Ukulele Logo Help!!

Duke of Harbord

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Freshwater, Sydney
Hey guys!

I thought you may be able to help me in my quest to make a nice logo for the little handmade hobby ukulele business I've started up. I would really be great if you could give me some pointers in what you would want in a ukulele logo/headstock logo etc. Which logo you prefer?Would love if there were any graphic designers/people good with logos and that kind of stuff that can help me out.

I suppose for most people, uke logo's aren't all that important and it would be also my perfectionist attitude to things, but I've already got a surf shop retailer who wants to sell them, so I want them to be good in every way.

Couple of concepts I thought up:

Logo concept 2 Freshwater Ukulele.jpgLogo concept 3 Freshwater Ukuleles.jpg

Thank you all!!

PS: The reason I want to stick with 'Freshwater Ukuleles' is that it is my hometown, Freshwater (Birthplace of Australian Surfing). The logo is of Duke Kahanamoku (Hawaiian who brought surfing to Australia nearly a 100 years ago). It was there that I saw the connection between not only the surf culture and the uke, but also with the Hawaiian connection. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater,_New_South_Wales
 
just put a K at the start of it mate that seems to be the way forward :)
daz
 
well, you gotta have a uke in the Duke's duke...he he...so it's the second one for me.

Incidentally, been laid up in bed a while with the lurgy and I just watched the 'Bombora' 2 part series yesterday night...fantastic doco. 'Bra Boys' is up for Saturday night...all the best with the business and the builds, can't wait to see how they turn out. Cheers mate
 
There was a Luthier trading under the name Freshwater. I've got one of his Citterns in fact, but he has now gone bust in not the best of circumstances. So maybe you should reconsider the name. People might associate you with the failed company.
 
As far as your proffered concepts go, I like it (the one without the surfer holding the uke) the but I would restrict it to the interior label visible through the sound hole. There's just too much going on to mash all of that on the headstock. The headstock "brand" should be something clean and simple. Maybe just the surfer in the circle, a "FW" or something along those lines which will distinguish your ukes.
 
There was a Luthier trading under the name Freshwater. I've got one of his Citterns in fact, but he has now gone bust in not the best of circumstances. So maybe you should reconsider the name. People might associate you with the failed company.
Yes, how about something similar but less controversial like Blackwater.
 
Are you just going to put the circle with the Duke or that and the words Freshwater Ukuleles as well? Personally I like the look of a single iconic logo rather than all the fanfare of all the words etc. Take the Islander ukuleles headstock logo as an example. Would be nice to just have a smaller Islander logo without the need for that huge "ISLANDER" text at the top for a more cleaner look. But again, just my preference and it is your line of ukes. :p
 
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I'm an artist myself and one of the first things I do is to look at the logo. Like someone else said, keep it simple. One of the tendencies is to put too much information in a design. Just the circle with the surfer and Freshwater around the outside would be better. Or just the surfer without the circle and perhaps a wave behind the surfer. There are all kinds of possibilities. You could even leave the surfer out altogether and just use a wave with Freshwater. Maybe a more stylized version of the surfer would work as well.

Would it be possible to post a pic of your uke and the shape of your headstock? That could also spark a few more ideas;)
 
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With all of the above said, do you already have your business name as a uke maker registered? Because finalizing the name would be the place to start. Then yes, by all means, keep it simple (and good looking, ha!) I agree that the label inside the uke could be much more complex, but for the headstock/body you'll want simplified and quickly identifiable.
 
A quick suggestion that saves a lot of time... take a piece of paper with your logo choices, cut them out, and place them on a ukulele to see how they look at the final scale. You might choose to test out white logos against black background if you tend to make dark headstocks. You want something that looks good and is readable. The tagline UKULELES may be too small for a headstock, and might not be needed for this application. Also, see how the surfer reads when he is reduced that small, and when he is sized for a business card. Are you using decals or engraving/ inlay for the headstocks?
–Lori
 
Thanks for the responses everyone. I'm getting the name finalized through registration etc at the moment. I decided to keep with the first simple logo.

Yeah, I thought before, that I would just have the surfer with the circle around it as the headstock logo and have the black parts engraved. Obviously the full more complex logo would go on the inside label.

Thanks again, Kent
 
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