I've been playing around with simple logo ideas for weeks now. I finally came up with something I really liked, and my husband walks in, takes one glance and says..." THAT'S the Aadobe Acrobat logo!"

I was crushed! Of course he's right, but even if it was subliminal, it wasn't intentional. I argued that
1. Acrobat logo is different now...the similarity is to their old logo
2. Only photogs and computer geeks knew that logo anyway
3. Acrobat logo is a bit different and recognised by the red and white
4. I didn't MEAN to copy it, so surely that makes it OK ....ha ha ha
5. but I really like it!!!!
6. I can't help it if both our names start with 'A'

He laughed at me and said I could try to justify it any way I like...it's still a rip-off!

So what do you guys think? honestly! (did I mention that I really like it!)

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BTW it's only hand drawn (moused) so keep in mind it still needs some work on the shape....

Annie

I saw it and went..ohhh nooo. I was bummed because I can image you tweaking and reworking to get it just right...only to realize it's so similar. It's pretty close. Not exactly, though. You should still be proud!
-Eddie

Yup. Too much like Acrobat. And anyone who has a computer and looks at pdf files (most everyone in this country) will have seen the logo on their desktop.

It is pretty cool, but you probably want to change it. I'm sure they wouldn't come after you, but still, I would change it.

Now, why am I thinking "George Harrison" right now?

Adam...thanks for your honesty.
Eddie....thanks for feeling my pain! ha ha ha


Oh well, back to the drawing board I guess. Though I'll probably mooch and sulk and not touch it again for several days.....come back to it to see if it's changed...see that it hasn't....crack the sh1ts and hire a designer to find a workaround for me! I'd like to do something similar(ish) to this though. Anyone want a job? Aparently I suck at graphic design. I'm just a big copy cat!!!
Annie

I'm not seeing the similarity. Looks more Eiffel Tower than Acrobat to me. Since you mentioned Acrobat we're going to look at it from an Acrobat perspective - if you hadn't have mentioned that and just asked people for their first impression I bet you'd get less comparison.

Miss Aimee (she's leaning over my shoulder) and I LOVE the colors and text of the rest of your logo. If you finesse the loopy A (so it's not child-like) it'll be a nice piece that can stand alone from the rest of your text (like Mac's 'apple' or the Nike 'swish').

Our 2 cents.

Love the color and the clean design. It does look very close to the adobe "a". Maybe you could make the bottom two loops of the "a" a little longer so it's less of a triangle?

I like it. If you like it, use it. I dont think people will make the distinction. Yours is thinner and hand drawn. Adobe's id more computery looking. I think it will be fine. Maybe add some shading or a blotch of texture somewhere in there to break up the lines a bit. I dont know. Like I said, I dont think lay people will dwell on the association.

Just my .05

Not my thumbnails.

+1

I like it, too. If you really like the A then try enhancing it some more. As you probably know, the longer you play with an idea or graphic, the better chance you'll arrive at something completely new and exciting.

Shannon, what is Miss Aimee doing there? Or are you here in AZ?

Yay! BruceBruceBruce agrees with me

I'm in AZ... helped Aimee with her wedding on Sunday. Leaving tomorrow (Wed) a.m. The weather's been SO nice here (I hear we had a snow storm in SLC the other day).

Shanon, Bruce, Jen, JaNae....thanks for your comments.

I will try to 'tweak' it a bit, and go with something similar. I'm SO glad you guys like the concept though. When you work on something for too long it's easy to lose subjectivity...and that's when you need some fresh eyes and opinions. Isn't OSP marvelous?

P.S. Shanon....yeah, my loops are pretty crappy (childlike) ...I drew it freehand with the mouse, then tried to clean it up with the pen tool. I'm really bad at choosing 'anchor' points, and end up with jaggedy curves! ha ha ha
Once I've finalised the design I'll get my friend who's a graphic artist to do a pro job on the logo.

I'll be back....I'm off to doodle some more!
BTW...... ANYONE who's inclined to have a 'dabble' in my design...please go for it. I would be so rapt with any extra input.

Annie

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Annie, a quick treatment. I am by no means a graphics artist I'll try a few more.

-Mike

O.K. I've had a bit more of a doodle! Here are my attempts at keeping the logo similar to my first one, but hopefully a bit more different from the (stinky) Acrobat logo....ha ha ha

What do you guys think now? Any of these 'grab' you? Are any of them different enough from the Adobe one?

here goes.....

Click to view attachment


Oh and thank you Mike for having a play around with the design for me. I guess the truth is I'm still trying to find a way to re-work my original idea (or as it turns out, NOT so original idea!!!!!)

Annie

I like the last one the best (the bottom one) and I think it's less likely to be seen as an Acrobat lookalike. Plus it looks sharp!

Thanks for that Phil.

BTW I should mention again that I hand drew all the 'loopy' things with my mouse, so they're all pretty shonky and uneven. I'll certainly make sure the final logo looks really slick.

Annie

I like the bottom one with the box from the second one maybe. I think it looks great!

Love the colors and I like the last one best. Very nice. Much better than the acrobatty one.

My $.02 is that it still looks a lot like the Acrobat logo. I doubt you'll have any legal issues, but I wouldn't want people confusing my photography brand with software -- or thinking about technical things when they see my logo.

Last one with box from next to last for me.

-Mike

Anne,

I am thinking totally a different A. Try an A that is cursive.

I like the last one. Have you tried any other types of "A"s? Let's see them if you have!

I like the last one too-and it really doesn't have the acrobat thing going on for me-
all the others do for me-
keep working it-

I agree. I gave up trying to do my own logo. A friend at my full-time job is in the middle of designing my logo now. I can't wait to see it!

I really like the last one! It almost looks like a star (well sort of).

Wow...thanks for the response everyone! Looks like the last one is the most popular so far.

I haven't really tried any other A's yet. I did look through my front browser, but couldn't see anything very inspiring. The funny thing is I never wanted an A in the first place. I just wanted a graphic...a swirl or swish of some sort that would sit nicely in a square. I was doing loopy doodles with a pen and paper which is when I discovered that a 3 looped doodle looks reminicent of an A. Honestly, I didn't make the connection to Acrobat at the time...not at all!

I'll keep playing around a bit more I think....especially with the last one.

Annie

Oops. What exactly is a cursive font? I've heard the term, but not really sure exactly what that is. I feel rather silly having to ask!!!

The last one looks like sideways scissors to me.

OMG...Shannon...that's EXACTLY what my husband said. Word for word! ha ha ha

I will keep working on it.....

I just converted a few files from word to PDF. the logo looks like the acrobat in my tool bars...this was my first thought when I saw them as well...do a search for fonts online there are tons of fun ones out there!

He must be a genius too j/k

Ditto.....