The top one! Since 2005 is cool. Why wait until the future to put that they're since you're confident that you're going to be around! The second one is too busy - too many words in a limited space. The bottom one is cool, but i think it tries too hard. You can say you're author driven without actually writing it in your logo. Good luck with your final decision.

I like the top one visually but would use author driven instead of since 2005. Unless you think the founding date is more important than a concept that seems to be at the center of every explanation I've read of what you're doing and of what makes weblogs unique.

I find having the phrase since 2005 in black hard to read and also unbalanced with the word publishing in white. I'd suggest either making all the text white or going with the color combo of the first one. If you're going to use it in smaller sizes, all white would probably be the ideal.

I'd like this direction though. It reminds me of the STP stickers we used to collect as kids.

I agree with Clyde about anything about the black text on color, I can't read it at all in the green one. My monitor's busted, yes, but still.

I'm reluctant to give notes to Mule--those guys are geniuses, but I do like 3, though I'd be interested to see it with "Authors Drive" instead. Mmm..._transitive_. And two meanings. Which can be nice.

(Disclosure: I have a weblog, I drive, and I once stole a bunch of canapes from the table at Battelle's book party.)

Maybe it's just me, but:

http://www.snopes.com/business/graphics/luckycig.jpg

I gotta say - I love the "Since 2005" line. "Author Driven" is better than "Weblog Driven" (which may wind up being too limiting anyway) but "Since 2005" is witty and a little subversive. I like FEDERATED in the middle, with MEDIA PUBLISHING down underneath, but it's just an opinion. It has something of a retro gas station sign look about it, without being too literal.

The third is preferable because "Author Driven" says a lot more than "Since 2005". It doesn't work in black though, needs more visibility.

"Federated" sounds a bit official to me (British). Maybe not to you. And the shape looks a bit like a sheriff's badge :-)

i like having "federated" and "media" on equal footing, so the bottom one is appealing. However, they have a bit of an oil-can aesthetic to them - like random Old Navy t-shirts - that I take as being slightly dated already.

Also "author driven" will get lost when you shrink it to small size and tiny logos are useful for webstuff.

I like the "Author Driven" more than "Blog Driven" and I will re-state what my main man Tonx has said: overall, it looks a bit dated. I also agree that the Federated and Media should be equally stated.

Back to the "dated" comment. I can't help but feel like this logo looks like a 90s band logo (but with more words, since all bands in th 90s chose single-word names). It's supposed to look this way, I think: slightly "ironic" and not high tech, but I don't see it as a great branding element yet. It looks very NASCAR, like a patch sewn on the uniform of a driver, so maybe you're pre-positioning for that endorsement opportunity ;)

I like the last one (in red) best -- but the black "author driven" is hard to read. Outside of that, it says the most. "Since 2005" adds very little value, and "weblog driven" is exclusionary both forwards and backwards -- not all good sites are blogs, and when blogs aren't the hot buzzword of the day, the logo will seem dated. But "author driven" gives a good descriptor of the project -- to give authors the power over their content and sites. An author trying to decide where to go will like that the company pays attention to them, the author.

As someone who has been on both sides of this kind of thing, as a designer as well as a client, I'd firstly say "NEVER ask your audience what they think of your logo prototypes." Why ? Because a logo is sacred to the values of your corporation. Only you and your team know what that means- it is a visual "pledge" of who and where you are and where you want to go. The audience looks to you to follow and absorb the outcome of your chosen direction. While it is a generous gesture to have a readership be *literally* involved, it's doing your value system a disservice. And no, that's not taking it too seriously.

That said, as a "would be client", among the things to watch out for : it should translate well both in print and web, as well as in lo-fi media such as photocopies and faxes. In the latter case, red registers as a very dark gray, so with black text, you're looking at a blob without immediately discernible text. Everyone brings to a logo their own biases and cultural baggage, which can be good or bad. Liking the font or the color is like liking the dash of coriander in a recipe or something- In the end, it's about how you feel about the whole and really what you can live with in terms of what it represents. I think the oval is a nice idea, but softens the design: picture a rectangle with a bold frame, to see what I mean. Other than that, I would make it simpler and bolder, right now it's too delicate and not "mysterious" enough. maybe with a distinctive type treatment or flourish of some kind as a sign off. Hey, you asked. :-)

As someone who has been on both sides of this kind of thing, as a designer as well as a client, I'd firstly say "NEVER ask your audience what they think of your logo prototypes." Why ? Because a logo is sacred to the values of your corporation. Only you and your team know what that means- it is a visual "pledge" of who and where you are and where you want to go. The audience looks to you to follow and absorb the outcome of your chosen direction. While it is a generous gesture to have a readership be *literally* involved, it's doing your value system a disservice. And no, that's not taking it too seriously.

That said, as a "would be client", among the things to watch out for : it should translate well both in print and web, as well as in lo-fi media such as photocopies and faxes. In the latter case, red registers as a very dark gray, so with black text, you're looking at a blob without immediately discernible text. Everyone brings to a logo their own biases and cultural baggage, which can be good or bad. Liking the font or the color is like liking the dash of coriander in a recipe or something- In the end, it's about how you feel about the whole and really what you can live with in terms of what it represents. I think the oval is a nice idea, but softens the design: picture a rectangle with a bold frame, to see what I mean. Other than that, I would make it simpler and bolder, right now it's too delicate and not "mysterious" enough. maybe with a distinctive type treatment or flourish of some kind as a sign off. Hey, you asked. :-)