It's been said multiple times that the name makes the man.
Well to put this terms of a brand I believe the Logo makes the name.

How many awesome companies are out there that don't even get a good look because of how awful their logo is?

Over the past couple months I have been contemplating many things with the brand non being larger than my brand's logo. I wanted to make a logo that speaks to the simplicity yet functionality of my products while still being unique and one of a kind.

So like any modern day artist I snooped around the internet to find some inspiration from some brands I respect.

Vans:
Vans is a company that's been doing it for a while in the shoe/skate scene.  They're original logo is a catchy, traditional logo that's easy on the eyes and unique.  All the while easily placed on apparel and products.

I really like the large block letters and the V looking like a modified version of the square root sign.  A timeless logo that without even reading viewers recognize the brand.

Vans is a great example of a company that's implemented their company name right into their logo. 

Billionaire Boys Club:

The next brand I looked at was rapper and entrepreneur Pharrell's line of clothing.  The company has a really cool logo in my opinion.  The logo is an astronaut's head in an artsy 2-D fashion. 

Occasionally accompanied with the Billionaire Boy's Club name, the logo is definitely strong enough to stand on its own.  And since it's conception in 2005 the logo is now easily recognized and respected in the fashion industry.  

I really like what Pharrell and his team did with the logo and definitely think with the right, simplistic design a logo can be strong enough to stand on its own with no text.

Haircut Time:

On a completely separate tangent I researched top logos from January and February on designyouway.com.  Out of these one that stood out nicely to me was one that was designed for Haircut Time.

I really like the incorporation of the text logo with the physical idea of the "Haircut Time" clock.  The matte green also looks nice against the all white designs.

Summary:

With the research phase behind me I took to Photoshop and Illustrator (which I am no Master at by any means)to try my hand at a logo.

In the end I was happy with the logo I came up with as a first draft. I really think I can more fully develop the idea out but, I think for right now it fits what I am trying to do with my brand.

Next steps for the logo include making the zipper a little more square in Illustrator as a vector shape.  I also would like to play with the colors a little bit and see if I can come up with something a little more eye catching.

For now though I like the inspiration I've found in others' logos and look forward to the future evolution of mine.