60$ Logo and Animation Contest - Paypal Payment

[f_specker]

I need a professional-looking logo for my new company. As this is my first contest, please post or PM me if my description is somehow wrong, or not precise enough. Timeframe is about a week, payment by Paypal. I'll announce the winner in this thread, and also send a PM. I'll also try to assist you with feedback as often as I can.

There should be two versions: The "official" logo with black background, and a printable one with white background. Additinally, I need a short animation for the one with black background - something like the short clips with the company name shown at the beginning of every motion picture.

Here's what I have in mind for the Logo:
- Logo size: Large enough for quality prints (think about 1000 pixels wide); should still look good if scaled down to 200 px width for the webpage
- The company name should look like a neon sign
- The second half of the name ("Works") should look like a reflection on water (or a mirror) of the first half of the name ("Concept")
- Black background, neon-green font (for the printable version: white background, neon-green or maybe darker font)
- A little bit of fog/glow around the neon would be nice
- Format: PSD or XCF (Gimp), and PNG or JPG

The animation should look like this:
- Begins with a black image
- "Con" starts to flicker neon-light-like
- "cept" starts to flicker too
- "Works" appears, no flicker; "Concept" does not flicker anymore from that moment on
- The ending must look exactly like the logo
- Here too, a little bit of fog moving in front of the letters would be nice
- Softly moving camera would be nice
- Playtime: Around 5 seconds
- Format: 3DSMax, or whatever you're familiar with, and a small rendered preview (around 200px width)

To give you an rough idea, I created a draft of the two logo versions:

Please feel free to ask any questions, either in this thread, or by PM.
Florian

[MPC]

In what time do you need it?

[f_specker]

Originally I wanted to close this competition on July 9. There's no fixed date where I need the logo, so I'll extend it to July 13, midnight UTC - if you need more time, please let me know.

[att_kiara]

can we use flash animation here?

[f_specker]

If it helps, sure!
I assumed it would be easier to do in an animation program, but you're the experts - flash is fine with me.

[Aderain]

White and black background views:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cw1.png

Animated mini preview (200px wide):
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cw_an2w.gif

Feedback welcome.

[f_specker]

Aderain: Just noticed I forgot to post the drafts I created, sorry! But you're already further than they were, so I won't bother anymore. You're definitely going the right direction.

Can you change from all uppercase to "Concept" "Works"? And can I see an alternate version, where the letters are filled, and a bit finer to compensate for the fill?

Animation: The timing of the first two phases (flickering of "Con" and "cept") is perfect. But they look unnatural, compared to the flickering of a neon light. Can you change it to look something like this (but with the dark phases being shorter): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVNeHUk1O-A
Please remove the third phase, where "Concept" flickers together - go directly to the fourth phase, where "Works" fades in. I really like that fade-in, it looks perfect!

[Aderain]

If you don't mind waiting for a while, I'll be able to get on it tomorrow evening. I'll post up when done.

[f_specker]

This is one of the few projects without a "yesterday" deadline :-)
Tomorrow evening is fine.

[att_kiara]

@ fspecker - thats what im waiting for the example you have im a bit confuse about on what to do.. well im a gonna give a try to this one with a flash format.. thanks

[f_specker]

att_kiara: Sorry for the confusion! If it helps, here are my drafts - as said before, Aderain's drafts look better, so don't orient yourself too closely to my drafts.

27321

27322

[Trigger Happy Tarantula]

Any preferences on the sort of font? I.e would you prefer a more solid font like Aderains or something cursive like your draft?

[f_specker]

No preference on the font - I chose mine for my draft because it connects the letters, supporting the neon-like look, but I came to like Aderains version better, it looks cleaner. I'm open to different fonts, if you feel like experimenting :-)

[Aderain]

I played around with some fonts, and some styles of neon imaging, timing for the flashing signs etc, and came up with this:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cw2.png

and the animated mini preview:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cw4_anw.gif

Feedback welcome.

