Logo Competition - Update for Honeyville Grain

The Company: "Over the years Honeyville Grain has grown and expanded into Honeyville Food Products, Inc. The company, still family owned and operated, follows the actions of it's founder Lowell Sherratt, Sr. by treating people with respect, fairness, and integrity. Today, with more than 60 years of experience in Food Product Formulation & Design/Dry Food Blending/Packaging for Retail Sale, we recognize more clearly than ever that our continued success must be built upon relationships of trust with our valued customers. The philosophy of treating people as we would like to be treated still stands as a cornerstone of our corporate vision. People can make a difference."
- from their project brief 

The Project: interpretation of the current, classic logo; slightly modern twist

The Prize: Normally I don't mention this in the blog post, but this time I thought it was worth a couple lines of text.  The prize is: $2,159!!!

My Thought Process:

The Original Logo (on their website the text is dark brown)

I did not want to stray too far from the current logo because I wanted the new logo to be recognizable to previous customers (kind of like wearing makeup; you want to enhance what is good but not make the person [logo] unrecognizable).

I had first thought to make a seal/emblem similar to the Gold Medal flour logo, but then decided this was too far form the original logo.

The final design I decided to go with, incorporated the grain into the text.  I think this makes the logo look more 'custom-made' and less like someone took a clipart image of wheat and placed some text over it.

Video Tutorial - Logo Design for Optimum Health Medical Gorup

Here is my very first video tutorial. Please forgive my rambling :)

This logo design contest is on a different website than my normal designcontest.com because I was directed to this contest by my friend Calen!

Business Card Designs

Here are the business card designs I've created over the past few months.  Enjoy!

ZoneOne Design Contest

The Company: ZoneOne Locating is an underground utility locating company.

The Project: fresh, modern, staying power, vehicle decal, different colors for "zone" and "one"



My Thought Process: I started with the "Z1" combination in my earlier tutorial, ZoneOne Design Contest - Logo Tutorial.  The CH didn't love the design so I decided to give it another go by modifying a logo I had previously done for Zigg Design (seen here).

Recent Logo Design Projects

Here are some recent logo designs I have worked on that I felt were worth sharing.  Enjoy!

Women's Clothing Boutique

Photographer and Artist

New York Law Firm

Multi-language Vocabulary Wiki Website

ZoneOne Design Contest - Logo Tutorial

This post is a little different from my typical logo design posts.  Instead of showing a progression from the first draft to the final product, I'm giving step by step directions on how I created the first draft.


I only used simple shapes (ovals, rectangles, triangles).  It probably took me more time to plan and write this tutorial than to actually create the logo!  It's really quite easy once you have a concept.

What Designers NEED to Know About File Formats

Clients look to you, as an expert logo designer, to provide the proper file formats.  Yet, if you are just starting out in the graphic design world, some key terms (such as vector, raster, and encapsulated postscript) may not be an integrated part of your vocabulary quite yet.
Yes, the client could probably use Google to find the answers to their file format questions, but they are paying you not only for your ingenious designs, but also for your experience.  If you, as the designer, take the time to search for information on various file formats (or simply read the rest of this post), you can show off your knowledge to countless future clients!

Ute Droste Design Contest

The Company: Ute Droste is a single person company/coach and consultant aiming to give people a closer look at situations, problems, and conflicts in order to support their careers.  Ute Droste helps clients reflect on their professional lives and to work more effectively.

The Project: looking for a logo portraying: trust, competence, confidence, broad appeal, nothing harsh or too busy, reds, greys, lilac

My Thought Process: The CH seemed to like circular and flowing logo submissions so I wanted to create something using a circle.  At first I planned on taking the initials of the company (UD) and overlaying them in a circle.  I would then subtract the shapes (U and D) from the circle so the background (white in this case) could show through.  I ended up making the UD a dark grey and a little larger than the circle.  It was awkward to have the UD inside the circle due to their proportions.  I also like the more loose feeling with the UD partially outside the perimeter of the circle.

