Why are logos so hard?
September 3, 2007
Why is it so hard to design logos? A friend suggested the “cleaver” to play around with the “Cleave” aspect of Cleave Design. But…I don’t think this is working. Anyone have any suggestions for a new logo? This looks more like a logo for a cooking show than a design business.
Tags: Design, Logo, Typography
Posted in Design
Adam Walker Cleaveland: I am a 28 yr old 
September 3rd, 2007 at 10:25 pm
LOL! Dude, you should TOTALLY go with the butcher’s cleaver! “Designs so hot they’ll slay you!”
Sorry bud, I’m no good with logos either. But I have no shortage of sarcasm.
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:54 pm
Instead of putting the cleaver in a colored box, make the whole cleaver the design area itself. Put your test on the blade. If you want to emphasize that its a design business, not a cooking business, add a tag line, something like, “web + print + multimedia design” or whatever.
September 3rd, 2007 at 11:55 pm
*text* not, test. lol
September 4th, 2007 at 12:08 am
Why not have the text itself look like it’s been “cleaved”? I don’t know if I can describe what I envision, but “Cleave” has a thin horizontal chunk missing in the shape of .
September 4th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Jake beat me to it. Separate the word Cleave horizontally and separate them with a curved wedge shape as if it had been cleaved…
September 4th, 2007 at 9:26 am
Design, as you know, is problem solving. In this case the problem is this: How do I create a logo for my company that represents what my company is all about? If I were you, I would think first about what I wanted people to understand about my company from the logo (in other words, what is the ‘brand’ of Cleave Design meant to convey?) I think you are right to want to steer away from the cleaver idea. Most people will think “why a cleaver?” and if the answer is “because Cleave sounds like cleaver.” I might not understand everything you want me to understand about Cleave Design. From what I understand, you chose the name Cleave Design because your nickname is Cleave. You might start from there. If I were you, I’d start by reading everything I could get my hands on that has to do with branding new companies. I recommend the book “Zag” by Marty Neumeier. You can read it in an hour. Once you get a few logo ideas, I’d post them in the logo section of typophile. You can get some quality feedback from very talented designers. They can be tough and critical, but they are good… Good Luck!!