Lawn Care logo help

[LiteBriteLauren]

Hello!
I recently made a truck logo for a company and the customer is being critical about it. He isn't sure of the colors but I'm stuck with what else to do. Any input would help.
Thank you!

 

[Gino]

First of all, it's too large for the door area.

The colors do tend to make it look Christmas-y. Perhaps some tans and lite greens. Also, for a landscape company, those fonts look a little too wispy. You might wanna find a more substantial type style.

 

[Pippin Decals]

I think the image is too large as well but not by much. I think maybe shrinking it down about 5 inches overall would look better but its your design . And i also think there is too many shadows in the Phone #. But i personally like the colors over all. Just my opinion tho.

My whole thing is if the customer is happy , then thats all that matters no matter what anyone thinks,The customer is who is paying you lol.

 

[JR's]

Primal,
I disagree with your statement on if the customer is happy.
Sometimes the customer/client doesn't always know what is best for his/her business.
That's like if a patient said to a doctor I think I should take four pills every hour instead of one?
a customer said to his mechanic I think these breaks will work better?
Or a customer said to his contractor I think these beams will be strong enough for the deck?

I would agree if you said if the customer is happy you will most likely get paid.

As for the colors on that color truck I would go with creams browns and tans. What is giving you a hard time is the green on the red. They are split complementary. Gonna hurt your eyes. If you would to use those colors how to get them so they won't vibrate as much is add a little bit of red to the green or vice versa and that would brown out your greens or reds.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

I think it looks too feminine, he may want something more masculine for his giant working man pickup truck.

 

[Rick]

Most clients are muggles (non-design folk) and come to designers and/or signs shops to know better... we don't always...
Once we lose our clients confidence, then they could feel that they know better... "the customer is always right" is a retail principle - not part of the design process. If you are selling signs, then make the customer happy, if you are selling design, make sure the client know how you came to this conclusion. If you can not sell it, give them crap and move on...

What they had before should tell you what direction they may have wanted to go...
I would invest in some time making a quick design brief, that way you have a target to hit.

First thing I noticed about this "logo" is that it's not a logo... it's a layout... very sign-shop looking (not a good thing by the way)

Sign shop logos/layouts suffer from many of the issues your layout has.

-- Poor choice of type
-- Too many typefaces
-- Clip-art looking
-- Clip-art elements not matching each other
-- Too many different type effects, I see outline with drop shadow, then a thin outline, then at the telephone number 2 outlines... lay off the effects...
-- Lack of legibility - Outlines - they make copy hard to read
-- Too crowded
-- Lacks rhythm and hierarchy
-- It's unfortunate that it's a red door, it will be easier playing with color choices once the layout is cleaned up

If it were me -
-- Make a design brief so you have a target to design too
-- Incorporate the design process - mostly, research...
-- Stop collaging like a sign shop - each element should have purpose and reason...
-- Be able to tell the client how and why you came up with it...
-- Do not use this layout in your portfolio...
-- If you are new to this, invest in sites like Skillshare and Lynda.com and magazines like Signcraft to learn the design process and what makes a good layout...

 

[HDvinyl]

I wish people would take advice.

 

[Johnny Best]

I agree with all suggestions given.

 

[visual800]

Ok, since you asked.

The fonts are horrible, all that shading is not necessary and is very confusing, its way too big, the tree is overpowering.
When I first look at this i have no idea what this company is or does.

Be simple, be clean this is not a time to be fancy. You want folks to be able to look at something quickly and figure out what it is.

 

[Marlene]

green and red together vibrate and there's no real contrast and is hard on the eyes. the phone number has way too many outlines that are dark and it thins out the yellow so it is hardly readable. too many flowing elements going on from the graphics to the fonts. I also agree with all that say it is way too big for that door. the tree is nice. the lawn looks kind of tacked on. I think the customer may not like it as there is no focal point and when you look at it, it is hard to decide where to look first.

 

[Gino]

So, you've seen many examples of various directions you could go. What else have you shown the customer, since you said you don't know where to go from your first picture. What all have you presented to this person, so we know what else he/she doesn't like ??

