Hi everyone-

Just wanted to drop a quick note...I *will* be providing final feedback, particularly to the later new entrants, but will not be able to do so until Monday or Tuesday.

As I've expressed before, we were overwhelmed by the variety and quality of entries we received. We rejected many designs that we felt were very good, but simply didn't click with us for this project. In other cases, designs were edged out by narrow margins in team discussions and votes. Others challenged our initial assumptions about what we wanted an the directions we might want to take. There was a lot of discussion, debate, voting, re-voting, second opinions, etc. etc.

Ultimately, there were a couple factors that pushed the winning entry over the edge in our final set of 10 or so.

1 - Clarity. One of our designer colleagues noted that some of our favorites would become difficult to read at very small sizes. When we looked at the logos in that context, Alneo's performed very well.

2 - Flexibility. When we were choosing our final set, flexibility in adapting them to different holidays and occasions was a major factor. All logos in the final set had several holiday themes exhibited, and we could think of additional treatments easily.

3 - Emotional connect. This was the point that pushed Alneo's entry over the edge. I could not look at it and not smile, and a couple of the holiday faces actually made me laugh out loud. From a marketing standpoint, creating an emotional connection with the audience is a "holy grail," and the effectiveness of the logo in eliciting an emotional response pushed us off our fence to make a decision.

Thank you again to everyone for participating. Many of you were very accommodating in creating different variations on your core designs, and we appreciate your thoughtfulness and effort!

Amy

Graysource - I had hoped to have an answer for you but have not been able to nail down the person who can make that decision. I *think* WU is okay, but cannot say that with certainty. My apologies for keeping you waiting.

Trying to get to everyone tonight...some general comments based on feedback I've gotten through the evening-

1. While we are leaning toward feminine or neutral tones, explicitly "girl" is a bit further in that direction than we want to go.

2. We are definitely focusing on holiday themes as in the real world the logo will get decorated for various special occasions

3. The team is gravitating, for the most part, to designs that are simple with some surprise quirky kick. Things that are very glossy, complex, childlike, or very 'cool' aren't really resonating with our plans for the brand. Gradients and shine are potentially good web treatments, but the preference is for solid color washes for the "real" logo.

4. Literal interpretations of the "communication" theme have brought to mind email or chat applications...more subtle suggestions of interaction or communication, though, have been well-received.

We're down to the last half day now...the response and quality of submissions have been incredible. Choosing a winner is not going to be easy!

We had a big team meeting today and have narrowed down the list quite a bit...working on feedback and eliminations now.

Please know, there are many logos we are eliminating which we liked, but did not feel were quite right for this project. We have been truly impressed with the talent here, and appreciate the work everyone has put into their submissions!

Posted some more feedback...will add more tomorrow after the team has gotten to look at the more recent designs. Thanks to everyone for the effort. These really look fantastic and this will be a difficult decision!

Okay...I've gotten feedback out to many of you. More coming later tonight!

A few concepts that are "grabbing" people on the team-

1. plays on the letters to suggest interactions between people
2. creative uses of the oo's to suggest communication or connection, or movement
3. clean can be fun. some of our most popular designs internally are simple ones with a little kick of fun thrown into them

I noticed a few entries that have a travel theme...to clarify, the word "holiday" for this project refers to calendar holidays, like New Year's and Halloween.

Apologies for any confusion there may have been on that.