The folks over at MissyList submitted a whole bunch of logo concepts, 10 to be exact. If you’re interested in seeing them all, here ya go.

I won’t be following the normal format for critique that I’ve been using up until now. Instead, I’m going to pick three concepts from the group that I think have the most potential. I will critique and talk about what’s working and what’s not.

According to the company info I received, the target market for the site is described as: female, 25-40 years old, young professionals, students, mothers, computer savvy, social network savvy, online shoppers. The tone & feel of the site was described as: girly fun, slightly sophisticated, community safe, trendy, second hand, bargain, recession fighter. The company used to be called feminads but is now being rebranded.

Design Principals

Alright, so lets jump right in... I always find it distracting when a ‘.com’ or other suffix becomes part of a logo. Same goes for ‘llc’ and other business identifiers. It’s not needed and clutters the design. Leave suffixes for use in body copy if they need to be used in conjunction with the name. Take a minute and look at all the web based businesses out there. How many include a ‘.com’ in their logo? I can’t think of any, though in the late nineties it was more common. I’m sure there some, but this is 2009. Look the some of the major web based businesses out there like, eBay, Amazon, Google, Craigslist, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook. I think you get the point...

The other thing I want to mention is that the new name “Missylist” is so much better than the previous “feminads” which sounds like a feminine hygiene product.

Concept 8

My first selection for review is concept 8. I choose this one because I think it fits a lot of the characteristics of the target market. The logo is definitely trendy (good and bad though, what’s trendy now is not likely to be so in another 1-4 years). This concept feels very personal and unique. It has a ‘girly fun’ and hand crafted feel while maintaining a certain level of sophistication.

The hand drawn letters of ‘Missy’ might benefit from some refinement. The identical ‘s’ bother me immensely. First, because hand drawn letters aren’t going to be identical like these are. Second, because the overlapping tails get too messy. Lastly, because of the large gap between the two letters. I do like the contrast and interest created by the dimensional letters (m, i, y) compared to the flat ‘s’. Overall the juxtaposition between ’Missy’ and ‘list’ works well. One side being very sophisticated and pretty while the competing side is raw and informal. The heavier weight of the word ‘list’ helps to balance out the differences in length.

I think the logo would benefit from some color. You might explore a half and half treatment like concept 6 or possibly explore filling the dimensional letters with a color and everything else a different color. Lastly, please loose the ‘.com’ suffix.

Concept 6

The second concept I chose to talk about is concept 6. This is one of the few concepts that showed any color, though I think it works without color also. I like the sophisticated and modern feel of this logo. It’s hip without being overly trendy. This concept is less likely to look dated over time than some of the others.

The contrast of the modern serif font to the rougher hand drawn sans-serif font is pleasing to the eye. However, I think the hand drawn sans-serif could use a little refinement. I’m not sure if it’s an actual font of if it has just been modified. At any rate, I think it is a little too subtle. At first look it almost looks like a mistake, especially at the bottom of the ‘c’. Possibly modify the existing typeface or choose a new one that is a little more apparent, just don’t go overboard. Moving on, the kerning needs to be adjusted as well. Look at the gap between the ‘s’ and ‘t’. Once again, please loose the ‘.com’ suffix.

Concept 10

My third choice is concept 10. There is a very playful attitude to this logo. While multiple fonts in a logo can often be overwhelming to a viewer, I think it’s working in this case. To me the logo implies how everyone or every woman is different. Each one has their own style and personality.

The contrast and balance within the letters is working well. Still, the repeated s’s in this concept are a problem to me. When the tails overlap it looks messy and unrefined. Why not modify the ‘s’ and have three slightly different variations of it? The two that are side by side could join tails and become one, while the other lone ‘s’ could have a slightly different tail and shape. My feeling on ‘.com’ remains the same as in my previous remarks.

Conclusion

I didn’t have the time to talk about all 10 concepts, however hopefully something can be gained from the 3 I did talk about. Overall, I prefer concept 8. Although, if there is any concern in the logo feeling dated in the near future, you may want to stick with something less trendy like concept 6. 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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