Logo Options

blgoode

blgoode

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Messages
7,147
Okay....I have simplified the feather version to be stencil friendly.
The last version lost detail in my stencil making process....

Let me know wich you guys like better......

this one.....
 
this is just a simple option.....I dont think I liek it but thought I'd post it anyway......
 
blgoode said:
Okay....I have simplified the feather version to be stencil friendly.
The last version lost detail in my stencil making process....

Let me know wich you guys like better......

this one.....
Click to expand...
nothing wrong with that I like it. ONE But!
some would agree, some not but,
I'd put something for a contact on there too.
if it leads to a new sale it's only a plus for you,
like it or not advertising works
how long will your knives be around to work for you? :)
 
I like the feather the best too. What type of contact info do you use?

What type of knife how to book would you recomend for bolster/ guard learning...fittings I guess?
 
What type of knife how to book would you recomend for bolster/ guard learning...fittings I guess?
Click to expand...


I use my Domain
www.GrayKnives.com

it will be with me no matter were I go in the world even if I move.

I haven't bought many books on the subject
but right here is a great place to find out most anything you want to know.
the Archives should lead you to many answers
you'll fine many places from here to find answers
http://www.knivesby.com/knifemaking.html
if not with in there from the links.
like
http://www.customknifedirectory.com/CKD_TutorialFrameset.htm
learning to fit is the key
 
Thanks dan...printed out the mortase tang info......!
 
While I am not a knifemaker, I do have 25+ years in advertising art and design.
My most 'famous' logo design was for the NJ Lottery's Winner Wonderland game. So much for my credentials.

Your logo with the feather is quite good. Not just another name, a name with a symbol to relate to it. Personally I would lose the 'NC' It only ads confusion. (No Charge?) Now I have to stop and think ;)
Logos should be recognized before they are actually read. That's where the feather comes in.
As far as contact information...
As long as your website and brochure all have the same name (& logo, it's all about branding) you shouldn't need it on your knife. If someone wants to find you, they'll be able to. No need to turn your art into a billboard.

Now this is not a slam on Mr Gray. Opinions are like noses...we all have one.
Whatever works for you ;)
 
Ebbtide said:
While I am not a knifemaker, I do have 25+ years in advertising art and design.
My most 'famous' logo design was for the NJ Lottery's Winner Wonderland game. So much for my credentials.

Your logo with the feather is quite good. Not just another name,
a name with a symbol to relate to it. Personally I would lose the 'NC' It only ads confusion. (No Charge?) Now I have to stop and think ;)
Logos should be recognized before they are actually read. That's where the feather comes in.
As far as contact information...
As long as your website and brochure all have the same name (& logo, it's all about branding) you shouldn't need it on your knife. If someone wants to find you, they'll be able to. No need to turn your art into a billboard.

Now this is not a slam on Mr Gray. Opinions are like noses...we all have one.
Whatever works for you ;)
Click to expand...

I have no problem with that and understand fully, it's what makes
the world go around,
but I've found out in the last 25 plus years that advertising cost money,
word of mouth is the best and cheapest, on these very forums we've all seen
people ask (do you know who's logo this Is? ) this is a small group
compared to the big knife world out there. any advertising is good if it works.
it doesn't have to be a bill board.
in my thinking, if a guy gives one of my knives to a friend
and ten years down the road the hunting buddy likes it
they don't have to guess who it came from, that knife is your
advertisement when the money isn't any longer,,
and I might say a real inexpensive one too if you look at it like that.
I just started putting my name on mine 7 or 8 years ago.
and I'm not what you'd call a super star in knives by a lonnnng
shot and the knives I've
made before if handed down or resold how will they find me?
how would they know?
just my reasoning and why I do it now..and I'm a lot happier now too :)
we all are trying to be known, why not try to be known any way we can.

