Moto Logo

September 21, 2009 6:27 AM

I need logo and font help. The name of my vintage motorcycle restoration business is MotoKrow. My last name means "crow" in Dutch, and begins with a K. I like vintage motorcycle logos, but don't want to copy. I'm very fond of the old Moto Guzzi logo. Anyone know what that font is? A simple logo like the Matchless one is nice. I'm no designer, and I thought this place full of smart people (like you!) would be helpful. Apologies in advance if I've violated some sort of protocol here.
posted by Shike to media & arts (15 comments total)

This would probably go better in the Jobs part of the site.
posted by interrobang at 6:30 AM on September 21, 2009

well, this is about help researching a particular font and looking for advice. i just thought the community could help by pointing me to some resources for cool logos and typeface designs.
posted by Shike at 6:42 AM on September 21, 2009

If you don't mind answering a few answers on their site, as to the font, you will find help here: www.identifont.com!
posted by megob at 7:06 AM on September 21, 2009

Tidy it up (swap the red for white), then upload it to wtf.
posted by devnull at 7:20 AM on September 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Not sure what fonts they are, but you might find some of these good for what you're trying to achieve:

Letterhead Fonts
posted by backwards guitar at 7:39 AM on September 21, 2009

If you have a budget to work with, I recommend contacting the Wilkinson Brothers. They're (a) graphic designers and (b) motorcyclists. They designed my company's logo and images (the dodgy website work is mine, not theirs). They're great guys, their work is superb as well as on-time and on-budget.
posted by workerant at 8:57 AM on September 21, 2009

That font was almost certainly specially created for that logo, and putting a cleaned up version in What the Font comes up with no good matches.

If you talk to a designer about creating a logo for you, bring in examples of logos you like (including the ones you linked above), and tell them that you're interested in a classic, geometric sans serif typeface for your logo.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:58 AM on September 21, 2009

Identifont results show that it mostly matches Bernhard Fashion BT. But, when you look at the letter G, it doesn't match exactly. On the left pane of the results, it also lists Insignia. I think this most matches the Moto Guzzi logo. The letters U and Z are slightly different, but not too much. Take a look and see if you agree.
posted by Houstonian at 9:26 AM on September 21, 2009

Don't know the exact fonts (they may not be in digital circulation), but something like Gill Sans Bold, Futura Bold, or Gotham Bold should be close on the Moto Guzzi logo. You can find a similar "M" to the Matchless logo in Verlag or Neutra Face.
posted by martens at 9:28 AM on September 21, 2009

A friend recently used this site http://www.crowdspring.com/ to buy a logo design. It's like a job-bid site, but you get actual submissions to choose from. They guarantee a minimum number of submissions. However, each minor modification of a logo counts as a new submission. But, he ended up with several nice logos to choose from for around $200 (you choose what you want to spend).
posted by Swede78 at 9:36 AM on September 21, 2009

Shike, you might find some inspiration from this series of logo posts on Abduzeedo. There are also plenty of links to other logo sites in the comments.

Creatives might seem prickly when it comes to these kinds of questions because spec work, like the crowdsource link posted above, devaules our profession and perpetuates the notion among non-designers that one can post a question on a message board and end up with (free!) company branding.

I think the way you initially worded your question might have been misconstrued. Your second post clarified things a bit.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 9:36 PM on September 21, 2009

Correction: crowdspring, not crowdsource.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 9:43 PM on September 21, 2009

mefi = awesomeness. thank you all.
posted by Shike at 5:27 AM on September 24, 2009

i like to build my lexicon before approaching prickly typefascists with requests for proposals.
posted by Shike at 6:03 AM on September 24, 2009

Duuuuuuuuude. You did not need to call designers typefascists. Kind of makes me want to retract my help.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:38 AM on September 24, 2009