Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working with a real-life graphic designer to develop a logo (and eventually a new layout) for Get Rich Slowly. She provided me with a sheet of possible logos based on my vision for the site. Many were great, but I loved none more than this, which I think was only an afterthought on her part:
Something about the tortoise just grabbed me. He’s so damn cute! I told my designer that I wanted my site to be serious and classy (and classic), but also whimsical. I want it to have a sense of humor. I think this captures that very well. Plus I can’t help but think of the different ways the tortoise (who needs a name) could be used around the site. It’s branding!
I suggested that it might be fun to see a variation with the tortoise standing on top of the site name:
I like this version best of the two, but it’s less practical. For the web — and for print — the wide aspect-ratio is necessary. Still, I think the tortoise on top represents success. I may end up using this variation in certain circumstances (coffee mugs?).
This morning, my designer sent me variations of both logos, but with a spot of color. Kris likes the green better than the black. What do you think?
I’m still trying to decide how I feel about the green. I think I’d like it if the tortoise were lighter (like the green that borders the blog pages here on GRS) and the text were darker. These are easy things to change, though. Thoughts?
Finally, here’s the proposed business card. It would be two-sided. The first side would contain the logo and the contact information. The second side would contain a handful of provocative questions and the URL.
There you go. My first steps toward “branding”. I’d love to hear some feedback. Do you prefer the stacked version or the wide version? Black or green? (Or some combination?) Love it? Hate it? Ambivalent? I’m unlikely to change things substantially at this point because I like the tortoise motif a lot, but I’d love to hear constructive criticism on what works and what doesn’t.
I say use the stacked one. You can easily work a more square shape into any web & print you may want — you don’t need to worry about sticking with a wide aspect ratio. The stacked one is visually tighter, more easily identifiable at a glance, and more flexible for a broader variety of applications.
As for the color, the good thing about a logo like the one you’ve developed is that you can use whatever works best in the situation. I’d suggest using the color one in color applications, but you can still the black and white one when you need a b&w option.
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I like the first one. I think having it all on one line rather than stacked conveys the idea of progress along a path. I can understand the idea behind having the logo in green. I just think it’s more striking in black and white.
The one suggestion I had was to increase the spacing between the letters on the word “slowly” just a bit from the rest of the text. Almost where the difference is subliminal rather than noticeable right away. Seems like that might work with your theme, too.
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I think both stacked and wide – you can use the variety that fits better where it’s needed (wide in a banner or header or on the biz card, stacked in a sidebar or column, or in a corner of your letterhead). I like the lighter green better because it looks more like money. (And you could always make the text darker than the tortoise.)
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I like the green ones–nice to have both a vertical and horizontal format for use in different places. What about featuring the letters G R S somehow–is the turtle’s name Godfried Reginald Smithcote? Or George Roy Samuelson …. Or shall you simply capitalize the G, R and S and just name him Smithy or George? The initials GRS mean Get Rich Slowly in my mind about your site and blog.
Nice! Lynette
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Ooh, I like it! I prefer the light green to the black, and the stacked version to the wide version. I think I might even like it better if the tortoise were on the left side with the lettering to its right, stacked into two layers, something like this.
My only other suggestion is to give the tortoise’s shell some slight texture or color difference, just to make the icon look a little less “flat” – something very roughly like this, maybe.
Either way though, it looks great and I’m looking forward to seeing your snazzy redesigned site!
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I really like them! I think your idea about darker green for the text is good – right now it looks a little too feminine with only the light green.
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I like the long one in black and white, it flows better to me.
I don’t like any of the green ones, appears kind of faded.
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Ok, I’m about to do exactly what I sometimes hate when others do it to me. (yup, hypocrite!)Offer a suggestion not asked for.
Would there be a possibility of placing the tortoise into the background with the words over it?
If not, I agree that I like the stacked version, and the move towards the greener.
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I liked the stacked dark one best myself
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Green tortoise, non-stacked gets my vote.
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I think that you should have some contrast, have the tortoise in black or a slightly darker green that what was shown, and the words in the other. I also prefer vertical, but also know the constraints on the web where horizontal is almost a necessity.
