A few years ago, we were approached by a client to design a logo for a property holding company called Black Rooster. They didn’t have a lot of expectations, so our designers had a lot of freedom in concepting and designing the project. In my opinion, the work we presented to this client was exceptional. The client saw a total of six initial concepts (and four revised versions of his favorite concept after that). Here are two of the initial concepts.

The first concept is an illustration using simple shapes and just three colors to create a rooster enclosure. The more complex icon is contrasted with a simple clean type treatment:

And the second is one of my favorite logos we’ve ever created. It’s not perfect (for example, it would be hard to engrave or embroider with this level of detail), but it’s a great piece of artwork. I love almost everything about it.

Do you have a new business or product that could benefit from a stunning logo design? If so, we’d love to work on it for you. Check out Logoworks to get started.

The vast majority of logo projects we get ask for an icon as part of the logo. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. There are plenty of successful organizations with iconic logos—Nike, Apple, Major League Baseball, and AT&T, to name just four.

But there’s another option when it comes to your logo, the wordmark or logotype. There are plenty of successful companies that use this kind of logo as well: IBM, Fedex, Exxon, Disney and Microsoft.

So why do so many entrepreneurs ask for icons rather than wordmarks? I’m not sure I have a good answer for that question, except maybe people are trained to think of logos as images or pictures, rather than words. (This is true of both iconic logos and logotypes—we see them as pictures.) So, when customers think about logos, they literally think of icons and ask for them, rather than having the designer try to do something unique with the type.

In addition to iconic logos, our designers have come up with some pretty amazing logotypes. Here are two of my favorites from the Logoworks archive. The first was a concept we presented to Sonoma Vinegar Works that makes use of colors and shapes to communicate the idea of grapes. I love this logo:

The second is for a small start-up down the street called Needle. Given the track record of the founders, it’s pretty likely you’ll be hearing more from them in the future.

Both of these logos include hidden elements (though not that hidden) and strong font choices, demonstrating that when they are done right, a logotype can be every bit as effective as an iconic logo—maybe more so. Something to consider if you’re thinking about creating a new logo for your organization.

Two years ago, the guys at Holy Brew, a small microbrewery, asked us to create a logo for them. They wanted a logo that would become the cornerstone of their brand and product offering, which includes two lagers, Heavenly Light and Purgatory Pilsner. (Rumor is there are more to come.) Specifically, they requested a mark that contrasted heaven and hell. We presented seven different concepts that included gothic script, halos, and tails. After a couple of rounds of minor tweaks, Holy Brew selected a winner, shown here as part of the label on their Purgatory Pilsner:

When it comes to art, sometimes the designer’s favorite concepts don’t end up being the customer’s favorite concepts. We’re cool with that. After all, the customer knows his business and customers better than we ever will, and he pays the bills, so he should choose the logo HE loves. And while we really like the way the final logo works on the brewery’s bottles (you can download a wallpaper for your phone or computer with the design, here), we presented a concept that is definitely one of my favorite logos ever designed by our team. Rather than leave it in the Logoworks archives, I thought I’d post it here.

We aren’t the only ones who like this concept. It was recognized with an American Graphic Design Award in 2008. Let us know what you think.

-rm