Bare Naked App

Well, we promised Bare Naked App would be a warts-and-all blog, so why stop now?

We just got the letter through about our trademark application and it didn’t get approved. Argh. Argh. Arrrrrgh.

So what does this mean? Well, we’ve set up a meeting to appeal the decision and try to convince them our trademark isn’t like the others. It’s so frustrating as Amigo is nothing like the other trademarks. It’s crazy - there is one category for “computer software”. What?!

Gotta keep reminding myself: “If it was easy, everyone would do it.”

By the way, if there are any good trademark lawyers reading this, please get in touch. We might need your help.

I’ve been getting some emails with questions about my process for logos and layouts, so I thought I would post some of them here with my answers:

How long do you sketch before moving to the computer?
Well, the short answer is: as long as it takes. I have strong opinions about hopping on to the computer too soon, but, that is because I am very observant of my work habits and understand what works for me. It’s different for everyone, but I find that when I start moving stuff around on screen without having a solid idea, I end up losing sight of the concept. What it comes down to for me is: the computer is a precise tool and my sketchbook is an imprecise tool. By using an imprecise tool first, it allows me to get my brain working on the idea rather than my hands working on the execution. It’s a cart-before-the-horse situation.

In the case of Amigo, I did something I rarely do: I showed the Carsons (the “client”) my sketches. This doesn’t work for everyone, and you really have to get that sorta gut feeling about a client. Some clients get really freaked out by seeing just sketches, and no amount of explaining that they are roughs will quell them. I knew I could show the Carsons my initial ideas and have them understand that I wasn’t showing them final ideas. They realized that they were actually getting the better end of the deal: more ideas to choose from up front.

What’s your next step after sketches/what programs do you use?
After I am done sketching, I jump into Adobe Illustrator. I know a lot of people who have a terrible fear of Illustrator, which is a shame, because it’s a very powerful and useful program. “Why not Photoshop?,” you might ask. Well, Photoshop is a damn fine program too, but I don’t like it for logo work (unless there is something concerning the logo that Photoshop inherently does better, eg. anything dealing with photography manipulation). I learned Illustrator before Photoshop, so that may have something to do with it, but Illustrator feels very fast for fleshing out my ideas, especially for heavy shape editing or color and font play. What’s more, I think it’s extremely important to create a vector version of your logo so that you aren’t tied to specific resolutions or dimensions; you can quickly edit and be on your merry way.

What kind of sketchbook do you use?
Well, yes, it’s trendy, but I use a Moleskine Sketchbook. The binding is durable, I really like the paper quality, and it’s just the right size. Say what you will, but when you find a sketchbook you like, you stick with it.

Well, those were the most common ones I got, if you have any others, feel free to fire away in the comments.

I’ve been putting this off because it’s one of those really boring paper work things (yuck). Once I finally did it though, it proved to be very easy (took me about one hour). Here’s the steps I took:

1. Searched the trademark database for similar items (we’re good, phew!)
2. Downloaded the TM3 form
3. Printed out our logo and taped it to the correct place
4. Filled out the form
5. Chose category 9 and 42 as they applied to Amigo
6. Signed it
7. Wrote a cheque for £250
8. Sent it off!

Hooray! Now we just hold our breath and hope we get it. If we don’t it means we have to start over with the logo and branding. Not good considering we’re launching soon.

Click the header to watch the video clip.

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Now that we are happy with the basic concept of the logo it’s time to work on the colours and fonts/text etc. This is what Jason said:

After exploring some more type options I realized that my problem wasn’t with the type so much as the “G” specifically. While I did try a bunch of other type choices, I didn’t think that any of them were nearly as strong or as simple. So, instead I just ended up redrawing the “G” to read better (especially at small sizes) and look nicer all around.

After that I whipped up some colour combos. I think there are some really strong color choices here. All of these are striking and don’t bring to mind petrol signs anymore. Even though these are more colorful than the original ones, they still retain that simplicity due to the basic shapes and smooth type being used.

There are certain ones that really stand out for us (the yellow, orange, and blue coloured ones). We realised that we want the emphasis to be on the word ‘Amigo’ not on the smiley face and those three do that. We ask Jason to work up the blue one with some variations on secondary colours.

