We decided to call our team the "Jack Games Team" and I made som esort of logo for us. How do you like it?

http://www.jray.de/Jackgames.jpg

The subtitle isn't easy to read, at least the first time.
Despite that, it's cool

I can't read that. And the colours are ugly. It's not good...

I'm sorry I can't read that either. It's not at all clear.

It should be clearer and colors should be in harmony, anyway not so bad.

meh

Also the gaps between letters aren't the same which looks kind of funny...

I like the font, and I like the idea, but it doesn't work, too many bevels. bevils? bevielios?

I can't read the bottom at all.

Too crowded.

Yes, way too crowded. A logo should be extremely simple and distinctive. Here's my logo for Gaping Wolf Software:

http://www.gapingwolf.com/gif/gws.gif

That's about as simple as you can get. Also be consistant. I always accompany that logo with white text which reads "Gaping Wolf Software" in a particular font.

And here are a few sites on designing logos: (Nothing in particular, I just punched "logo design tips" into Google and these are the first few solid hits I received)

http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/logos1.html
http://www.logosharx.com/logo-design-tips/logoprep.htm

Think of a logo as an abstract symbol that represents you or your company. So, you want it to be easy to read (ie: as simple as possible, using as few lines/shapes as possible), as clear as possible, and as unique looking as you can.

David: I went to look at your site and firefox crashed.

Richard: Firefox v1.0 works fine for me. PM me with details, about version of FF, OS, etc.

Firefox v.0.9.3
Windows XP SP2.

Don't you ever update? This isn't MSIE - they actually work on the thing.

Regarding the logo: I don't like it. It's too involved, and "3D" fonts generally don't work on logos.

I should update, but I updated twice before in the space of a month and lost my settings each time. I thought I'd wait until the bugs in 1.0 were ironed out..

I agree, you need High Contrast for your logo, just take a look to nintendo, capcom, micro$oft logos.
But Jack Games, sounds good!

And a gradient between yellow and blue is not a great idea, because you get grey in the middle. Gradients look good with colors that share some component (like cian -> yellow: both have green component).

It looks like something 3D in glass or plastic. And once I get that idea, it doesn't look realistic enough. You should use povray or jafray.

How's about "New Jack Games"?

Why New Jack?

Prolly a reference to 'New Jack City'.

I think New Jack Games sounds better, rolls off the tongue easier.

DanielH: you're avatar looks like McGuiver.

I'm going to have to chime in with the people saying it's way too crowded, unreadable, and over-fancy. Make it clean and simple, and don't abuse so many colors (whoever decided to put a yellow-to-blue gradient in there should be shot).

McGuiver! Blasphemomy! It's the dread pirate Roberts! Only, not the real one... But the one before him wasn't the real one either.

Stop saying that!

For clarification, I attached a picture.

The similarities are uncanny though.

Huh? What about those pics... So what.

MacGyver.
Did you know the first episode of that series was Alan Smithee'd?

Drumcode, clueless or what? DanielH's avatar looks like MacGyver. Duh.

Eat this:

http://www.jray.de/Jackgames2.jpg

I am not the type that is givin' up

That's almost perfect!

You forgot the starburst highlight in the corner and sun glare.

Is this for the Max Filter contest?
What about adding Whirl and some of the artistic filters? And I totally agree that you should add some light based filters.

Steve, you are totally right. Shame on me.

http://www.jray.de/Jackgames3.jpg

No.

Are you trying to make it look worse in spite? Can't read this one any better than the first one.

And it's not MacGuyver! Gosh!!!!

If this is really the case, I am not even sure if there is anybody that can help you. Well, if it is so difficult, here is the text: New Jack Games - Revolution Gameplay

EDIT

The latest work is just meant as irony. Just to prove that less can be more.

What is wrong with something simple like this?

Yes, go for something simple. And drop that "Revolution Gameplay", it sounds and looks somewhat.. silly. Less than a minute of Shoppage:

http://www.duckiehorde.net/jg.gif

That's pretty tacky too, imo (emphasis on imo).

