Jen Blume Logo Design Critique

Jen submitted this her company logo for critique and left the following comment about her goals for the logo design,

“This is a logo for my own design firm. I was going for a very graphic design using playful and creative typography.”

The following critique is based on one designer’s opinion and experience. I always appreciate the readers thoughts as well. So, I’ll ask a question of two in the critique, please share your perspective in the comments at the end of this logo design critique.

Design Principals

I like that Jen is trying to communicate something about herself and possibly her design style through this logo. As I have said in the past, a good logo should make a statement about the company it represents, which is what you’re trying to do here. However, there are some areas that can be improved. In general, I feel like the logo looks more messy than it does playful. In particular, the ‘u’ and ‘e’ appear like they are about to fall to the ground. It also feels very constrained in its bounding box. Is there a reason for the containing rectangle?

Functionality / Versatility

With its containing rectangle, I’m not sure the logo would work well in reverse. If the type were black and cutoff where the rectangle currently defines the space it would seem awkward. I suppose you could put a stroke around the rectangle to help redefine the space. Other than that, the boldness and single color of the logo make it easy to reproduce in a variety of mediums.

Does the Logo Work for the Audience?

The immediate audience for this logo would be your clients, existing and prospective. You’ve gotta put your best foot forward with your logo since it is often the first piece of your work they will see. Spend the time and refine this logo make it as perfect as possible. Cleanup the spots where the letters overlap and be sure everything is spot on.

It’s often those small details that can make or break a design. If your goal is to show creativity through your logo, I think you could do more to adequately communicate it. Just keep in mind not to get too complicated. Sometimes a lot can be said with simple wordmark.

Uniqueness

The typeface selection is boring and uncreative. If you want to portray yourself as playful and creative, you may do better to choose a typeface that is more unique or better yet, create your own typeface. I would also caution that there is a delicate balance to making type look playful versus accidental or messy.

Typography

The phrase ‘graphic design’ in the bottom right corner of the design feels totally put of place. Currently it has no relationship with the rest of the design. Both the placement and typeface selection are at fault. Explore some other typefaces and placement in order to achieve balance and consistency.

The serif typeface choice for ‘Jen Blume’ doesn’t feel creative and as I mentioned earlier, and can be improved. What is the reason the ‘j’ and ‘b’ being so much larger than the other letters? If you want people to remember your initials, consider a monogram style logo. Otherwise they should be much closer in scale and visual weight to the rest of the letters. The change in weight of letters is distracting to the eye.

Possible Improvements

Designing a logo for yourself or own business is one of the hardest logo designs you’ll ever work on. So what is the best way to improve the logo? Well I think have made some comments above that can certainly offer some direction. Here’s a list of actionable items.

Overall, I think you have a good start on the logo design. And with some refinement you can definitely improve it. Please know that my intention in critiquing your work is not to hurt feelings, but to offer constructive feedback. I hope it was helpful. Best of luck, to you!

I appreciate and welcome your comments, and look forward to hearing from you soon. I purposely don’t cover every possible improvement that can be made to this logo, so go for it if you think I missed anything. All I ask is that you keep your comments clean and appropriate.

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