Idaho Film Project Logo Critique

Troy submitted this logo that he has been working on for an Idaho Filmmaking community website. He left the following comment,

“This logo (a work in progress) is for an Idaho Filmmaking community website. Visitors to the site will be able to upload videos and critique them, connect with other filmmakers, buy and sell equipment, access a filmmaking FAQ and more.”

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 really like the color palette choice. It has an earthy and modern feel. The blue background brings life and contrast. The problem I see is that it is pretty hard to decipher the monogram, at first I didn't even see the letters. I kept seeing plots of land similar to this Greenpeace Airplot logo.

Airplot by Airside

It took some analysis for me to see the letters. I think one of the contributing factors was the large square periods after the ‘F’ and ‘P’ along with the repeating white verticals that break up the letterforms. By the way, why doesn’t the ‘i’ get a period and why is it lowercase? After finally “getting it” I have no problems seeing the letters.

Functionality / Versatility

It sounds like the logo will mainly be used online. Which is mostly a good thing. I mean what would you do with the with type and borders if you didn’t have the blue background? I am concerned however, over the very thin typeface. When reduced in size for use on a website I can imagine Troy may see some issues with legibility. If the logo doesn’t get real small or there is an alternative lockup that allows for better legibility at small sizes this problem could be avoided.

Does the Logo Work for the Audience?

The logo says nothing to me about film or video. Based on my first impression I’m still thinking about farming or real estate. I’ll also point out that I don’t get a feel for community from the logo. If anything it is very structured and stagnant. The colors may be warm and inviting but the structure and hardness of the mark are in direct competition with that.

Typography

As a whole the typography is good. The space around the ‘A’ in ‘Idaho’ could probably be tightened up a bit, but other than that I think you did a good job. The only other thing I want to throw out there is, did you experiment around at all with how the monogram was made up? Specifically, within the ‘F’ and ‘P’. I’m wondering if you ran the cross bars through horizontally, instead of breaking them with the vertical white border lines, if you’d make the letters more legible.

The periods still bother me, but hopefully the general idea has come through. It’s worth mentioning that the monogram, sans words, says nothing about film or community.

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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