I placed the graphic to the left of the text because "Ute Droste", with the first letters capitalized, has the large, upper case "D" off center, so centering the graphic above looked off.

How to Become a Logo Designer

Today is September 11th.  It is actually the tenth anniversary of the attack on the United States that has affected all of our lives.  At the time I was in seventh grade, living in the suburbs of New York City.  As we went to our church that night, we could see the New York skyline and we could see the cloud of smoke were the towers used to be. 

I don't mean for this post to be a story of my experience on 9/11.  I just want this to represent how a day where so many lives were lost and innumerable lives were forever altered screamed a message to every person: Do not waste your life doing things you are not happy doing; live life like you may die tomorrow, because you might.  OK, so that was a very sad and direct statement, but I think it's fitting.  9/11 was a very sad and shocking day.

If you want to try logo design or any kind of graphic design, go for it.  Submitting logos for DesignContest.com does not mean you have to quit your job and risk losing your life savings.  It is a wonderful way for you to make a little extra money.

Deciding What Contests to Attack With All Your Designing Fury

...and Which Ones Aren't Worth Your Time

Intro: What Contests Should I Do?

(Most of the details are specifically for DesignContest.com, but the concepts can be applied to any contest site.)

Most people creating logo designs for contests (rather than as part of their business) probably have other obligations.  This article will show you how the different levels of involvement contest holders put into their contests should affect your decision to work with them (or not work with them).

Part-time freelancers have the coveted ability to pick and chose what to work on, how much effort they put in to each submission, and how much time they will devote to a given contest.  Since your winnings are probably paying for dinners out and movies, not the electric bill, you can even take a leave of absence.  The only thing you may sacrifice is your rating (more on this later).

Are you an artist in need of money? Design logos!

Who might find logo design fun AND profitable?

The Doodler
It's the night before an exam.  You finally open your notebook to study.  Instead of scribbled notes on the Peloponnesian War, you find a rather impressive collection of abstract shapes and swirls.  You shrug and hope Wikipedia will provide all the facts you need to pass.

If your papers are filled with little doodles, even if they don't represent anything (most logos are stylized/abstract representations), you may want to consider cleaning up some of those random scribbles.

The Traditional Artist
I had 7 years of traditional art lessons.  My art teacher gave me so much knowledge of color and shape.  This experience has certainly helped my logo design submissions.  A logo design is a piece of art.  Many times the client wants a shadow, 3-D effect and you have to know how light would create shadows or the design will simply look off.

The challenge with moving from painter to logo designer is that you must design for the client.  You have to balance giving your expert opinion and giving them what they want.

The Digital Artist
Above is a digital painting I did a couple years ago.  This was part of my transition from pure, traditional artist to graphic designer.  Learning to paint using a touch pad was a challenge but it allows for the easy fix: Ctrl+z.  If you are already a digital artist, it would not be a far jump to move into logo design.  Just like the traditional artist, you have to be able to work for a client and with the client. 


Basic moral of the story: If you are an artist you probably already have an eye for shape, proportion, and color.  This knowledge will certainly make your jump into graphic design easier than, let's say, you're friend who's greatest piece of art is a poorly drawn stick figure.  This is not meant to discourage anyone who wants to try their hand at logo design.  Some clients want something only involving their initials in a pleasing font.  If you can tell what looks nice together but are not particularly amazing at painting portraits, you may certainly excel at these logos.  But having a background/experience in art has definitely helped me create a wide range of logos.

Scooby Doo and Shaggy

Final Artwork

Initially I was going to post these within the text of my story but I didn't want to break up the paragraphs with these pictures and accompanying commentary.


I think the final piece turned out pretty well.  I was never a big Scooby Doo fan myself but I enjoyed making this for Andrew.  Read on to see how I made this!

Happy Birthday Andrew

I realize this post has nothing to do with design, but I promise I will put up pictures of my process to make this all mildly relevant.  But, even if you are only here to read about and see designs, I ask that you take the time to read this post because Andrew was and still is a very special person to me.

