Looking for feedback: Logo design for TDD

[Galenmereth]

I'm working on an updated logo for my company, Tor Damian Design. I'd love to hear what everyone here thinks of my new logo concept. Do not be afraid of being honest; I'd prefer the absolute truth, to see what associations and any positive and/or negative connotations you might feel. For context, my current old logo looks like this:

The concept for my new logo(s) look like this:

    

    

    

From left to right (or comicbook style top left to bottom right, if not in one line) the concept goes like this:

1. Default main logo. Blue is a very corporate color, but the shape on top can both symbolize a lowercase t and d combined, and is a playful shape to break up the coldness of the primary blue color. Blue itself can symbolise: Knowledge, peace, intelligence, contemplation, and coolness (as in cold).
2. Used for artistic endeavours (art, games, writing etc.). Magenta can symbolise: Emotional stability, harmony, spiritual yet practical, being creative and artistic.
3. Used for environmental and "green" causes (non-profit, for-profit but environmentally based). Green can symbolise nature, growth, honesty and harmony.
4. Used for corporate and profile design. Orange can symbolise creativity, energy, health, activity, vibrancy, and it gives off a feeling of positivity and stimulates talking.

I'd love to hear any and all feedback

 

[mlogan]

I'll be honest, I like the old one better. It is more recognizable as a t and d. It's also a bit more classy in my opinion. One other factor to consider is that the new logo looks very similar to a Christian symbol, a fish, that is popularly used.

 

[CrazyCrab]

I like it! It's simple and memorable.

My favorite one is probably the yellow one, I always find blue + yellow a good mix. Magenta's a bit too bright for me, green's alright too, but I prefer the yellow one.

 

[EternalShadow]

Best one for design IMO is orange. The magenta one looks like Breast Cancer Research UK.

The old logo doesn't work very well, as I struggle to see the 'd' with the spoke of the 't'.

Crab: did you mean orange? There is no yellow xD

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I like the new, plain one the best. I really like the depth coming from the drop shadow in the open middle of the symbol, and to me it actually adds interest to the composition of the logo. The ones with colors in the center just feel too solid to me

My second favorite would be the one with the orange center since it is complimentary to blue, so it really pops.

 

[Galenmereth]

I'll be honest, I like the old one better. It is more recognizable as a t and d. It's also a bit more classy in my opinion. One other factor to consider is that the new logo looks very similar to a Christian symbol, a fish, that is popularly used.

The fish symbolism is seldomly used here in Europe, although I am aware of it. How prominent is that association would you say, and do you think it can be considered problematic? As it is relevant, I am an atheist myself, but I do not have a problem with some people seeing that association as long as it can't be considered inappropriate or misrepresentative by either Christians or followers of other faiths. If this is a problematic topic, you don't have to answer it obviously

Best one for design IMO is orange. The magenta one looks like Breast Cancer Research UK.

The old logo doesn't work very well, as I struggle to see the 'd' with the spoke of the 't'.

The point about Breast Cancer Research UK is very poignant, thank you. I'll have to consider that strongly.

I like the new, plain one the best. I really like the depth coming from the drop shadow in the open middle of the symbol, and to me it actually adds interest to the composition of the logo. The ones with colors in the center just feel too solid to me

My second favorite would be the one with the orange center since it is complimentary to blue, so it really pops.

The orange one is also my favorite of the colored ones, but I am strongly leaning towards the plain one for all occasions as well. Keeping it simple, and all that.

Thank you everyone for your feedback so far!

 

[Kes]

I prefer simplicity, so without colour looks best to me, but speaking for myself, I struggle to see tdd in either the old or the new design.  The old one looked like a c to me, and the new one looks like a fish - totally separate from any symbolic connotations, it just looks like a fish.  Seeing the topic title, I chose to ignore your text and just look at the logo without any preconceptions of what it was meant to be, and 'fish' was all I got.

 

[Galenmereth]

@ksjp17: Mm, it isn't easy to see in either without knowing the name of the company. Once you do, then most people have said (about the old logo) that it became clear, but wasn't obvious. And that's actually fine. That it looks like a fish is an intentional byproduct of the shape, although I'm vary about the Christian connotations as I mentioned earlier. Fish can symbolize many things in different cultures, most of them positives, like intuition, fluidity and good fortune. Do you feel like the shape is unfortunate in context of a design company?

 

[??????]

Not keen on either of these to be honest dude.

