New logo

Joel Santos
Joel Santos Posts: 28
in Type Design Critiques
Hey. So i'm designing my new "personal" logo. I have my "Sendoushi" but as time goes by I think I rather have a personal website with what I do be it programming, something creative and that is what https://joesantos.io is. Anyway... here is what I designed, I feel something is off.

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Comments

  • Christian Thalmann
    Christian Thalmann Posts: 1,983
    Jaeſántas?
  • Adam Jagosz
    Adam Jagosz Posts: 689
    The first problem I saw was the /n, looks like /r. But yeah, the /o is bad as well, brings to mind all those fonts of yore when the /o had to have a low outstroke to connect to the following letters.
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    It should be "JoeSantos"

    I don't want it to be too artificial since it is mimicking a signature. I actually wrote this down a couple of times. I do think the first /o isn't that great for sure. The /n I think I can live with it as is but i should adjust something for sure.

    What do you think I should do on /o ? Maybe a continuation to the inside from the right "stem"? Maybe the whole cursive with the curve inside of it?
  • Simon Cozens
    Simon Cozens Posts: 740
    Those o’s aren’t a’s, they’re u’s!
  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 1,992
    I wasn’t able to read it until I looked at your user name. The os look like u, e needs an eye, and n just looks like a squiggle.
  • Vassilis Georgiou
    Vassilis Georgiou Posts: 12

    @Joel Santos your design has the charm of a signature but it is illegible, which is certainly not good for a logotype. I suggest you correct the illegible letters (you can get an idea of what I mean from my crude drawing bellow)





  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    I don't want to move away from the signature kind of thing because that is the main "heart" of it. It isn't a logo to be used everywhere but the website. It won't go on marketing stuff or anything.

    That said... I'll try an approach more like yours @Vassilis Georgiou .Trying to figure a way to do an in between without loosing the essence.

    Thanks guys. I value all of your opinions. All seem legit :)

  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 200
    It looks stiff and laboured. You need a natural flow if you want it to look like a signature. Here’s a quick idea;
  • Adam Jagosz
    Adam Jagosz Posts: 689
    edited February 2020
    Use stroke thickness to your advantage. The outstroke of 'o' will be less likely confused for a stem of 'u' if you make it thinner.
  • Vasil Stanev
    Vasil Stanev Posts: 775
    edited February 2020
    The scythe-shaped t is a bit off-putting.@Nick Cooke, excellent work!
  • Nick Cooke
    Nick Cooke Posts: 200
    It probably would have been better if I’d spent longer than 10 seconds on it. Normally I’d do a few and make a composite of the best bits, then tidy up for the final thing. Try doing that Joel. 
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    Once again, a huge thanks for your help.
    I did tried to composite. I've created like 20 versions of the whole. I've did the whole because once again I don't want to miss the feeling of the whole.

    That said, I don't think that is the direction I want to take @Nick Cooke . I do want the rigidness I was getting but there is definitely something I'll take from your version. Specially the /o and /n maybe /t aswell. I'll try to do a hybrid and soften my version. Super thanks!
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    edited February 2020
    So upon your comments, I decided to leave a bit the idea of the "signature" or "natural" and come more to the side of "legible".
    This is a super rough sketch with the very limited time (and space desk) my 4 year old daughter allows me.
    You can definitely see the roughness (specially on the lines themselves). I've also pushed the blacks to have a better contrast. Anyway, I know there is for sure space for improvement specially on the /a (too large, too c shaped, should be more condensed) , /n (not happy at all with its form, maybe needs to be more condensed as with the /a) and the last /s needs a slight adjustment aswell (some more space to breath).

    Overall, what do you think?

    Might try something double lined since it is a logo...


  • Daniel Bumbalov
    Daniel Bumbalov Posts: 6
    I think it is pretty good, definitely more legible, you can try to reproduce this with a uniform letter tilt. For me, the bottom parts of the J and the S can be a bit slimmer because they distract the attention from the actual writing. Also, you have to decide how the line through the T will be positioned and whether it will intersect with the upper part of the S or not
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    Daniel Bumbalov said:
    I think it is pretty good, definitely more legible, you can try to reproduce this with a uniform letter tilt. For me, the bottom parts of the J and the S can be a bit slimmer because they distract the attention from the actual writing. Also, you have to decide how the line through the T will be positioned and whether it will intersect with the upper part of the S or not

    Yes, the stroke width is definitely out of balance. I'm not to worried about that because I can easily fix that with the vector drawing. And yes /T cross line isn't on point yet. The intersection is causing me a bit of "ocd" feeling so I still need to go through it and see what I can do.

    Other thing I've been thinking is that since I don't want the logo to be too scripty I might reduce the width variation. Tried already less swashes but I didn't like it. Your idea of less width on the swashes is interesting for that concept aswell. I'll try.
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    I took a bit more time to iterate, re-ink and mess a bit post-pro. What do you think? I still find it too scripty. It seems like I'm writing a book about ancient history. Not saying I don't like script stuff I actually do a lot but for the purpose it is, it doesn't seem right. I think I need to neutralize the widths more and maybe get some hard edges there. Maybe less ligatures?!

  • Adam Ladd
    Adam Ladd Posts: 263
    I like the general idea of trying to have uniformity of shape and angle with the J and S, but at a quick glance I'd be concerned that the S reads like a cursive/script L ("Lantos").
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    Adam Ladd said:
    I like the general idea of trying to have uniformity of shape and angle with the J and S, but at a quick glance I'd be concerned that the S reads like a cursive/script L ("Lantos").

    Yes. It is indeed very close. I think I could try to curve the S in the middle a bit more. There is definitely space for that.
  • Craig Eliason
    Craig Eliason Posts: 1,436
    I wouldn’t connect the two words—it makes it harder to parse as an initial S. (Almost want to read it as Joefantos)
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    edited February 2020
    Some more rough ones without the variation in width now. It loses too much. Some variation still needs to happen in my opinion. Tried a different /n and /j. I don't like the /J but I don't know if /n isn't the right direction.

    And two more. Now one with a different approach and maybe more into what I want. Since It is a bit more natural. I don't like the belly of the /J , not convinced with that /t and maybe the /S could be more curvy but in general, I think it is a better approach.



    What do you guys think?
  • Joel Santos
    Joel Santos Posts: 28
    What do you guys think? definitely some things need adjustments. Where do you see those happening?

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