This is too simple. That is a work of 2 minutes for me. It is nothing special. Do you see any characteristics in your logo? Anyway, I don't think you would seriously prefer your suggestion... if you do so, you are one of 999 on 1000 people who don't spend any time on details.

Standard. Do you understand? I don't do standard things. ( I am exaggerating a bit, this is not meant to sound arrogant )

Just take a close look. You see a lot of colors. What could it mean? Wide spectrum? Taking care of details? You see a laser beam. What coudl it mean? Precision? Power? Last but not least regard the type of font. Does it look calm to you? Or maybe loaded with action? In other words: Fun?

EDIT

Revolution Gameplay - this may sound silly, but also very fluent to me. It is a very sharp word, indicating we are not copying anything that has been copied too often, but reflect about the gameplay.

You can't be serious. Please tell me you aren't and you're just joking around. Please.

[strongbad]
It's gotta have a red laser beam!
[/strongbad]

I agree with Inphernic on this one. Something simple, but elegant would work well.

Uhm, I should know that it hurts to be declared as the standard. This also applies to Steve. Do you know what children do when you ask them a thing they don't know anything about? They start to laugh. Unfortunately, even some adult people did not change in their behaviour while growing up.

Sigh You may go on doing the standard stuff. But always remember that it was the experimental way humans learned to reign the world with. I have to say that my first suggestion was really bad, but to be honest I cannot find a single reason why my second attempt should be bad. Me at least, I can read it clearly. Only because it is not simple? That is a very poor argument...

EDIT

Richard and I were posting at the same time...

I just want an argument that says why I have to make it simple. That's all.

I suppose it's because simple designs (but with a certain style to them) are in fashion now. Especially uncluttered work. Just look at how the google page design has become influential and very popular due to it's simplicity. It doesn't overwhelm the viewer like other designs can.

I think the same thing can apply to text designs.

There are a few:
- First and most important, the text is completelly ureadable.
- It hurts my eyes.
- It looks like a 2 minutes work (randomly clicked buttons in Photoshop).

Please check the logos of namco, atari, nike, adidas, microsoft, redhat and nintendo.
Compare them to your logo and to the one suggested by Inphernic.

That is meant by me when I am talking of the standard. Fashion is the death to individuality.

Kust giving you a simple example: In the 70's ( I think ) a concern named BC Rich produced extravagant guitars. The style was extremely aggressive and these guitars were everthing else than "in fashion". Some years later people discovered that although they were not in fashion, their design was not not THAT bad. And now? BC Rich is now fighting against Ibanez. They keep on going their line of individuality. And it is not easy for them.

Being in fashion is surely the safest way, but not always the best.

EDIT

I have trouble to refer to all these answers. I'll make it short: Oscar, so let me have a third try.

But then you can also blit a blurb of pixels on the screen. The text in your logo is not readable and every single photoshop text layer effect shouts:look at me, I jsut discovered a new effect in my p1r8 copy of photo$hop.

I just checked the BC Rich webpage. And while they might have extravagant guitars, they have a very simple and easy to read logo.

Why don't you code extravagant games and use an easy to read logo?

Your original logo has tons of things wrong with it. The more complexity you add, the more chance you have for error.

It's hard to go wrong with a simple logo. It's easy to go wrong with a complex logo. This is why people like simple logos. They are easy to remember and not distracting.

Having a 72pt font with weird stuff around it is crap. Unless you are an excellent designer, you will not be able to come up with a complex logo that is worth showing to anyone.

So you think you are the excellent designer? Don't answer on that. You got the critics.

I am using a 3d modeller.

If I thought so, I'd be creating logos left and right. If I were good, then people would like them.

But I don't think I am, so I don't create logos, and people don't have to look at them.

Nice answer ( that is not irony ).

