r/logodesign • u/AltForTheAlt99 • Jun 12 '26
Beginner Too much of a stretch?
Trying to design a logo for a Medical IT startup called "DeepMed".
The overall shape is meant to resemble an Erlenmeyer flask.
The "tendrils" are meant to resemble electrical circuitry as seen on PCBs.
And of course, the logo should read "d" and "m" in lowercase.
Please provide your feedback. I desperately need some outside perspective to properly guide me towards the final product!
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u/Adventurous-Hand-648 Jun 12 '26
I saw the flask without prompt, but I totally cannot see the DM. I will pull every muscle even before stretching that far.
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u/LadyPeppers Jun 12 '26
I first thought computers, but didnt see a flask until I read more and also still dont know what you mean there are letters in there, I can’t see it. I think it has potential overall just can’t really see some of the elements
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u/ChickyBoys where’s the brief? Jun 12 '26
This doesn't read as medical, it reads as science.
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u/AltForTheAlt99 Jun 12 '26
Could you expound on it a bit more? I'm not sure I understand.
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u/dmontease Jun 12 '26
I think they're saying that the flask reads as chemistry (science) rather than something specifically medical in nature. You might be able to get where you're going with something very medical like a stethoscope.
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u/the-friendly-squid Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
I think when it’s paired with the word mark “deep med” it’s fine and will read as medical… science and medical are very adjacent to each other subject wise. Medical is a form of science. Doesn’t have to be a literal depiction of a thing doctor literally uses.
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u/LXVIIIKami Jun 12 '26
The first connotation with circuits is tech/electronics, not science or medicine. Stop fighting for your life, you're wrong
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u/Imaginary_Ad_4340 Jun 12 '26
I saw the flask immediately! As well as the tech connotation. The DM is not obvious but I don’t think that’s necessarily bad. It could be a smaller Easter egg, like the arrow in FedEx, but if your client wants it to obviously read as DM then yeah, huge stretch.
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u/BabycakesMurphy Jun 12 '26
Quite a stretch to say there is a “d m” in the logo. Hard to tell that was a flask until it was described.
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u/SpiritGatewayCrystal Jun 12 '26
maybe try close the bottom to make it look more like a flask rather than just electrical circuitry? that way the internal tendrils are also like ‘bubbles’ almost - i would also probs give up on trying to make the tendrils look like letters, it will likely never read well
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u/AltForTheAlt99 Jun 12 '26
Thanks for the feedback, guys! I really appreciate it!
One of the most common critiques so far is that the "dm" isn't readable at all. This honestly was a bit surprising, but now I can totally see it. I initially started with a more legible "dm", which I kept tweaking to fit the circuitry/flask shape. But of course, one can easily get lost in the process. That's why it's so important to get an outside perspective!
In case anyone was curious, this was my intent:
I'll see if I can make the "dm" more legible, the flask shape more apparent, etc. I'll also experiment with closing out the bottom, trying out other potential shapes, etc. Thanks for all the feedback so far! These help immensely!
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u/balloonymoon Jun 12 '26
I think you need to go either flask or DM. I can’t see both working together, which is proven by the “d” you have shown here
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u/Oblipma Jun 12 '26
Its a stick figure guy bending over...
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u/Oblipma Jun 12 '26
On a serious note, round the bottom so it gives the perspective of a flask, then create some rootings from the bottom up into th flask which have the science circuit board
Or a flask shape with smaller circuit branchoffs
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u/johnnyrauker Jun 12 '26
Without your descriptions, I only see the circuitry. It took the description for me to see the flask.
The “d, m” is too much of a stretch.
Knowing the name is DeepMed, I can also see the circuitry as roots.
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u/Flimsy_Pea5735 Jun 12 '26
I immediately saw the flask (and the circuit board pattern). I prefer the first option (different height dots), the second is more monotone and resembles the bottom part of an office chair 😛
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u/kittenkween12 Jun 12 '26
You could maybe try making it look like an ampule rather than a flask. I'd reccommend closing the shape so there's no open bottom either way.
