Public service.

And my two cents:

First off all you should start with black and white only. Get that right before you move to colours. Second, how would that mark look if it was a character in the supporting typeface?

Fry's Baskerville says "I have arrived", so it won't work.

hhp

Well I have black and white versions; they don't exactly look stunning. I was thinking about inserting the icon in the typeface but I'm not sure where to put it. I guess either in the center of the "Q" or the intersection of the "t". Not sure how that would look.

I think you misunderstood me. I’m talking about curve quality. Right now, the symbol and the type have nothing in common. I think this is the reason your black and white logo does not look “stunning”. If you want to create a logotype, you should not ignore the most crucial part of the design: its shape.

What if you draw the symbol as if it belonged to the typeface? How would it look then? How thick would the lines be? Would there be straight edges? How would the corners look? How would the whitespace relate to the whitespace in the typeface? How big would it be?

If it's a christian ministry, why not stretch that logo so it looks more cross-like. I'd use the two-tone version with, as Frode says, heavier and possibly tapered and curved outlines.

I kept the logo more angular because I wanted to keep the directional and compass head feel. Would it be easier to change the type face and make that less curved / more angular?

They have to work together somehow, so you gotta put some thought into it. (PS: It's almost like cooking.)

To me the word "quest" combined with a compass image conjures up thoughts of an exciting adventure, but your solution is rather static and formal. You might consider looking for ways to add a bit more energy to the symbol (perhaps a hand drawn look), and maybe using a script font that has some energy and personality. Maybe like someone artistic on a quest drew it in their journal.

the compass/cross hybrid would be awesome

The first thing I got when I saw this logo was NATO, you might want to google it.

I agree with the posts above, there is very little that links the icon to the word 'Quest'. I think you need to try and make both elements work together a little more in harmony.

> the compass/cross hybrid would be awesome

+1

n.

Does anyone have any suggestions for typefaces? Preferably free or low cost.

Thoughts? Is this any better?

I see you're trying to relate the type to the symbol via color and stroke, but overall I just don't think the logo is working. To me the symbol looks very generic (like clip art) and needs to be more distinctive. The condensed type just doesn't convey the emotions of a quest to me. It needs some flair or mystery or excitement. And I think it's best to avoid thin strokes in logos.

Keep working on it. Have you tried any of the things that folks suggested? Frank's idea of incorporating the symbol into the type is an interesting thought. For example, what if the Q was round (like the shape of a compass) with the symbol inside it?

When I first saw this image, knowing that it referred to a Christian ministry of some sort, my first reaction was that "Quest" in that typeface looked very corporate (there is a Quest commercial medical lab services company, and their logo is widespread.) Quest Diagnostics apparently wants its logo to look solid and precise and reliable.

Second, I read your logo as a star. OK, star ... Christian ... Bethlehem. But a star should be represented monochrome, with a light color. The multicolor options all seemed wrong if I was reading the logo as a star. Then, I thought, it might represent a cross, which would be a little better, but not much, in more than one color. But the symmetrical Greek cross is a little problematic, bouncing visually between a star image and the usual Christian Roman cross with one long lower leg.

These, as I said, were my first impressions.