As I am now getting into this whole thing a lot more seriously I've been trying to come up with a business name and logo but I'm toooooo fickle and can't decide. I tend to over think things more than I probably should.

My thoughts are:

Less is more
Simple
Professional
I want to use my name, Ricardo
Although I'm concentrating on portraits I'd like the name to be open to weddings in the future

My options so far:

ricardo: photographer (what I'm currently using but I'm not 100% sure about it, it sounds too freelance to me)

Photography by Ricardo (Photography by.... done to death around my city, IMO)

Ricardo: Unique Portrait Photography

ricardo: photography

or NONE of the above?

I like Ricardo: photographer

Out of the options given I agree on Ricardo: photographer.

Remember that you will want a name with a matching web URL. That killed a lot of the new name ideas I had when I changed the name of my business a year ago.

R i c a r d o | p h o t o g r a p h e r

I like it. Just changed the colon I see but I like it.

Doesn't sound too freelance?

I really like this.

Favorite?

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I like the last two because of the split colors. However, all them them are hard to read when they are small. Not sure how small you would ever use the logo, but it is something to keep in mind.

I agree. Any ideas on how to make the font appear clearer, bolder without actually make it bigger? Or a font suggestion?

I would use it as an email signature, top of a showit slideshow, just 2 examples.

I like #1 and #4.

Hey, Ricardo. Yeah, the last two are nice. One thing I'd say is that they make me think more of a news journalist, which may not be a bad thing. Depends on the image you want to portray. If you're set on red, you may want to incorporate it differently. Red on black (or vice versa) is proven to be the most difficult combo to read. BTW, "Impact" is a nice, strong font.
Good luck!
-Eddie

I don't have any particular fonts in mind, but when putting a font onto a black background, it is usually best to pick a plain looking font, like Arial for example. I think they call it a sans-serif type font.

I think "freelance" is sexy, so I wouldn't worry about looking "freelance" (I really don't know exactly what it means anyhow).

You should use "poor richard" for a font since you're not paying a designer to create a logo and just using text.

The other fonts I though about (that are standard fonts that everyone should be able to read): arial, bookman (I like the g), century schoolbook, copperplate gothic bold and modern no. 20 (I have a thing for typewriter fonts). Verdana is clean and simple too.

I just wanted to make a couple comments on the individual elements that make up the logo.

Color: Red is exciting, warm, bold to name a few so do keep that in mind if you choose to go red. I agree that the red in the examples is too overbearing with white text. Try a more subdued hue of red if you think red communicates your photographic style best. Black on the other hand is is also strong but classic and elegant.

Type: Each font you posted communicates something different. You will need to look at each one and decide wether or not it communicates your style.

In one of your examples "photographer" is larger than your name. I think it should be the other way around.

Composition: No qualms. Simple, direct and to the point. Do change the vertical line to something thinner though.

Oh, and another vote for Veranda Another good option I think would be Frutiger or Univers. If you want a little more traditional, classic look into Sabon, Trajan or Caslon.

EDIT: Oh, and I hope to see less borders in your final version. It cramps the style so to speak.

I'm loving the input and this is fun. I like what red and black convey so now I have this:

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I do NOT like the "photographer" font (has a 50's feel which doesn't match the other font) but the "ricardo" font is good on both (leaning toward the first, typewriter font).

me too!!!

I doesnt sound freelance, it just sounds very sleek. intriguing. I often wish I had a different name...

Boy do I owe you.... how 'bout now?

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IMO 1 and 3 are too far apart and the line is TOO thick; maybe bring them closer together (as if they're on the next line from each other) and a thinner line would help (the thick line draws my eye to IT instead of ricardo)?

What about making the logo more square than rectangle... put photographer UNDER ricardo with a thin line in between? I think next to each other may be toooooo loooooong

Photographer needs a little more spacing between the letters (kerning or leading - I always confuse the 2) but not as much as ricardo.

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Are you designing this in photoshop? Try going to the layers palet and adding an effects to your layer of stroke. Match the font color, and start with a 1 pixel stroke on the outside. It will "bold" your type. You can add another pixel if you want more.

Very cool, thank you

1 is more what I was thinking if you were to stagger the logo - but I think it looks disconnected. Drags the eye across too far so by the time you figure out what the other word says you've forgotten what the first word is.

2 is exactly what I meant by vertical but I think photographer is too big (bring down 1 or 2 sizes - maybe thin out the lettering so it's not so BOLD). This is my fav if photog was shruken (keeping the length symetrical with ricardo) because I think ricardo impacts enough to remember and shrinking photographer will be the secondary thought in the logo and won't compete with your name.

3 I like because ricardo stands out more, but photographer is too big and bold.

This is fun!

Shannon, here it is. I'm concerned the font for 'photographer' may be too small. I'm having touble seeing it on a 19" monitor. Is it just me? Anybody else? I can see me usually using it around 400 pixels wide.

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Looks niiiice except I see what you mean by the resolution on photographer.

Maybe change the font to something REALLY simple (Ariel-style, like Neutra - something very square to offset the typewriter).

I like this last one best Ricardo.
No problems reading it on my monitor either.

I like this one the best too. I can read the 'photographer' just fine as well. ;-)

If Mark can read it after drinking a beer and Bill can read it while smacking a girl down then I think it's a good one

You're too funny

What is your last name? I changed my biz name to my actual name a few months ago and the results have been really positive. Brides trust me immediately because they feel like they already know me. If your last name isn't too complicated I would go with your first and last and then add the word "photography"

Thanks guys, you're a lot of help. Shannon you're a riot in a good way.

Ashley Anne, I like the ring of your first and last name but I can't say the same for me, it sounds like a rhyme to me but not one I like.

I will fine tune it and keep you posted.

[quote name='LuckyRedHen' date='March 8 2007, 12:07 PM' post='92693']
R i c a r d o | p h o t o g r a p h e r

Lucky, what font are you using?

That one? I think it was Neutra. I THINK