I think that the most favorable for me would be a black tortoise standing on top of green lettering, just for metaphorical purposes. Having black on top of the green representing being in the black with safety to fall on your savings.
I can’t wait to see what you finally decide. Good luck, J.D.
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I’m just going to mention that I’m an Interactive designer, and have done a fair bit of identity work in my past. So you can take these with a grain of salt if you wish.
I think that the stacked logo with the turtle is the best layout (in black). The turtle feels really heavy for the typeface that has been chosen. I also feel like the illustration style of the turtle doesn’t match the typeface. I’d personally go with a sans serif like Gotham.
Those are just nit picky, the real question is: Do you want the imagery of a turtle to represent your site? I understand the meaning behind the turtle, but for me it references car wax or being slow. In my view, GRS is about making drastic changes in your life to get yourself back on track. These changes take time, but the actions taken to help yourself get out of debt are not turtle like, they’re more heroic.
I realize that it’s easier to criticize than to give praise, and I applaud you hiring a designer to make the changes to your site. I think that from a branding standpoint you should ask yourself some more questions related to how you want your brand to be positioned from similar sites. Maybe a turtle is too “young” for a site that is serious about helping people get out of debt.
Just one more note, none of this is to take away from the designer working on your project. Please don’t take this personally, it’s only a critique.
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JD – LOVE the turtle idea – very memorable, and I think the motif will serve you very well for branding. I also like the stacked versions of the logo better, but I think you could use both interchangeably – the look is consistent, and given different promotional purposes, the horizontal or stacked version might work better for different mediums. It’s nice to have options…as a graphic designer myself, I often struggle when it comes to putting sponsor logos on event materials, and trying to balance different shaped logos in a small space.
I wonder how the logo would look with the dark green text and a black turtle…Hmmm. I do like the green better, just because green $$ ties to your subject matter so well.
Love the business cards. Everyone should have something interesting/provocative on their cards. Again, it makes you memorable.
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I like the stacked version primarily because of how “slowly” is spread out. It makes me hear “get rich, sloooowly”. If the wide version were adjusted a bit to give the same letter spacing on ‘slowly’, I think it’d rock.
Also, I like the green color, because it looks ‘money’ colored to me, but I see no reason not to use both where appropriate.
Reading the other comments, I think another thing that would look really cool is black toroise, and make your g, r, and s that green color instead. It keeps the classy look, but let’s your initials stand out. Like the other commenter, GRS = this blog.
Looking forward to how this ends up!
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I definitely prefer the colored version, but I agree with a previous comment that it’s great to have both the color and black and white options to work with in different situations.
While I prefer the stacked option of those two, I would challenge your graphic designer to bring the tortoise and text together in a more cohesive way. It looks like they were just thrown together – make it look like they’re meant to be together.
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1. You need to be consistent (stacked or in-line but not both) for trademark purposes.
2. I like inline.
3. I think you should consider coloring it but only the margins, no fill color. That will integrate the words and design element better. Let us have a look at that version.
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I like the non-stacked versions the best. As far as a green one, obviously it relates to money but since that is incorporated into the logo you may not even need it.
As far as a name:
Ginny or Gerry, depending on gender.
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Not bad. How about making the turtle fade to the back, and the text raised to the front. Maybe with “rich” being written over the image of the turtle in contrasting colors. Adding some depth instead of stacking the turning around the keywords could be a way to go.
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I like the overall concept. The tortoise is a super idea!
For clarification, none of these are logos per se. They are a combination of logo with logotext to create a trademark.
With that in mind, try working on the tortoise to make it a bit more unique for your purposes; make it more of an identifiable logo in the traditional sense. It just looks sort of stock right now. For example, perhaps use two tones or different screens on the same tone to give it some variety. Perhaps put a dollar sign reversed out on its back.
Regarding the text, I think you can use both, depending on the needs of the context. Wide probably works better on web pages and letterheads; narrow probably works better for twitter and business cards. You could have a third option with the tortoise to one side of the stacked text for more of a square orientation. I don’t see a reason to limit yourself to one logo/logotext combination. Just be sure to be consistent with the text’s font, size, coloring etc. from one use to the next.