[f_specker]

Aderain: Thanks for round two! The letters should definitely look solid, that's a step in the right direction. The middle should be green too - not the same as the glow, but not too far away. And can you reduce the glow a bit, so it looks less blurry?
I don't like the "e" and "s" of the new font - do you have something similar with "e" and "s" not "cut" in the middle? Otherwise, go for something like DejaVu Sans Light, Arial Hebrew, or DecoType Nashkh.
Last thing about the logo: Can you increase the spacing between "Concept" and "Works", so they don't touch?

Now for the animation: The flickering looks much better now, but still not quite what I had in mind. Best results would probably be if the letters didn't flicker as a whole, with the light "wandering" within them when appearing - don't know if that's doable.
The first phase ("Con") has the right duration. The second ("cept") could be a bit longer, maybe (contrary to what I thought in the beginning - sorry for changing my mind!) overlapping a few frames with the first one.
The pause between the second and the third phase (where "Concept" is visible) should be half a second longer, the third phase itself (where all the letters are visible) about 2 seconds longer. The pause at the very beginning, where no letters are visible, should be about 1 sec longer.

[Aderain]

Pretty much anything is doable depending on format. I prefer to work with animated gif files because i'm less knowledgeable on flash. If it weren't for my day job, I'd get these done sooner, but once again I must say tomorrow for now.

[att_kiara]

hi I already updated my entry in my blog... if you want to see it better pm me or the CH.. thanks..

[f_specker]

att_kiara: Thank you! The margins are much better now. Move "Concept" up by about 10 px, so "Concept" and "Works" don't touch. The letters are still too massive, they should be finer (around 2/3rd of their current thickness).

The glow makes the letters look a bit blurry (same as in Aderain's logos) - can you reduce it a bit? Also, the glow and the letters should be different shades of green - the letter a bit lighter than the glow, imitating the looks of a neon light tube.

I like the idea of letting the glow flicker - it could add to a realistic look. But I think it sould be synchronized to the flickering of the letters (glow appears a few frames after the letter). Can you combine this with a more realistic flickering of the letters? Take a look at Aderain's animation (and my feedback to it).

PS (for everybody else reading this): As I'm new here, I'm not sure about the forum rules for posting external links. att_kiara posted his animation to his own blog (http://mudeyemoody.blogspot.com/), as this forum does not support .swf - I hope nobody minds me posting this link here, so everybody can benefit from take a look at it (and my feedback).

[att_kiara]

hi.. i have updated my entry.. kindly check it...

thanks,

feedback is appreciated

[f_specker]

att_kiara: The margins are good now. I don't like the new font, it is too round. For the font width, something between this one and the last one would be nice. And add just a little bit of glow (here too, something between now and the last version).

For the flickering, it's a nice effect, but not what I'm looking for. Take a look at Aderain's work, and my feedback to it. It should really look like the flickering of a slightly worn-out neon light when being switched on.

Also check Aderain's work and my feedback to it for the timing.

[torturedexistence]

pm'ed for my entry, please tell me what you think.
i can give you the high resolution which has better look and more professional.

thanks.

[Aderain]

so a different font, and different greens, and less white vsisble.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cwgif1.png

I've added flicker with the blinking letters this time to the animation, and tried to go with your timing choices too.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cwgif2w.gif

Feedback welcome.

[f_specker]

torturedexistence: Thank you for your entry! It's good to have some new ideas :-)

I do like how you made "Works" look in the black logo, it looks fresh and somewhat mystic - maybe you can post it to the thread for the others to see? It doesn't work in the white logo though, so I tend to prefer the "traditional" look as in Aderain's or in att_kiara's entries.
"Works" should be mirrored, and moved further down, so it doesn't interfere with "Concept". There should be about the same margin on the bottom as on the top. I don't like the font, I'd rather have someting classic, or something modern in the style of Aderain's second entry. "Concept" and "Works" should both start with uppercase letters.

Animation: The flickering is quite hard to get the way I imagine it. The feedback I gave on the entries of Aderain and att_kiara (and the one I'll write to Aderain's third entry - just saw it) should point you into the right direction.

I hope that was precise enough - please feel free to ask otherwise.

[torturedexistence]

@f_specker:

thanks a lot for the very honest critique.
I'll try my best to make a better entry.

:D

[f_specker]

Aderain: Thank you for your third entry! Here again some feedback - we're getting close, I'd really appreciate it if you could do some more changes.

