Logo Design

[Jürgen Hubert]

I've been working on Urbis for several years now. And since I eventually want to publish this setting professionally, this means I also need a good graphic design for it.

This includes an appropriate logo for the setting, one that represents the world well. You can see the first attempt - which is almost as old as the setting - here. But I'd like to think that I've learned a lot about graphic design and GIMP since then, and thus I thought that it was high time to create a new version.

I've attached two versions of a first version to this post - one in the original size (as I am working on it with GIMP), and one in a smaller size - the "standard" size for banners (468x65 pixels). Any feedback and suggestions for improvement would be appreciated.

Oh, and have you ever designed a logo or banner yourself, and if so, what are the results?

 

[XCorvis]

I like it overall, but a couple of things:

1. The "U" is difficult to identify as a "U". If you already know it says "Ubris", then it's not so bad, but if you're seeing it for the first time it's kind of weird and cryptic.
2. The word "Ubris" is short, and there are a lot of background images. Too many, IMO. They're much longer, and while they're neat, I don't think they're essential to the logo. I would trim 3 or 4 of them. Keep the ones that are the easiest to identify on the smaller banner.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I like it overall, but a couple of things:

1. The "U" is difficult to identify as a "U". If you already know it says "Ubris", then it's not so bad, but if you're seeing it for the first time it's kind of weird and cryptic.

It's supposed to say "Urbis"...

I must admit that I rather like the font, but I have tried to increase the contrast between the font and the background a bit - see my current sig.

2. The word "Ubris" is short, and there are a lot of background images. Too many, IMO. They're much longer, and while they're neat, I don't think they're essential to the logo. I would trim 3 or 4 of them. Keep the ones that are the easiest to identify on the smaller banner.

Problem is, if I crop them I don't know how to "fill" the banner - banners have a standard size of 468x65 pixels.

 

[Meloncov]

It's supposed to say "Urbis"...

I'm pretty sure that was a typo on his part, not a result of bad design on yours; I can read it fine, though I agree with his point about the U.

 

[Eosin the Red]

I dislike it. Too little contrast, too much occular gumbo, and nearly zero punch.

2nd Question = Yes. Results?

I designed the logo for the Pencil Pushers website with a suggested font from a graphic guy.

www.pencil-pushers.net if you want to see the results.

 

[dvvega]

Correct me if I am wrong however you've performed some kind of embossing of the text.

The problem with this little filter trick is that the text needs to have very little detail to make it work correctly. The font you have chosen for Ubris is "fancy" and thus has a lot of little details that get lost in the embossing.

I would suggest removing the embossing.

 

[XCorvis]

It's supposed to say "Urbis"...

Heh, whoops. My typo.

I must admit that I rather like the font, but I have tried to increase the contrast between the font and the background a bit - see my current sig.

Problem is, if I crop them I don't know how to "fill" the banner - banners have a standard size of 468x65 pixels.

That looks a bit better to me, but I think you might have more luck with a completely different design. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what to suggest. Maybe brighter colors? Gold and black, instead of gold and grey?

 

[Ebonyr]

What do you think of my logo/banner?

 

[XCorvis]

What do you think of my logo/banner?

We shouldn't derail Jurgen's thread (unless he doesn't mind expanding the topic), but a quick response would be that I like it for it's simplicity. However, I think the black lettering is a bit too dark and thick, like an ink stain. Try a version with white or light gray letters, or possibly thinner letters (if that's an option) and see how it looks.

 

[Ebonyr]

Thanks for the quick reply and feedback. I didn't mean to derail the thread. I guess I will start my own