Critique my logo!

[Viridian]

I'm in the process of turning ViridianGames.com from a blog into a real website. During the course of this, I designed a logo for the site. If you'd like to critique it, here it is:

http://www.viridiangames.com/images/viridiangameslogo.png

I'd appreciate any feedback. Be vicious! Claws out!

Viridian

[AnthemAudio]

Hmm...the green and yellow and the font all mixed together somehow conjured the image of college football in my head.

I don't know what else to say. The logo symbol is nice except what does it have to do with the title?

[Phil Steinmeyer]

I agree - the symbol is nice but it seems like it should be tied to Viridian Games in some way ( a stylized V or VG)

The subtext (Design + ...) is too wordy, and probably meaningless to most of your customers. Delete it, or change it to something more meaningful to customers (i.e. 'Fun, Fast Games' or something like that, though that's a bad example)

[Savant]

I agree, lose the tagline altogether. It adds nothing and clutters up the logo.

[simonh]

My opinion - colours are too muddy, bevel is too strong, logo symbol is uninspired. It looks quite big and clunky as a whole too.

[Christian]

I think that the trick in comming up with good names is concetrate on the emotion or experience you want to convey, for example, what emotions you feel when you hear "chronicles of narnia"?? or "mortal kombat?", both different emotions, so, choose an emotion and pick the right words for it.

The logo is too dark. And you should design other thing, it looks like a electricity web site... and the lines above and bellow dont help much, what is the purpose of them? if nothing, then take them out.
The font you used doesnt help much either, it looks too serious, unless you plan too chess games or serious games like that one.

Suggestion: What if you make another competition so other people design a logo for you?

Claws in...

[Viridian]

I said "claws out", but my God! You guys do realize that I'm a programmer, not an artist, right? Plus, I'm not selling games on the site yet - right now it's just a site about game development, and a place you can get the free games I've written.

The coin - Sorry, but it stays. Viridian is supposed to be an "electric green" color, and that's what the coin represents. If I ever do a platformer, that coin will be the extra life pickups :) Nothing I can do about green and gold being associated with college football in some people's minds...they were the colors I chose for my family crest when I was in the SCA and I want them to be the colors people assocate with me and my site.

Bevel too sharp - you're right. I'll pull that back.

Tagline - I like what it expresses, but you're right, it doesn't READ well. I DO want a tagline, but it needs to be better. A short, pithy phrase that expresses my desire to make great games would be better. Any suggestions? If I can't think of anything I really like, I'll probably just remove it.

Top and bottom lines - Um...well, the tutorial I was following (did I mention I'm not an artist?) had them so I replicated them. They should be removed, especially since they won't go all the way across the screen.

As for the font being too serious...well...I kind of want it that way. I don't want it to look goofy or anything.

[Hiro_Antagonist]

My critical feedback:
-The icon reminds me of the Metroid symbol. Is this on purpose?
-What does Veridian mean, and what is the significance of the logo to your company name?
-I totally agree that the tagline is wordy and unecessary to your audience. (In fact, I think it's just plain too cumbersome, and is more negative than positive for your logo.) Maybe that's the sort of thing you could put in the footer of your website or something, but even then it seems a little too geeky.
-For some reason the beveled/3d font of "Veridian Games" looks a little amateurish. The simplicity of the smaller font you use seems more at home in a logo. (Or maybe it's the same, but too small to see the details...)
-The logo as a whole seems to belong more at a law firm than a gaming company. I think you should use bolder/brighter colors and/or a more exciting icon/layout to convey more 'fun'.

Despite these bullet points, I don't think it's actually too bad. You asked for critical feedback, so there it is. (And asking is the right thing to do! More people should ask for genuinely critical feedback!)

-Hiro_Antagonist

[Robert Cummings]

The music+thingy+thingy+code = game is pointless and meaningless to anyone but another developer. In fact it is pretty meaningless anyway.

