Another member had messaged me asking for a critical analysis of his logos and advice on making the exchange with a potential client; I'll go ahead and post it here, since we're on the topic of budding designers.
hey,
in
this Thread you did make the offer to give feedback for logos with the name of your shop, here we go:
#1 Was the first idea that came to my mind. Hope you have such a big smile in reallife =D
#2 The square with "shop" in it is a drawboard
#3 Just had to do this one too, Art is the sun and it spins like our creative minds some times
You can freely use these logos and ill make changes if you want. I work with illustrator cs4 and can send you the .ai files. The logos are vector based, so you can scale them to whatever format you like.
Do you think i can earn btc here with such logos? Your artwork is really good, did you earn btc with them? Do you use an escrow service to handle orders, or how does it work?
Thanks for the attention =)
Sincerely,
neo2040
Hey there; I'm glad you've trusted my taste in graphic, it's a compliment in and of itself
Forgive me if I'm brash in my review, but I'd rather you hear the honest truth than get a pat on the back.
The best one would probably be #3; in my first critique for Altitude, I had mentioned that beauty can be found in symmetry, which is this logo's strongest point; also, it just so happens that my signature is in the shape of the sun--I'm not sure if that was intentional, but that is another strong point, understanding what the client is seeking and giving them just what they want. However, the logo doesn't quite have a 'punch'; I believe it can have more of a bite to it. For example, the sun is viewed as something with rays of light and fire stemming from it, in which it becomes an unmistakeable ball of fire; this sun, frankly, had you not alerted me, looks more like a button, and I wouldn't have thought it anything different otherwise. Likewise, the fonts used are "safe", meaning you can't really go wrong with using them, but the problem with safe fonts is that, though they're not risky, they're really more of a last resort if nothing else works; a font like this doesn't draw the viewer in, though it is readable. Specifically dealing with my taste, I would've preferred something both readable but more extreme, perhaps in (legible) cursive or something gothic. None of these logos really say "Mike's Art Shop", though they might appeal to a local store brand, where such qualities would be preferable; in other words, I'm trying to sell art, not cereal!
Anyway, I'm not really appealed to the first or second logo; the first one is very clever and cute, but what really kills it is twofold: first, the least of your problems, is the decision to point out "shop" instead of "art"; for example, "Mike's" is the first word, and "Shop" has the focus; though art is in the title, it's kinda pushed to the side, despite it being the most important factor, since "Mike's Shop" has no real appeal to the clients I'm looking for. This is a small issue however; the greater issue is with the smiley face. If you are to include a graphic (and you really should, they're great fun), you have to ensure that is either beautiful, impressive, wild etc., anything which is interesting, otherwise it will have the opposite effect, a repulsion, which can drag down the rest of the logo. Make no mistake, iconic images are paramount to identity; everyone knows who deadmau5 is not by "Joel Zimmerman" or by the appearance of his face, but that iconic mouse's head that he wears; place this image anywhere and you know who it belongs to. The same goes for any icon; you have to put a lot of thought into it, as much as the rest of the logo, to ensure it is appealing and individualistic; this is something you'll pick up only with practice, and you'll get better at it the more often you practice other creative areas, especially drawing. I wouldn't personally recommend offering people stick figure designs from now on--some friendly advice
The second one is a bit better than the first namely because the gimmick isn't present; the positioning of the words are both legible and unusual, which does draw the viewer in. However, the word "shop" is both on a slanted plane and yet not; it's a bit awkward, since you'd expect the word to either slant with the plane or for the plane to not be slanted, unless it was apart of a montage of slanted planes on different colors for example, with the logo on top. Not much else to say about this one; it otherwise has many of the ailments of the last ones, being the "safe" font and a bit of a mishmash of different styles which loosely relate to each other.
At such a point, I do believe you're capable of doing something great, but you must first develop a deeper understanding of what an artist is and how this can be expressed in words. For example, if you were doing a logo for, let's say, a biker gang, the logos you've presented would fall greatly short; see for yourself:
If you wanted to create a logo for a pop band, you might go for something like this:
If you were to create a logo for a grocery store, you would rather create something like so:
What you're essentially creating, when developing a logo, is a brand, a way for a person to say, "Oh yeah I recognize this"; a great logo says a lot more than the words it displays, but just as well what to expect from the person/organization behind the logo. Though these logos can say "Friendly, fast service", they don't really say what I'd like them to; I want a logo which will scream uniqueness, originality, "bohemian" as I described it elsewhere, and most of all talent, qualities anyone searching for an artist would be appealed to. I'm not sure how long you've been practicing your skill, but always remember that there's no good enough, you can always get better and I would recommend to you trying new logo designs, unusual logo designs, designs people might describe as "quaint" or strange; you have to get out of the safe zone and try something people might not like before being able to determine whether your work is something people would like; once you understand what isn't preferable, you can then understand what is.
Anyway, aside from all that, whether or not you'll find work is entirely dependent on your competition: see
here,
here and
here. The reason why I can find a decent amount of work is due to there being few fine artists working for Bitcoin; graphic designers, OTOH, are a lot more common if you look around, and they're all competing with one another for work. A potential client is going to side with whoever is going to provide the best service for the best price; if you can't compete with these fellows and all the others, you'll likely not find a lot of work. A potential client may ask you for a number of things; if your only option is to say, "Sorry, but I can't/don't know how to do that", then you can't expect to find a lot of business. Of course, my request wasn't too difficult; it was very open so anyone could potentially accomplish it. However, if I asked you for a man-banana with a sombrero eating the moon with the words "Life's like a Mexican man-banana: I don't get it either", you might have a lot more trouble with it. You don't wanna be the guy who turns down money for that reason, so make sure you're ready for such a request.
Typically when I find a client, they'll explain to me what it is they want--let's say, they want a portrait of their daughter. So I'd ask for an image of the daughter (i.e. the reference material) and quote them a price, with an explanation that I will expect payment about halfway through the painting; if they agree to the price and the conditions (nobody has ever turned me down yet fyi) then I get started. After a little while, I'll have, for example, a refined sketch, and I'll show the client that I've accomplished the painting halfway through; if they don't like it (nobody has ever done this yet), then we walk away from the deal and I don't work on the painting any further; otherwise, they pay me in the desired amount of BTC and once I have the money in hand, I work on getting the painting done. Occasionally I will be asked to change something, such as the color of some object, and I'm happy to oblige there; if I were asked to repaint the entire thing, I'd have to ask for compensation again or refuse and risk the negative feedback--so far this hasn't happened.
In another situation, I've been working with an author to draw accompanying images for his novelette; because he and I have worked together several times in the past, I'm allowed full creative control over the drawings and all I have to do is show them to him at the end of the week and he pays me at the rate we agreed on (in this case, $50 per drawing.) It's usually new clients that you have to take caution with, which is going to be the bulk of your cash. However, if someone failed to pay me once, I'd have to refuse working for them until payment was received; it's easy to get scammed if you don't stand by your principles. I haven't personally used escrow yet, but I would recommend it if you're dealing with a risky client who has a history of failing to pay. The system I've been using so far hasn't let me down, and it doesn't have to deal with a third party which is always a plus; slows down the whole process I think.
I hope this all helps you; as Bob Ross said, “Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you're willing to practice, you can do.” So long as you continue at the trade, you'll continue to improve.