Logo:
- The distance between "Concept" and "Works" is good
- The Font is too thick - if it helps, tell me what Operating System you're using, and I'll try to find a font to use
- Make the Logo use more space ("Concept" uses 140 px in version 3, compared to 170 in version 2, which was very good)
- "Works" should be the same width as "Concept" - version 2 was very good in this aspect
- The ammount of glow is perfect
- The green of the glow, and the green of the letters fit nicely
- The bits of white in the letters makes them look patchy - they're supposed to look new

Animation:
- The timing is perfect
- The flickering gets better! Can you combine it with these very short periods of the letters going back to black? To be more precise:
- The letters appear at different frames, as in version 3
- The letters occasionally turn to black for one or two frames in their flicker phase, as in version 2 (if I'm correct, in version 3 "C" does it twice, "p" and "t" once as well)
- The glow flickers (and is only visible when the letter is visible), as in version 3

[f_specker]

torturedexistence (actually, for all the contestants): I'm glad you don't take it personal. I know you're investing a lot of time, even more with the multiple rounds of entries and feedback. I try to describe as exactly as possible what the result should look like, but describing an image in your head is complex. So I'm glad you have the patience for this trial-and-error kind of approach, and I really appreciate what you're doing!

[Aderain]

OK, 4th try.

Slimmer text, no white patches, both words same width, and both wider on the image. Fonts can be tricky, especially as I'm using the Pre release version of Windows 7 at present. If this one doesn't please I can always find another.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cwani2-1.png

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cwani2.gif

Feedback welcome.

[f_specker]

Aderain,
I'm impressed! The flicker looks awesome!! The colors, the glow, everything just matches. Wow!

For the font, this will require at least one more try. I looked through the fonts pre-installed on Windows 7 (Build 7100): Gulim is my favourite, but Kalinga, Microsoft Yi Baiti, Cordia New, Segoe UI and Segoe UI Light might also be worth a try for the classic fonts, Gabriola and Segoe Print for the more experimental. Would it be possible to get previews of these (one logo each, to keep the ammount of work as low as possible)? If you have a similar font like the one you used in version 2 (or another one you like particularly well), please add it as well.

[Moogle!]

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/9771/cw2.gif


Feedback Appreciated. :)

[f_specker]

Thank you Moogle - it's always good to see new ideas :-)

The effect of the letter's edge being the neon light and the glow behind it looks very nice. The problem is that this effect is very hard to reproduce in print, especially on white background. That's why I (unless you've got a solution for that - I'm always open for good ideas!) prefer filled letters. The font makes the letters look somewhat scruffy, the logo should have a modern touch. Finding the right font is much harder than I thought - see my discussion with Aderain.

The timing is perfect, as is the flickering - except for the very last binkings of the glow, that looks a bit artificial. The margins could be a bit smaller, leaving room for a slightly bigger font (see my discussion with Aderain on this as well). And keep in mind that I'll need the animation 200px wide - an additional, larger version is very welcome, but it should be optimized for the 200px version.

Keep it up :-)

[Aderain]

Static versions of all eight fonts as they could look. Let me know which you prefer, and I'll create the animation.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cw_fonts.png

[f_specker]

Thank you Aderain! Gulim is nice, but Segoe Print is my preferred. Can you create the animation, and a version with white background?

[Aderain]

Do you mean you want a copy of the animation with a white background, or just a static image?

[f_specker]

Just the static logo. Sorry for the confusion.

[Aderain]

Your chosen font in static images with both black and white backgrounds, and the animated 200px preview:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cw4_pr.png

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h141/anonymoman/Logos/cw4.gif

Feedback welcome.

[princemac]

Here you go. I pmed, the flash.

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/8841/blackc.png
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3601/whitenxy.png

[f_specker]

Aderain: Thank you very much! I think this is it! I'd like to get a second opinion on it and come back to you tomorrow, but I really think this is it - you just made my day :-)

[princemac]

I think swfcabin is down, here is another link to the flash
http://megaswf.com/view/8cd4fd8a30a6c3e3d4770147a6d3ea5a.html

[f_specker]

princemac: Thanks for the alternative link, I just noticed too - good timing :-)

Your logos are close. There is a bit too much glow (makes the letters look fuzzy when printed on paper). The colors are nice, and so is the layout. I especially like the fading-out of the letter "k".

