Critique - a logo for a cat-friendly coffee shop

Question

This logo was created for a school project, with a briefing of creating a logo for a coffee shop in Australia (Perth), that would be innovative and new, friendly and attractive for a new generation. We had a flexible brief, so I chose to do a "Neko Cafe", to appeal to modern trends and younger audience.

I chose a cat mascot as it stands for: independence, unpredictability, curiosity, magic, mystery, cleverness, seeing the unseen. In some cultures the cat is also representing of love, lasting happiness and youthful joy, and getting your wish fulfilled.

I have chosen pastel colours to make the logo more family-friendly and inviting.

This is my first project on creating a logo and I'm interested in hearing a feedback. More specifically on following points:

• Are there mistakes in terms of elements and composition?
• Does this resonate with the target audience?
• What I could have done better?

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Answer 1

In my opinion the main problem with your logo is that there are colours in your design which are out of gamut for CMYK printing - so if you need to use it in printed documents, the colours will never look the same.

Here is what a quick conversion to CMYK would look like. Essentially this is what your logo will look like when printed.

The difference compared to your original is rather extreme. The colours don't convert well at all, and just look muddy.

This is you original image for comparison

If you choose some new colours like these shown below, they will work well in both print and on the web.

Also I think the lines and curves need to be tidied up, unless you are going for a slightly wonky amateurish look deliberately. In my opinion it needs a bit of spit and polish.

Answer 2

I agree with some points in other comments regarding the minor details of the construction of the coffee cup: the design falls somewhere between realistic and abstract, so I think you need to commit to one more than the other, even if it's just tweaking the odd shapes of the cup as mentioned by others. For more realism, think about about wrapping the name onto the cup, instead of having it float there horizontally in front of it. Adobe Illustrator has tools that can do this.

More important, IMO, is the color scheme. I understand your desire to make it more family-friendly, but I feel like you need to explore color options a little more. If you want to stick with the brighter color palette, a couple of well-known brands that use this style are Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin Robbins:

As you can see, they both use a bright pink combined with a second color, but they are both not quite as glaring as the colors you've chosen. Also, I feel that a shade of brown as a third color could work, as coffee is your company's main product.

Of course, you could go another route and use more earth tones, which is more common in the coffee-shop industry:

Google "coffee shop logos"

Lastly, think about how the logo will look when reduced down to a much smaller size (stitched on employees' hats/shirts? Used in a small advertisement?)... Will the name be visible enough? Maybe present a secondary version of the logo with the name larger, outside the cat/cup artwork.

Overall, it's a cute concept, I think with a little more work it could end up being a strong logo!

Answer 3

I think it's a cute design and it looks like it represents a coffeeshop I would like to visit.

I have a few points that I would personally change. The cup has some odd shapes, if you make these more even and shape them a little better the overall logo is a little easier on the eyes and it can have a little more realistic look. For example, the bottom of the cup is not round, it has a bit of an egg shape. And the ear of the cup is thinner on the bottom than it is on the top.

Colorwise I really like the pastels but I would suggest combining it with some neutral colors as well. Pick either the cat or the cup to do in pastel, go with more natural colors for the other. Again this will be a little easier on the eyes.

Furthermore, I completely disagree with Mariusz's comment on the cat in the cup. The cat in the cup is adorable and a wide spread 'thing' on the internet. I would for sure leave it in the cup as I think it does fit very well with the target group you chose.

Answer 4

In my opinion Your logo is very joyful. I like it very much. But i'm affraid about colors which You used.

As in the first answer I think they are too bright. And I'm thinking about any "comercial eqipment" as visitcards, logo over the entrance... With much of sunlight it could be little bit unvisible. And sunlight could make these colors brither, so the logo could dispapear in a short time.

Other thing for me is cat sitting in a cup. I wouldn't like to drink a coffee from cup where the cat was sitting. Please don't be angry with my feedback. I like cats, I have one at home and believe me I know what is he doing :) Of course cats are rather clean animals, but not clean as we, people.

But about the project I like this form. It could be very relevant form for example as logo toys producer. It is very friendly and it has much of peace. I feel that You put to this project a part of Your personality, a part of Your heart. So think about colors and make next projects. Good luck and never give up.