I'm looking for a logo for a hypnosis (therapeutic/clinical, NOT entertainment/stage) business. Here are the specifics: Company name: Northern Lights Hypnosis LLC Web site: http://www.NorthernLightsHypnosis.com Color scheme: Choose any you like. The red/yellow scheme I have on the web site now was done simply to match the stock-image business cards I had made up quickly when I opened. It really doesn't work well on the business cards, so I'm looking for a change in colors. I will change the colors of the web site to match the winning logo. WordPress makes that easy for me. Contest duration: To give as many designers as possible a chance to submit, the contest will not end before 11:59PM US/Eastern time on Monday, 17 August, 2009. It may go longer, if I haven't found something I really like by then. Logo style: Graphic, text, or graphic with text. It should be color, but it will also need to work in black & white because it's likely to get faxed to people. Logo size: Scalable. It will definitely be on business cards and the finish on those cards may be glossy or matte, so that may be a consideration for how you design it. It could be on books, CDs, web sites, and even health fair booth signs. It might be on clothing, too, possibly as dark-on-light, light-on-dark, and/or full color embroidery. It will need to scale from about 1/2" (12mm) in it's largest dimension up to maybe 40" (1 meter) in it's largest dimension. It does NOT need to be square (same width as height.) Too much fine detail sometimes gets ugly at very small or very large sizes, so that should be a consideration. File format: I don't own any Adobe graphic software, so it will need to be compatible with Corel Graphics Suite X3 and/or GIMP. I've not tried SVG in CorelDraw, but I did find it in the list of formats it can import and I know that it's popular with designers. Payment: US$30 via PayPal to the winner. There WILL be a winner, even if I don't end up using the winning logo. Additional info: The logo should be memorable and recognizable. The Nike logo is instantly recognizable through it's simplicity. The Starbucks logo is also instantly recognizable, but to me that had a fair bit to do with repetition of the logo until it became well known. I don't expect to become as recognizable as Nike or Starbucks, but something that can stick in the brain would be nice. I'd like the logo to reflect what I do, which is helping people make positive changes in their life through hypnosis. Some terms/feelings that may be applicable to the "feel" of your design might be: Change, Transformation, Journey, Professional, Caring, Helping. "Northern Lights" is an atmospheric phenomena more technically known as "Aurora Borealis." A Google images search for either term will return a lot of examples. If you'd like to incorporate elements in your design that evoke the northern nights, that's fine. If you don't that's fine, too. You're the designer, not me, and you're going to come up with something far better than the lame attempt I made at creating a stylized "N" that resembled the aurora. (It was bad; really bad. That's why it's not on my web site.) If it helps, the artwork hanging in my office includes the following two items: http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Lights-Aurora-Borealis-Poster/dp/B000UZTSIA/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_b http://www.amazon.com/Northern-Lights-Aurora-Borealis-Poster/dp/B000UZVOO6 I will look at examples and comment/suggest. I know that I'm not a designer, so I'm not going to give you the list in my mind of "don't include" items for the logo because it's possible you may come up with something great that includes them. I realize that more information for a designer is usually better, but I want to put aside my biases and see what you come up with, even if I end up trotting out my biases later as additional information for you. I'm trying to be open-minded here, not waste your time. I will post the name of the winner to this thread unless that winner specifically asks me not to. Please remember that this is a logo, not a web site header. If you want to also create a web site header that incorporates the logo, that's fine, but it's not a requirement. My current site header is 760px x 160px, if that's any consideration in your logo design. (My web stats show that a significant number of visitors to my site are still running at 800x600 screen resolution. Who'd have thought it these days?) Thank you for your time and your application of your considerable talent, creativity, and skill to my contest. Scott Babb
Very nice, rigved123. Thank you for submitting so quickly! The blue/green color scheme works well. The graphic design is evocative both of the northern lights and (to me) of a flame, which is certainly something that brings change. It also has potential for working well in black and white if I were to change the colors to shades of grey. The large and small caps sans-serif font on the words "Northern Lights" works well for embroidery on polo shirts, too. I'm torn on whether the "Hypnosis" should be emphasized by switching to a different font or whether it should be the same font as "Northern Lights." I think that maybe if the graphic element was moved over between the word "Northern" and the word "Lights" and then the same font was used for "Hypnosis, LLC" (with the "LLC" being in the smaller caps) that would look like a great business card, trade show sign, or web site header. Then a simple reconfiguration where the "Hypnosis LLC" was put a second line below "Northern Lights" would make a good logo for books, CDs, clothing, etc. because it wouldn't be as wide. So it would look more like this, with the sans-serif font for the whole logo: NORTHERN (graphic) LIGHTS HYPNOSIS LLC and the narrower alternate would be NORTHERN (graphic) LIGHTS HYPNOSIS LLC I already had an appreciation for how quickly you came up with your design, but it's even greater now because I've spent as much time hacking at forum code to try to show what I was talking about than you did in creating the actual graphic. Give me a camera and I can do fairly impressive things. Give me a drawing/painting program and I produce simple, bland technical illustrations. Scott
Additional info for everyone: I figured that it went without saying, but I've noticed that some people in other contests have specified that the logo must be 100% original and not a copy of any other work so... The design must be 100% original and not a copy of any other work. I might trademark the logo, so it does need to be unique. Thanks, Scott
you have no right to text something like that in front of the buyer. its 100% original, if you got an entry, you better submit it, dont comment on others work until and unless you are the purchaser. Cheers- Rigved Sathe
My comment about needing original artwork was not directed at Rigved, it was simply an addition to my requirements. If I'd been able to edit my original post and add it, I would have. If anyone has any evidence that someone has copied existing artwork, please take it up with the designer and/or me via PM. Let's keep things professional, OK? And please submit designs. From what I've seen in other contest threads we have a very talented group here. Scott
oh really??? then what u say about "AAA logo creator"!!! hey dude!!scratch it ur self!! don't use such softwares!!! it is really important for u!!! regards, adwaitk007
Thank you for the revisions, Rigved. If you're the winner, I think I'll use the white background for business cards and a web banner and the black one for polo shirts. I was surprised at how much the colors "popped" on the black background. Very nice. Scott
Hi, Here i have attached sample logo as per your description, kindly please check them and feel free to give your comment. Thanks n Best Regards Harnitha
This is my entry: Incase you want a white BG, Comments Welcome. Let me know, if you need anything changed. -eBleu
Thanks to BRAIN_PAIN, Harnitha, and eBleu for your entries. All three entries look good and stay true to the professional image I want a logo to project. Harnitha and eBleu showed me that my bias against my current color scheme may be unfounded. While my current business cards are hard to read in that color scheme, taking either of their logos and putting it on a simple white background card would work well. ADDITIONAL INFO: In my original post I mentioned some personal dislikes that I wasn't going to specify until later. Now it's later. I'm generally not a fan of the movie/TV hypnosis cliches. Hypnosis in movies, TV, and books is generally (with a few exceptions) portrayed in a way that is entertaining, but wholly inaccurate. As a result of my bias, I'm somewhat opposed to the cliched visuals of a spiral, a watch, a swinging pendulum or crystal, and the "hypnotic stare" or "hypnotic eye." I didn't mention this originally because I didn't want anyone to discard a truly creative idea that might appeal to me despite my biases. I'm still open to seeing anything you create, though. BRAIN_PAIN: I like the shades of blue/green colors. They work well. It does appear to be more of a web site banner than a general-purpose company logo, though. It depends quite a bit on the use of white as part of the logo, so I don't know how well it would work on a white background like a business card, stationery, light colored polo shirt, etc. Since it would have to be on those things, the top one with fewer highlights and reflections (even though those things would rock on a web site) is probably a better way to go. The highlights and reflections wouldn't translate well to clothing and office stationery. The eye is well done, but it didn't make it past my bias against such things, as mentioned above. Nice use of a tag line. I hadn't thought of it. I put that line on my site as part of my (very successful) attempt to rank highly in Google for the terms people search for in my area. It does work pretty well as a tag line, though. Thank you for thinking in ways that I did not. HARNITHA and EBLEU: Thank you for showing that my current web site colors can work. Even if I were to choose a different color scheme, your logos would still translate easily. The logos looks very professional, but they don't seem to relate anything of what my business does. I'm not sure how to change them to do that. I do like the use of different shades of text to delineate words, rather than using spaces. When I was starting my business, it didn't occur to me that having 25 letters and three spaces in the name might be a problem at some point. It certainly was a challenge when I was having embroidered polo shirts made and trying to fit all that on the shirt and still have it readable. The "different shades" technique you used would make it easier, since I could at least get rid of the spaces. I wish I had more concrete suggestions for you on how to improve the logos. The only thing I can come up with is that I'd like them to relate professionalism, transformation, caring, helping, improvement, a journey, positive change, and generally anything that makes someone think of getting from where they are to a better place or state of being. SO FAR: Rigved123's revised entries are in the lead so far. The flame/aurora image is memorable, suggests change (fire), and also ties in to the name of my business. The contest isn't over yet, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing more entries. I've been surprised to see the larger number of people who enter $5 contests that started up after mine as opposed to the number who enter my $30 contest. I give great thanks to those who have submitted entries and those who will do so soon. Scott
I like the blue & green better than the red & yellow, Rigved. And you're an overachiever for putting it on a polo shirt. Scott