# Etch logo advise.



## WillC (Oct 8, 2011)

I have never really branded my knives other than a few homemade stamps I just happen to have made for other purposes. I want to go the etch route, although I may have to commission a hot stamp of the logo for half ground/forge finish blades, not sure how an etch stencil copes with light texture.
I've moved away from my blacksmithing business name and would like to use my surname for my sharps as it seems to click for me.
I've been playing with some fonts and superimposing on photos.
This is the font i'm thinking at the moment.
Any feedback would be much appreciated, as I do struggle with the whole branding thing.


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## tk59 (Oct 8, 2011)

I have no advice but I wouldn't mind that logo on one of my blades.


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## WillC (Oct 8, 2011)

Well thats good, it can't look to offensive then
On BB they suggested I try and squeeze made in Hereford-Englend, but i'm struggling without making it look pants. Catcheside is a very old English name and not too common. So I don't think anyone would struggle pinning it down. Although I have a few relatives who managed to skip the borders.:tooth:


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 8, 2011)

raisedbybrocks said:


> Well thats good, it can't look to offensive then
> On BB they suggested I try and squeeze made in Hereford-Englend, but i'm struggling without making it look pants. Catcheside is a very old English name and not too common. So I don't think anyone would struggle pinning it down. Although I have a few relatives who managed to skip the borders.:tooth:


 
Translation, perhaps?

JK.


But you should put something else on there, perhaps "Herefordshire" or "knives" or a logo.


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## WillC (Oct 8, 2011)

Translation "From the windy Hill". 
I'll try and wangle something else in. I was thinking Catcheside Cutlery but its getting a bit long.
Cheers


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## Hattorichop (Oct 8, 2011)

Personally I do not like the length of the h and the d. I would like to see them no taller than the C. I think if you centre "cutlery" in a smaller more simple text under catchside would work nicely. Just my opinion!


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## WillC (Oct 8, 2011)

I kind of agree about the length of the tails on the h and d. Being limited to font i'm not sure what I can do about that, its the closest to what I want from the ones I have. But its given me an idea, I might try and find a local calligrapher to write it for me and scan that and have the stencils made from that.


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## Rottman (Oct 8, 2011)

There's tons of free fonts on the net, you can spend an entire day just going through.
Apart from that, there are some very thin lines in the font you've used that could give you problems with readability if an etch doesn't come out perfect.


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## WillC (Oct 8, 2011)

Your right I've just googled Calligraphy fonts, that should keep me busy for a while. I don't know much about electric etching yet but you could be right. I'm planning on getting the webbing backed ones which are meant to allow you to get finer detail. I'll see what the stencil man says.


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## EdipisReks (Oct 8, 2011)

i like it, myself. very Tolkien.


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 8, 2011)

The font is cool, but somehow to me it screams "nautical". It looks like the name on the back of a yacht.

You should contact your stencil guy. He probably prefers to do his own fonts, and then you'd be getting a custom stencil!


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## ecchef (Oct 8, 2011)

It's kind of 'artsy' for me Will. Maybe a little too delicate for a working tool. I'd be inclined to add "Herefordshire" as well.


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## WillC (Oct 9, 2011)

Thanks me shipmates, arghh no I can't have it looking yaughty. Hereford-England is going underneath for sure now. I'm still font hunting. There are loads of handwriting fonts out there, but 99.9% seem terrible. I'll send the stencil guy what I've got and see what he can come up with.


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## WillC (Oct 9, 2011)

I've had a rethink.




I think I like this one.


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## mhenry (Oct 9, 2011)

I much prefer that one


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## Dave Martell (Oct 9, 2011)

I like the 2nd one a lot more.


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## l r harner (Oct 9, 2011)

i liked the first jsut fins sept it would have lost a bit of "classs" when you have to fatten up the lines to amke it work well an dalso when made small for little knives (you will likely need 2 size and better yet maybe 3 size of logo)

2nd one looks good also but the small font will be lost on a smaller logo


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## Dave Martell (Oct 9, 2011)

Good point about loosing the small font on the smaller sized versions.


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## ecchef (Oct 9, 2011)

Other than the bizarre "C", that's pretty darn nice.


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## WillC (Oct 9, 2011)

Thanks Guys, I'm not sure the size proportions are right on the pic, I just shrank it down somewhere near by eye. The size i've done it, is 38mm x 8mm. Might look far too big on a smaller Petty, thats a very good point. I could make the C slightly smaller and the rest of the name slightly bigger. Or tweak the design slightly for a smaller one. Can't afford to get 3 done at the moment


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## WillC (Oct 9, 2011)

Another try
Proportions are a bit different, the C is less lengthy, (and wacky) with more space for the rest of the letters. Added 2mm on the depth to get the Hereford-England a bit clearer.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 9, 2011)

raisedbybrocks said:


> Another try
> Proportions are a bit different, the C is less lengthy, (and wacky) with more space for the rest of the letters. Added 2mm on the depth to get the Hereford-England a bit clearer.




