Thank you so much to everyone who entered the Afrobella logo contest. It was really cool to see how each designer depicted their vision of Afrobella, and over the weekend I plan to post a gallery of all the entries. Some made more use of text and fancy fonts, some relied solely on image. I got entries from all over the United States — and a beautiful one from Poland. The decision was made after testing multiple logos on a dummy page and sharing the finalists with friends, family, and a couple of graphic designer friends o’ mine.
I received many beautiful entries, but when I saw Shari Neal’s entry, I just knew it was the one. She captured the essence of what I tried to convey in the original call for submissions. I called her over the weekend to let her know she’d nailed it.
Shari’s a 23 year old who lives in Chicago. Her family is from Belize, and she’s an artsy type who loves to draw, design, sew, knit, crochet, make collages, and dabble in photography. She’s crafty! And Shari’s also my Pisces sister – her birthday’s a week after mine.
Shari told me that she read about the contest on Fly and as a regular reader of that awesome blog she was familiar with Stina Persson. “I really like working in silhouettes and shadows, and I really liked that artist’s work,” she explained. Shari says her ultimate goal is to be a handbag and accessories designer. “I also plan to launch a non-profit arts organization with my brother, he’s a painter and photographer,” she added. Her favorite blogs (besides yours truly) are Fly, Me Myself & Eye, Young Black & Fabulous, and Concrete Loop. Her favorite quote is, “The only failure is in not trying.†And I’m so glad she tried to come up with a logo for my site. With this beautiful new representation, I’m ready to take Afrobella to the next level.
Thank you so much, Shari! Big respect to you!
Congrats Shari. Very cute!
Simply beautiful, it really reflects the essence of the sight. Great choice! Congratulations Shari!
I meant site…sorry!:(
Good choice!
Beautiful! Congrats to Shari!
Congrats1 I love it.
Very pretty. And if you ever decide to put it on a t-shirt, let me know – I want one! Really.
Nice job!
Congratulations Shari!
Awesome logo 🙂
you are simply amazing.
Congrats Shari! The simplicity is awesome.
Umm, make that 2 orders for the cute t-shirt. Congrats, love it.
Congrats Shari! And Bella, you can put me down for a t-shirt as well. =) And prolly for my sister who’s always copping my fab style/clothes. lol
Hi Ladies and congrats to you both…..
Shari, you captured just what Afrobella was looking for and her dream was turned into a reality. It looks great and w/Bella being happy that means, more exciting post. Best wishes to you both:)
Really pretty!
Congrats, on the new logo Bella! This is beautiful! It reminds me of you.
Nerg Girl and Indigo, those plans are coming soon and I’ll let EVERYBODY know when. =)
I am so happy with this, really. And lots more surprises are in store!
Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone!
The new logo is so very beautiful! Congrats!
Forgive my ignorance, but can someone tell me where I can see this new logo??? I don’t see it on the homepage. Thanks in advance.
Looks great! One small suggestion, it should be clickable to take you back to the index. Can’t wait to get a t-shirt. 🙂
Bella! I like this design. T-shirt, T-shirt, t-shirt. Maybe you could do a Zazzle.com store and we could all order the tees in our sizes. Can’t wait! Congrats Shari!
Love it!!. Congrats on One Year and Congrats to Shari.
congrats to shari.that logo speaks for itself.it is powerful.
Totally luvin’ the logo…..can’t wait for the Tee! I think Shari started something! LOL
Peajai, we spent hours trying to make it a clickable logo! If you or anyone knows how to do that, PLEASE e mail me at bella@afrobella.com. There’s so many little techie things we’re still learning here.
Tees are coming! No worries. And they’ll be awesome!
I don’t see the logo!
Congratualtions Shari 🙂 and Bella 🙂
Clueless and ceecee — it’s not at the top of your page?? Where the flowers and banner used to be? Let me know, we might need to fix this somehow.
hi bella go to http://www.imageshack.us you can upload the logo and make it a thumbnail size. it will provide you with different kinds of links. What you’ll need is a thumbnail that links to the original size image.
