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MajorTom11 wrote:It's open concept, it's pretty typical for a company to do. In most cases, if you don't have a strict vision in mind from the outset, it's best to let the artist or designer go with their experience and talent. Usually turns out best that way.

Afterall, a good design should be able to sit in a variety of settings...

Correct, also a site will be launching very shortly as we are still taking bids from multiple designers for the next week or two.

LunaHound wrote:Its games and hobby shop as stated in first sentence :x

Then it's a store, not a company (My degree is (partially) in Management. Technical terms can sometimes confuse me when used out of context).

A store is a business, there is no distinction. Each functions in the same way, it is simply a question of scale and focus. You still need to register/incorporate, you still need to file taxes, you still need liability, you still need employees etc.

If there is only one store, and that store is legally registered as a business entity, then the store is the company in all practical terms and even in a lot of the impractical ones. I'm surprised management class didn't cover that???

MajorTom11 wrote:A store is a business, there is no distinction. Each functions in the same way, it is simply a question of scale and focus. You still need to register/incorporate, you still need to file taxes, you still need liability, you still need employees etc.

If there is only one store, and that store is legally registered as a business entity, then the store is the company in all practical terms and even in a lot of the impractical ones. I'm surprised management class didn't cover that???

You are correct and as such we are registering as a LLC(limited Liability Company). Now I am willing to explain this more but so far Chaos you keep straying form the actually topic. If you have nothing of actualvalue to contribute then don't even post please. If you want to talk business hey pm me as I have a solid backround in this field, and grew up in a family that owned and run a multinational corp. This thread though is for a contest not to discuss the technical side of it.

Is there a particular format you'd like the pic in?

probably .PSD - allows him to use it and convert it in any way possible.

(Just from a designing standard perspective)

You can do any way that works best for you. If that means even drawing it by hand and scanning it in that works too.

SilverMK2 wrote:Have to say that I hate MajorTom right now

Excellent design.

Really? You think his design will be hard to beat?

NO disrespect meant towards MT, of course. It's better than I could have done, in all probability.
That said, though, it doesn't really grab me.

Eric

I'm not saying anything either way - it is just a good design

Simple design but nicely constructed.

MM it totally entitled not to like it of course, no offense taken! (But thanks silver )

However there are a glut of logos out their that are far too complicated for their own good. A logo has to stand on it's own on a business card and still look professional and rational, and be clearly legible. Same goes for web, print, branding and anything else a logo can possibly go on.

Putting a complex skull on something then putting the writing in a thin band around it (circular no less, big no-no) is not functional. It has scale issues, is so stylized on it's own that it forces the rest of the design to be narrow in order to accomodate it, it does not look like the logo of a business minded company with sensible goals, but the work of fans.

Think of all the biggest brands in the world, apple, nike, the mcdonalds M etc etc. Chances are, none of these things would blow someone's mind as an IMAGE, but, as logos, they work perfectly, simple, un-obtrusive and clean. It's just good design, simplicity is best. The whole point is that the logo is not meant to be an image or picture, but to compliment an image or picture.

Now, this is not to say that I am poo-pooing other styles, Empchild will like what he likes, in the end it's only his opinion that matters. It still needs to be a strategic brand with translatability, legibility and most importantly SCALABILITY in order to be truly effective.

That being said, logos should always be Vector to ensure that they are scalable to any size. Handing in a PSD image would lock you in to very small print sizes, poster at most. What would EmpChild do when he needs to print a 4X10 banner for a con?? It would be grainy as hell without it.

My 2cents on logo design

MagickalMemories wrote:

SilverMK2 wrote:Have to say that I hate MajorTom right now

Excellent design.

Really? You think his design will be hard to beat?

NO disrespect meant towards MT, of course. It's better than I could have done, in all probability.
That said, though, it doesn't really grab me.

Eric

I was thinking of an idea or two, then saw Tom's, thought it was Much better than what I had in my head and really rather cool on it's own, and decided I would not bother entering. I'm not very good with creating something from scratch anyways, be it an object or an image, and tend to need something existing to start with and modify. As such anything I made would probably end up just a variation on Tom's design anyway now that it's infected my brain.

Actually Tom I am not the only one voting. My employees are as well which their are several of us( an we are looking for one part timer right now too). You are right though often you don't want to go over the top with logos. Their have been some interesting ones and remember even if you don't have a backround in graphic art if you have a ruler and pencil just draw what comes to mind. Then scan it and email it.

Ya I meant Battleroad staff will decide whatever they like, whether it is 'proper' or not at the end of the day, not just yourself. Subjectivity at it's fullest!

I'm just excited to see what other people come up with, I'm sure with all the talent on this board there will be some great choices for you!

Really quite nice to read your thoughts on Logo/graphic work Tom

grey_death wrote:Really quite nice to read your thoughts on Logo/graphic work Tom

Agreed.
Also, I'm glad to see you were able to take my comment in the spirit it was meant. It says a good things about your ego.

I totally agree with your thoughts on logos, etc. My thought, though... Would the McDonalds logo be as popular if, instead of the Golden Arches, it was a giant puce colored Capital letter "M" in Comic Sans font? : ) Just wouldn't have the same draw. You know?

Now, (LOL) I'm not trying to compare what you created to a big, puce, comic sans "M." LOL It was far better than THAT. : ) It's not that I dislike it, I was just saying that it didn't have the "wow" factor for me, personally. God knows, though, that EC could choose far worse than what you created.

