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janitorC7

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 10, 2006
640
20
California
Hey Guys, I would like some opinion and harsh critique on a new logo, for transplant cafe, a project that I am working on
 

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Lovesong

macrumors 65816
I like it. At first it's a bit difficult to tell there is a cup there. There are several things I would try- first off, try having the interior of the cup darker, this will add depth, and you'll be able to see the cup easier. Also, I'm not sure about the handle- it seems... odd. Maybe more pronounced- curvy (sp) or maybe larger. What would happen if you elongated the bean (behind the cup) horizontally?
Also, there is a nick on the right hand side of the logo that is distracting. Try some variations of the idea. Otherwise, it's good.
 

ezekielrage_99

macrumors 68040
Oct 12, 2005
3,336
19
I like the concept but I do think the handle for the cup should be in the main circle, it will be a lot easier to distinguish. Either way it's a very nice concept for a business logo.
 

mustard

macrumors 6502a
Dec 28, 2005
509
0
NJ
Without being harsh -
I don't get the coffee mug concept, I keep seeing a poorly drawn basketball. But when I take your file and de-saturate the image back to grayscale it seems far closer to the idea of a coffee mug.

One small suggestion - work in black and white for as long as possible because of the reason above ( you may not get/like something because the color de-emphisieses over-emphisises certain aspects).
 

kitki83

macrumors 6502a
Mar 31, 2004
804
0
Los Angeles
I didnt know what it was till someone posted a Tea Cup,
Also is this a perfect circle or sightly squished because I see on the side (Right) something wierd.

Try decreasing stroke and play with some colors that dont register it to basketball.
 

TheAnswer

macrumors 68030
Jan 25, 2002
2,519
1
Orange County, CA
Yeah...I thought Pumpkin first, then coffee cup.

If your client is a vegetarian cafe or something like that, I'd warm up the logo and make it less simplistic. Simplistic works fine for tech companies, but restaurant logos (especially those concentrating on the homemade/organic/natural market) need something more homemade/organic/natural looking. Of course, if it's in a trendy part of town, all that changes slightly, but keep that in mind.

Is the original in Illustrator or another vector-based program? If you did it in Photoshop or Gimp, try to start out again in a vector-based program. That way you can resize easily and also get more complex shapes without a ton of hassle.
 

emorydunn

macrumors 6502
Jun 5, 2006
457
0
Austin Texas
The cup its self is very good. Although I do agree that the colors need to be chnaged a bit to make it more visible, maybe try an indigo/ violat color scheme instead so it isn't mistaken with a basketball/ pumkin with a wierd little circle on the side. The handle needs to be incorperated into the rest of the design a bit better.
 

xfiftyfour

macrumors 68030
Apr 14, 2006
2,573
0
Clemson, SC
I see a basketball.

Few things:
1 - I'd change the color scheme, if possible (though I realize it may not be).
2 - Why is the circle behind the cup not also behind the handle? If it were, it might clear up the basketball-look. That, or at least change the color of the circle so that it contrasts against the cup, rather than blends in.
3 - The circle should be bigger - the white outlines of the circle and the cup form odd angles.
4 - I'm not too fond of the handle, to be honest. Why is its colors different than the rest of the cup? It doesn't have a white outline, it has a white background (which should be gray).


The cup is good, and it has potential, but right now it's a bit too confusing for my tastes.
 

janitorC7

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 10, 2006
640
20
California
I didnt know what it was till someone posted a Tea Cup,
Also is this a perfect circle or sightly squished because I see on the side (Right) something wierd.

Try decreasing stroke and play with some colors that dont register it to basketball.
it is not a perfect circle, I had originally done it with a perfect circle but it did not give off the coffee cup look I was trying for


Yeah...I thought Pumpkin first, then coffee cup.

If your client is a vegetarian cafe or something like that, I'd warm up the logo and make it less simplistic. Simplistic works fine for tech companies, but restaurant logos (especially those concentrating on the homemade/organic/natural market) need something more homemade/organic/natural looking. Of course, if it's in a trendy part of town, all that changes slightly, but keep that in mind.

Is the original in Illustrator or another vector-based program? If you did it in Photoshop or Gimp, try to start out again in a vector-based program. That way you can resize easily and also get more complex shapes without a ton of hassle.
I;m not sure where you got vegetarian cafe from, its actually an online community called Transplant Cafe that is designed to be a support/information/chat forum for people who either have gotton transplants, need transplant, or know people in situations such as thoes.

I did this in Fireworks, which I have personally found to be a great program for vector graphics, I also have freehand, but if you ask me it is to slow, meant more for a person doing really really serious images running somthing like a Mac Pro.

The cup its self is very good. Although I do agree that the colors need to be chnaged a bit to make it more visible, maybe try an indigo/ violat color scheme instead so it isn't mistaken with a basketball/ pumkin with a wierd little circle on the side. The handle needs to be incorperated into the rest of the design a bit better.

Yea, I have never really liked the handle much, I think I will mess with the colors a little, although I do want to keep somthing in the cafe - bright kinda "cozy" theme
 

LeviG

macrumors 65816
Nov 6, 2006
1,277
3
Norfolk, UK
Yea, I have never really liked the handle much, I think I will mess with the colors a little, although I do want to keep somthing in the cafe - bright kinda "cozy" theme

try adding a white surround on the handle, I have a feeling that it might work better with it, tie the handle into the cup so to speak.

If I was to do colours, I would look towards deep crimson reds or maybe a nice shade of green, say maybe mossy shades.
 

bigus7674

macrumors member
Jan 4, 2005
75
1
visual message

at first glance, like most others, it took me a few to figure out what it was. then i was like "ok, i get it transparent cafe...coffee cup...maybe that's a coffee bean in the bkgrd..ok..i got it.."

however, later on i read your post that it is actually for a support forum for those who have had transplants, need a transplant or know ppl in either of those situations...NOW the story has changed.

logos are tricky; sometimes they warrant a very straightforward literal translation and then other times, they have the freedom of being kind of vague and interpretive.

problem is, right now, your subject matter - transplants, is a rather serious-based topic and having a "coffee / tea" themed logo could be seen as taking an important topic as non-serious.

i know with the name having "cafe" in it...automatically, one wants to think coffee, tea, starbucks, dunkin...anything relating to such, which could work for you. but i think you also need to take the transplant aspect into consideration and instead of the round object (bean?) in the background, maybe replace that with an image that could represent the "transplant" part of the name, which actually, is the most important of the two because that's the primary focus...those who have had, or need, transplants. Just a thought....
 

LeviG

macrumors 65816
Nov 6, 2006
1,277
3
Norfolk, UK
problem is, right now, your subject matter - transplants, is a rather serious-based topic and having a "coffee / tea" themed logo could be seen as taking an important topic as non-serious.

I thought the op's forum is going to be more of a formal/relaxed place, rather than a serious, only on topic kind of thing.

I think the idea of using something not directly linked into the transplant bit is wise as it may allow people to gradually work up the courage to ask questions etc, say by worried relatives/patients to be etc. But as I suggested earlier maybe change the colour(s) to be more transplant orientated.
 

nicrose

macrumors member
Apr 11, 2006
89
0
look at other logos

since the subject matter is serious, look at other logos that deal with serious issues. ie) AIDS relief, cancer society logo, donation center logos.

go to google images, too and look for donation center logos.

nicrose
 
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