Personal Logo Update

[aawagner011]

Hey guys,

I've been using the same graphic for my personal "logo" but it's a little plain. I really want to keep things simple for my identity and I don't want to do much abstract stuff. Sometimes I see designs where you really have to think about what it is conveying and I don't think that's the way to go.

My old logo is seen here:

I don't want to stray too far from that because I like how the A and W's angles match up nicely. But I did want to spruce things up. I wanted to have a clean look. One thing I didn't like in that original design is the inconsistent font sizes (used to align along the AW). I have fixed that here. I have maintained the AW piece in the middle of the graphic but I have now combined the two letters into one piece with an implied connecting line between the two. The top piece features a crown with the "ANDREW" piece serving as the base of the crown. I have aligned all text centrally within their holding boxes except the "GFX" box which is offset, aligned with the far left of the "ANDREW" and "WAGNER" texts (which are equal in width). "Graphics" has been simplified to "GFX" to keep things brief and the silver boxes exist to highlight/bring attention to my name.

I have two versions. I have a flat piece which is straight on. I also have a skewed piece which climbs upwards (signifies progress, achievement, etc...whatever other crap people say as to why they prefer upwards sloping as opposed to downward sloping haha). However, on the skewed piece, I have maintained a square black holding box. Otherwise, the piece looked strangely skewed without balance. I hope that the square box maintains the balance.

Here are the updated graphics:

I think I prefer the skewed look. Please let me know what you think. I would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!

***PS- one person has made me see something in the letters that I hadn't considered previously. I had only looked at it as an A and a W with an inferred conjoining line, but now I can see how it could be seen as an A and an N. I will consider updating that part.

[aawagner011]

Here is an update so that it does not read as "AN". Still preferring the skewed version.

[CS85]

I'd go so far as to just totally make them separate. If you're going for clean, go full bore.

[aawagner011]

Thanks for the comment. I debated that, but thought it was too plain. I'm not sure. I may roll out with some other options/variations for this design.

[CS85]

Thanks for the comment. I debated that, but thought it was too plain. I'm not sure. I may roll out with some other options/variations for this design.

Try some new fonts! Go on dafont/fontsquirrel/etc and go hog wild.

[shaydre1019]

have you thought about putting the a in the middle of the W? i think that could look really cool, with maybe a sleek modern but simple font for your name?

[BrandMooreArt]

i think you had it right the first time. the connection of A and W is best when they overlap. i never thought of it as a possible N because 1. your name isnt Nagner 2. if it were an N it would be oddly mis-skewed. it reads as a W because you just have to assume the vertical axis of both letters are the same.

i dont like GFX. it sounds like a vinyl lettering shop from 2001, not a graphic designer.

i would also suggest playing with the colors a bit more. try black lettering on a red background. or red on grey. i do love red/black/white/silver as a color palette but what you're doing so far is a bit expected; boring. just keep pushing it, i think you're on the right track here

[aawagner011]

First off, I appreciate the additional comments, everyone. I'll get to them one by one..

Thanks for the comment. I debated that, but thought it was too plain. I'm not sure. I may roll out with some other options/variations for this design.

Try some new fonts! Go on dafont/fontsquirrel/etc and go hog wild.

Yeah, I've actually DL'ed a whole bunch of fonts from dafont (though I've not heard of fontsquirrel, will have to check it out. Thanks for the tip!) I've found the font selection to be a make or break type thing. This specific font is called "Freeroad" and I've really been enjoying its' simplicity and clean appearance. I love fonts that have a minimalistic look to them, but still look really nice, clean, and professional. I'm always looking out for stuff like that!

have you thought about putting the a in the middle of the W? i think that could look really cool, with maybe a sleek modern but simple font for your name?

I actually did consider that, but thought it might be too stagnant, boring. Who knows, I might reboot this whole identity and start over again. I have a few ideas. I'm sure I'll play around with it!

i think you had it right the first time. the connection of A and W is best when they overlap. i never thought of it as a possible N because 1. your name isnt Nagner 2. if it were an N it would be oddly mis-skewed. it reads as a W because you just have to assume the vertical axis of both letters are the same.

i dont like GFX. it sounds like a vinyl lettering shop from 2001, not a graphic designer.

i would also suggest playing with the colors a bit more. try black lettering on a red background. or red on grey. i do love red/black/white/silver as a color palette but what you're doing so far is a bit expected; boring. just keep pushing it, i think you're on the right track here

Good point with how my last name isn't Nagner...that's already identified by the silver pieces. Instead of GFX, would you just revert to simply Graphics? In regards to the colors, I did play around a bit, but thought some of the other color options were weaker overall. How about when I reboot this look, I offer up some color options and we can go from there?

Again, thanks for the comments everyone, really appreciate them! I think I will rethink this look and come back with either another version or a different approach that starts from scratch. Thanks!

[drdougfresh]

Literally the best thing I did when coming up with an identity was to have a sketch pad follow me around for a week while I was brainstorming. Any time something came up in my head, I sketched it out. David Airey has a perfect example of this process on his site (my sketches were less clean): http://www.davidairey.com/personal-logo-design-sketches/

The big thing that was limiting me initially was that I was trying to design around a font, and not vice versa (find a font that pairs nicely later). It can really limit what you're thinking about, and could (as in my case) lead to boredom again in a few months, and the urge to change it. I've finally settled on a look, and it's because I dropped that "philosophy". It seems you may be going down that road here, but I could be wrong. Just a tip.

Finally, on color, I would worry about that last. Work in black and white, and then add the colors later. I personally am a big fan of using color that has meaning to you (IE: I used orange because of my strong Dutch heritage? something important to me as a person). It can give you the opportunity to tell a story, and IMO it gives you more of a connection to your creation.

Experiment, experiment, experiment. That's the key It'll give you more options, and you may wind up with something way different than what you initially thought of.

P.S. You have some of the most cooperative initials ever. Lucky.