(Even if you're not graphic designer, any feedback will be great, guys. Anything. Really. I'm not sure about these designs and wouldn't mind starting from scratch even).

So. I decided to try a round logo because of the snake "theme". It made sense at the time but proved to be quite a challenge. I really only noticed such a logo on "Good-bye, Chunky Rice" By Craig Thompson (there are two different versions, only one of them has that kind of logo - google it). I guess now I know why... It's hard to make it fit into a cover design... Anyway, right now let's try to concentrate on the logo itself. Here is, more or less, my first try:



The text is a bit off and there's probably too much detail for a logo. For a first sketch, though, it's pretty decent.

Here's a simplified version:



I think this is much better, but what do I know. What do you think?
Suggestions for a completely different take on this logo (not round, even!) are also welcomed. Or just about anything that might be helpful in some way.

If you are concerned about real estate, you could try moving the lettering onto the snake's body. Of course you'd have to adjust the words so they don't stomp on his head.

Disclaimer: If I sound like an uneducated idiot.. that's because I am. The extent of my formalized training = 1 high school course on beginning drawing 20ish years ago.

I actually thought about that. I'll probably try it out soon, see what how that might turn out. The head of the snake though... that might be a problem now that I'm seriously considering it... Hmm.. well I'll try anyway. Why not.

Yeah, circle logos are tricky for me. Have you thought about having the snake around the words instead of words around snake? It could look like a seal/stamp. Here's a quick and dirty paintover.



I think if you put the words inside the back part of the snake it will make it to complicated and harder to read but I could be wrong. The clarity of the black snake is good.

I actually haven't thought of that. Thanks, Jason. It does have a stamp look to it, which is pretty cool and probably will look good in red. I'll try that too.

I think the image of the snake in the first version reads better, but the typography from the second is cleaner - which will work better for a logo. Think about putting the two elements together.

I'd agree with the comment about the words in the snake. Keep in mind that at the size you're going to use it at, you'll probably start losing clarity. Keep the mark (i.e. the snake) and the type as separate elements.

Putting the words inside the snake is a nice solution. Clean but still maintaining the original feeling.

I think that if you're going to make the decision to use culturally referenced symbolism like that as a logo, it should be because it's significant to either the work or yourself. Is the infinite cycle of recreation important to you or your novel?

The movements of a snake actually allow you a lot of flexibility in giving you a logo, as you can draw them to just about any shape or letter you want, so long as it has a natural and organic flow. I'd say try a number of ideas before really fixating on the symbolism, unless it's significant to you. Usually as a designer you present your client with several options, and then work with them to adjust to a good design that you're both happy with.

As for the artwork itself, 1478 is probably public domain by even the most heinous standards, but I think your finished piece, regardless of your final decision, should be a respectful homage to the work you're using as a reference.

This wasn't how I was originally intending to respond, but a little honest introspection led me here.

My very first reaction to the logo was as follows:

(warning.. recreation of stream of consciousness pending!)

-start stream
Oh hey, that 'snake eating his tail' ring looks familiar. I'm pretty sure it's an old icon and represents something religious or mystical. Is that a mythological thing? ... oh maybe that's just a stupid snake. What could be stupider than eating yourself?
-end stream

an emotional reaction of some sort was evoked the first time I saw the logo, which I didn't even reflect upon at the time, but looking back I find quite intriguing. It's hard to describe the precise feeling.. curiosity of the meaning behind the symbol.. and how the unknown meaning relates to the story. It was as if the logo were winking at me because there was some kind of secret shared between the two us.. only I didn't know the secret but it felt like I should. I guess the bottom line is, I recognized the icon and even though I didn't remember what culture it originated from or even what it represented, I understood that there was a perceived context behind the symbol to such a degree that it evoked an emotional response in me.

This was the start of my reaction to Emily's comments....
Interestingly enough I took the snake with the tail in his mouth to symbolize stupidity. I guess I recognized that the icon is out there (I've seen the snake tail ring before), but beyond that <at this point I stopped and started really thinking about my my first reaction to the logo and realized that I had more of a reaction than I thought.>

I was going to say it's a perfect representation of a stupid snake.. (eating his own tail) but now I'm wondering if Emily may have some good points about being careful of that underlying cultural context.. which I hadn't even realized that I responded to.