I put my picture up here to see, if I didn't would you recognize me in a crowd?
well maybe not some people, but some will believe me..

would someone dump a paid advertisement two weeks before it
runs out if he is trying to sell knives?
why dump advertisements 50 plus years before you have to? :(
 
blgoode

I like the one with the feather, its something different. When i started making knives i just stamp my last name. But i notice alot of people asking about a knives, Not knowing who made then. So i came up with something that i think would work. Its the outline of the state of Ky, with FINCH inside and a dot were West LIberty is located. I have had good comments about it.


Ricky D. Finch
 
YEah, Ricky, I like the feather the best. I am part Cherokee and by birth animal is a red hawk so......there you go. Plus I think a feather has alot of mystery. A feather has a very unknown past but somehow it wound up at your feet......


okay :D :D :D enough
 
My vote is for the top one as well. The feather adds a certain "life" to it, kind of makes it look more alive. I don't know that's just what I think, I think???

Sean
 
Dan, I hear you...but...
Phone #'s change, you may move to a different state (back to the "NC"), your web domain could change and if any of those things occur, you have misleading information out there. Your name won't change.
Personally, IMHO, your name on your work should be enough. Add a graphic device (like the feather) to make it more memorable. I don't think a graphic device on it's own is a good idea. There is a knifemaker (Crowell?) who marks his knives with a shooting star. Great knives but I had to ask who made it. Or read the caption in the magazine. If I found the knife at an estate sale, with no one to ask, I'd never know who made it. 25 years from now...who knows?

Contact info (and your logo *branding* )should be on your bill of sale, the couple of business cards and the Certificate of Authenticity that you included when you shipped the knife.
Also you should be a member of the major organizations (guild, ABS etc). This is where someone will look you up 20 years from now.
As far as 20 years down the line goes, if you keep pumping out great work, and each is a little better than the last, and if you remember your branding (don't change logos like you change underwear) the recognition will come to you. You will be find-able, reach-able and your reputation should preceed you.

The following are my personal thoughts, not advertising true-isms. And I may be just a bit jaded by my occupation.
Again, not a slam. Food for thought if you will.
I'm sorry but I don't want my possesions to be a billboard for who ever made them. I told the dealer not to put his sticker on my new car. If he wants me to advertise for him, he's got to pay. Heaven knows it sez Dodge everwhere!
Dodge made the car, not the dealer.
I will not pay for a 'feed cap' I may wear it if I got it for free, like my bass pro hat but I will not pay (but the hat) to advertise for BPS.
A blade made by BillyBob should by all means have his name on it. Heck he made it. But that doesn't mean that I want his phone number, address, website and shoe size on it. I shopped around, picked carefully & paid my hard earned cash, and will be glad to tell you all about it.
If I were king all knives would just have the maker's name/logo on the ricasso, large enough to be legible and small enough so that it doesn't interfere with the flow of the design. But that's me...the guy that doesn't even like the decorative etches on my factory slip joints!
Enough from me, I hope I haven't stepped on any toes or done this
:footinmou

Oh, one more thing...what if bgoode put the type on top of the feather?
The bottom of the feather would show as it does now, the base line of the type just above the center of the feather. It would look like the name is sitting on the feather, as opposed to 2 separate elements.
Just a thought. :D
 
:p nothing on my toes. :) just different points of view..lets look at it this way.
I would not ever recomend phone #S and such..never...
sure#numbers addys ecct change yes they do

speaking for myself
my name I put on my knives is my name and business
with the .com
as cheap as domains are now it will be with me as long as I live and it will go anywhere I go.

I agree with most of what you say but obviously not all.
I felt the same way as you when the boys were growing up

Nike was a big one among others,they all had to have it. :grumpy:
and pay for the right to wear the names :grumpy:

but you know it worked, those guys spent a lot of money, to know how to advertise,
do you wear levis or other jeans with the company name.
maybe not but for every one that doesn't there is a thousand + that do.
it's just fact...
If I'm asked to leave the name off sure no problem but it will be somewhere
seen or not..the rest of my knives will be working for me for years to come.
go into the car business and sell cars without your name on them
I will guarantee, you will lose sales that way..yes you could have
a reputation in knives but not everyone is that far into knives
by your own admission,
but those 100 thousand + ++ still use them and buy them. I want these people too.. ;)
 
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