The timing of the animation is good, the flicker looks a bit artificial - Aderain set the bar pretty high for the flickering. The "water" effect on the reflection is a nice idea, but it would need more work to look convincing.

[princemac]

Ok no problem, you had said july13th in your pm, so before you make a decision, like me try again to outdo Aderain in some friendly competition :)

[f_specker]

That's the spirit :-)
Yes, the contest runs until July 13th, and of course I'll consider every entry until that date.
Comparing all the entries against Aderain's came out of his constant work with lots of questions-entry-feedback loops, so naturally he's closest to what I had in mind, and set the bar for everyone else. But that shouldn't keep anyone from posting alternatives with new ideas - maybe (probably?!) there are nice things I didn't think of!

[Aderain]

Ok no problem, you had said july13th in your pm, so before you make a decision, like me try again to outdo Aderain in some friendly competition :)

No worries :)

It's a nice job you've done there.

[princemac]

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5818/black22.png
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/9114/white22.png

I Reduced the glow on both like you said, I didn't put the fade on the K in the white background because you said the white one is for printing so I dont think the fade would print properly.

Also for the animation should I keep the glow as it is or reduce it like the one above?

Thanks for the feedback,
Mac

[princemac]

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/5818/black22.png

Stupid Imageshack is unreliable

[f_specker]

Everybody, thank you very much für all the amazing entries so far! Aderain set the bar with his latest entry (post #35), which is quite exactly what I imagined when starting the contest. Additionally, it meets the requirement I originally set that the end of the animation should look exactly like the black logo. And the white logo is well suited for printing (this is important - and the main reason for me to get a second opinion as written in post #37).

As I scheduled this contest to run until (and including) July 13, there are some days remaining. I'd like to use them as an opportunity to try out modifications - there's surely effects I didn't think about that are very nice and would fit in well. Use Aderain's entry as a reference, but please feel free to play around, even if the result does not stick to my specification. Amaze me :-)

[f_specker]

princemac: The white logo is perfect.

For the black logo and the animation, I think the best would be something between the last two versions of the black logo - just a little bit of fuzzy glow, but not too much. "Works" could be a bit darkened, to support the effect of the reflection.

I don't like the moving of "Works" in the animation. It might be very nice though if it looked like a reflection on water with little waves.

[gestalt]

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s77/douggriffin/concept-1.gif



http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s77/douggriffin/concept2.gif



:(

[f_specker]

gestalt, thanks for entering the contest! But why so sad?

For the looks, I don't think you're heading in the right direction. The font makes it look too modern, and the flickering isn't very convincing - orient yourself closer to the other entries.

You introduced two new elements: Fire and smoke. I'm not sure for the fire, but the smoke (fog?) could be very nice if combined with a water-like reflection. Thinking about it, fire could be nice too - if used very carefully, like a shorted contact on one of the flickering letters that sparks and smokes... maybe I'm thinking too far, but why not? :)

[Moogle!]

Logo:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/6388/cwl2.png



Animation:

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7702/cwl2.gif

Let me know what you think. :)

[f_specker]

Mia, thanks for the corrections! The animation looks awesome, I really like the looks of the letters in the animation.

Ignoring the print-ability (see my last feedback) is ok for the animation - after thinking it over (and getting a second opinion on it), it's ok to have the animation not look exactly like the logo, as long as it's close enough.

The Logos look good too. The black one could use a bit of glow, the white one is print-friendly, very good!

For all three, the distance between "Concept" and "Works" could be a bit bigger, to the "p" and "k" don't touch.

[gestalt]

Hi there,

I am a very, very, very sad person!

The font is a 'neon' font.

The animation 'timing' is as per your specification.

The fire and smoke are just 'concepts' and I can adjust these effects...

I will work on other concepts for you,

Thank you,

:(:(:(

[princemac]

For your viewing pleasure:
http://macavelly.uni.cc/conceptworks/

Feedback very much appreciated. ;)

[f_specker]

thank you gestalt, looking forward to seeing more!

