limited production :: hand crafted :: high performance :: rechargeable :: premium flashlights

This is my blog about creating a startup LED flashlight business. I'm a designer, fabricator, and strategist and I'm passionate about making ideas real. I believe that products are about people, that they should be built to last, deliver real value, and that we need to do a better job than we have in the recent past.

Most of my career has been contract or freelance work and I've crafted products and strategies for both big international companies and startups. I also used to work in the "industry" fabricating special effects for film and TV, along with the occasional hot rod. Bottom line, I love making things.

I'm starting this blog so you can follow along, from day one, and see what it's like to start a business, or fail in the process. Only time will tell, but I hope you find this interesting enough to stay tuned, comment, link, like, tweet, and (most importantly) participate in turning this idea into something tangible and valuable.

For a good place to get started with general info about who, what, why, etc., check out the "Stickies" on the left side of the page. Thanks for stopping by and please don't hesitate to ask questions and get involved!

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Saturday, September 24, 2011

New Name/Logo: I Need Your Vote! (only six days to vote)

Okay folks, this little project is in a time of transition. As you know, I just did a big overhaul on the website. You might not know that I'm on the edge of a big "all or nothing" marketing push. I'm going to be sending lights out to some big national magazines and top tier blogs. It's pretty hard to do that since I'm going to be flushing a bunch of lights down the toilet, but hopefully one or two will generate some badly needed big press. Yes, it's psychologically difficult to send out a bunch of my (very few) lights to someone who might just throw it in a drawer and never look at it again...but I know I need to suck it up and do it.

It's kind of like dating...hey, call me back...okay? 
Anyway, the last piece I need to put in place (immediately) is becoming a "real" company and incorporating a business. This also means I need a grown up name and a new logo. I was hoping to have you, dear public, pick my new name; but time is not on my side. So I bit the bullet and I'm going with "Prometheus Lights." I hope it doesn't suck...too late now anyway. In case you don't know, Prometheus is the Greek titan that stole the secret of fire from the gods and gave it to man. Of course he was severely punished for this but let's just ignore that part of the story for the moment. In Greek, the name also means "forethought" which seems appropriate in light of Wired Magazine's latest article on the future of LED lighting.

I was also hoping to have you, dear public, help me pick from a variety of logos I've been working on; but that pesky time thing is still a problem. I need to have all this sorted...say, in the next week. So, I spent a few days beating myself up about my lack of community engagement in the business design process, but here we are.

Click this image to see a full size version
What I need your help with now, is the final refinement! I've provided 4 versions for your viewing pleasure. Which one do you like the best?

Which combination of logo and text do you like the best?


Posted by Jason at 7:17 PM
Labels: , , , , , , ,

7 comments:

  1. PhatSeptember 24, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    Hey Jason,
    The logos don't look all that different from one another. Have to say I'm not hot on the font, or the light logo. Hard to tell what it is at first glance.

    No matter. You can always change the logo. Here's a bit of inspiration: The original Apple logo had Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. Lame. Of course, everyone now recognizes the much-simplified logo.

    Hope it's going well.

    -Phat

    ReplyDelete
  2. PhatSeptember 24, 2011 at 8:44 PM

    The original Apple logo:

    http://www.onedigitallife.com/2006/04/01/the-original-apple-logo/

    ReplyDelete
  3. JasonSeptember 24, 2011 at 9:49 PM

    Hey Phat, I appreciate the honest feedback! Do you have any suggestions for a font you like better?

    Everyone else should feel free to comment as well. Nothing is set in stone yet :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. TimSeptember 25, 2011 at 4:23 AM

    Hey bro,

    I see what you're trying to do with the logo, and it is very, VERY clever, and I can see that as a fantastic banner for your website or for referrals. As an actual logo, I wouldn't go with the gradient. Maybe a stark white-on-black "stacked" design with just the logo and text. Think... the Bang & Olufsen logo. Taking out the picture of the lights also adds a little bit of mystique as to the product.

    Gimme a call sometime soon will ya? :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Stanley HuiSeptember 26, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    I liked the logo in 2 and the fonts in 3.The No.2 logo has a nice design while the fonts in No.3 has better legibility.

    ReplyDelete
  6. CherylSeptember 28, 2011 at 3:32 AM

    Hi Jason,
    I was curious to see what Google would bring up for Prometheus Lights and found there is a cigar lighter company called "Prometheus Lighters". Their website is Prometheuskkp.com and they sell lighters, humidors and various cigar related products. Are you aware and concerned of the closely related name?

    ReplyDelete
  7. JasonSeptember 28, 2011 at 8:38 AM

    Hi Cheryl,

    Nope, I'm not concerned. Trademark law states (in plain English) that unless the two companies could be confused, based on their product or service, then similar trade names are allowed. For example, if I made cigars and lighters it could be a problem. Thanks for the heads up though, the details are easy to miss!

    ReplyDelete

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