Although I was hired as a web design consultant for CutYourLosers.com, I insisted that I start by improving their logo, which wasn’t effectively communicating what their service was about. Cut Your Losers is an online startup that helps subscribers better manage their stock portfolios with emailed alerts. Because the founders were pretty happy with their original logo, I offered a wide range of tweaks from simply improving the logo’s kerning and color palette to a more drastic rethinking of the fonts, colors and arrow. After hearing my reasons and seeing all the options, they happily agreed to rework the logo.
Before …
After …
In the final logo, I used different weights from the same font family so the company name and tagline would relate to each other better yet still provide visual contrast. The typography also reflects the inherent tension between “losers” and “winners.” I chose italic to make the logo more active, reflecting the sense of immediacy in the alerts. And I moved the arrow to the right of the logo so it would continue the movement implied by the “Let your winners run” tagline. I redrew the arrow with a subtle drop shadow and lengthened it so it extends past the top of the text. Now the arrow acts not only as a stock arrow that’s depicting unforeseen success but also as a sort of exclamation point, adding excitement and energy to their brand. To finish it off, I chose a deep purple and orange color combination that would distinguish them from their competition and would appeal to their predominantly male client base. The logo is now a call to action with a more energetic feeling that better communicates the nature of their service.