New Makers Mark

S

Salolan

Joined
Feb 27, 2013
Messages
730
I know this topic gets brought up about every 30 minutes, but I'm looking for some input. I am continually striving to improve all aspects of my knife making. I am currently looking to improve or upgrade my mark. I am currently using an acronym of my name(CAJ) in the shape of a horse's head.
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I know just using a symbol has it's shortfalls and the tried and true, Name/City is common advice. My name is Chris Jones and with how common my name/surname is, I was looking to maintain a bit of originality by keeping my "brand" in the mark. Here are a couple variations on a mark idea I had.
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Is the Jones at least legible on any of these? Do you have a favorite, or any suggestions on how to tweak it to make it more so? Do I need to add city/state or am I just way overthinking this?:confused:

Thank you
Chris

PS I know a lot of us frequent the same multiple sites. Forgive me if you see this elsewhere.
 
Personally I like the first one and see the Jones without issue, but I KNOW your name is Jones already, you might test it on folks that don't know your last name. Looks good I think.
 
Leave your name behind as you update your horsehead theme. Subtle reminders of the initials in a more focused attempt at a horse head. Just my opinion.
 
Thank you for your opinions. I think I'm liking the lower case the best.
Pinecraft, I appreciate the input, though I think I'll maintain my current direction. My concern is if someone just sees one of my knives, how will the know to connect it to me, let alone find me.

Thanks again,
Chris
 
As a graphic designer, I love your mark. It's clever and it works, plus it's original. As for the name logo, the lower case works the best for me.
 
Neat. I like it....

I would include the name. And I agree on the lower case. Looks cleaner for some reason. Draws attention to the horse head....
 
Ok, to be honest, it is cute. So I googled Jones knifemaker. It did not lead me to you. Lots of Jones out there. I can see the c but not the a, think it is only a part of the design on first look. Maybe you will so famous that everyone will know it is you right off the bat eventually. Until then, make it easy for the person seeing it to know it is you and can find you. Sorry, for the frankness, it is just how I see it.
 
MT Borg said:
Ok, to be honest, it is cute. So I googled Jones knifemaker. It did not lead me to you. Lots of Jones out there. I can see the c but not the a, think it is only a part of the design on first look. Maybe you will so famous that everyone will know it is you right off the bat eventually. Until then, make it easy for the person seeing it to know it is you and can find you. Sorry, for the frankness, it is just how I see it.
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I agree here. I was blessed with a unique last name. And I kinda capitalised on the local Overmountain thing which is geographically significant and unique... I tried just a touch mark at first, and still use it on fab work some, but as someone here put it to me a couple of years ago, 'you can't search a mark.'

Maybe try the mark with 'C. A. Jones Knives' or something? The C and A could help it stand out possibly? Or if you're into horses and tack, (just guessing from the mark) maybe some reference there along with the name?

If you're getting into it to the point you're going to 'brand' yourself it doesn't hurt to do a trade name search and see what's out there similar to yourself.

Once you get to the level of some of our esteemed colleagues here you can mark a knife with a semicolon and people will know who you are. After all, Bob Loveless saw it necessary to put a ton of info and a naked lady on his blades... And he's probably one of the most recognized names in the game...

-Eric
 
MT Borg said:
Ok, to be honest, it is cute. So I googled Jones knifemaker. It did not lead me to you. Lots of Jones out there. I can see the c but not the a, think it is only a part of the design on first look. Maybe you will so famous that everyone will know it is you right off the bat eventually. Until then, make it easy for the person seeing it to know it is you and can find you. Sorry, for the frankness, it is just how I see it.
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I wouldn't expect you to easily find any novice knife maker with well less than 100 blades made and no website with just a simple search. Let alone anyone with name commonality such as mine. Just a quick check of the whitepages and there are 100 matches to my name just in my lightly populated state. I know of a pro baseball player, a pro football player and even a former college basketball player(who seems to be in a bit of trouble) all bearing my name.

