first logo

Hi friends,
It gives me immense pleasure to post my first ever logo I didnt know anything about design using software and it took me a mth to learn the basics of adobe illustrator cs4 and this is it...the moment i was waiting for ...Please find below the link. Your views and suggestions are highly welcomed.

http://lethargicexpr...03/egg-logo.pdf

Thanks
Srikanth

Hi, Srikanth. Isn't it great to pick up illustrator and be slapped in the face with all those buttons and gizmos and try to figure the whole thing out? It can truly be a daunting task. I have been using it for 5 years now and I am amazed at the power of the application...I learn something new almost every day, sometimes by accident....but I also surf for tutorials that will teach me a few tricks and tips, veerle comes to mind: Veerle's blog 2.0 - Archive summary .

Learning that pen tool has been tricky...still am trying to figure it out. Still learning to use the correct brush (and create my own) and playing with different widths for outlines and highlights.....

Another area which I believe is crucial is typography. Still learning alot about this as well. I think it can make or break a design. In my opinion, it's not only an art, but a talent in selecting the right typeface and even moreso when you alter them. Take a look at i love typography for some interesting fonts/typefaces and articles: fonts, typefaces and all things typographical ? I love Typography (ILT) And learn to kern....some free fonts have terrible kerning and cheapen the design. Autokerning is good sometimes, but you may need to manually kern to get it right.

One thing I have learned is that your design should work just as well in black white as it does in color. I used to design in color and with all the fancy effects such as gradients and reflections, only to have to strip it down because I needed it to work in black and white. I found that some of my designs just didn't work well and regretted spending all that time trying to adjust effects instead of making the design work well. So, now, I work in black and white first. When I am happy enough, I copy and paste it and start working with COLOR. Again, still learning about color theory and which colors work well within each industry......hmm....I don't think I get it yet, but I am a little better now. This helped me understand a little: Color Matters - Design and Art - Color Theory Check out the site for other interesting information. In addition, check kuler for wonderful color palletes that can help you in your selection process. And you need to understand about when to use RGB, CMYK, Spot colors/Pantone.....yes, lots to learn And if you must, then use effects, but not to make your design, just to enhance it.

With all that said, I think the hardest, toughest part is conceptualizing. Coming up with a symbol or an idea that fits and works can take many days....if not longer....at least for me. Sometimes the idea is instant, but implenting it, in a way that is unique and/or different, can take me a while. I take cues from nature, tv, books/magazines, online inspirations sites such as logopond.....be inspired, but don't plagerize because trust me, as big as the world is, it is quite a small world online and most of us frequent the same sites....you are going to definately exercise the brain in this area, but I love the challenge.

And simplicity works best (but I sometimes don't know where to stop).....in your design, maybe using one egg would be enough? Maybe you don't need a hardboiled egg? Check different options, but don't delete what you have created....you may need to revert to it.....keep all your versions/revisions....

Hope this helps you a little.....

Adobe Illustrator is a beautiful program and if pushed can create some amazing imagery. I've used it for many years now and still feel I have more to learn. So, keep going!!

I agree that designing a logo to function in b/w first is important. Scale the logo down to a smaller size and then consider what would happen if you faxed the logo. Will the lines on the type and eggs hold?

Hi - congratulations on your first attempt. Please bear in mind that understanding Illustrator is really a minor step in developing a good logo. Before the technical ability of reproducing a concept is the actual PRODUCING of a concept. As you're new to illustrator, you might find it easier to conceptualize with pencil/paper. A month really isn't enough time to fully grasp all of the nuances of Illustrator - I've been using Illustrator for around 14 years and discover new things all the time (and not just new stuff in new versions - I just realized I could combine clipping paths and the divide pathfinder for some really quick deletions!)

Regarding your logo, you might want to consider what best captures the essence of the brand. Are you selling eggs? I'm guessing no. If your business is about cartoons, you might want to make a logo that reinforces that. You could then work an egg icon into that theme, but eggs alone don't seem to convey the message. Also, consider typography. Does the font work with the images to deliver the message? Again, I don't think so. The wide kerning of the letters also dilutes the readability of the eggs as "OO"...when you substitute images for letters, it should either be an obvious substitution (like a donut for an "O") or an icon that delivers the word in its entirety, like 5ive.
Definitely keep it working - you'll improve with every logo!

oh - and it's WAY easier for presentation to just save as a .gif/.jpg/.png

It's great that you are jumping head first into this and learning on your own.
I can't really add much to what's allready been displayed.

But just give some encouragement by stating keep it up and it'll come togeather. Posting here and getting feedback along the way is a good learning tool.

It's great that you are jumping head first into this and learning on your own.
I can't really add much to what's allready been displayed.

But just give some encouragement by stating keep it up and it'll come togeather. Posting here and getting feedback along the way is a good learning tool.

thank you COY and thanks to jecrt ,pixelboy, xpressions for your suggestions. yes i understand that learning a tool is not easy and its an on going process and i'll make sure to visit the mentioned threads in replies. The website i was making for was Egg Toons .
I was just anxious to see the output soon as i take the feedback very strongly to work upon my areas and it was quite good to hear from xpressions for sharing his experience

Thanks again and i will make a point to improve upon the current work

i'm myself new to using illustrator so i know your pains ^^. i've got the advantage that i've been using photoshop for quite some time and although not many, some things are similar.

i haven't read all of the above posts so some of this might have come up already.
i really like the idea of your logo. i love when graphics are incorporated into the text. but the text font is horrible. i'm guessing that it's just some standard font without any modification, but in my opinion it doesn't fit the "toony" nature of the eggeyes. I never thought that I would say this, but this actually might be one of the rare occasions in which (i don't even know if i should dare to say this) comic sans might look better ^^. (better is the keyword!) i hope i'm not banished getting banished now

Welcome to the wonderful world of Illustrator. Been using Illustrator for over ten years and I too am still finding new tecniques. My first thought on your EGGTOONS logo is I like your concept a lot. I have always been a fan of logos with images for letters. I have a suggestion, the black in your text is very bold and the eggs are white with a very thin black outline, to make it more streamline maybe you can use a black text that is thinner or convert your text to white or yellow with a thin black outline? Have fun with Illustrator, you will be amazed at what you can do.

I'm new to illustrator to and its confusing at the first time

Before starting to use Illustrator I was a little bit scared of it because a friend told me it's very hard.

But then I watched some video tutorials and it seemed very easy. I love Illustrator. Once you get used to it you see that it's very cool.

First congratulations on your first logo and taking it on yourself to learn Illustrator!

I like this logo a lot. If I was to suggest anything it would be that the eyes maybe need a black contrast inside the yellow. Like black dots or something. Its looking a little unbalanced. I love the font and idea though...good job!

congrats on your first logo using Illustrator. If you can stick with it, Illustrator can be very rewarding. It has taken my a long time to learn Illustrator and I still don't know everything. After all the tutorials and time I still find it rewarding to learn new techniques. Good Luck!

keep working with Illustrator and dont give up. i'm still finding new things every time i use it!!!

I agree, Illustrator is very complex program with million possibilities. But every day you can discover new things, and wit time is becoming more fun. Good luck with further work

don't worry, i started design without any computer base, just see more from tutorials, practise more, join more contest in DC,
don't give up, you will be a good designer with good skill one day.