This is Part 4 of the Logo Design Round-Up series. This ongoing series showcases a collection of logos and brand marks, self submitted by a bunch of freelance designers and creative folk in many creative areas. These designers use the logos to sell, promote, brand and market their various skills. Part 5 will follow soon, you can read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11 and Part 12 if you have missed it.

You can see how I designed my own logo in this post : Bastardizing Helvetica for the ImJustCreative Logo Design

If you want to be part of this logo design series, then details can be found at the bottom of this post.

What this collection is not

This is not a competition, it’s not a best of, it’s not a who has the best logo, it’s not a collection of logos that I have chosen. They are simply logos supplied by those that wanted to be part of this post. And a huge thank you to everyone who has submitted. For those of you that have submitted, but your logo is not here, you will be in the next part.

Logo Roundup – Part 4

Mayhem Studios – Calvin Lee

Let me begin with how I came up with my business name, which was a huge struggle and really came by accident. I agonized for 3-4 days of trying to come up with a really cool name.

I took a little break. A few days later, when I was off doing something completely different, like working out. The words Mayhem Studios popped into my head. I thought, OK that sounds cool, that’s it!

The design of my logo was slightly easier. I knew I wanted it to be clean, simple and modern. I also knew I wanted to use a red and black for a strong bold mark.

The inspiration for the logo came from the simplicity in nature, architecture, type and life. Using type as a design element, like the plus sign or brackets, simple yet effective.

Overall, I was happy with the design but not exactly sure if it was right. Since, I was in a rush to get the business running and get some business cards printed. I decided I would go with this design for now. I can always come back and redesign it.

That day never came. I was extremely busy with projects. After awhile, it was too late to redesign the logo, as everyone strongly identified me with Mayhem Studios and that logo. One day, I may still rebrand myself.

Big Head Design – Justin Moore-Brown

Motivations of the company name (big head design) and logo was inspired by the fact that I actually do have quite a large noggin and my friends made it a point to make sure i knew that.

I really LOVE house-a-rama Kingpin font (the letters), and I decided to feature the shilouette of my head as a nifty little badge. The inspiration for this logo really just came from my love of large bold type and short concise logos.

I choose this style over others because I felt it conveyed a fun sense of design. I love graphic design, and find it fun to just sit and create but know well enough not to take myself too damn seriously.

Bob Orchard – (X)HTML/CSS Developer

Based around my last name, I created my logo to demonstrate my minimalist design ideals. Completely done in different faces of Helvetica, this logo incorporates a tree based on my last name coupled with blue and deep gray contrast to separate concepts.

Since I use my own name, I needed something that clearly defines what I do, as well as showing off that simple, elegant typesetting makes a huge difference. This logo can easily be modified by changing a layer or two in order to place it on a dark background.

Colorburned – Grant Friedman

It took me a while to come up with the concept for this logo.  I had a little trouble trying to figure out how to conceptualize the words Color and Burned.  Eventually, I decided that I preferred combining the words so instead of Color Burned it just became Colorburned – sort of like the word Sunburned.

Eventually, I found a font that I liked and some Twitter friends helped me with ideas for the flame and finally the logo took shape.

Daniel Collins Design

Simplicity is the main concept for my logo because that’s who I am. There is nothing flashy or detailed, just straignt-forward and to-the-point.

Some might say it’s boring, but I think it’s classic, and timeless.

I chose Avenir (Ed: I LOVE Avenir) as the typeface because it is intended to be a more organic, and humanistic approach to a purely geometric typeface. it has vertical strokes that are thicker than the horizontals and an “o” that is not a perfect circle. These nuances aid in legibility and give Avenir a harmonious and sensible appearance.

A splash of color complements the online experience.

DEF Graphics – Bernie Ebue

As far as the logo goes I had to redesign it from my previous one I had for a portfolio class. I happened to be playing around with the DEF part of DEFgraphics, trying to turn the words into an image more so than reading it. Turning it on its side formed an eye, which represents an eye for creativity.  That’s how I got my logo.

eGrace Creative – Brandon Cox

eGrace Creative is so named because of an answered prayer. My wife and I struggled with infertility and were finally given one daughter. We haven’t been able to have anymore since. We named her Ella Grace and she’s not only the most beautiful creation I’ve ever seen, she’s also one of the most creative people I’ve met.

She’s six, and puts my design skills in perspective with her finger paints, crayons, scissors and glue. Hence – eGrace Creative.

the logo itself contains an e, g, and c, matches the color scheme of my web site, and has a clean and professional style. I used both a serif and sans serif font.

Lisa Firke – Hit Those Keys

Graham, I realized looking back over your articles that most people spoke
about their intention or brief for the logo….

My site has been online for 10 years, and the name plays off of the notion
that settling down to work is a matter of hitting the (typewriter) keys, so
for a long time the font I used were very typewritery and either typewriters
or keys were depicted.

The current mark is a bit simpler and more of an abstraction of an old
typewriter key. The fainter keys spiraling in the background are supposed to
hint at movement, but I haven’t settled in my mind if that works or not.

I wonder if designers are ever satisfied with their own branding? I know I’m
still playing with mine.

Jeff Andrews Design

As with any graphic designer who has been around longer than a heartbeat, my logo has endured a number of changes over the years. I’ve been using the Jeff Andrews Design business name since 1996, and though simple and seemingly unimaginative, I find that people that I work with rarely forget my name. For me, it works.

In this latest evolution of my mark, I took a real “back to basics” approach. I’ve always been a fan of the clean, design work that came out of the 50’s and 60’s and looked there initially for inspiration. It was a grueling 4 year process, but in the end I think the new logo evokes a simpler, cleaner, more mature aesthetic that I hope is mirrored in my current work.

Schion Design – Sichon Domrongchai

To be perfectly honest, I tend to have short-lived love affairs with fonts, and right now I repeatedly find myself using Rockwell a lot.

As far as coming up with a logo for “my brand”,  I needed something strong and bold to sit in the corner of my blog site after going with a dark/distressed background. And to go along with the distressed motif, I frayed the word “design” and did a little photoshop smudging.

I wish I could say this all has some kind of meaning, but it was all done out of speed and necessity more than anything else. As far as the face off to the right, that happens to be a tattoo I designed for myself years ago influenced by my Thai heritage, so I decided that I’d consistently use it in some form.

Submit Your Own Logo – End of Part 4

Part 5 will follow soon, and you can read Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 if you have missed it.

If you want to add your own logo to forthcoming versions of this post, then check out this post ‘I want your creative business logo for forthcoming post‘. If you do submit a logo, then please ensure you submit a few paragraphs about how the logo came into being etc. Without this information I can’t add your logo.

Thanks again to all those that have submitted logos, its been really cool checking them all out and reading the reasons behind them.

8 Comments

1. Brandon Cox says:

   February 9, 2009 at 10:13 pm

   Awesome stuff – thanks for opening up this opportunity. I appreciate reading the stories behind the logos – they’re all quite inspiring!

   Reply
2. Alex says:

   February 11, 2009 at 5:25 pm

   Wonderful collection there, always good to see so many creative talents out there!

   Reply
3. Jeff Andrews says:

   February 11, 2009 at 10:16 pm

   Thanks for including me, however that should read Jeff Andrews, not Jeff Andrew. The URL is incorrect as well. :)

   Reply
4. Inspiring Design Links for Creatives for 2009-02-10 | This Inspires Me says:

   February 13, 2009 at 11:09 am

   [...] Logo Design Roundup Part 4 – Over 50 Ways Designers Promote & Brand Themselves (tags: branding logodesign logo logos identity grahamsmith) [...]

   Reply
5. Bernie Ebue says:

   February 15, 2009 at 10:15 am

   Thanks for the logo recognition Graham, really appreciate it :)

   Reply
6. agustin ruiz says:

   February 19, 2009 at 2:27 am

   i hope mine makes the next list, I think you had a really cool idea with these lists!

   Reply
7. Bob Orchard says:

   February 19, 2009 at 9:43 pm

   Thanks for the listing of my logo and the recognition for the work – I appreciate it!

   Reply
8. Condo Toronto says:

   March 11, 2009 at 12:21 pm

   Hip-Hop Logo Designer? Does anyone know where I can get a PROFESSIONAL hip-hop logo designer online from a site that specializes in Hip-Hop Logos? Some logos that I like is the Roc-a-Fella logo and the dipset logo so i’m looking for something like that. Thank you for your time and have a good day….any help..!!!

   Reply

Add your own comment