Utensils

To once again get a feel for how the logo is going to look on restaurant items, I've placed the logo on a napkin this time. I'm really, really pleased with how this looks. I think it looks really professional (not to blow my own trumpet) and the logo itself flows really nicely, the marque doesn't look out of place & I'm finally happy with the way everything is positioned. Even though the logo itself is solid black, I think it works nicely on the napkin in an almost lighter grey colour. Not entirely sure if this will happen when printed, but it certainly works. I've finally found my restaurant logo!

In Situ.

In order to get a feel of how the logos look when in situation, and also to help me decide which looks better, I've quickly added the Trajans logo to a T-Shirt, which would eventually become a uniform. Initially, I have decided to add the logo using a solid black marque & in all honesty, I'm starting to feel better about this design. I think it works. It looks more like a marque & in my opinion has the potential to look recognisable as a stand alone marque as well. I'm going to place my logos in other situations, which will hopefully finalise my decision, although at the moment, it seems like I've chosen my design. These last few posts have focused pretty heavily on the marque aspect of the logo, so now I think it's time to get back to the typography!

Developing the Logo

I've narrowed my logo designs down to four concepts. Since I was having problems deciding on a style & position for the marque, I've placed my four final designs on a sheet in hopes of getting a bit of insight into which one looks better. Personally, the first & second logos look most appealing to me, I wasn't too keen on the solid black helmet at first, but in this position I think it looks ok, flipped horizontally it almost finishes off the logo, but on the other hand, I really like the stenciled marque which uses a simple outline. I've lost a bit of enthusiasm for the last two designs, as I don't think the marque looks as effective above the type. I'm leaning towards keeping it at the side as it appears to flow better as part of the logo. I'm confident about position, just not about style. I'm really finding it hard to pick between solid black & outline. Solid black looks good as it is a more prominent marque, but also looks a little too bold, while the outline marque looks cleaner & more polished, yet perhaps too simple & not eye catching enough to have as a marque. Things can go either way now.

Second Attempt

Here is my second attempt at positioning the marque aside my type. This time I've opted to place it at the side of the text, almost as an emphatic full stop. I've also given it a more outlined look, as opposed to being solid black, as I think solid black looked a little too bold. I like what I've done to change the marque, but I think I will probably go with my initial idea & place the marque above the type, as it looks more prominent, however I must admit that using the marque at the side of the type makes the helmet look more like part of the logo. Regardless, I still think it works better above the type.

Mythical & Hoplite Noogies

Just out of curiosity, I decided to have a look at "Dingbat" typefaces to see what kind of imagery pops up to do with Roman warriors, emperors & such. While browsing the "Ancient Dingbats" on dafont.com, I came across this particular typeface, entitled "Mythical & Hoplite Noogies." Some of these dingbats are pretty cool looking, and would work well as a marque. Whether or not I actually use one of these, or just take inspiration from them, I'm not sure, but I'm really liking the vector style shapes of all these images, they look very elegant & regal & really nicely reflect the whole "Roman Empire" theme.

Positioning the Helmet... Ooh Err!

Here is my first version of the logo with the added Spartan Helmet marque. I'm currently playing around with the positioning of the marque alongside the type & my first idea was to use it as a prominent image above the type, but also (as cliche as it is) to use it as almost a dot on top of the "J." I quite like this version, but I'll continue to reposition it until I decide on a final position. Whether or not the helmet needs to be reduced in size also remains to be seen, as I want the type & the marque to be equal in terms of what catches the eye first.

Spicing up my Logo

Going back to my logo design, I'm a little underwhelmed with what I have come up with so far. Although the theme is typographical, I think a marque will make the logo look even more recognisable & effective. The imagery I had in mind was something similar to what is pictured here, the famous Spartan helmet. A simple vector design will work effectively in my opinion as the shape of the helmet is instantly recognisable. Combined with the "Trajan" typeface already established in my logo, I think this will make for an effective looking marque that can be applied to menus, uniforms, cups & other items.