[f_specker]

princemac, the black logo really looks great this way, "viewing pleasure" wasn't exaggerated! Thank you!

The flickering in the animation looks good, but I don't like the sound - I'm very sorry, I know it was a massive amount of work, but I'm no fan of sound on webpages, so I'll need the animation without sound. I really hope this doesn't kill your motivation, because you've done a great job with both the logos and with the animation!

The effects for "Works": 4 and 5 are nice, 1, 6 and 8 are great, 7 is my favourite - it really looks like water! Very nice :)

[f_specker]

Just a quick notice to everybody: I'll be offline for about 24 hours - just wanted to let you know feedback will take a bit longer - keep up the brilliant work!

[princemac]

Here is the revision without sound, I made type 7 the one without sound, I also redid the one on the site itself so you can see it on a big black background.

http://macavelly.uni.cc/conceptworks/

[Moogle!]

Edit:

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7156/cwl4.png


Animation:

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/5728/cw4.gif


Feedback appreciated. :)

[f_specker]

princemac: Thank you! I really like that water effect :)

[f_specker]

Moogle: That's the right distance, thank you!

[f_specker]

Thanks everybody for all the great entries!

Before finishing this contest, I'd like to do a final phase, to give everybody the possibility to update their entries before I decide on the winner. Please note that you're not obliged to do changes to your entries - If you wish, you may leave them as they are. New contestants are still welcome, although the time window for feedback-loops will be very small.

After seeing some new ideas in the recent entries, here's what I imagine the ideal entry like:

- White logo: Moogle's entry
- Black logo: Moogle's entry, with a little bit more glow, and the reflection effects of princemac's entry (slightly darkened with a soft gradient)
- Animation: The flickering and timing of Aderains's entry, with the letters of Moogle's entry, and the reflection effects of princemac's entry (slightly darkened with a soft gradient, water-surface-like movement)

These are the entries referred to:
Aderain: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=11911333&postcount=35
Moogle: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=11940798&postcount=57
princemac: http://macavelly.uni.cc/conceptworks/ (Animation: Type 7, no sound)

As the scheduled closing time (today, midnight UTC) is at 2 am here in Zurich, you'll have about 8 extra hours before I can review the updated entries. If you need more time, please tell me - if it suits you, we can push the closing time a bit.

Really looking forward to tomorrow :)

[Aderain]

That puts me out unfortunately, no way i can do the water reflection aspect in gif format, and i'm not proficient enough in flash to do it there either.

[princemac]

Hey f_specker, I'm doing another revision, I'll have it done in a couple of minutes

[f_specker]

Aderain: Can you do it without the water reflection? Of course it would be nice to have an entry fulfilling all of my wish list, but it's just that - a wish list. If an entry doesn't stick to all points doesn't mean it will get disqualified.

[princemac]

Here you go Specter.

http://macavelly.uni.cc/conceptworks/

Im sorry but I can't afford to send more time on it to have the animation exactly like Aderains's one. Sorry. Hope you like the revision.

[f_specker]

princemac: Thank you! No problem for the animation - I know too well that time is not an unlimited resource :)

[Aderain]

I've played around with the inner and outer shading a bit, but as stated, I cannot do princemac's water effect. I've imported the gif into flash for now, just because it's easier to watermark it this way. File can be seen here:

Concept Works Animation (http://www.aderain.net/ag/cw5.html)

Feedback as always is welcome.

[digitalpoint.id]

nice work prince make :)

how did u make the water reflection effect.

is it flash or smthing else??

[f_specker]

And the winner is *drums*: Moogle.

Tough call, especially with princemac's last changes... thanks everybody for the great entries, all the time invested (special thanks to Aderain, princemac and Moogle for the many changes!), and the friendly atmosphere! I hope you enjoyed the contest as much as I did :)

Moogle, please PM me so I can send you the payment via paypal.

[Aderain]

Congrats Moogle! :D

[Moogle!]

Payment received and files sent!

Thank you for choosing my entry. :D

[f_specker]

Wow, what a start into the world of digital point contests! Great designers, great atmosphere, great results - thanks everybody again!! See you at the next contest :)

[Aderain]

See you around :)