Luxury Pen Brand Design

[timothylarson]

I am looking for advice on creating a luxury brand.

For years I have done woodworking as a hobby and have recently gotten into creating high end pens using exotic woods along with premium hardware.

Here is a pen I created last week using a Redwood Burl with hardware plated in Rhodium and Black Titanium which makes it extremely corrosion and wear resistant.

I am at the point where I would like to launch a pen brand which would sell the luxury pens I handmake one at a time.

To do this, I want to get the brand right.

The brand name I have come up with is Sabre Pens, and I am currently working with a designer on a logo.

This is where I need some help.

Here are three designs with my thoughts about each. Let me know what you think:

I like the idea of the hand holding the pen as a sabre but does it work?

The first design is an S for Sabre with the pen beneath... Is it too generic?

The second design makes me think of slaying a dragon... It has a certain flare I like, but is it too abstract or busy?

The third design is the cleanest, however, is this design too cartoonish for a luxury brand?

Let me know which logo, if any, you like the best and why.

Is there a clear winner, or should I go back to the drawing board?

Thank you for any advice you my have.

 

[chobochobo]

I prefer the simplest one, the third. The flare one I like the least.

If the pens are meant to be luxury, then the generic nibs don't help to project this image. They look like pens from China.

 

[timothylarson]

Quote: Quote:
Which is another reason I question using the third design, using the nib (even being held like a sword or sabre) could be seen as very generic.

 

[chobochobo]

It depends on your intended demographic - Krone, Pelikan, Waterman etc? To me, the logo isn't that important. I'd much rather see how the pen performs and looks - and as I said before, a generic nib makes it look like a Chinese pen - some of these look quite nice, but are let down by the generic nib. If you are truly going 'lux' then you need your own nib design.

 

[Flambeur]

 

[countdemoney]

First, good luck with your enterprise.

Second, I agree that you should not overthink your logo. Go with the one you like and make it yours.

Third, you're doing luxury goods. As a startup without millions behind you, focus on the customer experience and let the brand grow that way.

Fourth, if you start to find some success, focus on PR and not as much on ads. The ROI is far larger with PR.

I don't know how many pics you can post and stay within the selling rules, but would love to see more of your work as you get going.

 

[Astaroth]

I'm curious, you say you are into woodworking and yet you want to make pens where the business end of the item isnt within your area? Presumably you are buying a generic core/fundamental and just adding the wooden barrel?

To be honest, I am not a great fan of any of them. I wouldnt want or need to see a graphic of a pen in a pen company brand, particularly one with "pen" in the name. Out of the three options I'd go with number 1 minus the pen image but I'm not convinced that the hard geometrics fits well with a brand thats USP is around an organic material like wood.