We did have one other concern. That because of the capital ‘G’ people might read it as ‘Ami Go’ instead of Amigo. Jason has agreed to fine tune the ones we chose so we’ll see what he comes back with!

Okay so we had a chat with Jason and he managed to convince us that this logo was the way forward. In his words:

This smiley gets the imagination going a bit more. I know we have been referring to it as a smiley, but when it’s not around all of the other similar logos, it begins to be more abstract. Not to the point where you would miss seeing a smiling face, but it isn’t hitting you over the head. There is something about the stark simplicity of this one that is most striking. The other thing is I think the smiley does is convey friendliness and simplicity very well. It also helps to illustrate and reinforce the name by implying there is a face (an amigo) behind this service.

We’re sold - where do we sign?

When you are not a designer making decisions on design work is ’so’ difficult. You may like a certain design, or combination of colours but does that mean that it’s good, right or even relevant for your app? You need to use other criteria to make your decision.

This is where your initial list of ‘words that are associated with your app’ really come into their own. If you know how you want your app to make people feel then your logo should be doing that from day one. If you remember the words were.

• Simple
• Professional yet friendly
• Approachable
• It’s easy, not complex
• A service for everyone

The smiley does that perfectly. Not only that but it’s intelligent, doesn’t look like anything else out there, and is inviting.

We’ve learned that it’s good to listen to your designer. You chose him or her for a reason and they are the professionals here so let them do their job. You can agree or disagree but respect their opinion - they’re usually right!

Firstly, we were drawn towards the yellow billboard logo becuase its yellow and black colours are so striking. It’s easy to read and it stands out on the page. We think the lights above the billboard need some work as some people may not realise that they are indeed lights.

The smiley faces on the other hand we felt were a little too dumbed down (colourwise mostly) and they might get lost on the page. Also the ones on the far left felt too much like maybe a petrol (gas) station sign to really give that friendly look (that’s the petrol station logo designers fault not Jason’s). And the smiley face coupled with the word Amigo makes you think it’s social software (which it’s not).

We also had an interesting discussion about being careful ‘not to look like other web apps’. I’m not sure whether this is even relevant, because after all if the logo is a good one; it catches people’s eye, makes them feel the way we want them to feel and encourages respect for our product then who cares if it looks just like the Flickr logo. Right?

Well, that should be the case but the web industry is a pretty tight place and sometimes respect comes from doing something ‘new’ and not to be seen to be ‘copying’ others. Right!

There is definitely a need to ’stand out from the crowd’ purely because there are so many new web apps emerging right now. I think this is where the smiley faces come into their own. They are definitely different. Which means that we are leaning towards them - maybe purely for their ‘differentness’ (made-up word, don’t repeat).

But is that because we are children of the industry and being different is what’s required? In truth we think that the yellow billboard (although you could argue a tad predictable) is the best logo there. Oh the decisions!

We asked Jason to work up the two logos that we liked (the tiny billboard and the smiley face). And these are the visuals he sent back. With these comments.

One of the things I really tried to latch onto from the questions I asked you was the idea of friendliness and approachability. I wanted these logos to really feel like a handshake. Very kind, and colorful.

These logos are obviously much tighter than the sketches, but don’t feel like you need to pick just one look and go with it. These aren’t set in stone. Colors and arrangements can change. What we are looking for here is the right feel for a logo. Refer back to your list and see how these compare with what you set out for what Amigo should be.
I really tried to boil these down to their most basic forms, giving the impression of ease of use and simplicity.

First up, the billboard. This is just a basic progression from the logo. I love that it conveys the idea simply. I also included just the basic type treatment apart from the billboard.

Next, the smiley. I tried moving forward with it from the sketch, first a pretty direct interpretation.

Then, I tried to make it a bit more fun and abstract the smile a bit. This turned out pretty well, because it make for a very strong logo that is less overt about the smile. As you can see on the lower left, it also reduces to a very nice iconic form suitable for small usage and branding. Very simple and memorable.

I then took it one step further by playing up the type and name a bit more. Still powerful and iconic, the smile is even further abstracted.

Click the header to watch the video clip.

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Jason sent through some initial sketches for the logo. They’re great. We’re still thinking about which ones we think we like. Up to now we like the tiny ‘roadside’ billboard-esqe logo in the far top left and the smiley face in the bottom right. Next step is to ask Jason to work up these two logos.