JGN Lawn Care Logo

[jmoe12]

A couple of my friends are starting a landscaping business and asked me to put together a logo for them. They didn't have too much in mind in terms of specifications, other than that the JGN should be the focal point. I decided to take the idea of a wrought iron fence as my inspiration as a common fixture that combines elegant craftsmanship and strong, dependable performance. Before I submit my logo I'd love to get some critiques as to what could be improved.

 

[slapshot]

I couldn't read the letters right away. First thing I saw was an F and an L. It's also not instinctive to associate wrought iron with lawn care.

[jmoe12]

1 hour ago, slapshot said:

I couldn't read the letters right away. First thing I saw was an F and an L. It's also not instinctive to associate wrought iron with lawn care.

Yeah the association thing was one of the obstacles I had while designing. I probably should have mentioned my friend didn't want anything "basic" like a tree so I tried to get a little more creative. Would some ivy-style leaves help cement the landscaping/lawn care angle? Or maybe make it look more like a gate like so?

 

Moving on to the legibility issue, I had two ideas, first adding some shadow to enhance the J and N

 

And I also tried removing the excess parts of the diamond to make the letters stand alone

 

Any of these work?

[altosax29b]

It's reading too much as JGL. I think your bottom two logos are by far the most effective but the N needs some work.

[H11K]

Its a good start, but I think I see the problem. The G and the N read as the same style separate from the serifs, but the J reads differently with the stylized serifs. Just how I see it

[mjrbaseball]

Instead of using a standard N, try using an oversized lower-case n, such as Ŋ. That might get rid of the L perception.

That way you get something a little more symetrical, like

JGŊ

[Cosmic]

I think the ligatures are holding this thing back. I would just make a good J, a good G, and a good N and make sure the kerning between them works. I would probably pick up the line weight a bit, too.

 

Honestly, I think being a little cliched in situations like this is warranted. I do kinda dig the wrought iron look for the letters, but I would probably replace the background gate with some grass.

[pianoknight]

I like the idea of wrought iron, but this is honestly hard to read.

 

Look up some images of wrought iron fences.  A lot of them actually have letters in them, but they tend to be simple serif fonts in the vein of Times New Roman or they go for a full gothic / Old English style.

 

 

 

I would recommend dialing back the swirly bits on your letters.  A LOT.  And color is your friend here.  The fence can be black & white, but what about a leaf or vine growing around and through the gate?  That would imply plants, growth - and MAINTENANCE - which is what this company does.

 

As others have said, yes, using green for grass or plants feels overdone.  But it's also a landscaping company.  The logo should visually inform people what the business does.  You don't want your friends having to explain their logo to every single customer they call on. 

 

Final tip?  If you use a serif font for the monogram / gate lettering, either use the same font at the bottom or go with a sans serif below.  Having two different styles of serif is visually jarring.  Right now you have curly-q serifs in the gate and then blocky serifs at the bottom. 

[MJWalker45]

On 6/16/2019 at 2:56 PM, jmoe12 said:

Yeah the association thing was one of the obstacles I had while designing. I probably should have mentioned my friend didn't want anything "basic" like a tree so I tried to get a little more creative. Would some ivy-style leaves help cement the landscaping/lawn care angle? Or maybe make it look more like a gate like so?

 

Moving on to the legibility issue, I had two ideas, first adding some shadow to enhance the J and N

 

And I also tried removing the excess parts of the diamond to make the letters stand alone

 

Any of these work?

The gate around the G probably needs a break so that it can stand out more. 

[jmoe12]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I tried a bunch of revisions of the wrought iron look, but I could never get the legibility to where my friend or I wanted. Disappointing, but that's the way it goes I guess. But the good news is I tried a second draft and he seemed to like it a whole lot more, so here is the official new logo for JGN Lawn Care

 

 

As you can see, we dialed back the styling significantly to get a cleaner, more direct look. The two-toned green is supposed to evoke the pattern of a freshly cut lawn. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the grass on the bottom, but he seemed to like it so it stays. So not as artistically exciting as my original draft, but I think it gets the job done a little better.

[walkerws]

Good look and if you find a fence design, you could capture the JGN inside of a shape that let's you clearly read the letters. 

[MJWalker45]

2 hours ago, walkerws said:

Good look and if you find a fence design, you could capture the JGN inside of a shape that let's you clearly read the letters. 

They're clean enough right now. Sometimes adding more elements takes away from the design and the latest, with the grass at the bottom let's you know what it represents, even if the wording isn't there.

[mjrbaseball]

A good logo shouldn't be "artistically exciting". It should be creative, yet being understandable is the most important factor.