Eric

Lol, I do this for a living, I have taken my share of criticism in my time! It really is up to the client at the end of the day. The only thing I try to caution people against is taking something that will come back and bite them in the butt later when they find out they cant shrink it and have it legible on screen, or they can't blow it up big enough for a big banner without it looking like poop!

I get what you are saying though, although I modded the type enough to make a logotype out of it, you prefer something that has some kind of icon to go along with it, apple's apple, nike's swish am I right? Perfectly legitimate point!

For mine, I picture them using a lot of grungy backgrounds as is typical in Wargame imagery, so I decide to go clean in an effort to encourage funkier site design/packaging in the future if you know what I mean -

Anyhow, it's a good debate to have in any case with all you talented guys on Dakka, it's good to share knowledge like this as it is all applicable to a mini in the end

BTW if any of you are website designers we are taking bids through next week so PM me.

The MT logo is IMHO rather good, although somewhat boring.
I like the TT-road and the subtitle font, dislike the kerning between characters (reads: BATTLE RO AD).

I would suggest something similar in design but perhaps with some stylised battle damage on BATTLE and letting the slanted part of the R form into a road (instead of having a road between the twin T, despite that being stylish).
That way you get people to remember the company name (and web address?) by picture memory as well...

Just my two Swedish Öre.

Example:

... but with some bullet holes (or similar) in BATTLE and a few grey spent shells between "hobbies" and the road.

The sad thing is that I've got an idea of sorts for a logo too, and might toss my hat in the ring...

My galloping allergy to spec work mostly comes from contests I see over in some other furr*cough* fandom where folks use it as a way to try and get a lot of badly drawn spank fodder and succeed, even if the bulk of it is badly drawn...

Ok so their has been a bunch of really great entries so far and reminder if you want yours to count it has to go to the email as otherwise we won't be looking at it. All of that said things are moving along quicker then anticipated so as such I will be bumping up the finish date on the contest to this upcomming friday or September 24th. At 12:01 am no more entries will be counted. Thank you all and good luck.

Ok people we are goiong into the final stretch here with, as I stated previously, the contest ending on friday at 11:59pm. Please send in those last submissions to make them count, and good luck to the winners.

Sent some logo ideas in to you, Emp. Hope you got them.

Recieved thank you . I generally send back a quick message saying recieved so if you haven't gotten one(or anyone who hasn't for that matter) you may want to resubmit. The companies web site is looking to be live here within the next few weeks as I am in finaly contract bids with several companies that will be concluded this weekend.

Also if you live in the Central Mass area and find yourself without work I am looking for one person for right now. In the comming months we will be hiring a 2-3 more as we launch several new product lines and have contracts for some really exciting stuff comming out from some very well known companies. Also I thought I would put out the company will be doing 10-15% off MSRP on all products with the kicker being FREE yes FREE shipping on well everything. I ran the figures and that ended up helping to save the customer more money then to just do a flat 20% off MSRP. Also I have a one day ship with my distributors so if I am back ordered you will have the product shipped within two-three business days(HOORAY UPS).
-Alex

Today is the final day for submissions for the contest. If you want you can fax drawn out subbmissions too(our fax line went operational yesterday). Please submit your ideas by 11:59pm est via :
email: alexanderakers at yahoo dot com
FAX:508-251-0497 attn: logo contest(please have an email for us to reach you at).

So it all comes to a glorious end. Honestly it was really hard to decide as some people had some really inventive ones. Most of the entries included the use of a road but one person you could tell took it all to heart and really did their homework. The battle road for those of you who don't know is where the American Revolution began, and is not far from my HQ. We looked at what would best transfer into our website,t-shirts, and business cards and such and pulled from that who would be the winner. The winner was interestingly enough the last entry we had last night and I would like to thank all of the participants who took their time to submit some really cool designs. So with that the winner is..... Mark either PM me with your information and we will start everything up or shoot me another email.

Very nice - congrats to the winner and everyone else who participated!

I think you chose wisely. The download looks good.

I like it, very well chosen winner.

We sat there and looked over entries for over an hour. I have to say some people have some real creativity. Now I just need the winner to allow me to send him emails and we are all set. Darn spam filters now aday I tell you.

Also my web designer has been choosen so we are looking at having him start on the webstore this up and comming week and to give him incnetive he gets a bonus to complete it in three weeks to standard. Also I will be launching the ebay store Battleroadgames on Tuesday(monday is the day off) so be watching for that. Current lines we carry:
-GW both 40k and Fantasy(sorry no lord of the Rings.)
-Warmachine
-Firestorm Armada
-Victrix plastics(napoleonics)
-Perry Brothers Plastic American Civil Was, and Napoleonics
-Warlord Games(their whole line)
-Wargames Factory(only have the Great coats atm but plenty of them)
-Paint lines are GW, P3, and Army painter for the moment(Vallejo comming soon)
-Hi-Tech Miniatures(grytx the items are in shipment now)
-Incursion(in shipment now)
-Anime Tactics(full line)
..and so much more.

Phone Orders can be placed starting Tues by calling 508-251--0397(all mass state residents get charged the 6.25% sales tax sorry but blame the IRS not me). Free shipping on orders $25.00USD and more under $25.00 USD and you pay $4.95 for flat rate. ATM until the webstore is up we can only accept payments via paypal but once we are up we will have a secure site for credit cards, and can accept via phone, and paypal.
-Alex

Congrats to the winner and good luck with the business!