I completely agree with the touchmark not being searchable, which is a good part of my reasoning for changing. I would like to continue to include it in my logo but who knows. Maybe I should just do the name/city/state and forget the mark but I don't want to. I even considered adding city/state below the lower case logo shown above or even using a mark identical to the one I had made for my leather work.
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I do like the lower case logo, but I'm still undecided.

Thank you all for your input. Whether it seems it or not, I am considering and appreciate all advice offered.

Chris

PS It's good to see you hanging out around here again Eric!
 
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Wow, I didn't notice it was a horse until I read that it was, that's very creative! Please don't take this as saying what you have right now is no good, but I just wanted to play around on corel psp for a few minutes because I thought it was a such cool idea that you could really build upon and/or refine. So I messed around for 5-10 minutes and made this using your original idea. Love it or Hate it, doesn't matter, but it may give you an idea or two.. I know it's always nice to see they way other people interpret symbols etc since one person may see something completely different than the other.. yada yada etc.. lol anyway so here ya go.. :)



~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
I've been struggling with coming up with a touchmark for awhile. To me, there is such a thing as too much just like there's such a thing as not enough. The problem is finding that balance.

The horsehead design means what? Do you do a lot of horse-related work? Make a lot of horse-related knives? Are you a farrier or hunting guide? What's the story behind choosing a horse head to hide your initials in? Without reading the text, I immediately saw a horse head and was able to find your initials once you told us what they were, but I was left with something of a mystery as to why you chose a horse for your logo. If your shop's name was "Slow Donkey Knife Works", I could see the use of an equine noggin to creatively showcase your personal initials.

Also, putting "knife", "knives", "bladesmith" and similar on your work is just about as dumb a thing as I can think about. I don't care who has done it in the past, I just absolutely refuse to buy a knife that has that etched into it. What, did you think I wouldn't pick up on the fact that you're a knife maker when I was looking over the knives you've made? I particularly like it when someone puts 'bladesmith' on there and then gets that lost-in-space look when I ask them who make the handle. After all, a bladesmith makes blades, not necessarily complete knives. Huge pet peeve of mine.

I think Rick Marchand has the right idea with his combo of stylized touchmark and actual name on the pieces he makes. The touchmark becomes the logo and would look nice on a bumper sticker or ball cap without seeming like a blatant advertisement. And anyone that was interested could do a name search and quickly match his mark to his name. Something like "C Jones" on one side of the blade, and the Horse Head on the other. Or side-by-side.

As for the fonts and such, I would always opt to go with the most professional, proper design possible. Hokey, primitive, rustic, goth.... anything that's cool today will be a passing fad and you don't want that for a logo. A timeless classic is just that. Keep it classy and folks will have a positive first impression.

My two cents. Thanks for listening.
 
VaughnT said:
I've been struggling with coming up with a touchmark for awhile. To me, there is such a thing as too much just like there's such a thing as not enough. The problem is finding that balance.
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This is where I am, and why I am here garnering opinions from those I respect.

I came up with the horse head as my "logo" nearly 15 years ago. Well over a decade before I started making knives (I started trying roughly 2 1/2 years ago). I just felt it was a unique way to "sign" anything I had done or made. As for why it is a horse? I grew up in an extremely small town and nearly every day was spent horseback. To this day I still have horses and just have always felt that as part of my identity.

CSB, I appreciate the thought. However, I'm not really interested in changing the styling of the touchmark. If I was only interested in a touchmark, I would just continue to use it as is. I want to improve how searchable my logo is, while hopefully maintaining a balance as VaughT mentioned.

Thank you,
Chris
 
Salolan said:
PS It's good to see you hanging out around here again Eric!
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Thanks Chris! I have finally cleared out some free time and shop time again. Tired of just lurking from time to time and figure I'll get back in the fray if yall will have me... Lol.

