Changes to the Logo

After a long couple weeks, I believe we have hit on a logo that works a little better than the current one, here:
Oana worked hard creating several good options from two sites, here and here, which sparked a great deal of creative energy. Both of them required a subscription or purchase, though, and I frankly was not impressed enough by either to justify the capital outlay required. I thought we could do better on our own.

I pulled a good amount of useful information from Ben Hunt's site on web development, which covers myriad topics and is a very handy resource. I began by reading his handy article on creating a web 2.0 site, which may very well influence how Referral Union looks in the end. His take on what web 2.0 sites do, which I like:

• They enable designers to shoot straight for the site's goals, by guiding the site visitor's eye through the use of fewer, well-chosen visual elements.
• They use fewer words but say more, and carefully selected imagery to create the desired feel.
• They reject the idea that we can't guess what people want from our sites

He also has a great piece on logos specifically. He covers shape, presence, weight, and contrast including several good and bad examples of each. Combined with these resources, I came up with some ideas and developed these logos









The small one will be used for smaller locations, icons, and branding while the larger one, which spells out both words will be used for other promotional activities where space is not a priority.

Here are my thoughts on how it measures up to Hunt's four criteria:

Shape: The logo, particularly the simplified one, provides a simple, recognizable shape. The synergy between the R and the U are brandable and the logo has texture without getting too complicated.

Presence: The logo makes good use of space and fills almost the entire area with meaning. There are no distractions--the first, and only, thing the customer sees is the company's name or initials.

Weight: Possibly the weakest area. Three colors are perhaps one too many (unless you don't count white, which my seventh grade art teacher might not have), and the 3dish effect might distract from the logo's overall boldness. Some of these distractions fall away with the simplified logo.

Contrast: On its own, the logo has good contrast--nothing really bleeds into itself. When placed against a white background, there exists the possibility of the yellow fading away a bit, so it will be important to ensure it remains vibrant in those situations.

I don't pretend this is the final iteration of the Referral Union logo, but I believe it is a significantly positive next step.