Thread 462237

AI slop pic dump incoming.

Obviously I'm not a graphic designer, but does the name and branding work? I'm then only one that's like the name so far, which is a bad sign.

My gf liked this name more.

And my friend like this one more (lol). I think Mana is a good name because
>short, looks cool with the NASA font, brandable (to the contrary, shroom coffee co is so generic it'd be hard to brand)
>not limited to just mushrooms or coffee, brand can expand
>alliteration with mushroom, which is nice
>Mana is associated with energy like coffee and magic like mushrooms

>>462237 (OP)
So yeah primarily wondering how (you) feel about this as the brand. As much as I'd like to just 'trust my gut', this should be a data-driven decision imo. I want a brand (at leas the name and visual appeal) that *most* people like (or at least most within the demographic I target) - it doesn't really matter if *I* like it necessarily.

Also I'm totally open to the text being changed but liked the minimalism of the nasa font.

>>462250
might be some cool stuff to explore with a stained glass theme

random slop isn't branding lmoa

>>462256
they're slop drafts to help decide the wordmark and logo. I know branding extends far beyond just a wordmark and logo, but I have a deadline to figure these things out.

>>462237 (OP)
The sun logo is fun, I don't know why there is a rectangle around it. It would be better without the logo reminds me of nasa, but also give this weird xfiles vibe. The packaging with the ernst haeckel style mushrooms look good. In particular I like the yellow one.

Try lean in on the sun. Maybe more details.

>>462267
the rectangle was legacy design baggage from this logo I think, which is being used for the parent company (B2B mycology company). I kinda liked the idea of them having similar styles or even repeated components, like the mushrooms being reused in the shroom-cup logo.

I'll mess with the sun more, after this post I'll drop an AI slop image I generated earlier that combines the sun and shroom-cup.

>weird xfiles vibe
I liked the vibe but then also wondered who am I targeting here, mushroom goths? lmao.

>ernst haeckel
I'll work on those variants more, I really like his art and it matches the feeling I want to produce I think.

>>462267
I didn't pursue this much but here's the AI slop that combines both. Might be an effective way to keep the sun logo as the primary branding logo and the mushroom coffee product line logo both active.

>>462269
the mushrooms, rectangle, contour lens and font all got AI slopped in this but hopefully it conveys the concept well enough.

pic rel was an attempt to fill some of the whitespace on this packaging: >>462238
well im gonna lounge around and generate some Ernst hackel stuff. can you also clarify this sentence for me:
>>462267
>It would be better without the logo reminds me of nasa,

>>462267
which font do you like more? I like the top left and bottom right combinations the most.

@grok is this true?

>>462248
ew is that shit

>>462269
The sun is maybe not a good concept for a mushrom themed company. Since the sun is either irrelevant or harmful for mushrooms

>>462281
I agree somewhat, but the sun is not actually directly harmful to them, drying out is. Most growers keep their shrooms under direct lighting as it improves color and appearance of the mushroom. the particulars however dont' matter here, it does look like in reality it'd be cooking them.

the sun implies energy, wellness, etc, but yes contrast with the wet and unprotected little fungus it's blasting down on. I sorta liked the idea of using the sun and shrooms because then in other product lines without mushrooms, I could use just the sun like picrel as a master logo.

>>462281
>>462286
they could also probably be done to look like mountains and the sun cresting over them

>>462286
here it is with a spore print which is maybe less offensive.

>>462281
>mushrom themed company
I don't want to limit it to that either, so I prefer the branding being agnostic where it can (name Mana is agnostic, and ideally the master logo is too).

Looks decent enough for a farmers market crowd right? I'm unsure how I'll be positioning the company, i.e as a coffee company that sells mushroom coffee, or as a mushroom focused wellness company.

>>462288
You're just wasting your time, you're making the same mistakes a lot of designers make in the beginning, you're jumping ahead to mockups and software instead of following the basic process of designing anything. Using a process like the video link below will give you way better results, and you can use chatgpt for each step more much effectively and smartly (nanobanana is better for mockups tho). Here's the video:

https://youtu.be/ZvxpaklnMXI?si=G0UXgU1DdRXulfNu&t=725

>>462291
Thanks!! Watching now. I've been doing a lot of reading on branding and whatnot lately. Do you not think this is good/sufficient? aside from the font: >>462290

>>462291
I asked this on biz's /smg/ earlier as well, do you have any thoughts?
If you were developing a brand that initially sells only mushroom coffee, how would you want to position the brand?
>coffee company that specializes in mushroom coffee (differentiate the product by not being instant coffee, maybe win over the snobs, leaves sales channel open for normal coffee
>wellness company that focuses on mushroom products and extracts (at least initially)

>>462291
Also I feel like I've already done everything this video has discussed so far (I started from the beginning and am at the point you timestamped), but am perhaps just not as skilled or lack the infrastructure (eg the design landscape boards and whatnot).