Usually, when someone commissions you to create a logo, you submit maybe 3 or 4 possibilities and go from there. You've only shown one choice so far, which all of us here agree with your customer..... doesn't quite cut it for lotsa reasons.


From elements, to spacing to color combinations, you just about broke all the rules so far. Let's see what else they rejected.

 

[JR's]

(Visual800) I really love your style. Makes me feel unworthy. LOL

 

[Marlene]

forgot to add, did you ask the right questions as to what the customer didn't like about the design? you said colors, but what past that?

 

[JR's]

Marlene has a good point. Sometimes it's easier for the customer or client to tell us what they don't like opposed to what they do like.

And what you don't want to hear is I don't really know what I want but when I see it I'll know it.

 

[Marlene]

Marlene has a good point. Sometimes it's easier for the customer or client to tell us what they don't like opposed to what they do like.

And what you don't want to hear is I don't really know what I want but when I see it I'll know it.

ugh, hate trying to work with those kinds of people. I would say 90% of a design is done by asking questions about the customer's business and who they sell to. some people waste time asking things like "what color do you like". who cares what color they like as it needs to sell to the person they sell to. one of the worst times I had with a design was with a customer that detailed out who he wanted to come to his café. he wanted people driving by, could be wearing shorts or jeans, real casual. what he wanted, and I could not talk him out of it, was a light pinkish colored sign with a super thin script in burgundy. the sign "said" expense, over priced, small amount of food, huge expensive wine list kind of place and make sure you are dressed in a jacket and tie. the place went out of business fast as the message was distorted with the look of the sign from what the customer said he wanted for patrons.

 

[TimToad]

This is a form I use to start the design process with clients. Its not the definitive guide to extracting what we need from clients to efficiently use their design budget, but is meant to be a decent starting point. I'm sure anyone could expand on it or add several questions to it I might have missed.

Not all clients are super articulate or able to easily verbalize their preferences, so having something they can take with them, think about, and fill out at their leisure takes some pressure off them and spurs them to really contemplate what their expectations and goals are.

 

[Gino]

ugh, hate trying to work with those kinds of people. I would say 90% of a design is done by asking questions about the customer's business and who they sell to. some people waste time asking things like "what color do you like". who cares what color they like as it needs to sell to the person they sell to. one of the worst times I had with a design was with a customer that detailed out who he wanted to come to his café. he wanted people driving by, could be wearing shorts or jeans, real casual. what he wanted, and I could not talk him out of it, was a light pinkish colored sign with a super thin script in burgundy. the sign "said" expense, over priced, small amount of food, huge expensive wine list kind of place and make sure you are dressed in a jacket and tie. the place went out of business fast as the message was distorted with the look of the sign from what the customer said he wanted for patrons.

Are we to presume this is your take on it and not what the sign really said ?? Sounds very stereotyped more than a professional conversation with a client.

 

[billsines]

Do they plant/take care of trees? If they only mow, which is the case with many lawn care places around here, you might consider taking the tree off.

 

[Johnny Best]

The guy drives in your shop and wants you t put a nice brand on his red truck doors. Sheesh! you guys talk him to death with your philosophy on business and layout, Toad gives him a medical history survey to fill out, come on, a quick rough and you get to work. No wonder the big discussion on minimum money on a job. You guys would take forever and all 99% of you are going to do is throw some type out there and put want he wants.
And please if I see another modern take on a tree or leaf that you saw on the internet I am going to puke.
But to tell the truth, this OP is not going to make a better layout no matter how much is said or shown. They might ask Visual800 what fonts he used and make them white to go over red. They won't use my idea because it is not a computer font or clipart that can be purchased for $49.99 this month on a special deal.
Just read where Uber is starting a lawn care business. Maybe even put snow plows on the front of their cars in winter. Just call when you have snow and they come right over.

 

[JR's]

Here is a rough take on your idea. Not much better.
Some different ideas for colors. I changed the yellow to a cream.
I have some burgundy's and apple green. Apple green might be a little too much but it does match your graphic.

The phone number I would put on the hood fender.
The secondary copy I would relocate it also.