I like it a lot. I think Americans will dig having a knife marked England too.


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## kalaeb (Oct 9, 2011)

+1, I like that one a lot.


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 9, 2011)

Yeah that's cool. It might need to be lower, just so the stencil can fit, but the look is very cool.

P.S. my wife likes it too.


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## WillC (Oct 10, 2011)

Thanks Guys, and Mrs Doughy Your feedback is much appreciated.


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## Burl Source (Oct 10, 2011)

I don't mean to sound like the contrarian, but........
To me Catcheside followed by Hereford - England makes it look like a mass produced item.
I would lean more toward something like Catcheside Forge - UK
In my mind this reinforces the fact that it is a forged, hand made knife.
I would also use a more rustic or old fashioned type.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 10, 2011)

You know Mark does make good points there.....hmmmm


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## tk59 (Oct 10, 2011)

I like the old fashioned type idea. In my mind, when I think forged, I don't necessarily think handmade. I think of Henckels and Wusthof being forged, as well. I'd lean toward nothing more than Catcheside or an initial and Catcheside. I don't think I'd be more likely to buy a Devin or an Ealy or a Martell if the blade bore a USA on it. It has nothing to do with what makes it special, imo.


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## l r harner (Oct 10, 2011)

raisedbybrocks said:


> Thanks Guys, I'm not sure the size proportions are right on the pic, I just shrank it down somewhere near by eye. The size i've done it, is 38mm x 8mm. Might look far too big on a smaller Petty, thats a very good point. I could make the C slightly smaller and the rest of the name slightly bigger. Or tweak the design slightly for a smaller one. Can't afford to get 3 done at the moment


 
i have jsut 2 size and lucky for me that looks good 90% of the time IMG image mark has been good to me for gettig my logo made after the firdst art fee if no big changes are done then its jsut the cost of the stencil (shipping costs more most the time )


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## WillC (Oct 11, 2011)

Thanks Guys, my initial thoughts were to keep it to the Catcheside as its unusual enough to tell you everything you need to know. But i'm happy with the overall design. The Hereford-England is a bit finer on the version Ernie sent back for proof I don't think they will be too prominent, just readable. I'll see what it looks like on a blade, could tweak it slightly on the next sheet add different sizes etc. I'm getting some serial numbers too. I'm sure that, choice of materials, the overall design and price bracket will prevent anyone thinking they're banged out by a line of people. Just gotta build an etching machine now


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## WillC (Oct 20, 2011)

Well the logo's arrived. While I was waiting I bought some electrical bits and made my machine. I went for 9v/18v with a high/low button and an ac/dc button. I made my hand tool from a chunk of brass. I'm using salt solution for electrolyte and craft felt on the hand tool. It seems to work well, I'm etching on 18v/dc and darkening on 9v/ac.
Here's the result. Thanks all for your input on this.


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## TB_London (Oct 20, 2011)

Looks really good, what's the size?


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## Dave Martell (Oct 20, 2011)

That came out real good.


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## WillC (Oct 20, 2011)

Thanks, its quite nerve racking doing the first one isn't it. Its about 40 x 10mm I will need a slightly smaller one too i think. I build the machine from the specs on crawfords site. But I used an electrical diagram from somewhere else as his was a bit hard to follow. The only thing I changed was to add a switch 9v/18v. I'll dig up the links if anyone wants to build one.


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## SpikeC (Oct 20, 2011)

I would like to see them. The logo really looks great! It looks really professional, like the knife should cost $200 an inch!


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## WillC (Oct 20, 2011)

Thanks Spike, thats very kind. Hard thing choosing a logo, reccon you've got your nailed, especially with the S pin to match. 
I'll dig up the links.


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## WillC (Oct 20, 2011)

Here is the tutorial I used for a parts list.
http://chriscrawfordknives.com/#/ele...nit/4535265119

Here is where I found the electrical diagram I used, only I added a switch between the centre and one of the 9V on the transformer to give 9v/18v. Of course you could use a 12v/24v transformer if you want and just have 12v or 12v/24v on a switch.
9/18 seems to work good though. 
http://www.knives.mlogiudice.com/kni...er/index.shtml


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## Lefty (Oct 21, 2011)

Looks great! Nicely done too!


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