Hi there,

I've been working on this logo for our inline marathon coming up in July. I swear I think I've tried every color combo imaginable and I cannot get it to look right, I'm totally stuck.

It needs to be limited to 4 colors, since this is going on a t-shirt and they are trying to keep costs down. We'd like to use blue in it somewhere, but at this point I am literally open to anything at all.

For me the hardest part has been figuring out how to work the contrasts where the text overlaps the darker background and the white of the t-shirt, and making the skater stand out as well.

Here is where I'm currently at:



You can even download the illustrator file here to take a crack at it if you want.

Illustrator Zip File Here

Appreciate any help I can get. This is either a tricky problem or my color skills are worse than I thought (probably the latter!)

Thanks

Tom

i like this a lot - what colour tshirts are they going to be printed on?

They will most likely be on white shirts. We could go with color shirts if we came up with a design that worked and demanded another color, so you could use that as an option.

As it stands I think the colors are just okay. Maybe I've been looking at it too long but I think it can be better.

idk. i like it the way it is, too.

I like it too, the only thing I can think of to change would be the yellow behind the text.. I dunno, it's a little distracting.

I think it looks just fine too! It communicates what the event is about very nicely and I think will make a really nice shirt. Perhaps you need to step away from it for awhile and not overwork it?

That said and for future reference, the tee-shirt world is changing. The new technologies do not use screens but rather "spit" ink on fabric something like an inkjet printer. You can have anything you want that can be produced in CMYK at 175dpi and with respect to ink bleeding somewhat on fabric. This includes process color.

See teeshirts at www.vistaprint.com for example.

Right now they are running a special and I think shirts are under $5 up to quantities of 20. If you need more you just need to order in batches of 20 and pay the additional S&H.

Thanks everyone, I'll sleep on it today. I will check out vista print too.

I think it's great. I would like to suggest you alter the color of the type: July 26th 2008 should be in the darker blue, and Hoffman estates, Ill in the lighter blue. Try it ans see what you think

gggriff23 wrote:

I think it's great. I would like to suggest you alter the color of the type: July 26th 2008 should be in the darker blue, and Hoffman estates, Ill in the lighter blue. Try it ans see what you think

Changed that, I agree it looks better. Here it is and for comparison sake, another version I had worked on. The comment on the yellow outline on the words... I'm also not sure about that, but it did seem to help pop the words a bit.

Here are my notes. I think you are really close. I would love to see you try what I suggest though!

Oh. Hmmm.. I can't add an image here! Doh! I'll see if I can send it to you here through a love note.

And just in case I can't (note re: first image of your last post):

1. Change white of chicagoland to yellow
2. Change drop shadow of chicagoland to white
3. leave inline marathon as is
4. Possibly change the yellow of the skater to white if above changes make it too yellow. (leave the part over white as yellow though.)

I'd be more worried about the typeface! Also, I'd keep the building silhouettes 1 colour rather than 2 and make them smaller. Maybe go back to the drawing board.

I like the colors in the first draft, compared to the others you've posted. I think what would help make this 'pop' more is a second font face. Using the same font for the whole design is limiting you. Play with combos.

I still think you risk overworking this. The reason I would never make it as a painter is the paint always became four times thicker than the canvas with no appreciable improvement to show for it. If your shirt gets to busy with too many typefaces and so forth it will lose the power it has in its simplicity. Sometimes less really is more although I generally hate that phrase.

Just for fun, have you printed it out and pinned it to a tee? I still think it is working nicely without many adjustments. I certainly do not think it needs, nor should it have, more typefaces.

Remember, it is, in essence to be a rapidly moving billboard? There will be no time to process much visual information. You have, quite nicely, communicated where it is (although I don't understand why you didn't use the Hoffman Estates skyline. hehhehehe), what it is, where it is, and when, etc. What's is more I think the participants will be proud to wear the shirt.

pixelmech wrote:

Thanks everyone, I'll sleep on it today. I will check out vista print too.

VistaPrint came to mind. There are others like them out there. As a former graphics production manager it pains me to see all the crafts of the trades disappearing but some changes do make sense. VistaPrint, Overnight Prints, etc. are considered the WalMart's of the graphics World but gallery clients and so forth cannot afford not to use them they are so much cheaper. They will crush the neighborhood quick printers from the top end as the Kinko's of the World kill them off from the bottom. This is a shame. Imagine generations that will never smell printing ink?

If you need massive quantities of flat art teeshirts in a few colors, silk screen printing may still be cheaper for awhile. If you need/want process color or anything with tight register, there is no way they can compete anymore.

Places like www.cafepress.com will even let you post your designs, decide what you want to sell them for, print and ship them on demand for you and send you a commission check on a periodic basis.

Nix on the second one. I like the yellow, though I would make it a clearer color ... it's a bit mustardy. The two blues are near perfect. TheaThea

pixelmech wrote:

They will most likely be on white shirts. We could go with color shirts if we came up with a design that worked and demanded another color, so you could use that as an option.

As it stands I think the colors are just okay. Maybe I've been looking at it too long but I think it can be better.

Ok, tried some of the suggestions, in the end I too mostly like the first draft. I did change the date/annual font to be something slightly different. I wanted to find a good serif face that would work but I can't find one right now that works and I'm out of time. I think it's at least a bit better. I fixed the skaters helmet too so the color is more balanced.

I tried making the silhouette all one color, and I think it loses something, it needs the subtle contrast. Here's where it's at now.

Just saw the other comments too - I agree on the simplicity of it, moving billboard and all that. Turns out we have a guy that has been doing our shirts for 20 years and we're set there.

On the yellow color, the colors are those of our team so I can't really mess with the yellow at this point.

OH, and on the hoffman estates skyline thing - they don't have a skyline for starters! Secondly, it's really a Chicago based race, though in the suburbs so it's a mix. We want to capitalize on being close to Chicago and all - and many people do come out and stay in the city and see the sights, then come to the race in the morning.

I liked the "July 26th, 2008" larger, like it was before... the "Chicagoland Inline Marathon" needs to move to the left by a little bit to be centered. You may look for another typeface for the title, maybe something "faster" and "sleeker" felling. I always like a Helvetica Neue thin or light but if anything could work, if you don't already know about dafont.com you should check them out, the site is a great resource for free fonts. Overall I really like the composition and I think the colors work well.

Here is just a suggestion for you. My fonts don't match yours but it's enough to get the idea. I don't know how to get it on here though.


pixelmech wrote:

Hi there,

I've been working on this logo for our inline marathon coming up in July. I swear I think I've tried every color combo imaginable and I cannot get it to look right, I'm totally stuck.

It needs to be limited to 4 colors, since this is going on a t-shirt and they are trying to keep costs down. We'd like to use blue in it somewhere, but at this point I am literally open to anything at all.

For me the hardest part has been figuring out how to work the contrasts where the text overlaps the darker background and the white of the t-shirt, and making the skater stand out as well.

Here is where I'm currently at:



You can even download the illustrator file here to take a crack at it if you want.

Illustrator Zip File Here

Appreciate any help I can get. This is either a tricky problem or my color skills are worse than I thought (probably the latter!)

Thanks

Tom