Logo design for firedb - online software company

Our company name and product name is firedb. We build online applications and will be using our logo on our website (website contest will launch soon) and on business cards and other media.

BRIEF UPDATE...

ATTENTION DESIGNERS: after seeing color schemes incorporating blue and green we quite like that idea. We thought it was a little unfair not to let everyone know since the brief clearly asked for warmer colors. We are currently leaning towards a few designs so we thought we'd share our general thinking.

We are after something that is very portable (will work well on our website, business cards, looks good in black and white etc)

We want something that is professional (we like many designs but we have to portray the image of a professional software company at the end of the day).

With font selection we need something that will reflect the company image, something simple but still something that has tasteful font effects to enhance the logo.

firedb

Design Deliverable (1) Design of a logo
- We require a logo for the firedb brand.
- We will use the logo on our website and on business cards, email signatures etc.
Note: the brand firedb is short for "fire database" although it should always appear abbreviated as firedb (in lowercase)
- The key element we'd like to see in the logo is fire or a flame
- If you think the database element will work will with the firedb brand you might be able to incorporate fire and database elements into a simple logo (although we aren't sure both fire and database won't work well together)

The website contest will be held separately (once we have a good feel for the logo)
Background on the company and the brand:
Some keywords that would best describe what we do are,
- custom built software, e.g crm solutions
- online applications/software for small to medium businesses
- software as a service
- software delivered through your web browser
- software built quickly/rapidly
- easy to use software
- firedb is the innovator in business software. Your application is built using our unique drag and drop interface, saving your business time and money.

- firedb solves real business problems by delivering applications customised to your needs.
Screenshots of our application: See ( http://208.109.99.137/99/promo.jpg ) for some screenshots of our application (NOTE: ignore the color schemes)
The logo should confirm to much the same size/position as the Vanderlay logo found here (ignore colors etc) http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/at…/38573.jpg
We like the idea of being able to separate the flame from the rest of the logo (e.g don't use the flame to represent a letter).

We really like the idea of a SIMPLE and CLEAN design.

Examples of ideas that might work well:
- The simple cartoon flames (http://208.109.99.137/99/examples/cartoon_fire.jpg ) are a good exampleof something that might work well.
- This example shows a cartoon flame which is simple and uses fewcolors in its design (http://208.109.99.137/99/examples/cartoon_flame.jpeg )
- Another example which could work well is a fire cut out ( http://208.109.99.137/99/examples/f…utout.jpeg ).- We like the idea of cartoon fire
- Colors which might work well, orange, white, grey, brown
- We like simple/bold/clean designsIMPORTANT
- Supply logo on white background, and if appropriate samples on other backgrounds for comparison
- Final format should be in vector format and consist of layers where appropriate (photoshop or illustrator)
- The background layer should allow us to change the color easily (egplace the logo behind a gradient later or make the backgroundtransparent)Just an addition if you're staring the logo, have stumbled across this and it isn't too bad. you might use it for inspiration.
we like this logo because: it's a simple and clean image. the cut out is done well and the circle around it is a really good finish. note: our preference is for white background.
http://darkdoomer.deviantart.com/ar…wp-3278693

- Advise against dark backgrounds (if you do supply a dark background make sure there is a white background alternative)
- Don't use high resolution images (i.e try and go for simple flames not a realistic look with complex gradient)
- Don't try to use too much detail in the logo, KEEP IT SIMPLE so it can appear on cards, invoices, etc