But imagine you would have to create a logo. Would such an answer satisfy you? No. And see, this is my situation. I have to create a logo. I was always confronted with tasks in my life that usually were too difficult to me to solve. Somehow I managed to do so. Let me have a third try. But before I begin to try again, any suggestions? ( beside a simple logo )

Your "declaration" is of absolutely no consequence to me.

No one is laughing at you. Everyone's crying, including Baby Jesus.

Consider a career change.

You may be a great designer/"ahead of your time"/whatever in the pocket universe you have created - but in this one, you are Uwo Boll of graphical design.

Um.. if you don't want to hear the answers, don't ask.
If I had to create a logo, I'd try to do some research first -as in checking logos that are well known. Then I'd try to find out why these logos are well known.
I'd then mark those that appear to me most.

Then I'd ask myself some questions, like
- what purpose should my logo have?
- do I want an imagetype with text, just text or just an image

Say you want to have a text only logo, what purpose does it have?
It should identify my company, so it should be easy to read. It should be able to symbolize my company, so it should be elegant and to the point.

If I want something fancy, I'd then create some sort of flight over the logo, assemble the logo, blend it in, etc - but at the end, there should be a simple, easy to read and to the point logo. Maybe with a voice pronouncing the name of the company - simply because I want the viewer knows the name of the company. And is able to pronounce it

Your behaviour is almost ridicoulous. Calm down. ( -> Inphernic )

This is more simple, but I don't like the colors.

http://www.jray.de/Jackgames5.jpg

Spellcaser, I am trying to get a mix between the things to have said and the things I would like to bring in. This is an iterative process.

Ok make the outline of the text white, black, green, SOMETHING, and the backround one color... then it will be good.

Your logo reads:

Yep, that's great. Use that.

Wohow, yes, you are right spellcaster.

http://www.jray.de/Jackgames6.jpg

THIS is perf-ect

You get what you order. I was just trying to help, and you devolved into a retard on me. Breaking news - you are ridiculous.

That new "Kcvoduun CNIKplny" logo is slightly less fugly, but fugly nevertheless. Sense of style is not something you can obtain from a message board.

Well, at least I can now read the name. That's a big plus if you want people to know the name of your team.

I'm just not sure what "Revolution Gameplay" is supposed to mean? Do you mean "Revolutionary Gameplay"?

Anyway, if you don't want to hear the aswers, please don't ask.
Try to use a smaller font size, line them up nicely, use a typeface / spacing that allows you to lineup "revolution gameplay" on the same horizontal space as your "Jack Games" typeface, and you have a nice start.

Don't get my wrong, but even "rainbow arts" used less aggressive colors.

Google for Creating Logos. You'll get tons of sites and tuts. There is a site mentioned on the SF Allegro Logo page for making logos and web buttons. If making a logo is so hard then that is a sign you are trying too hard and need to keep it simple. Simple usually can be something as easy as - single font, single color, solid background color, and preferably no images. I'll post my logo later on (it's as simple as I cared to make it).

Thanks for your help.

That was my lesson today.

Geez.
Everything we say bounces
Just create a logo, use it and love it. Don't ask for opinions though, you might not like them. And if you really think that an unreadable logo is the way to go and that it'll make you famous / something special - by all means use an unreadable logo.

See, my problem is the following: How do I create a logo that consists of many colors/ is somewhat more complicated and simultaneously well readable? This seems to exclude each other...

I think people were trying to tell you that for a long time...

Why would you want many colors? Best designs use just a few colors and those colors are not aggresive and are easy on the eyes (not red on green or deep blue on dark purple, for example).

[EDIT]
Here's what google has to say about logo design.

I have seen other examples that combine these two things!

http://www.worldtravelawards.com/images/WTA2004_Logo.jpg
http://www.bpi.cam.ac.uk/torwong/watches/watchwatercolour/German%20watches%20forum%20logo-copy.jpg

What will you do when your company becomes big? You will have to print your logo on business cards, CDs, t-shirts, baseball caps and the sky. How do you expect to do that with a very complex logo? To make it "portable" a logo has to work in all sizes, on all (or at least many) backgrounds and on all materials and textures. That's one argument. Simple logos are practical.

