Fonts & Such
Something to remember with fonts. People spend a long, long time developing them. They go for balance, trends, and readability. Some graphic designers cringe when they see people streching and curving fonts. With Fonts I am a big fan of using Futura because it looks great and is extremely clean.
Another thing with logos is using shapes or something that represents your business without being too cliche. H&R Block uses a big green square because block is in the name, and green symbolizes gain with money. Its simple but nobody else really uses it so its not cliche.
My business Kiwi Sun Photography has an outline of a kiwi in a circle and the business name is in the primary colors Red Yellow and Blue. The text has difference sizes but I feel is balanced by the vividness of certain colors. My secondary logo is more simple and only has 2 colors.
I agree that outlines are not good with logos. As a printer, I feel that gradients and dropshadows are also bad unless they are unique to the business.