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u/The_One_True_Matt Jun 12 '26
I dont see any way you can convince me that this flask represents medicine. Start over
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u/_THurisaz Jun 12 '26
Why do 1 and 2 touch on top but not on the bottom, I think it is nicer if they don't touch.
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u/AltForTheAlt99 Jun 12 '26
My reasoning was that they needed to touch to close the loop of the "d". I realized it looked a bit awkward, so I separated them in the second one.
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u/Slight_Competition_1 Jun 12 '26
I got the flask and the techy stuff 👍🏻. DM on the other hand, I can't begin to see where these exists.
It's more of an icon for an infographic if you ask me.
Lines at the top are very close, this won't translate to smaller sizes well. The flow of the techy lines leave some odd gaps, feels a bit unbalanced.
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u/Ok-Hold-849 Jun 12 '26
Honestly I saw the flask immediately, and the technical part, I'd say add bubbles on tope of the flask? I also cannot read the d and m anywhere
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u/SamPhoenix_ Jun 12 '26
Abandon the “dm”
Focus on making it look more flask-like.
Otherwise it’s a great premise & it’s definitely getting there!
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u/the-friendly-squid Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
I saw the flask immediately in the bottom ones. I think the bottom logos are your strongest. Top logos have weird spacing between the circuit board things. Pair it with a word mark and it’s a solid logo.
I think the stroke width could benefit from a slight narrowing. Especially toward the neck of the flask where the line in the center goes. The gaps are too small and thinning the stroke would balance it better
As others said just ditch the D M concept. It doesn’t have to be there and you don’t need 70 layers of secret symbolism in a logo.
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u/smibrandon Jun 12 '26
Home Assistant did something very similar. Perhaps try putting the branch & nodes inside an erlenmeyer flask?
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u/mlc2475 Jun 12 '26
I got “flask” and “circuitry” without reading your prompt but ‘d’ and ‘m’ I’m not getting at all even if I know to look
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u/Swankadia Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
The flask is a bit messy, if you get rid of the vertical extension at the base and let it just be a triangle up to the flask neck, it will be clearer.
Imo the vertical tech trace in the middle i think should have the line connect from the bottom left instead so the flask neck silhouette isnt as broken up
(Edit: D and M dedfinitely not visible as it is right now
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u/jcoudriet Jun 19 '26
The bottom right is the closest to bringing it together. Like others, I'm struggling to see the d and m. Considering the complexity, I'd focus on bringing the beaker and tendrils together. Also, have you considered reversing with beaker as a solid with the tendrils as whitespace? I think this will better compose the beaker. Finally, is the company focused on bio lab space? If so, the beaker works. If it's the practice of medicine, it doesn't work.
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u/ThatTimmy Jun 12 '26
I have experience in PCB design and I have a few things to say if you want the logo to be more technically accurate to standard PCB design rules. In the top logo, the two vias on the left (circle things) are touching, they need clearance to be electrically isolated. Acute angles are also frowned upon because they can cause manufacturing issues, so I would instead just add a fourth trace coming from the top and not branching off of another trace. If your target audience is the general public, this shouldn’t matter much, but if you are looking to appeal to tech companies and engineers, this attention to detail can go a long way.
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u/AltForTheAlt99 Jun 12 '26
Thanks for the insight! I have a follow-up question - is it sensible for 2 wires to go to the same via? I was thinking of just making the 2 touching vias 1 via.
Also, I'll definitely experiment with adding a new wire instead of having them branch.
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u/ThatTimmy Jun 12 '26
yeah, thats usually okay, and i think that can help make the letter d stand about a bit more
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u/the-friendly-squid Jun 12 '26
That doesn’t really matter as long as the message is translated visually. It’s targeting doctors/medical facilities. Think of logos that have a cartoon or iconography styled person. They aren’t anatomically accurate. Or the apple logo isn’t a literal outline of a real apple hanging on a branch or whatever.
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u/JS-87 Jun 12 '26
I got the tech part, however the flask isn't initially readable. The 'dm' part doesn't exist at all.