If you watch your example carefully, you'll notice that the letters are clear and readable. The complexity is on the drawing, and that's well composited and has smooth transitions between colors.

What will your logo look like printed on the spine of a CD case? or as a 16x16 icon?

Micah, if you look at most of those logos the max colors used for the logo is TWO, no gradients, just TWO colors. Pick two colors you like and use them in the logo, one color for New Jack Games and one for Revolution Gameplay.

What colors do you want? And why?
Colors have a meaning in most cultures, so you should use colors with a positive connotation in your desired target markets.

Colors should be used to transport a meaning. Don't use colors just because you can.

Designing a logo is much like designing a program. You'll have to think about what you want first. Then think about why you want it. And then you can start throwing ideas around.
When you have finished something compare it with your goals.

Do you have example logotypes you like? If so, please provide some links.
And please use company logos

Also, what is your goal with youor logo? What colors do you want to use? Why?
What feeling should the viewer have? Where do you want to place your logo? Splash screen of a game? Company Website? Company letters? T-Shirts?

If it has to be 3d and out-of-the-ordinary, why not use something from your sketches? This one's a quick example that kind of looks like an IOTD I saw.

http://hazul.net/jack.jpg

Despite from any concrete idea, I want to transfer the message of something totally new. And I have no idea which color could express novelty.

If look at most of the companies logos, they consist of the colors white and blue. That expresses some mood of solidity. Calmness.

I want exactly the opposite. ( don't make jokes now about the solidity )

Please, spare me from your "witty irony".

Älä kiusaa pienempiä

If that is your wish, I have no problems to follow it.

A good rule to follow is to not listen to what others say all the time.. So listen to me;)

Great. You want to symbolize what?
Change? Energy? Evolution? Chaos? Revolution? Extremes?

Once you know what you want to symbolize, try to name some things that are like that. Just play a word association game.

Enter these words in google. In google's image search.

And don't forget - most people will judge you by the game, not the logo

(R)evolutionnary Gameplay. You remember the film "Evolution" ? For a logo they used a simple smiley with 3 eyes. But it would be too obvious if I would simply copy it.

{"name":"evolution.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/c\/c\/ccef641818483ae0db448871e5c62076.jpg","w":351,"h":525,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/c\/c\/ccef641818483ae0db448871e5c62076"}

Question: What else would you think of I you would have heard of the word evolution. What is the first thing coming to your mind?

EVOLUTION:
{"name":"B00004W21Q.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/1\/a\/1a056c0612de051e28467f7914f12b5e.jpg","w":334,"h":475,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/1\/a\/1a056c0612de051e28467f7914f12b5e"}

Enter that in google and you'll find hundreds of links.
Everybody has that. Each game features it. It's a cliche.

Regarding the 3 eyes logo - well that's not really new. remember the 3eyed fish from the simpsons? The anime 3x3 eyes? I mean, that 3rd idea idea is centuries old - literally.
Can you use that logo for "Evolution II" - don't forget that your company will hopefully produce more than one game
What I'd like to point out is that something new is only new for a very limited amount of time. Shortly after that it's old.

Regarding evolution: I have the image of the ape - to man - to geek infront of my inner eye if I hear "evolution".
If I hear revolution I see lot's of people with guns and pointy sticks trying to make a bloody mass out of those who had the same idea - just some years earlier.

Not a logo, but maybe a first direction?

http://www.jray.de/battery.jpg

Now that Inphernic does not like me anymore, is it provocating that I like his music ?

Me personally I am someone who likes to snap. In RL I can compensate this with my sympathy, but here in the forum you cannot see my friendly smiles while attacking you. Don't take it too personally, Inphernic.

It's readable, so that's a big step forward. But as you said it's not a logo. BTW, add antialias to the text.

Starting from that, I'd probably remove the background and the "Redefining Games" sentence, and move closer the gradients and transform them to a small fire effect (very small).

dude, http://www.allegro.cc/forums/view_thread.php?_id=463692#target that one kicks ass!