It is OK to have a thunderbolt logo. People are under the mistaken idea that the logo HAS to match the project. Sometimes you can be different if it is striking. Not many carry it well though! I would be removing the slogan under your logo as it is meaningless (to me) and perhaps make the text more exciting.

[Andy]

Well Viridian! Basically...

http://www.wildsnake.com/image/promo/hh/Viridian_Logo.png

I really can't get why you don't like to have it more playish. So I've just spend a couple of minutes to implement the proposals of another gents.

Don't be afraid of color. You are going to make and sell the games there after all. No?

[soniCron]

Okay. You're making a few major mistakes.
Too busy -- Your logo should stand alone without any shading effects. (No bevel, no drop shadows, etc. These all can be added later.) It appears you spent more time adjusting the gradients than you did laying out the logo.
Too much information -- The slogan is meaningless to your customers. This would be a good title for your development blog, but not for a gaming site.
Detatched graphical logo -- A graphic doesn't have to reflect your business, but what does this thunderbolt mean? Do you work fast? Do you make games based on old The Flash comics? What makes this thunderbolt stand apart from every other thunderbolt I see? What is its purpose?
Underuse of your unique staple -- Not only are your color choices not viridian (they're more hunter green), you cover it up with too much shading.
Poor font choice -- Not only is the font not fun, it looks like something I'd see on a lawyer or bank's website. And nobody likes lawyers or banks; they're not fun.
Useless extra "padding" -- Do the bars at the top or bottom serve a purpose? If not, throw them away.

The important thing is that you make ample use of your staple (the color, "viridian") and simplify the image. Here is a 3 minute mockup (http://www.solaristudios.com/indiegamer/viridian.png) of where I'd begin exploring ideas. (Unfortunately, it's a poor example.) And if you're really married to the thunderbolt thing, then I'd suggest you tie it in to the whole theme by turning it on its side like this (http://www.solaristudios.com/indiegamer/thunderbolt.png).

Most important: Ask if every bit has a purpose. If the purpose isn't immediately clear, lose it!

[Bmc]

The important thing is that you make ample use of your staple (the color, "viridian") and simplify the image. Here is a 3 minute mockup (http://www.solaristudios.com/indiegamer/viridian.png) of where I'd begin exploring ideas. (Unfortunately, it's a poor example.)

I actually think that is a decent example sonic Ron

it's pretty nice

[Viridian]

Well Viridian! Basically...

http://www.wildsnake.com/image/promo/hh/Viridian_Logo.png

I really can't get why you don't like to have it more playish. So I've just spend a couple of minutes to implement the proposals of another gents.

Don't be afraid of color. You are going to make and sell the games there after all. No?

Wow. That totally doesn't suck. How did you make that? Mind if I use it?

[Mike Boeh]

I actually think that is a decent example sonic Ron

it's pretty nice

Yeah he gets a good one in 3 min utes, and I gave away an ipod without getting a logo I could use, cry! :(

[Andy]

Wow. That totally doesn't suck. How did you make that? Mind if I use it?

Well. Basically I just reproduced your one. ;)
Sure. You are welcome. :)

[Viridian]

Well. Basically I just reproduced your one. ;)
Sure. You are welcome. :)

Well, I'd kind of like the words of the logo to have the same supershiny look, so if you could tell me how you did that, I'd be grateful...

[Andy]

Well. I reproduced your logo in Photoshop. So if you've got a copy these tutorial should give you one million ideas what and how could be done:
http://www.good-tutorials.com/tutorials/photoshop/text-effects
Something like:
http://photoshopnerds.com/aqua-text.htm

REM: I'd really recommend you to pay attention to Daniel's sketches for your logo. I suppose they are pretty fun.
What do you think about this one for example:
http://www.wildsnake.com/image/promo/hh/Viridian_Logo1.png
I suppose could work pretty well on the website... ;)

[soniCron]

Whoops. I uploaded the wrong thunderbolt. Get the monochromatic one here (http://www.solaristudios.com/indiegamer/thunderboltmono.png). But, yes, as you can see what Andy did, you can add dimension and effects to it, once you have down a solid base design, organization, and flow.

