No logo 4

No Logo (Incidentally, this is the cover picture of Naomi Klein’s excellent 1999 book also titled ‘No Logo’. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Last week I talked to my friend and fellow-blogger Hester of A Manic Monday. A Manic Monday is both a lifestyle blog and an online store for cross stitch designs hand made by Hester. Most of her designs have a witty tongue-in-cheek character to them, enhanced by retro looks. They’re pretty cool.

Logo trashed

The old logo: bright, literal, cheap.

I tried to take her insult constructive criticism gracefully–another thing we do in the Netherlands–and asked what was wrong with it. “It’s too polished. It’s too literal. The colors are too bright,” she replied. Okay, point taken. Upon further thought I figured she was right. I had drafted the logo in a hurry while travelling, from the first source I could find, and that might not have given the best possible result. And it did look a bit cheap. It was time for a change.

Coming up with a new logo

So this time around I’ll take picking a logo more seriously. After all, it’s the face of my blog on-site, on Facebook, and on Twitter. (Hey, are you following me yet on one of these social media site? It’s the easiest way to stay up to date on new content.)

The logo should reflect the ideas this blog stands for: freedom, independence, mobility, and minimalism. It should be easily recognizable, also in a small format. It should blend in well with the overall design of the site.

I came up with six preliminary designs for a new logo. You can find them below. I would love to hear your input on these designs. I won’t exactly make it a vote on what the new logo will be–democracy in everything isn’t my thing–but I will take all your comments seriously. So please let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Logo 3: “Making the jump”

Logo 1: “The great outdoors”

Logo 2: “Take the plunge”

Logo 6: “To the top”

Logo 4: “Up in the air”

Logo 5: “The long and winding road”