I think you should think of your logo as modular and flexible. A unique font and a particular spacing of the characters that make it look solid and coherent should be a foundation.

http://www.allegro.cc/forums/view_thread.php?_id=463757#target this is a good font! Have a variant that uses a filled version of the font if you need to have it smaller on a letterhead or at the bottom fotter of a webpage. You can also make a larger image that includes "revolution gameplay" if you'd like.

As far a colors. You might want to take them out alltogether until you have a font/spacing/balance that you like. This way you can match a particular color scheme of a game you're working on, to focus more on the game (which is really what is important). A good logo is 'transparent' to the company image it's trying to convey.

[ot: MacGuyver! not McGuiver no wonder it was so hard to find a picture! ]

regarding evolution: I see a moron stepping in front of a rapidly moving truck

I think the latest one is far too big. I think it shouldn't be bigger than the version I attached. Yeah, the last sentence is missing, but you get the idea.

BTW: I think Inphernic's logo sketch looks very nice

To use complex logos you must be very skilled, and if you do a "flashy" thing I really think you'll just grow to hate it pretty quickly (once you get tired of da purdy colors); causing continual redesigns

Very good. Now think about that. I can't say I really see what the picture is supposed to be, but let's imagine it being batteries. Now, you chose batteries for a reason; they convey a connotation you want Jack Games to be associated with. Now iconify. Work with the idea of a battery and create something iconic that can represent Jack Games in the logo.

My point is, work with what you got. Work with the theme you chose, and try to figure out why you chose it, and how you can make something iconic from it.

Here you can see some good logos:

http://www.capcom.com/capcom_logo_small.gif

http://www2.coca-cola.com/images/logo.gif

Please don't use more than 2, or 3 colors for your logo.

Mmm, okay.

Micah, in case you haven't noticed, we're not trying to tell you to be a conformist, put on your cap and march along in step with the rest of us because we need to be good little robots. We're talking about visual common sense here. You want to make a logo that will stand out among the rest, but you're not seeing the forest for the trees; Sometimes, less is indeed more. This isn't about skipping details. This is about creating a simple piece of artwork that can be read and understood very quickly. Basically, a symbol for your company. Laser beams and gradient glows get in the way of that. When I see those, I think, "Drop your mouse and step away from that warezed copy of Photoshop!"

You want to understand symbology and how graphical media relates to it? Read something like Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics".

Also, you seem to be hung up on the fact that a logo means text. While text can be a part of a logo, realize that we do not read individual letters, we read the shapes of words. So, a logo has to be a shape. It can indeed incorporate words, but as a part of the visual whole. A logo can be simply your company's name in a particular, style of font. It doesn't even need to be fancy.

Drop the "Revolution" stuff too. If you absolutely feel the need to add it, make it a small footnote somewhere. Here's a good example.

Of course, if you just want to ignore the advice of a bunch of helpful people (some who I am sure make a living at this kind of stuff), then go right ahead.

Don't be afraid to ask for help. The Gaping Wolf Logo wasn't designed by me, it was designed by a friend, who is studying graphical design and animation in college. Want to see my old GWS logo?

http://www.gapingwolf.com/artwork/gws_logo_old.jpg

Back in '98, I thought it was cool. Today, I see it for the horrific abortion of a logo that it is.

An allegro logo, I did it using only black and light blue, and another 2 colors for blocks.

small version

http://www.freeimagelibrary.com/images/PaulPaul/allegrosmall.jpg

EDIT: allegro.cc version
http://www.freeimagelibrary.com/images/PaulPaul/allegrosmall_1.jpg

for the full size version download attachment

And here's My excuse for a logo - actually, it should probably be simplified a bit more

-A good logo is not an Image, it is a Symbol

I beat you all. Nothing beats simplicity like nothing.

mine:
http://www.markmusicproduction.com/images/titles/small_ad_blue.gif

[edit:
dangit!
http://www.markmusicproduction.com/images/titles/small_ad_blue.gif
]

I like Paul's and Torbjörn's

Well, when speaking about logos try attached, it's very first logo and I'm working on another, I don't like much this one.