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Count me as *heavily* in the tortoise-on-top camp. The wider aspect ratio would work better on paper, perhaps, but the web view (which is
My preference on the web is for the black rather than green version. In any event, going with a single color tends to save on printing costs over time.
And I love it. It’s very charming, and evokes the message your site is all about.
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I like the long green version better. As far as business cards go, I lack opinion. I just think the green looks nicer.
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I like the stacked green logo. I can picture that fitting better in a website.
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Love the inline b&W logo. I thought that Stephanie (#2) offered a good suggestion in having some separation of “slowly” with the turtle.
Curious to see how the logo would be displayed on the new blog. Curiosity is getting the better of me.
When do we expect to see the GRS frugal clothing line?
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As a designer, I prefer the stacked one for it’s overall look, however the letter spacing is weird. The designer wants to keep the word slowly the same width as get rich, and I understand that, but the way it is sitting now looks bad. Ask the designer to try taking out the space between get and rich. This will make the text box more narrow, and then it won’t leave weird kerning in the word slowly. You could then differentiate the word rich from get by making it a different color and a different font. That way people won’t read it as getrich but as getrich.
That’s my two cents as a designer, but the idea of a tortoise is great!
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I like the stacked one, but I can’t decide between the black or the green. Guess it is depending on how it looks on your site.
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I love the tortoise-on-top, stacked black one. As far as removing the space between “get” and “rich”, I think it would be a much better idea to actually center the turtle over the stacked words.
Oh, and the turtle should totally be named “Warren”.
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Green.
As for the layout, it depends on how you want people to think of the philosophy of this site. There’s a subtle difference between “Get rich slowly” and “Get rich…slowly”. While the second one forces the reader to think more slowly about getting rich (to let the concept sink in, in other words), the first layout is a faster read and packs more punch — it has a more “go out there and make it happen” feel. So I guess I’d choose the stacked layout, even though the in-line has a more interesting visual.
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How would the wide logo look with the turtle after “slowly” or before “get”? I think the wide logo will be easier to use in letterhead and business cards, but something about the turtle being in the middle of “rich” and “slowly” seemed strange to me at first … maybe because the turtle distracts me from reading the words, breaks up the flow of the words. I recommend having a B&W version and color version for flexibility. Another idea is to make the turtle a lighter gray in the B&W version, so the words are separate from the turtle. This would be similar to the green logo, where the turtle is a lighter green than the words.
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I like the stacked green logo but changed the spacing between the words.
Depending on how and where you plan to use the logo, I might prefer the logo with the turtle at the end.
I have tried to make decisions on logos before and, as you can see from the comments, the task is not always made easier by asking too many people.
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I don’t think either of the logos look very professional. I know you aren’t a flashy person, but these lack any basic design aesthetic. I say this not as an insult to anyone, but just critical feedback with your best interest at heart. I think with the popularity of your blog, you should have something much much better. Especially the business card. Yikes!
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I’d go green, no doubt. Preferably the
GET RICH
SLOWLY
version. As for your business card, consider printing the logo side on green, and the back on black. (If you choose green, of course.) It will be a nice, sofisticated touch.
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I agree with Eric. As a landscape architect graduate (and having worked a lot with graphic design), it doesn’t communicate as being overly professional. I really like the idea, but it needs something to push it over the edge.
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I really like the green (because green is money, but I especially like this green because it’s a softer green, which to me, goes more with your approach). I do like the tortoise A LOT. I would use the stacked version wherever possible and the longer (wider) version whenever necessary. I think the business card looks great and I really like the questions. Also on the card, I’d probably do green on the front and black on the back.
Your designer did a terrific job. I would so buy a coffee mug.
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I do not really like the turtle in the logo at all. It may be cute but the turtle does not reflect the feeling of your site. The turtle is heavy, awkward, bulky and dark. Maybe try something with outlines only? I would be interested in a stronger type solution to the identity. I think you should consider a new back to the business card as well, maybe some simple and minimalistic?
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I didn’t like the logo at first (legs too long, neck too long, not cute), but am getting used to it.
Now I like the green one, not stacked.
Another possibility is a traffic sign like:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/2606881067_205cc82292.jpg
or
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/51/184196418_2b91202dea.jpg?v=0
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