[Atheist]

This is for an Internet Cafe I'm hoping to open soon in Sint Maarten. Bear in mind I've no formal training or innate artistic talent and had never used Photoshop to do more than resize and image. Sounds promising, doesn't it?

Here's the "coming soon" site I threw together click me

Here's the logo in 2 flavors:

[Kevin]

Lose the reflecting pond and it looks decent.

[crazyreaper]

agree with Kevin, reflection needs to go, that type of relection rarely works, and i mean rarely

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by crazyreaper 

agree with Kevin, reflection needs to go, that type of relection rarely works, and i mean rarely

Thanks for the input. What do you mean by "rarely works"? You mean it's just plain ugly? Or it doesn't work when using the logo in different contexts.. on letterhead, promotional items, etc.

Also, it's interesting that so far nobody likes the reflection. In showing it to my friends and family, they all liked it.

Please keep the comments coming. It's greatly appreciated.

[crazyreaper]

the type of reflection that works is ur clear reflection (like the one u see apple using alot on websites and in itunes) where its just a fade to transparent, the only time that type of reflection works i believe is in photo manipulation where ur trying to get a reflection of something ur dropping in over water. if u get what i mean

[MarkLT1]

My biggest complaint about the the reflection, is that it makes Sint Maarten hard to read. And IMHO, it doesnt add much to the logo (it is a bit of a muddled mess at the bottom).

I appreciate where you are coming from with the reflection- to give it that island/setting sun over the ocean feel, but it seems to me that the setting sun portion does that on its own, and the muddled reflection just makes the logo more distracting/harder to read.

Just my 2 cents.

[andi*pandi]

if you're going to keep the reflection, it needs to be blurred and faded a lot more. it makes it hard to read St Maartin. I would also choose another font for St Maartin, some complimentary sans serif in a bolder weight.

[Oisín]

Not to mention that in the dark logo, the iCafé name is nearly illegible. Change the colour of either the name or the half-circle so they’re not so similar to each other.

And yes, lose the reflection. In the dark version, it looks like some kind of dirty coffee grounds or mud dripping off the name (not a good association), and in the light version, it just makes me want to start scrubbing the logo to get the smudge off.

Also, to me, the choice of font together with the name “iCafé” makes the whole thing almost Apple website-anno-1998 plagiarism. Just too close to the original to look good. I’d change the font to a simpler one (i.e., a serif font with fewer and sharper edges, rather than the Apple Garamond, which has many and round serifs). And experiment with a complimentary sans-serif font for the “Sint Maarten” part, as Andi said (though I disagree about the bolder weight—I don’t think bold would fit the logo; it would make it too bottom-heavy).

[foureyes]

The reflection is just going to complicate future use of the logo and add to the cost of reproducing it. I think the font is OK because most people aren't as Apple savvy as the folks on this forum and it's very sophisticated. The Sint Maarten needs to be bolder; not a lot, just some. Stick with all the elements in positive. You'll have good viewer retention with the beauty and simplicity of the design. I like it.

[trinity]

Excellent Design! I submitted a similar design at ZETAPRINTS and people went after it like crazy.

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+ Usually I am on a work for a long stretch, until a moment arrives when the air of the arbitrary vanishes, and the paint falls into positions that feel destined.

[Atheist]

I finally got a few moments to play with the logo. Here's what I came up with. I'm still trying to find a better font for the "Sint Maarten" text. Any ideas?

[KeriVit]

Now iCafe seems detached from the "sun" - they're competing with each other. I'm fine with the Snt Maarten font but I don't think the other one works.

[Oisín]

Actually, I kind of dig the new font—depending of course of what kind of place you’re going for. If it’s to be a quiet-ish place with elegant décor, it won’t work. But for a bright, colourful, bustling place, I could see it working.

The “Sint Maarten” font does kind of clash with it, though.

[andi*pandi]

I repeat. sans. serif.

with that curly font, it can't be anything too stark or the contrast will be too much. for the first design I was thinking Trade Gothic or Franklin (mainly because I love them) but for this I would try something in the gil sans family perhaps.

[Oisín]

Gil, yes, good one.

Or, perhaps, Formata, in a not-too-bold variety?

[KeriVit]

Well with the new curly font, what if the bottom of the sun wasn't flat or in a dif position?

[trinity]

The modified version looks little funky...well change in the font can make a difference.
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