If you explained to us why you chose "Jack Games" as a name maybe we could give you some ideas for a theme.

Heh, I really like that allegro logo paul made for some wierd reason.

It has something special over the rest of them.

Ok, that may not be my last try. Is this simple enough?

http://www.jray.de/jgtry3.jpg

This one looks quite better. Just don't use yellow on the background, it makes white difficult to see.

I like it.. But there is something not right about it;)

hire a professional.

I'd do something simpler, see the attachment for an example I made.

Decent enough, if you lose the horrible background gradient and antialias your text

http://www.allegro.cc/go/http://www.jray.de/jgtry3.jpg
This logo is almost perfect, just use an antialias and, don't use more than 2 or 3 colors, and don't use that weird yellow light in the middle.

Take a look to this
{"name":"logo.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/7\/9\/7988c2572713a1e661d0b35c6ac7bf8a.jpg","w":346,"h":59,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/7\/9\/7988c2572713a1e661d0b35c6ac7bf8a"}

For a game logo you can use gradients, but for your company logo, few colors looks better.
http://www.freeimagelibrary.com/images/PaulPaul/allegroccsmall.png

This is a logo I have had for a while. I don't really like it.

It is supposed to be an "I" inside of a "C". Stands for Chimp Inc.

It's not perfectly cnetered either...

2 whole minutes I spent I did. slaved and sweated I did

glossy poster size -> http://img219.exs.cx/img219/9286/jacklogo2gg.png

Matt:

Yep, that lkast logo is just perfect, but it wants anti alias

Well, ang that green jack is just great

I need to say you, that SamuraJack logo is not bad too.

The scary thing is that the 2 minute green jack logo by Matt looks pretty good.

Clean it up a little, make it all green and black and it'd work well!

here, i've attached your new logo. keep the royalties; this is entirely freeware! i used some stretch_blit effects, but nothing too complex, i hope.

by the way, unless you want your logo to appear on engrish dot com, you may want to change your catch phrase to "revolutionary gameplay."

An old font (reminds of DOS consoles ) for a 'revolution' logo?
Anyway, you should try to make something non-standard and simple
Or simply go with Matt's logo

actually, that's allegro's default font. i use it about 90% of the time.

Ok ok but Micah needs something which revolutions

A logo should be simple and easy to read. A good logo can be printed using only black ink. Look at the Nintendo logo. It's not simple because they couldn't come up with anything more complex. It's simple because simple works. My attachment is a 2 minute PSP logo. It's based on the codemasters logo.
http://www.gamer-network.com/stuff/news/codemasters_logo_black.jpg
Simple. You can change the font colors to make it into two colors. You can easily drop the "Revolution Gameplay" if you want to. And the lightning bolt makes you think of power.

Whatever you do don't use a logo with gradient backgrounds.

What about this?

http://www.jray.de/jglogo.bmp

I think that's better. Now the words are perfectly readable.

... but colours don't get together

Now that you point that out I remember that in nature (IIRC) black and yellow means 'danger'. Like the stripes on the back of the bees

Don't fear us.

It could probably be an unconscious thing, but I'm not sure humans still understand those natural symbols

Micah: I'd dump the '3D' effect

Yeah, that last one looks like a screenshot halfway the logo animation. It should be something extremely simple at the end. Maybe try making the 3D part completely yellow, just one single colour, no gradients, no shadows, nothing, and the text just plain black. See attached file.

Tobias: That hurts my eyes
The contrast betwen yellow and black is stronger than the one in Mica's image.

Well, here's my 10 minutes of fun in photoshop.

http://www.ericswebsite.com/junk/jackgames.jpg

http://www.ericswebsite.com/junk/jackgames2.jpg

http://www.ericswebsite.com/junk/jackgames3.jpg