I definitely like the mark, and hate that you mention ditching it. How is it ever going to become synonymous with your name/brand if you aren't including it in some way on your work now? You can promote your work with a name/city/state anywhere you choose. Having the mark then visible somewhere on your work will tie the two together. You don't need a website to get it out there either. Pintrest and Facebook photos of people's work here and elsewhere gets spread like wildfire.

Ultimately the goal of having a mark like that is for when that time comes that you are a recognized maker of some distinction, you can mark your blades with that alone, right? Take Burt Fosters logo for example. He now just uses his initials with 'M.S.' and '09.' (The year he became an ABS MS obviously.) But people know instantly it is his work. Eventually someone will be able to get on the handy dandy search function here and query 'horse head initial maker mark' etc and be led straight to you. So keep it and promote with it.

Cheers.

-Eric
 
Salolan said:
CSB, I appreciate the thought. However, I'm not really interested in changing the styling of the touchmark. If I was only interested in a touchmark, I would just continue to use it as is. I want to improve how searchable my logo is, while hopefully maintaining a balance as VaughT mentioned.

Thank you,
Chris
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I hear ya man. Heck I've been at this (not daily, otherwise I'd be much better than I am :D ) for 5 years now and still can't think of a name, brand or logo etc. I think I'll just go with my first initial than last name in a "signature" look, although since I SUCK at consistency when signing my name, engraving would most likely be out of the question lol.. so I think I'd just get a stencil made in a nice "sig" type font. That's why I posted that interpretation of your logo above, incase you were thinking of getting a stencil made of it for etching, I like yours alot, but IMHO I think it's a bit rough around the edges so to speak, so when you a add words around it i using a clean (typed out) font, it makes it stand out more. Just a something to take into consideration, or not.. ;)



LucyCustomKnives said:
Ultimately the goal of having a mark like that is for when that time comes that you are a recognized maker of some distinction, you can mark your blades with that alone, right? Take Burt Fosters logo for example. He now just uses his initials with 'M.S.' and '09.' (The year he became an ABS MS obviously.) But people know instantly it is his work. Eventually someone will be able to get on the handy dandy search function here and query 'horse head initial maker mark' etc and be led straight to you. So keep it and promote with it.

Cheers.

-Eric
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Don't forget about Don Hanson III's sunfish logo! I love that fishy logo! :D

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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lol I already have stencils made of my "old" logo, but yes, I am looking to get new ones made.

Chris
 
Salolan said:
lol I already have stencils made of my "old" logo, but yes, I am looking to get new ones made.

Chris
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Woops! lol sorry man, I really am not trying to say anything bad about what you have, just trying to give an outside point of view. I wasn't sure whether or not you freehanded it on your blade using nail polish as a resist then scatched it in..? :foot: Again, sorry if I came across the wrong way, was NOT my intention! FWIW all I did to do the make the one above was use different letters of different fonts, using a C and some V's and L's in upper or lowcase and just rotated them and/or streched then in one direction or another.. maybe you can do that to keep the same exact shape as your original so it has smooth flowing lines.. anyway, I just go ahead an shut up :foot: :o

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
Salolan said:
I came up with the horse head as my "logo" nearly 15 years ago. Well over a decade before I started making knives (I started trying roughly 2 1/2 years ago). I just felt it was a unique way to "sign" anything I had done or made. As for why it is a horse? I grew up in an extremely small town and nearly every day was spent horseback. To this day I still have horses and just have always felt that as part of my identity.
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That's the important part and something you need to incorporate into your marketing. People buy the story every bit as much as they buy the product. They want to feel a connection to the person they're buying from, and including that story (add a bit more) humanizes you and your product.

Definitely keep the logo. Don't worry so much about incorporating it into the rest of your name. Rick Marchand of Wilder Tools fame did a masterful job of incorporating his stylized logo alongside his name and it looks very professional/artsy/hip. I particularly like the idea of putting the logo and name on different sides of the blade so it doesn't get too billboard-y.
 
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