Andrés at Joensuu

\begin{informercial}
First time I went to the photo shop I was surprised about how much they charged me for 4 pictures of my face. I needed them to get a new passport. Passport expired and I had to get another one. I was not happy to pay 11 € aprox again, and I thought about the possibility of just using their inexpensive digital photo print service. Biggest concern was to get the right size/resolution for the image. But time run out, and I had to pay the extortion fee again.

It won’t happen again. Now with epassportphoto.com I can get the right sized file from them and for free!!
\end{informercial}

Somehow I managed to get a media pass for Ilosaarirock, it came with some oblgations and I had to complete a review of the festival, which itself was quite eventful even without the music. The media i was working for is solo-rock, a Spanish web magazine. Thus what follows is the review in Spanish. Again, I’d be happy to have my poor Spanish corrected.

El festival de Ilosaarirock (o Rock en la Isla Divertida en castellano) acontece en Joensuu, Finlandia, y lleva la respetable cifra de 37 ediciones. Y al igual que el respetado festival de Roskilde el Ilosaarirock es un festival sin afán de lucro. Allí se plantó una expedición española e internacional decidida a disfrutar del festival, aunque el tiempo no acompañara.
(more…)

Long time ago, we had a logo competition. Carolina won it, and I have been reworking her idea. You can see the result:

I have asked for opinions and the feedback was not great, I wondered why. Now, I will try to find the answer. Identityworks.com has a useful list of “universal attributes of brands” that I will use as evaluation framework:

Distinctive.
The design idea need not be unique in the world, just distinctive enough so you can “own” it in your particular marketplace.

Practical.
Can be printed small, in ink or pixels; works in black on white as well as in colors; works in reverse too, white on black. (Faces, human or animal, usually flunk this last test; the eyes turn white.)

Graphic.
Communicates purely in visual terms, to the right brain hemisphere; doesn’t depend on verbal, intellectual interpretation. (Example: Tenneco seriously considered and rejected a “10ECO” logo design. Clever, but it’s not a mark, it’s a pun.) If a wordmark, it can be recognized by form alone (you don’t have to “read” Coca-Cola’s logo more than once or twice).

Simple in form.
Contains only one graphic idea, one gimmick, one dingbat. Thus if there’s a symbol, the accompanying name is plain and unadorned. And if it is a wordmark, one idea or device makes it special–like IBM’s stripes. (The more unique the name, the simpler the graphics can be.)

One message.
In content too, great designs try to express no more than one attribute (such as stature or speed or dynamism) and support a single aspect of positioning.

Appropriate.
In the end, of course, the content’s got to be right. An otherwise-great mark fails if the reputation, positioning, and personality expressed are at odds with management intentions.

And now my very own biased evaluation:

1. Distinctive. Sure, I did it. While the two color logo is not new, there is a new edge, might be the typeface, or the triangle.(1pt!)
2. Practical. Not really. Letters may suffer when printed small because of the triangle cutting them in pieces.(0pts)
3. Graphic. Yes and not. Visual cues help to identify it, however, reading the “delta” text requires some effort.(0.5pts)
4. Simple in form. Big NO. The waves (intended to represent the river, the change,…) add visual clutter.(0pts)
5. One message. I have big problems with this. Messages are usually hard to convey with logos, and everyone will see a different one. But if people can see the message of change or improvement, I will be happy.(1pt)
6. Appropriate. ?? It is up to the “management” to let me know if it is appropiated. I think it is. (0.5pts)

Summarizing, the logo only scores 3 points out of 5. What would you do to improve the score? I guess that taking the wave out would help, but it is not a definite change. I am particularly concerned with practical issues. I want a clear and reproducible logo, and I am not so concerned with the message it may convey. Which is your take?

Update

Reworked logos after comments: