• I am actively looking for critiques
Big Sweater Graphic Design
by volfro
My personal logo.

My last name roughly translates from Italian as "big sweater", thus the business name.

I wanted something that looked classic and mature, being a young designer catering to a much older audience (thus the brown, slab serif, and simple shapes), as well as something that suggested an ability to follow trends (orange/argyle, the newness of a folded sweater on the shelf). I also wanted to convey the image of a folded sweater without really drawing one, and this came out.

Looking for any critique/suggestion anybody can give me. Thanks for viewing my first LogoPond upload!
Number of views: 5109
Dated Submitted: Dec. 27 '06
Added to Gallery: Jan. 01 '07

Dec. 27 '06

volfro said:

Any/all feedback welcome, folks. :)

Dec. 28 '06

Darrel said:

Corny. But in a good way. ;o)

It looks good. The type might be a bit too small in relation to the mark. Maybe try one where the sweater is much smaller and floating above the type.

Another random idea that may or may not work: put the type on a tag and attach that to the sweater.

Dec. 28 '06

byzogiz said:

The more I look at it, the more I like the Burger-Kingy schtic of it all. It's as simple as a late 60's racing or mechanic's logo, and the sweater is indeed big and the logo balanced which suggests, well, design.

I'd consider moving away from primitives and building something with a little more fun and life to it.

Of course, you know that already.

Dec. 28 '06

volfro said:

Ahh, feedback, I bask in your glory.

Darrel, thanks!

But doesn't a smaller sweater (and a small sweater relative to the gigantic type-laden tag) contradict the name, though?

I actually considered the idea of having the tag attached, and one of my brainstorms had the tag as its own logo (going with the whole newness idea). I'll keep messing with it and let you know.

byzo, thanks! First compliment you've given my logo work, y'bastid.

Dec. 29 '06

WetDog said:

I dig the name. I wonder what in the heck my last name translates to from Hungarian. Proabably something like Big Dork. Nice work Mister Big Sweater.

Dec. 30 '06

volfro said:

Heh. Thanks. Hopefully people who need websites like it too. :)

It's funny, I got an e-mail recently from a person who stumbled upon my site, saying that "Maglione" actually translates into something like "coat of chain mail", but I think she was wrong. Babelfish spits out "sweater" when I type the name in.

Jan. 02 '07

jonni said:

Hey volfro. Just a few comments.

I like Maglione better then Big Sweater. And it makes a good brain teaser when people see your name and the sweater in a logo.

Something bothering me though, with the logo. Maybe the pattern is a little bit to big?

Have you tried putting your name and company inside the sweater?

Another idea would be to shaft the whole simple 2 color idea and do a photo realistic logo where you use a colorful whoolen sweater with the company name emroded in the sweater. Yes! I see it now :D

Jan. 02 '07

luis castanon said:

I am swinging towards agreeing with Darrel in the mark feeling a little TOO big for the typographic treatment. I dont know, i'd have to see it at a smaller scale probably. I have no problem with the colors, i think the design of the sweater is retroish and so the colors seem fitting and carefully evaluated.

Something bugging me is the slight text size variation in the typographic treatment. I agree that they should be different sizes with the big sweater part gathering more attention.
However Big Sweater is only slightly larger in font size than graphic design and it is sort of in that zone where its not enough point sizes to feel purposely larger to make a point. I'm not sure if I explained that right.

Something you could try is a thinner typeface for 'graphic design', in the sweater you have the solid diamonds with the thin outlined ones so it may not be a stretch to have the big chunk font for big sweater and then a thinner cleaner font that is relatively close in family for the part that says graphic design.
The block front in smaller sized text with alot of letters becomes a little muddy on the eyes.

Nice Work.

Jan. 02 '07

volfro said:

Jonni: Thanks! I wanted to keep this particular version of the logo very simple--two colors, flat, easily reproduced. However, I had a similar idea to yours--wool w/ embroidery--and I plan on doing things like that with promotional materials, website comps, etc. Which is part of the purpose of keeping it simple: it's quite versatile.

As for your suggestion about Maglione: I don't entirely disagree. BUT, I've gone my entire life with people really, really mispronouncing my name, especially here in the Southeast. Big Sweater is easy to pronounce and easy to remember.

Luis: Thanks for your suggestions! I agree with you about the type. I'll keep messing with it and upload the update. Got a couple of ideas to play with (including your suggestion to take the weight down in 'graphic design').

Thanks for the feedback everybody! I'll be uploading an updated version soon.

Jan. 03 '07

shaneg said:

I like it, it looks good, and I am enjoying the colors

Jan. 04 '07

bazizi said:

this is a design company logo?? really?? so it's not a sweatshop?

Jan. 04 '07

volfro said:

I don't intend to employ any foreign children for a few dollars a day...at least not yet.

Jan. 05 '07

volfro said:

Updated. Subtle changes.

The hollow argyle diamonds now have a smaller stroke size.

The font is Rockwell Extra Bold and Rockwell Regular. Before it was Memphis. I like the weight of Rockwell a little better, and as suggested, switched to the lighter weight font for "graphic design" to de-muddy things. I like the change. I tweaked the kerning a bit too.

Oh, and added a cheesy background.

Jan. 08 '07

byzogiz said:

Nice. Now THAT'S presentation. You've made a believer out of me. And, all it needed was a sunburst and a little font work.

Awesome.

Makes me want a burger.

Oct. 05 '07

erikatwebologist said:

Great idea. I think the sweater could be made just a little bit smaller, but not by much. I think this will really appeal to your target audience

Oct. 11 '07

Postmodern said:

I think the mark is smart. I don't think the type should be any smaller or larger in relationship to thee Sweater. I think the type (size) treatment lends itself to being able to use the sweater mark sucessfully without the type , similar to the way Nike uses the Swish icon. When you see the Swish icon you know it's Nike, similarly, with repetitous use, your audiance/clients will know Big Sweater without using the typemark below the logomark.

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