Hope it helps!
looks Great! Love It!
Simple, but POWERFUL! I see confidence and royalty. It makes me feel pround to be a natural girl. Congrats to you.
No it’s not there. I just see the flowers.
I love the new logo. I think it really embodies what Afrobella represents. Nice work Shari!
I love that! Simply beautiful.
http://www.nightfirecandles.com
Ha!!! Congrats Shari!! Bella it looks fantastic…xoxoxLianne
Bella and Shari.
Beautiful choice and beautiful logo. Young, Black and Talented. Loves it!
Lovely logo, colors compliment your current site wonderfully.
One question: the white showing through some of the lettering is intentional? Or a slight problem with the image mask? Just checking. Very nice, I dig!
I LOVE this logo. It packs just the right amount of punch! Excellent job Shari!
is it just me. I don’t see the logo anywhere. 🙁
Still gotta upload the latest version, which doesn’t have white spaces. Good eye! And for those of you who can’t see the logo – I couldn’t either, last night. Then my IT guy (my husband, lol) advised me to close the internet window I was looking at (which had been open for like a week), and re-open it. When I did, it refreshed the page and presto, new logo. I hope that works for those of you who haven’t been able to see it yet!
I love it! It looks like a gorgeous face with a content expression emerging from or surrounded by a lucious afro
T shirt is a must!
First let me say…I love the new logo too, but I think I’ve gotten used to the “banner style” logo. Obviously because of the round shape of the new logo it looks better off to the side as it is. But now, visually there seems to be too much excess space in the middle. Anybody else feel that way?
Love the new logo! Save a space for me in line for that t-shirt–it would look slammin’ against so many background colors!
Congratulations Shari!
You’re right MochaSiren – but it’s for a reason. All will be revealed soon!
The T-shirt idea, yes please do that. I would be more than happy to buy and wear one.
Jane
I would love to purchase a t-shirt too. That logo is beautiful!!
Bella,
Now I’m really intrigued! 🙂 BTW, like the T-shirt idea too!
Bella,
You should make the logo link to your about page or your homepage.
That way it puts in people’s mind that it’s a logo.
Jane
Loving the new logo.
Congrats on the anniversary! Still rockin’! Love love love the logo! So glad your brother put me onto your blog (he does a LOT of advertising let me tell you!). Looking forward to many more anniversaries to come.
I WANT MY BABY TEE!!!
I would love a tee as well, that would be a great idea especially in a chocolate brown cap sleeve!
Amazing design!!!! Congrats!!!
Some tech stuff for my fellow Afrobellas
Now I’ve added extra spaces so the computer won’t read it for the examples DON’T use spaces. This site converts code.
Add a space ONLY between IMG and SRC
and A and HREF
____________
2. How to add a picture
Now let’s put it together
Now to make a picture a link you would do this, simply replacing the text info with the image info. Tada, there yah go…
(Keep in mind if you want to figure out how to do something, look at the source code, right click on a page and scroll to view source code. It can give you lots of clues on how to do something that is technical, but don’t steal other people’s design who have a clue, cause they get kind of mad. How to do something tech is ok, but stealing someone’s look not cool, in doubt just ask.)
Jane
More tips go here:
http://www.webmonkey.com/
Darn, it still wouldn’t come up. I’ll just email Bella.
Jane
perfect!
It is lovely. I would be down for a t-shirt or two as well.I do agree with MochaSiren there needs to be a little love in the middle of the top of the page as well…it may just mean shifting the new logo over a bit…or maybe putting “Afrobella” with the new colors and starbursts? Just a thought.
WOW I love this LOGO way to go !!!!
I luv the new logo ladies! Great choice, Bella. I am also interested in a Tshirt whenever they are available.
I was just about to ask you if you were happy with that space in the middle but since all will be revealed soon, I’m looking forward to whatever it is. 🙂
Congrats Shari!
can we see the runner ups and the other submissions that didn’t quite get selected to win?
She’s very pretty and I love her smile.
congrats Shari! love the logo and thanks for visiting Fly!
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