Krftd 7

Apr 06, 2009 / Erik Peterson

Krftd

I received this logo from Jeanette over at Krftd, an online magazine. Check it out if you haven’t already. There is some fine inspirational material over there. Anyway, Jeanette offered this bit of insight when submitting this logo,

“Defined as the arbiter of style and taste, Krftd is the clever resource for individuals with a well-dressed mind. Krftd curates the world of design, interior, art, fashion, travel, popular culture and technology through its cosmopolitan lens and celebrates the most inspiring ideas in our pages.”

Jeanette went on to say,

“Considering that Krftd is an alternative spelling to "crafted", the typeface was chosen to make it easy to read. The pencil icon on the Krftd logo adds a casual and slightly playful feel. And also because it sits nicely in a discreet manner. This overall clean and simple logo does not attach to the content and allows it to speak for itself.”

Design Principals

The Krftd logo is tastefully designed and offers a good starting point. Even so, I see some areas for improvement. First, I’m confused by your copy and messaging in conjunction with the stye and message of your logo. You mention ‘well-dressed’ and ‘cosmopolitan’ which call to mind sophistication and polish. Unfortunately, I think the logo lacks these qualities. Just as you mentioned in your message “... the Krftd logo adds a casual and slightly playful feel”. Why the juxtaposition between your brand and your messaging? I feel your website and it’s content are more similar to your copy and messaging than your logo. I just cannot make the connection from playful to sophisticated.

Functionality / Versatility

I have seen the logo used both on dark background and light backgrounds. In both cases I think it works well. The blue tagline and grey type stand out from the background. This logo would work fine without color as well. Lastly, the mark should scale pretty well, although at the smallest sizes the tagline may become problematic.

Does the Logo Work for the Audience?

I cannot speak to who your actual audience is because I don’t have that info. So I will speak to your aspirational audience based on your statement above. While I see a certain level of class or sophistication in the mark, I think more could be done with it. To me the playfulness that the pencil adds in unnecessary and distracting from the message. When I see the pencil I think editor rather than an arbiter or judge or expert. It may just be the style of the icon. On the flip side I think the serif typeface is a good choice to show sophistication.

Question for the readers

please respond in the comments below

What do you think about the pencil icon? Does it work for the audience? Does it create messaging inconsistency to you?

Uniqueness

This logo is unique and memorable by it’s use of a clever alternative spelling for ‘crafted’. The pencil icon as a part of the ‘k’ is unique as well. While I do find the mark memorable, I’m not sure it is in the way intended. Meaning I might remember the mark for it’s cleverness, but not for the company it stands for.

Typography

As mentioned earlier the serif typeface does add a level of polish and sophistication. Nevertheless, the alignment of the blue tagline doesn’t feel fully resolved to my eye.

Adjusting the size and/or location of the tagline might be something to examine. The tagline could change to a smaller point size or switch to a two line version. Consider dropping the ‘and’ and using an ampersand instead to save a little space.

Possible Improvements

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.

Consider adjusting either your messaging or the logo to bring the two parts in sync. It’s important to communicate consistently with your viewers on all levels (copy, visuals, etc.).
Address the tagline issue by resolving the awkward alignment. Some possibilities might be fitting the tagline text within the x-height (the distance between the baseline of a line of type and tops of the main body of lower case letters) of the letters. Consider dropping the ‘and’ and using an ampersand instead to save a little space.
Evaluate whether the pencil icon is a distraction away from the desired audience or not. Possibly try and alternate pencil icon/illustration. Something that feels more refined and less generic.

Overall, I think the current state of the logo is pretty well done, but there is room for refinement. 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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7 Comments so far. Keep 'em Coming.

By Chris Madden

04.08.2009 at 11:27 PM

I can see definitely replacing the ‘and’ with an ampersand, and trimming it down to two lines. That, would add (or should I say subtract?) a lot.

By Marcus Blankenship

04.11.2009 at 11:02 PM

At first glance I saw the “K” and the pencil, mistook the pencil for a crayon, and thought it was a kids site.

If you keep the pencil icon, you might consider making the shaft yellow and the eraser pink, to make it more pencil-like at first glance.

Next after reading a bit more “crafted” didn’t appear in my brain, but the “crufted” did.

By Erik Peterson

04.13.2009 at 11:07 AM

@chris & @marcus thanks for the insight & opinion.

@marcus, I’m not sure about adding all that color to the logo, however maybe there are other ways to reinforce the pencil idea if it remains part of the logo.

By Kirsten Navin

04.14.2009 at 05:01 PM

The use of a stubby pencil and the spelling of Crafted seem kid-like to me. I’m not against the unique spelling of crafted, just paired with the stubby pencil the message is not what you are intending. It does not say cosmopolitan nor would I expect the site to cover: fashion, design, art, travel and pop culture. I would expect to see arts and crafts for kids. Perhaps instead of using a pencil use a fountain pen, that would help eliminate the Kid quality. I get that you want it to be playful but there a difference between playful and child-like. The font is ok, but with the multitude of font out there I believe you could find something more elegant.

Also the suggestions about adjustment to the tag line are good ones. The current position is disjointed and floating.

I hope I didn’t sound harsh, sometimes it’s hard on-line. It’s a good initial start I just think the logo needs a little more polish to achieve it’s goal.

By Erik

04.14.2009 at 05:16 PM

@Kirsten Great comments! Good point about the fountain pen, it would most likely look more sophisticated than the pencil.

By Lens

08.25.2009 at 03:10 PM