Last week we let our imagination go with a free flow of ideas to create a logo for the restaurant, Jumping Jax. With very little information on the owner's preferences and tastes we did not limit ourselves, but simply did some creative doodling to kickstart the flow of our creative juices.

This week we have received his completed questionnaire and have a better idea what he may be looking for in a corporate logo design, so it's back to the drawing board to come up with some more ideas and a few completed drafts that will be ready for presentation to the client for input. Work is still in greyscale at this point, but I tried playing with a bit of color as well.

[see completed questionnaire here]
Note: All names, addresses, etc. are purely fictional.

Whew! After looking at the websites he offers which have logo designs that he likes, I see that most of the doodles I have started are light years off what he has in mind. Back to the drawing board and doodle pad for me. lol

I do notice from his preferences that, with the exception of Roxanne's, the look he would like could be achieved with fonts or a combination of fonts and dingbats or simple vector drawings. He has made note of concern on the Roxanne's logo about concerns that it will not reproduce well in B&W. (Note he said B&W, not greyscale...eeekk & grin) Soooo, we want something very simple. Sounds easy, right? Well I sometimes find that simple is the toughest thing to do. I have a bad habit of over complicating designs.

Here are some ideas/directions from his list that I will try to use as a starting point:

• Friendly
• Trendy
• Funky
• Definitely Dynamic (he keeps stressing movement)

And his suggested slogan: Fun and Flavor with Style

According to the questionnaire, Jumping Jax is located in San Francisco. I started my research by looking around for some restaurants listed online that might be considered competitors for Jumping Jax. I didn't limit it to *California trendy* as I might want that kind of feel one night and Italian or Mediterranean the next....or a good burger. lol Just the type of thing that looked like it might be appealing to the *see & be seen* yuppie crowd for lunch, drinks or dinner. [Do you get the feeling that Jumping Jax is one of those upscale meat markets? I do, haha.]

Here are a few possible competitors in a variety of styles that it seems would pursue similiar clientele. Keep in mind I know nothing about the San Francisco area or *scene,* so I may be way off base here. Besides the type of restaurant/bar, location within the city in relation to Jumping Jax would make a big difference. Good thing this is a mythical client...lol:

MC²
[http://www.mc2.citysearch.com]

The Cosmopolitan Cafe [& their Cosmo's Corner]
[http://www.cosmopolitancafe.citysearch.com]

Palio D'Asti
[http://www.paliodasti.com]

Kingfish [and it's sister establishments]
[http://www.kingfishblues.com]

Moose's
[http://www.mooses.com]

Cetrella Bistro & Cafe
[http://www.cetrella.com]

Jester's
[http://argenthotel.com/dining_jestersdining.htm]

I also looked at the logos of some restaurants in my area that fit the profile of the type of target audience that our imaginary client is seeking to attract. The simplicity and lack of "small lines/details" in these logos, the ones above, and the ones the client picked himself, which may not reduce well or be lost when added to a busy background of photos or ads kept striking me.

That means my long legged fish is dead in the water. He may be great for a series of print ads with various funny comments, or in a series where different Dover style drawings are featured with the same tag line, but he doesn't work as a simple, add anywhere logo. [sheesh, sometimes I hate trying to keep things simple. lol]

Here are a few of the local logos I was looking at in relationship to this assignment:

Okay, now I am off to give Jumping Jax another try. Join me on the next page for this continuing adventure in logo design.

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