
Ask HN: Help me pick a logo for my web app, Preceden - matt1
http://www.crowdspring.com/project/2281571_design-logo-for-preceden-timelines/page1/
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milestinsley
Based on your project spec, the logos from _snipp_ seem to be the most
successful. I like how they use a similar set of colors to your screenshot.
They are simple, elegant and compliment your app's UI.

If I had to choose, I would probably pick logo number 120. It's playful and
modern. And I like the typeface!

But don't listen _too_ much to other people. Part of the fun of running a
startup is getting to choose your own logo! ;)

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warfangle
Completely concur on #120. Definitely my favorite.

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SamAtt
I like 118 but 120 would be my second choice

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markbao
Hmm, instead of posting on Crowdspring for creating my app's logo, I might
just contact _snipp_ to do it instead. Most of the good ones on that page are
by him.

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staunch
I was trying to figure out what I didn't like about a lot of them, and then I
realized it's really the name I don't like.

I'm a fan of stylized text as a logo, which most of those aren't, so I
wouldn't be happy with any of them for myself.

(Sorry if this isn't very helpful)

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matt1
Preceden, similar to the word _Precedent_ (which has to do with time), is nice
to say and is nice to look at, I think. The .com, .net, .org, GMail, Twitter,
and Facebook names were also available, which is a nice bonus.

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tomkinstinch
Has anyone else tried Crowdspring or similar distributed freelance sites for
designing entire website templates? (xhtml, css, images) If so, was your
experience positive? What have you found leads to the best submissions? How
did you decide on an offering price?

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matt1
I'm a hypocrite for saying this since I'm the OP and I just paid $200 + $30
(submission cost) for this service, but a much better way to spend your money
is on a few design and Photoshop books. That way you can stop depending on
others for your basic design work. My Photoshop skills don't extend far beyond
making gradients and some simple buttons, but even that has helped me
tremendously in all the projects I've worked on.

PS: One of the benefits of working alone is that you're forced to learn a lot
of different skills because you have to do everything yourself. A bit
frustrating at times, but I'm more capable because of it.

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dc2k08
Not keen on #120 or the rest of that designer's work. The gradients seem to be
there just for the sake of being there and aren't subtle. There is little
harmony between the icon and the type and the shapes appear too irregular
also. Looks okay at a small size.

I like #111 and #44. #111 needs to have a thicker font and different colors. I
don't like the tick in #44. #88 is okay but I'd be worried people thought the
'c' was an icon and the app was called Pre Eden. I would prefer if the c
symbolized a clock instead. It has shades of Nike. I'd rather the cuts on the
'r' and 'e's weren't diagonal.

#59 and #60 look well and fit the brief but may appear a little generic.

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matt1
My concern with 120 and the rest of Snipp's submissions are that the
horizontal bars are _curved_. You'll notice on the Preceden screenshots that
the timeline is made up almost entirely of rectangular shapes. To me, the
distorted bars don't fit in with the rest of the site. As someone else pointed
out, Snipp's are _playful_ , but the rest of the site isn't. Time, by its
nature, is a precise thing, and I think the logo should convey that.

On the same note, I asked early on that people use sans serif fonts because,
like the curved bars, serif fonts don't fit well with the rest of the site.

As far as the casing, lowercase "preceden" has a lot of circular letters,
which, again, stands in contrast to the timeline. However, uppercase
"PRECEDEN" is more angular, like the timeline itself.

For these reasons, my favorite is 28. It's simple, angular, and the staggered
bars make you think of the site's timelines, all of which I think would make
it a great logo for the site. Thoughts?

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cubicle67
To me the bulk of them come across as way too generic; you could just replace
preceden with any company name. There's very few that have any character.

I like the ideas in 15 and 87, but not so much the rest of the logo.

I notice a lot of variance in how the name is written. Do you prefer
"Preceden", "preceden" or "PRECEDEN"?

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matt1
I'm working on a web app called Preceden for building simple, powerful
timelines. It hasn't been released yet, but should be within the next three
weeks.

I posted a project on CrowdSpring for a custom logo design and these are the
submissions I received.

Which do you like and why?

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godDLL
I wouldn't pick one with the name in it. It's a hard name to read, hard name
to remember, and makes for an awkward logotype.

I'd go with something conceptual instead. Too bad you didn't contact an actual
design shop to do that for you, because none of the presented specimens go in
the right direction -- conceptualizing the branding instead of visualizing the
rather meaningless (by power of ambiguity) word.

You asked.

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matt1
Thanks for the feedback. I like the name for several reasons, though I agree
it usually seems a little awkward at first. But hey, what domain name these
days doesn't?

Can you elaborate on _conceptualizing the branding instead of visualizing the
rather meaningless (by power of ambiguity) word_? I don't follow.

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godDLL
Try and find you a designer that is willing to do to your "Preceden" what
Apple's UI designer did to "Safari", if you want a literal example of what I
meant. Illustrate the function, not the pronunciation.

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kyro
120 for me. It incorporates the multiple lines, and conveys a lot of action
with those lines just bursting out. Only thing I'd try to do is emphasize the
whole line theme throughout your app so the logo makes a bit more sense. But
it's definitely the most polished, professional, and exciting one for me.

On a side note, it's interesting to see some of the logos so blatantly rip off
Plaxo's.

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almost
89 for me, definitely. Echoes the look of your app (assuming that is actually
what it looks like in 91) and isn't too busy.

I find the most of the others a little distracting, random colours swirling
all over the place.

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og1
I agree, 89 is my favorite as well.

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matt1
89 is probably my second choice, after 28. I'm pretty sure the designer of 89
saw my high score on 28 and just modified it a bit because he knew I'd like
it. Not a bad strategy.

What do you think of the bars on the left (89) vs on the right (28)?

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og1
I think just by convention, more sites have the logo on the left. Also, if you
think of the three bars as physical objects, it sort of feels like the bars
will topple over in 28. It kind of reminds me of the stack overflow logo a
bit. Although, I guess you should consider the entries independently, I also
like the designer of 89's work a little better.

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russell
111 suggests time while most of the others dont. 36 is interesting, but
probably doesnt work.

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smokey_the_bear
Why are there so many withdrawn? Do people withdraw and resubmit to be on the
frontpage?

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matt1
When you give feedback, most people revise their designs and submit new ones.
You don't have to withdraw old ones, but a lot of people do since the new
submission will almost always be better than the original, assuming you took
the feedback.