What I think is my unique value prop to my customers (who will initially be farmers market goers) is
>a local company / farm (support local, but this doesn't scale obviously)
>farm to cup production unlike competitors (Ryze, MUD\WTR)
>actually taste good, not like shit (coffee forward branding is important here imo)
>quality of mushroom inputs is comparatively high due to owning the full supply chain, with a slight scientific bent toward dosing, etc

and the overall value of the product isn't mushrooms but energy, vitality, health, etc.

>>462292
I personally don't like the mushroom's inside the mug, for drinks/coffee it reminds me of something rotten or abandoned.

But If you really like those elements, then you can try a lot of different things that will look way better, for example you can try making smoke coming from the coffee mug look like one mushroom and definitely make it solid color instead of the outlines you have, also 3 mushrooms is way too detailed.

There's an instagram i follow, is great for inspiration, is called "ai" but is just some of the best world designers sending their designs for the page to publish:

https://www.instagram.com/logos.ai

Then the next step would be to sketch the logo on paper in different styles, using references like logos or design images that you like, and from there picking up the best 2-3 ones and refine them, then start playing with colors, fonts and vectorizing them.

>>462295
Is there a site that lets me take a stylescape and inject my own name and logo?

>I personally don't like the mushroom's inside the mug, for drinks/coffee it reminds me of something rotten or abandoned.
I agree to an extent, that was something I was worried about. I wanted to recycle the brand logo from the parent company to keep some association between the two (pic rel), but maybe the execution is bad or maybe the idea altogether is bad due to the 'rotting coffee' association. The advantage though is you can tell from a glance what the product is, which is valuable on a farmers market banner as peoples eyes glance around.

I think at this junction I may just keep what I have (it's not terrible imo), and hire a designer later. I won't be pushing e-commerce for some time, I'll be using farmers markets next season to dial in my processes before trying to scale aggressively, and they're much less sensitive to unpolished branding. I'd want less volatility in both my branding and product before pushing e-comm personally.

Followed the insta, thanks.

>>462295
please reply one more time and then imma close my laptop and go do something else for the rest of the day

>>462295
I do question if I need any sort of mushroom iconography on the packaging. Customers don't consume it because it has mushrooms in it, they consume it for the desired effects (energy without disturbing acid reflux or whatever for example). They are indifferent to whether or not there's mushrooms in it, only after the functional benefits of the ingredients.

At the same time, mushroom symbolism denotes the functionality implicitly.

>>462295
For context I'm splitting up an existing company I have, which thus far has operated as more of a commodity than a brand, under a name '[myTown] Mushroom Company', primarily doing direct to consumer sales at markets.

I want to get into both mushroom coffee and step back from fresh produce sales D2C, focusing more on B2B (wholesale or providing inputs like clean spawn to other farms). This has been my plan since starting the existing company.

Given that, I want to be able to sell the coffee on both a dedicated site and on my shop for pfungi.com / pacificfungi.com, so I'd like some sort of stylistic unity between Mana branding and Pacific Fungi, but the branding ethos varies wildly between a the sterile/clinical and industrial aspirations of pacific fungi, vs the vibes I'd want for a consumable item.

>>462295
I think I'll do some polling at the farmers market maybe. Just have a QR code that customers can scan and vote on logos/design, and get a free sample pack of coffee in exchange. Probably a win/win

>>462288
Spore print is so fun. It does not look good far away, but close up it is great. Maybe something there to play around with more.

Personally I love details a lot more than almost anyone here. But it should look good at a glance and at small sizes as well and not just a circle

>>462298
If you want to present wellness then do that. You can use just written text to show that it is mushrooms. Or use graphics.

>>462301
>spore print
I tried to get some interplay between the spore print and the sun but couldn't get the AI to do it right but I think there's room there to make it a sort of hybrid sun / spore print that could be interpreted either way.

Anyway, at this point this is rotting my brain so I'm gonna try and stay away from this thread for a few days.

>>462296
Can someone tell me how to vectorize this Inkscape? IDK what tf I'm doing wrong on Inkscape, I'm following all instructions but it looks like crap every time.
>path
>trace bitmap
>looks like a pixelated disaster

quick mockup for parent company website

>>462314
note to self: add logo for extract bottle, coffee, pellets, gear icon

Grifter uses AI for logo. News at 11.

>>462316
Grifter? How so? I’m flattered you think I have the charisma to grift.

>>462320
That was a good font. Very mystical