"WORDS" looks great, it has a lot of appeal. I think that "Four hundred" wouldn

this is really rough, do you think if i fine tuned the four hundred type it could work? i think i will try using Linotype Zapfino and maybe like Scriptina in it's place tonight. i just really wanted to use some hand drawn type, although you're right, i was rushing and could have done it better.

Ben, I actually like the script and the serif face individually, but not necessarily together. I'm not sure why. Perhaps the 'WORDS' has a character that's too strong to sit with the script.

Regardless, I like the the logo, but agree with H

this is what i'm sending to the client this evening.. thoughts?

400words_concepts01.pdf (99.3 k)

Well figure C definitively improved but A and B seem the best for me. The engraved font in C has a lot of charm, which font is it? did you made it?

the engraved looking font in C is called ermine, no, i did not make it. i also like A quite a bit.. but it feels sort of like a cop out, since it's just hoefler small caps on hoefler swash italic caps..

I like variant C the best by far.

Variant A is fine, but a bit boring, even with the swashes. The B variant just looks like a black blob, and the D variant for some reason says "1970s" to me.

half the stuff i do somebody always says it "says 1970s" to them.

i take it as a compliment..

I'm not a fan of D, but you've got to experiement with these things haven't you?

A's nice, but perhaps a bit too nice. It'd be useful to know what kind of non-fiction this publication is looking to publish. I guess they'll say 'anything and everything' but they must have a direction in mind -- is the direction scientific? religious? serious and formal? loose and humorous?

I actually really like B: it looks like the title of a 70s naturist photography book. Not that I own any 70s naturist photography books, but you (hopefully don't) know what I mean.

Seriously, it looks like with a bit of work it could, well, work. A little spacing (between w and o, and r and d) and a slight resizing and loosening of the 400, and I think it could work. I won't promise anything though

C is the most coherant concept, though I actually prefer your handwritten (I presume) in your first post. If you tidied the sript up a little on that one (the R's and the tail on the f promarily) I think it could be a really nice idea.

The regularity of the script in C is a little mundane compared to the example in your opening post. I'll add my name to the list of admirers of that engraved face though -- it's lovely.

jordan

A: I'm not a fan of this. I've never like swash caps in one word without any sort of custom ligatures to unify them. It always struck me as a bunch of beauty contestants in a row, rather than an integrated team.

B: I really like the type, but the visual cues draw cultural and historical associations that don't feel relevant or wanted for your purpose.

C: I think this is the most appropriate, though I prefer the less formal feel of the original script. I think this one is worth further efforts and variations. I like the contrast of the informal against the formal, but with all hand-written forms (Ermine doesn't strike me as an engraved face, or am I wrong?).

D: This one doesn't feel bad to me, but it doesn't feel right to me either. It strikes me more as a title that's logo-ish, rather than a logo that speaks to writing.

I join the chorus singing for the first concept: the 'WORDS' looks great. And I like the nearly matching stroke-thickness between the thin parts of the WORD-letters and the stroke-thickness in your handwriting. That's why I'd vote for version nr. 1.

But the main reason why I prefer the first example is that I think that the different sizes of the two words provide more energy than the two similar sized words in the examples presented in your pdf. So I would start by reworking the 'Fourhundred' a bit.

Another idea concerning the Fourhundred/400: have you already tried to draw something like that swinging f-bow with the 4? That could be nice because of their formal similarity.

client wants something more "urban outfitters" and "vh1".. so. i'll be back with that.

here's the next round i had sent her.. she already got back to me and is looking for something more hip. as i feared, these may feel a little medievel. guess ill up my urbn ness.

The hand-made texture of all of those is great. Whatever the solution, I hope they stick with your handwritten sketching as the final technique.

I liked your original concept of combining a hand-drawn font with a more formal set font. And I believe you can continue that concept as you experiment with a more urban feel. Perhaps a grafiti style of hand-drawn lettering or a broken typewriter look might give the client the edgier/urban look she wants. Then again these could be obvious/trite suggestions. Surban girl from Connecticut might not be the best source for edgy/urban ideas. Keep posting I've enjoyed seeing your process.

ill be working on this this weekend, so i should have some new business for yall to look at pretty soon.

thanks for the thoughts. gonna push the hand drawn further, up the "hipness" with some flourishes, and see where that takes me.

here are some sort of rough feeling logos i sent to the client yesterday... more urban outfittery, more hip, some color into the mix.. although it must reproduce well in 1 color, as it will be letterpress printed, and i'm not really grooving on printing a bunch of colors inclose register just for the logo..