Need feedback on logo

Question

This logo is for a company that makes research of color with multiple members of different nationalities.

The target marketing are scientist, designers, artist, psychologist, marketing professionals

The keywords I used as core were:
Professionals, multinacionality, color, research (knowledge) and community.

I decided to go with geometric shapes that convey order and precision.

I wanted to use circle shape for logo mark, thought I intend firstly to go just with letter mark type.

Font I decide to go with sans serifs that are innovation modern and universal uppercase to indicate power.

The color I decide to go with was blue that convey competence, knowledge, professionalism, and integrity.

The font chosen was century gothic based on future that is a geometric style, intensifying the order and precision.

The incorporated symbol of research given by the magnifying glass and the color, that ultimately means research of color, but also as the vast multinationality given by the circle by beeing the globe and the colors beeing the difrence of races since we all know different races different colors.

And AIC is the initials of the name of the company.

Their purpose:

is to develop a new visual identaty more younger and new that reflects a diversity of culture of their international members, and the wide scope of interest in science design and arts in theory and practical level.

The message they wanna convey is:

That color is an important and indispensable part of our everyday life and plays a role in science, design, and the arts, and that we want to bring the international color communities together through our organization

Answer 1

Please remember.. this is all merely my opinion.... It may come across a bit harsh or blunt, although that is not my intention in any way. Honestly, I am merely sharing because you asked and I wish to convey an honest opinion. You are asking for a critique on a design at a site populated by designers. It's assumed you are accustomed to some constructive criticism regarding your work.

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Overall, I think it comes across as a slightly dated 1980s mark. One you'd expect to see along side Apple's rainbow logo of the 80s, or Microsofts wavy multi-colored logo... or MTV's mark.

... it fits right in, in my opinion.

As for appealing to "designers, artist,..., marketing professionals" .. erm.. no.

It's static, using common iconography, and the type is entirely unimaginative. These are not things which appeal to most "designers, artists, or marketing professionals."

Now, on the flip side, I think it does come across as some "scientific" or "programming" mark for the exact same reasons.

It really could be a mark seen on the low-budget brand of monitors at the new computer store that just opened up down the street in 1984. At least that's my perception.

• I do NOT wish to offend anyone... It somewhat comes across as a "Grinder-like" app icon... find similar lifestyles.. that sort of thing. The rainbow today has a very different connotation to those of us in the United States than it did just 5/10 years ago. I don't know if that carries across to other countries.

  • If by "color" you mean to imply various skin tones related to regions around the world. The rainbow, to me, is entirely unrelated to such things in the modern world. Using more earth-tone or muted colors and less "rainbow-ish" colors may help move away from that.

  • If by "color" you mean actual color as seen and perceived on screen or press... then you should be limiting yourself to actual colors used — RGB or CMYK — not a rainbow.

• There's absolutely no recognition of any "globe". I mean zero. A "globe" would be the last thing I'd see if asked. Even when the intention is known, I still don't see any "globe".

• In today's world a magnifying glass infers searching/finding. Everywhere that uses a magnifying glass, it always refers to finding or searching. I can't recall any instance where a magnifying glass infers "research". The (exceptionally common) iconography usage doesn't support your intentions. "Research" imagery is more commonly a microscope or beakers or graphs/charts.

• There are a billion or more icons, logos, apps, etc. all using a magnifying glass for something. Just looking at my current screen as I type this, I see no less than 5 magnifying glass icons. Why would you want a mark with imagery that is so overused? Due to the overused imagery, the mark will probably never stand out as being unique or be remembered or have any lasting impact.

• The type is just.. drab. A sans-serif font set and forgotten. no interaction with the iconography, nothing anyone else couldn't create provided they have the same font on any computer.

If I saw the mark on its own, without any explanation.. I would assume it's related to some long-dead tech company from the 80s or for an app/website dedicated finding LGBTQ+ content of some kind.

Answer 2

It's quite difficult to answer critique questions since they are generally rather opinion based, but you've put in quite a bit of effort describing the ideas behind the logo, which is very helpful.

I think the design looks quite good as it stands. You've clearly put a lot of thought into what you want, and given good reasons as to why you created it the way you did. I would say you have succeeded for the most part.

What follows is personal opinion so feel free to completely ignore it. Perhaps a couple of minor tweaks could improve it. The handle of the magnifying glass looks a little wonky to me, so I'd fix that. The sharp corners used throughout the design give me more of an industrial vibe, rather than a people/community vibe. Maybe consider rounding them. I also feel the AIC is a little too big, and could be smaller and closer to the graphical elements.

Here's a very rough rework. I don't have the original font, so I used another for demonstration purposes.