different from each other.
the hairline on the business card stops before reaching
the edge. that could happen on the letterhead too.
look at all the pieces together (above) and notice how the spacing
of each object or text block from a paper edge is different
every instance it's used. the logo, for example, looks best with
a certain amount of negative space around it. i don't think
you should ever cram the logo somewhere or put other objects
too close to it. (back of business card)

Galin, I hope your client has plenty of money because the only way you will get the black on the envelope to work properly is to print and then convert into envelopes. Alot more expensive. Same holds true for your bleeds on the letterhead and business cards. Also when cutting the business cards with the knock out type so close to the edge you will have alot of waste and the overs will cost alot once again. I would suggest showing your designs to a printer and maybe get some feedback on how to make them work with in a resonable budget.

Also talk to the postmaster, or the equivalent.
I know in he states the USPS doesn't like anything on the bottom of the envelope on the right third of it, it's where the barcode goes.

Thank you for your posts. I have made some adjustments of the bleeding and followed the loren's main advices. This is the result, which is in a different color. Although, I plan to use the blue.

P.S To loren : The client really liked the font and uttered explicitly that he wanted it to be the same way.
P.s.s please don't even mention the vibrancy of the white (front side of the Bizcard). ;)

seems a bit clip-artish to me.

Including a car ... any car ... in the design for this company will only cause problems. That problem being the design of cars, their shapes, changes too often. I would say to not include that car because it will date itself too quickly.