EDIT: Browse this site for some excellent examples in logo design (http://www.distinktive.co.uk/logoed/logos.html).
EDIT: Mike, you can get your 3 minute logo right here (http://www.solaristudios.com/indiegamer/retro64.png). ;)

[Vorax]

Every heard about the study that says as long as a word contains all the right letters, it doesn't matter what order they are in as long as the first and last letter are correct, the brain will recognize the word as if it was spealt correctly?

I think these people heard of that study (it's a real logo for a clothing brand):

Logo (http://www.distinktive.co.uk/logoed/logos/page10/FCUKLogo.gif)

What's the first word that jumped into your mind?

Damn why didn't I think of that! :D

PS: So I am not completly off topic - I liked Andy's as well :)

[simonh]

I really like Andy's first one:)

[Savant]

Those tutorials are great! It's amazing how simple a lot of these effects really are once someone explains them to you. :)

[Cartman]

I didn't want to be influenced by the posts above, so I didn't read them before posting here. Back on topic... About the logo.

Overall I like the colors and the font used for Viridian Games. I'm not crazy about the black lines separating text and bordering the logo. Overall it seems like you have too much text there. I would suggest pulling out the "design+..." part. Something I've learned is that less is more in almost everything including logos.

[gmcbay]

Have to agree that the colors & font choice don't work for me. The feeling I get from them is that its an ad for a local bank or a community college in some alternative weekly newspaper.

Andy's alternate logo is clearly more fun & "game-y". And switching the thunderbolt to a 'V' shape gives it some meaning, which I also agree is sorely lacking in the original logo.

[Andy]

It's hard to say something before I know what are your upcoming games - what audience would you like to push your games to - etc. etc.
Anyway
http://www.wildsnake.com/image/promo/hh/Viridian_Logo2.png

Please keep in mind that I've used Daniel's logo for the picture above.

REM: My main concern was really to show you that this is not so bad to have good and rich colors if you use them properly. I assume you have realized an idea. ;) So now just go ahead! Good luck... :)

[Viridian]

It's hard to say something before I know what are your upcoming games - what audience would you like to push your games to - etc. etc.
Anyway
http://www.wildsnake.com/image/promo/hh/Viridian_Logo2.png

Please keep in mind that I've used Daniel's logo for the picture above.

REM: My main concern was really to show you that this is not so bad to have good and rich colors if you use them properly. I assume you have realized an idea. ;) So now just go ahead! Good luck... :)

I'm not afraid of color! I'm just not an artist! And here I was PROUD of my coin symbol...I hadn't ever done anything like that in Photoshop before...mumble mumble...

Both of those look great. I like the bottom one best. But - please don't kill me! - I don't like the green and yellow color stripes behind the letters; I think it makes them harder to read. I probably won't use them in my own logo.

Thanks for the ideas, though!

[Kite65]

Here is a 3 minute mockup (http://www.solaristudios.com/indiegamer/viridian.png) of where I'd begin exploring ideas. (Unfortunately, it's a poor example.) Most important: Ask if every bit has a purpose. If the purpose isn't immediately clear, lose it!

I'm with soniCron for my opinion, the simpler the better.
Despite a number of attempts, I still have to generate a logo for my site.
Your Logo is already far better than most of mine.

Remember about colour blind people as well (i think about 10% of guys and less in girls, have some version).
Simple and single colour is just about possible with my graphic design skills.

[Viridian]

First, thanks to everyone for their kind (and VERY thorough) suggestions. Here's what I ended up going with:

http://www.viridiangames.com/images/viridian_games_logo_version_2.png

It's based on Andy's coin design and several suggestions from many people. I really like it. Feel free to critique some more, but I think this is what I'm sticking with for now, especially since I've got the whole rest of the website to do!

[Anlino]

Looks good! Remember to post an feedback request on the site when you are finished with it, i want to check it out:)

Best of luck to you!