Andrew loved Scooby Doo and Shaggy; he used their names in his AIM screen names.  So as a birthday present to him, I created this drawing.

A Nourished Life Design Contest - Gold Medal Design

The contest is now over and my design won!  This is actually quite exciting because my first couple entries for this contest were not well received and were frankly not very inspired.  So I'm quite glad I continued to work on this and produced a logo the client wanted.

And this is the final, winning design!

A Nourished Life Design Contest - UPDATE

We are coming to the end of the contest (about 1 day left!) and the client and I are trying to decide on color options!  This can be the hardest part.  Once you find a graphic you like you have to decide on what colors you want to represent your company!  The original green/red/yellow kept leading to green and red combinations, which reminded the client of Christmas.  I began trying some blues instead of red.  Here are some color scheme options I have come up with.  I think I like having three colors in the name or when "nourished" stands out more than "a" and "life".  I also am starting to feel that the red is too overpowering to be part of the text.

A Nourished Life Design Contest

The Company: A Nourished Life provides customers with weekend retreats where they can learn how to eat and cook responsibly by using sustainable and organic ingredients.  Participants will also learn about allergy-free cooking and alternatives to eating a conventional diet (examples: raw foods, sprouting, juicing, etc).  The retreats offer a combination of lecture and hands-on cooking classes.  There are also activities such as yogo, tai chi, hiking, biking, etc.  Customers will learn how to change the way they eat and improve their lifestyles and health.

The Project: shouts green, sustainable an conscious cooking/eating, subtle incorporation of fitness/activity, fresh and clean design, prints well in black and white/color

My Thought Process: I originally came up with ideas that incorporated a cooking utensil (spatula, pan) and some green aspect or food.  These ideas were not what the client was looking for.  They wanted something that implied cooking without using a pan with food.  I doodled a little and tried to draw forks and spoons (images that the client seemed to like) with curved lines (to imply movement).  After I was happy with some doodles I moved to my vector program (Artboard) and played around with the shapes until I settled on the logo you'll see posted below.

Business Hive Design Contest

The Company: Business Hive is a brand based in Slovenia and owned by a non-profit student organization.  It is an international business crowdsourcing competition allowing students (both foreign and domestic) to take part in current, real-life business challenges.  These are currently "offline" events but Business Hive is developing an online crowdsourcing platform!

The Project: recognizable and attractive to both businesses and students

My Thought Process: This contest had already been going on for a couple days when I looked at it.  There were many many logos using hexagons to incorporate the bee hive idea.  The client/contest holder (CH) had requested that designers try to use something other than hexagons to add variety to their options.  I chose to use a stylized bee hive.

plusaqua Design Contest

The Company: This contest is for a new company, plusaqua, producing an effervescent tablet you put into a bottle of water to receive a multivitamin drink.  They will be marketing different tablets for a variety of needs (hangover, jet lag, etc).

Project: hip and recognizable logo, the client asked for the logo on both a white and on a black background (which is why some logos are on white and some on black), the client also asked all designers to submit with the same colors in order to make their decision

My Thought Process:  I wanted the design to be very simple and incorporate both the letter "a" and a plus sign.  I used a droplet of water but since it is an effervescent product they preferred the bubbles.  I like my second attempt at using a water droplet (the third design I've posted) because it is simple and the droplet is contained within the "a".  I also tried out using a plus sign and including the bubbles in the plus sign but the client liked my design with the letter a and the bubbles the most.

Please feel free to leave comments on both my and my fellow designers' logos!

Welcome to Midnight Orange!

Hello everyone and thank you for visiting my design blog!

I am a graphic designer currently based in Pittsburgh, PA, USA but I have worked with clients in the United States and international clients.  I hope this blog gives perspective clients (and family and friends) a more in depth look into my logo creation process and the breadth of my artistic endeavors. 

This first post is simply a display of past logos I have designed (some with descriptions).  The first logos were created early in my designing career and the last logos are the most recent.

Thank you again for stopping by my blog!  Enjoy!