The old one is obviously a little more noticeable as letters, the new one is more symbolic. But I neither of them accurately show what your company is about. What is it you do? Do you write code? make webpages? make games? all of the above?  Your logo gives no clues to this. (not that it always should, but most logos do hint at the companies 'services').

I think, if you have your heart set on one of the new logos, the all blue one would be best. The others seem 'off' to me somehow, but the all blue one seems more 'natural' kinda. The reason I think that the other coloured variations seem unnatural is because there is no shadow from the centre colouring. It makes it look as though it was poorly made (like someone just colored a random square in a random color).

Just my thoughts.  Feel free to disregard / take to heart / hate me / plot revenge / etc... ^_^

 

[mlogan]

I have no problem with it - it is not offensive or anything. I just was not sure if you were aware of the association or if it would bother you that some might make that association.

 

[Galenmereth]

@dekita: I've always been fine with that ambiguity in the logo, so that's alright. Depending on circumstances, I will append the name of the company near the logo (I'm working on a setup for this new design to see how it looks) and sometimes a description of services. While it is possible to put all of that information in the logo proper, it's a bit too much I feel. I offer graphic and profile design, web- and application development, UIX consulting, and now do game development and related services. So the logo being vague in itself is fine, because I don't want it to be descriptive. It should be memorable and recognizable, however Thanks for your input on the color choices, too!

@mlogan: That's good to know. Thanks again for your input.

 

[Adellie]

I prefer your old icon logo! (I like the curves, and lack of standard lengths/grid-ishness.) However, the new one looks more memorable. They're both fine designs.

My impressions:

• Old: personal logo, simple, elegant, company is reliable, with personable contacts
• New: team or product logo, corporate, bold, company is centered around a specific product or service. (Awareness ribbons, jesus fish and facebook colours all did come to mind when i saw your logo. They are not stark resemblances though, so i really wouldn't worry about someone drawing a comparison between your logo and x.)
• Colours: I imagine the new logo would look really cool in black and white on print. If i had to choose between the ones you presented, it's a tie between the plain and the orange. The plain one has that nice shadow persisting in the middle, and the orange one has a spot of colour. obvious colour scheme, but it really does compliment the blue. The magenta is decent as well. I don't like the green one. I feel like that combination doesn't fit for a design oriented company. It makes me think of healthcare equipment for some reason. 

 

[Galenmereth]

Based on feedback and a (lot) of minor adjustments, I've had another go at this concept. The concept itself is not set in stone, but I wanted to take it all the way to see how it'd look. The shape has been modified slightly, as has the shading and tone of blue. The result is that the edges seem less sharp, and the shape of the logo itself is slightly less bold in appearance. I also included a complete black and white variant for use on black and white print:

The black and white has a really solid appearance that distorts the blue somewhat when near it, so I put it in spoilers:

Spoiler

 

[Simon D. Aelsi]

They look too similar to the facebook and twitter logos, IMO...

Now, that being said they don't look BAD at all! Just... yeah.

 

[Galenmereth]

Since royal blue and that family of blue seems to have been taken hostake by Facebook in the mindset of a vast majority of people I've talked to, I played with alternating my color scheme. I've always used magenta as a supplementary color in my design, the secondary main color. But what if I made it my main color? It has many positive associations, but it's also a bit risky; it's playful, and by some even considered childish, and much more artistically inclined. However that is also the direction I'd like to move onto (or back to) in the future. To make a good contrast with the color, I reverted to an even more simplified version of the logo shape, and made the background circular rather than square. Have a look:

Alone this is very abstract, but here's an example when put on a (mockup and not final) business card. The black border is there just for visual contrast, and not part of the business card.

People I've asked other places so far have had mixed reactions, but they've all been strong reactions; magenta can have that effect. Any opinions from you great people?

 

[EternalShadow]

Nice, but were you planning to retain the "td"? I can't see it at all now.

 

[Galenmereth]

It is there but very abstract, which is on purpose. It's more the foundation for the shapes now

 

[Sharm]

I think you've abstracted it too far.  Now it just looks like uninspired pixel art.  I liked the ribbon look better, it was the right level of abstract for me.  I think the change in color is good.  For some reason that particular color feels very 80's to me but I'm older than most of the people who will look at your logo.  You're probably fine.

 

[Makio-Kuta]

I agree with shark, the magenta is a lot better but the new design is too abstract and doesn't really say anything anymore. I like containing it a circle though-- I wonder how the ribbon-ish design would look with the magenta and circle? They are all nicer than the very first one you posted though; that one lacked much press ensue or impact.

 

[??????]

lol 'shark'...