Or maybe I'm just overly emotional.

"Stupid snake" is just a funny nickname I made up for Ouroboros (because like a dog it bites its own tail). I did use the 1478 Ouroboros as reference and yes, it is public domain. Everything before the invention of copyright law is public domain
The snake is actually the most important element in Stupid Snake Comics (thus - the comic's title) but until the very end it will barely appear. It sounds a bit confusing but it really isn't. You'll have to read the whole thing to see why the snake is so important (that will take a couple of years, though. I don't work fast enough...).

The lettering is far easier to read in the second one, but there's something about the first snake's mouth and eyes that looks stupid to me. You should try to bring that back, cause you want the viewer to instantly recognize that this snake here is the stupid one, not some other snake, not this snake's son, but this snake.

I like both of them - and I immediately saw the Ouroboros in them.
The first logo is sorta medieval-style depictions of animals, when the scales are drawn like that, and the eye detail, but it seems to clash with the modern styling on the letters.
The second logo, on the other hand, seems more like an occult symbol or something aboriginal, like a totem-pole carving. Or those carvings on the rocks from <i>Nation</i> (a book). So that one I like a little more.

if you wanted to make a whole different logo, you could have a Snake coming around from the sides and biting the tail, in a more rectangular shape, so that it's not a circle. But then, I guess the ouroboros image would be less strong... up to you.

Okay, thanks guys! I'll take all of that into consideration.

is this like the "masthead" of your comic or the logo for your indie publishing brand? I'm pretty sure its the comic title right? Don't want to assume.

Type in circle form is tricky because its often hard to read. There are some cool things you could do with it, and i think you need to run this logo really big...like almost the full cover with imagery screened to the background.

that could be really cool and unique. If you go with this, you need to realize that you prob won't be able to use this logo on the spine, so you'd need to figure a horizontal lockup as well. So basically you'd need 2 logos.

hope that helps!

@Chris - Well, originally this was a logo for the comic's title, but I dunno. Someone else said it would be great for as a publishing brand. Now I'm not sure what to do with it huh.
"i think you need to run this logo really big...like almost the full cover with imagery screened to the background" - I thought about that! I also thought about putting a character face in the very middle of the logo, changing the character in every volume so they won't look the same at least in that aspect (and color, obviously). So many options...
The spine isn't going to have any text at all (in the spirit of the comic itself). It's just gonna be a snake drawing from top to bottom, and the number of the book at the bottom beneath the snake (at least, that's my favorite design for the spine at the moment, I always get new ideas and abandon the old ones so who knows...).

I do like the first one because it's rather interesting and it's got nice texture. I think the second is better in the realm of simplicity though, it's clear and easier to read (although the former isn't too hard either.
I would maybe say looking at the first one in different measurements (mostly really small ones) to check and see if it translates as easily in no matter what.

I do agree with Jsnsmith though, it would be worth a try to put the text into the snake, it could maybe add some figure/ground reversal possibilities. Plus it would be more compact.

It does look good for a printing brand. If you wanted to make it a logo for a website, though, I'd try and find some way of compressing it a bit so people can see whatever other content is on the page with a standard screen resolution. Maybe put the text over or inside the snake?

I'ts not for a website. It's for print.
The text inside the snake thing doesn't work, too much text and the snake's head gets in the way as well. It just doesn't look good, it'll have to stay like this. I'm going to try and work on it a little bit more, though, and see if I can't make it better somehow.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

It's been over a month but at last I found some time to work on the logo.
I made a new, more easily read logo.
This is it with some extra stuff, just for the website.

On the book's cover it's just gonna be the text elements with some illustration that I still need to do. Blah.
You can see the logo in my signature as well, but that's pretty small for critique, I think.
It was drawn by hand (I used a Micron pen); no part of it is an actual font (that I know of).

(I'm not scrapping the circular logo, it's going to be a title page inside the book. It just wasn't good enough for the cover).

So...
What do you say? Any suggestions for improvement?
Is it as good as I think it is? I'm pretty satisfied but also not very objective.

Well, I'm not an expert at these things at all, but I do like this logo. The banner you made for your website looks excellent as well!