Professional - Orthodontist

This is a logo for Northeast Ohio orthodontist, James T. Hutta. The logo is terrible - it looks quickly thrown together and not very well thought out. I get the "J T H," but there are so many different, better ways this could be achieved. the diamond in the background does not help the mark whatsoever. The logo also does not imply anything having to do with orthodontics. It would be nice to get a sense of what kind of a service the logo is representing and I do not get a connection to orthodontistry at all from this. I am not sure if it is just the color choices or if it is the logo, but the mark is looking very circa 1995.

I really love this logo! It totally implies orthodontics with the use of the "s" sweeping through the two tooth-like blocks, creating just a hint of a smile. The logo really speaks for itself and does not need explanation. The mark works in both black and white and color. It is very reducible and could have many applications.

Manufacturing - Microbreweries

This logo is for a Cincinnati microbrewery. It is very default looking does not have a distinct, memorable look. I personally have not tried this beer and probably would just breeze right past its shelf in a beer store. It is not eye catching in the slightest and really needs reworking. I think the image in the center looks very clip-artish and does not match the style of or complement the typography in any way.






Flying Dog Brewery has a really nice logo. For me, this logo is very memorable and makes a lasting impression on me. Although the mark is very stylized, I think it works. It obviously works well in high contrast and thus works in many different color applications. The logo goes perfectly with the illustrative style of the company's label designs. The logo will still be readable even after being reduced significantly, which I think is important for this type of manufacturing in particular (for application on the caps of bottles).

Non-Profit

This is the logo for the Portage Foundation, which is an agency that works with charities in the area to better serve the needs of Portage County. The logo is far to complex to reduce well and would really benefit from simplification of the form of a tree. If it were any smaller, it would just appear as an unidentifiable blob. The flare coming through the tree is not recognizable enough and should be enlarged or played up if this is significant to the foundation.




This logo for United Way, designed by Saul Bass is an excellent example of a very successful logo. One of the many reasons this logo works so well is the over simplification of forms. This over simplification creates more of an icon and is very memorable and recognizable. Without even physically spelling out "United Way," I think most people would recognize this as their logo right away.

Service - Fitness Center

The logo used for Fitworks looks very dated to me. The icon might be slightly improved if the diamond was removed from the background. This shape interferes with the rest of the form in a bad way by creating tension at the intersections, resulting a in strange figure-ground relationship. If this entire logo (including the type) was reduced, the form would be completely lost. I like the idea of representing a figure being active in some way, but I do not think this is the best way to represent a moving figure.





This is a logo for a fitness center in Oregon. I think this logo was very nicely designed. This would reduce very well and would work just fine in high contrast black and white. The letterforms in "fit" really imply fitness and could resemble human figures stretching. This logo also has nice proportion, which will lend itself well to many different applications.

Retail - Food

Franklin Square Deli is a local deli located in Kent, Ohio. This logo does not say "food" to me - it implies more of a car racing feel. There is just too much going on with the logo - a good logo should work in high contrast black and white, and this does not. The typography is not appropriate for the business - it makes me think of racing again because of the italicized type. It looks as though it wants to race off to the right. I have eaten here many times and have found it to be a nice, relaxed atmosphere, where you can take your time in a nice, casual setting. I have never really felt rushed, and it is far from fast food.



Chick-Fil-A has a really nice logo. This logo works well as both the "C" in "Chick-Fil-A" and as a stand alone logo, shown below. This logo works very nicely in black and white as well as color - it does not rely on the color to give it meaning. This logo reduces very well, especially the stand alone logo. I think that the logo will still be relevant years from now. It is not overly trendy like some logos are that work for a couple years and then start to look dated. the application in this first image, however is fairly trendy and will need updating in a year or two.